The National Archives – Grant-Ives Bradden Collection

The National Archives

Grant-Ives (Bradden) Collection

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Administrative history:

The main part of this collection consists of the deeds of the Bradden estate, the earliest of which is dated 1429 [No 41]. The manor and advowson was acquired in 1486 by John Mathew, alderman of London, after some rather complicated negotiations [Nos 5-10]. An unusual document is a deed whereby Bradden manor was made surety for the completion of a sale of 44 sacks of Cotswold wool to Mathew (1486). Shortly afterwards Mathew wrote a letter to his son which has been preserved. Part of it reads:-

‘Robert ye must wysely ouersee all these londs & what felds & furlongs euery lond lyeth… & so to write it sadly for we schall dele with fell men be my trowth but for your desire I wold neuer have bought it be xl li as I must pay for it is ferr to dere… ye schall have Alice there by godds grace ageynst Our Lady day but ye must provide another woman to be with herr, and as spedyly as ye may make up the writyng of all the said lands that ye com up there with your selff for we [have] moche to doo for schippyng of wolle is now… I send… dyuers sedis; item a smok & a scherte for harry jeyes children; item a kercher’ lawne to geve where Cornelis hath promysed. We send yow godds blessyng & owres at London xiiij day of March’

The estate continued in his family until 1677, when it was sold by Gaius Mathew to the Rev William Ives, rector of Greens Norton. Gaius’ father John, who had moved to Eaton Socon in Beds, seems to have been in financial difficulties, for he mortgaged a great deal of the Bradden estate [Nos 84-122]. William Ives and his brother Francis purchased various other properties in Bradden, and when William died without issue in 1697, he bequeathed the whole estate to Francis’ son, William II [No 184], and it continued in the Ives family until 1888 when it passed to the Grant family, descendants of Thomas Grant of Litchborough and Ann Ives, whom he married in 1776.

Contents: 

The family papers are largely those of the Ives family, and consist in the main of wills and marriage settlements. William Ives II was married three times within the years 1699 to 1711 [Nos 187, 189 and 190], but he died in 1719 without a male heir and the estate again passed to a nephew (William Ives III) after the death of his wife who remarried Sir Thomas Samwell of Upton Hall. William Ives III seems to have been living meanwhile at Bevingdon in Essex inherited in 1748 from a ‘cousin’, Sarah Eddowes.

The collection contains the partnership deed of his father Francis, a mercer in London and the probate inventory taken after Francis’ death (1728). William III’s mother remarried and moved to Peterborough where as Elizabeth Thompson she filled a number of volumes with copies of poems. William’s brother Callamy, bachelor, remained in London.

There are also several papers relating to the executorship of William van Mildert, Bishop of Durham, who died in 1836 [Nos 267-74, 448-451]. He was the brother of Anne van Mildert who married Cornelius Ives in 1787 [No 253]. This was the second marriage in the Ives and van Mildert families, as Cornelius’ father, William, married an Anne van Mildert in 1748.

There are also volumes of household accounts of William Ives [d 1794] and Cornelius Ives [1758-1838] and poetry of the Rev Cornelius Ives [1793-1883]. A few bills relate to alterations at Bradden House in 1819 to 1823. A volume of surgeons and private accounts, 1774-93 [No 375] probably belonged to Thomas Grant of Litchborough.

The estate records are not numerous but they include two interesting maps, made in 1740 and 1803 [Nos 336 and 339], and papers relating to Bradden Inclosure, 1804 [Nos 345-57], There are also some deeds relating to the early inclosure of the North Field between 1506 and 1525 [Nos 49-62].

The manorial records are sparse, consisting of one long court roll for Bradden, 1619-1764 [No 323], but in fact it only contains the records of 5 sessions of the court during that period, perhaps all that were held. There is also a small bundle of ‘copies’ of court roll of the manor of Wellingborough Hatton, 1625-72 [Nos 326-31] which with a Woodford deed of 1606 and two of Ringstead of 1660 are the only reminders of the origin of the Ives family in that area of the county.

The bulk of the legal papers [Nos 388-404] relate to a case brought by Bartholomew Keeling, rector of Bradden, against William Ives alleging that he was not paid sufficient tithes. The case was dismissed in 1777. Keeling was related to Ives by marriage, and had been presented to the living by him, so that the dispute sometimes assumed a rather personal tone.

There are also a certain number of ‘official’ papers: these include the Bradden Parish Overseers accounts, 1813-72 [No 425], and the Bradden Parish Fieldmen and Surveyors of Highways accounts (1745-1803) [No 427]. There are also accounts of the Foster Booth Book Club, 1809-45 [Nos 440-441], one of a number of similar clubs of gentry and clergy who bought books to circulate amongst their members, selling them off after every member had had a chance to read the books.

In the same volume as William Ives personal accounts [No 370] are those of the surveyor of the Old Stratford to Dunchurch turnpike for 1708-1713, all of which have been certified by William Ives in his capacity as a JP. These are the earliest records of a turnpike in Northamptonshire so far discovered.

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