Paul Newman, Archives and Local Studies Manager, writes: The generous support of the Friends of the National Libraries enabled Cheshire Archives and Local Studies to purchase this collection of 535 documents, which provides a fine case study in the accumulation of a close-knit family’s estate in and around Macclesfield, and their various exchanges of property, given added value by the significant roles which members of that family played in the public and commercial life of the town. The Brocklehurst family were extremely influential in the Macclesfield area, socially, culturally, politically and in terms of their position in the silk industry. John Brocklehurst built Hurdsfield House in c1800. A silk manufacturer and banker, he was the MP for Macclesfield between 1832 and 1868. His firm was, for a time, the largest silk manufacturer in Britain.
This collection complements an already sizeable quantity of archives relating to the Brocklehurst estates in east Cheshire, helping to fill a gap in the collection by relating to the Hurdsfield and Swanscoe estates, about which Cheshire Archives held very little. The collection includes deeds, grants of tithes, wills and plans. The earliest document is a copy of court roll of the Hallmoot of the Forest of Macclesfield, 16 July 1498. This court’s jurisdiction covered a very large part of the eastern edge of the county at the time. A good example of way in which the court might go about the business of collecting evidence is a document which asks ‘Pray enquire of James Day or some of the oldest inhabitants in Hurdsfield where the two Acres and three quarters of that which was Waste Ground lyes I believe you’l find all the rest freehold’.
Existing material held by Cheshire Archives and Local Studies included records of the Brocklehurst’s Henbury Hall estate, purchased in 1999 also with the support of the Friends of the National Libraries.
The collection was first brought to our attention by the Swythamley Historical Society, who we have since welcomed to the Cheshire Record Office in Chester where group members were able to use it to add to their already deep understanding of the estate and the history of this corner of Cheshire.
