Sir Thomas Phillipps: Maps, Plans and Bills Relating to the Phillipps Estates, 1795-1858

RLIN ID No.
NYGG04-A12

Main Entry
Phillipps, Thomas, Sir, 1792-1872, compiler.

Title
Maps, plans and bills relating to the Phillipps estates, 1795-1858.

Physical Description
6 items ; 100 x 94 cm. or smaller

Historical/Biographical Note
English antiquary and collector. He began collecting while at Rugby School and at Oxford. On inheriting his father’s estate at Middle Hill at Broadway, Worcestershire he embarked on a career of collecting manuscripts and books. His collection eventually numbered over 60,000 manuscripts and included many in Greek, Latin and Eastern languages, as well as English and Continental manuscripts. The Middle Hill estate was entailed and ultimately inherited by James Orchard Halliwell, the husband of Sir Thomas’s eldest daughter. In the late 1850s Halliwell brought suit against Sir Thomas in regard to the latter’s determination to cut down a large part of the timber on the estate. Sir Thomas also owned the estates of Buckland and Laverton in Gloucestershire. In 1864-65 he transferred his collections and household to Thirlestaine House at Cheltenham.

Scope and Contents Note
The six documents include: a manuscript map of the Middle Hill estate prepared for the Halliwell lawsuit; a map of Buckland Manor in Gloucestershire; an architectural plan by William Davies for an extension to the Fish Inn, Broadway, Worcestershire proposed by Thomas Phillipps, father of the baronet. Also: an agreement for the lighting the town of Cheltenham with gas; a list of the farms that comprised the Buckland and Laverton estates and a bill from the firm of S. & E. Miles for household goods.

General Note
Title devised by cataloger.

General Note
Documents laid in modern folding cloth box with spine lettered in gilt: Phillipps Private Papers/Household Plans and Contracts.

Finding Aid Note
Inventory available in repository; item level control.

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchase; Sotheby’s auction no. 3243, Lot 0067, London; 2003/12/02.

Provenance
Formerly owned by Martin Schoyer of Spikkestad, Norway, who purchased it from the dealer H. P. Kraus of New York City. Previously owned by W. H. Robinson, Ltd. of London. It would have been one of the many Phillipps manuscripts sold by Sotheby’s starting in 1886.

Names
Davies, William.
Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O. (James Orchard), 1820-1889.
Phillipps, Thomas, 1742-1818.
Phillipps, Thomas, Sir, 1792-1872.
S.& E. Miles.
Schoyer, Martin, former owner.

Subjects
Gas-lighting. England. Cheltenham. 19th century.
Cheltenham. (England). Gas-lighting.
Buckland Manor (Estate : Gloucestershire, England)
Middle Hill (Estate : Worcestershire, England)

Genres
Architectural plans. England. Worcestershire. 19th century.
Bills. England. Worcestershire.
Contracts. England. Cheltenham. 18th century.
Maps. England. Gloucestershire. 18th century.

Occupation (as reflected in collection)
Landowners. England. 19th century.

Location
Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022-1098.

Collection Inventory
[Note: Documents are arranged chronologically]

Buckland Manor (Gloucestershire). Map [ca. 1795]. Ink on paper mounted on canvas. 54 x 46 cm., rolled. Map of a property purchased by the father of Sir Thomas Phillipps from Lord Weymouth, Marquess of Bath, about 1795.

Fish Inn (Broadway, Worcestershire). Architectural plan by William Davies for an extension to the inn proposed by the father of Sir Thomas Phillipps, 1801. Ink and wash on paper. 56 x 30 cm. Endorsed on verso: “A plan of additional [sic] Building to the Fish on Broadway Hill for Thos. Phillipps Esq. [sic]. 14 Nov. 1801…. This plan does not seem to have been carried out.

Cheltenham. Agreement for lighting the town of Cheltenham with gas, 1818. 8 p., 42 x 11 cm., folded to 26 x 11 cm. Corrected draft of an agreement for installing as lighting in the town and suburbs of Cheltenham. Title taken from document.

Buckland and Laverton Estate. List of farms. Manuscript document, 1832. 3 p. A list of farms and the corresponding numbers of acres comprising the Buckland and Laverton estates owned by Sir Thomas Phillipps. Includes a list of the plantation timber he sold.

S & E Miles. Bill to Sir Thomas Phillipps. Manuscript folio sheet. 2 p., 40 x 37 cm., folded to 40 x 16 cm. A bill for household good with note in his hand that he paid it in February 1832, though not necessarily in full. Includes non-perishable foodstuffs, fabrics and sewing notions.

Middle Hill Estate. Manuscript map. Ca. 1858. 101 x 94 cm., folded to 14 x 27 cm. Ink on paper with pink, yellow and gray wash. Court of Chancery docketing on verso. Map prepared for case brought by James Orchard Halliwell, son-in-law of Sir Thomas Phillipps, and relating to the baronet’s plan to cut down a large part of the timber on the estate.