Guide to the Collections of Petworth House Archives (as filmed by the AJCP), c.1749-1861

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Summary

Collection number:

M823

Creator:

Wyndham, George, 3rd Earl of Egremont and Wyndham, George, Colonel

Extent:

23 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Citation items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example:M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-987654321)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Correspondence, accounts, documents and maps relating to immigration to South Australia and Western Australia under the sponsorship of the Earl of Egremont and Colonel Wyndham through the Petworth Immigration Committee and the work of the Rev. T. Sockett.

Biographical / Historical:

The Petworth estate in West Sussex was acquired by the Percy Family in the twelfth century. In 1377 Henry Percy was created Earl of Northumberland and he and his descendants used the manor house at Petworth as an occasional residence. In 1670 the Percy estates passed to Lady Elizabeth Percy, who later married Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset. He completely rebuilt Petworth House as a palatial baroque mansion. His son, the 7th Duke of Somerset, acquired the additional title of Earl of Egremont in 1749. In the following year he died and his nephew Sir Charles Wyndham inherited the Earldom and the Petworth estates, as well as Egremont Castle in Cumbria and Leconfield Castle in Yorkshire. He commissioned 'Capability' Brown to create the park at Petworth House.

George Wyndham (1751-1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont, became the owner of Petworth House in Sussex on the death of his father in 1763. He also inherited estates in Cumbria, Wiltshire and Somerset and later in Ireland. He was a patron of artists such as J.W.M. Turner, John Constable and Joseph Flaxman, and assembled one of the finest collections of paintings and sculptures in England. He had many other interests, including agricultural development and canal construction. After the Napoleonic Wars there were long periods of depression in rural England and a great deal of poverty among agricultural workers. Egremont supported the efforts of Thomas Sockett, the rector of Petworth, who set up the Petworth Emigration Scheme. Between 1832 and 1837 it sent 1800 emigrants, mostly from Sussex and neighbouring counties, to Upper Canada. Egremont paid the passages of his tenants, while parish funds were used to provide them with extra clothing and equipment. For details of the Petworth Emigration Scheme see Sheila Haines and Leigh Lawson. Poor cottages and proud palaces: the life and work of Reverend Thomas Sockett of Petworth, 1777-1859, Hastings, 2007.

In 1837 Lord Egremont's nephew George Wyndham (1786-1845) inherited the title and the estates in Somerset. The Petworth estate, however, passed to Egremont's illegitimate son, George Wyndham (1787-1869), who became 1st Baron Leconfield in 1859. Wyndham entered the Royal Navy in 1789 and transferred to the Army in 1802. He served in various campaigns during the Napoleonic Wars and by 1812 was Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 20th Light Dragoons. He was promoted to the rank of colonel in 1830. Colonel Wyndham continued his father's policy of assisting tenants who wished to emigrate, particularly during the Irish Famine of the 1840s. The descendants of Lord Leconfield were the owners of Petworth House until 1947, when it was presented to the National Trust.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Access available.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.