Ally McConnell, Principal Archivist, writes: Several lots relating to the Eyre-Matcham family of Newhouse, Whiteparish and Downton were brought to the attention of the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre by The National Archives. Upon further research it transpired that the items were the last pieces from the sale of the family home of the depositor of a which had been deposited with the History Centre in 1976 along with informal confirmation that more documents would be deposited in due course.
Unfortunately, the depositor died before the transfer of the remainder of the documents, and owing to lack of an official bequest they were auctioned in May 2023, along with some others not of relevance to Wiltshire.
All but one lot of interest was purchased at the auction. A marriage contract drawn up between Sir Samuel Eyre and Martha Lucy in 1661 (Lot 2), around the time Eyre purchased Newhouse, was the earliest relevant document.
The four 18th-century estate maps (Lots 37-40) were high priority items for us, being of great importance to the estate and family. While crude (almost unreadable) copies had been made of three of them, these are the original maps, and an essential part of the collection. Three date from 1731-1734 (one is contemporary, but undated) and all were drawn by the surveyor Richard Joliffe. One is an entire map of Newhouse (Lot 39), one specifically of Newhouse Farm (Lot 38) and one of part of the estate called Milkhills (Lot 37). Lot 40, a beautiful drawing of an 18th-century garden, is a map of the kitchen gardens belonging to Robert Eyre in Whiteparish, dated 1746.
Two other lots provide notes on the Eyre family by Reverend Edmund Benson and his son Robert from about the 1830s (Lot 23), and a diary and letter book belonging to George Matcham, 1851-1855 (Lot 33).
Other lots purchased were a confirmation of the charters of New Sarum (Salisbury), from about 1830 (Lot 25), a court baron of the manor of Downton dated 1676 (Lot 3) and a map of allotments in East Downton, again from about 1830 (Lot 42).
Some conservation work has been done in-house, especially on the large flat items so that they can be stored properly. The History Centre hopes to make use of the garden and allotment maps in future outreach work connected with horticulture.
It is a joy finally to have these items reunited with the rest of their collection.
