Description:Sir Walter Leveson of Lilleshall(1550-1602) was the son of Richard Leveson and his wife Mary Fretton. He married Anne Corbett and was the father of the famous Vice Admiral Sir Richard Leveson.
Sir Walter died in 1602 in London’s notorious Fleet Prison. He was heavily in debt and frequently involved in legal cases concerning his financial difficulties.
Many of the papers in the Sutherland Papers which relate to Sir Walter
reflect his financial problems, such as letters asking for loans and pledging to repay money that he had borrowed. Documents drawn up while Sir Walter was in Fleet prison show that he owed substantial sums of money to a large number of people.
Papers in the collection also indicate that Sir Walter was involved in numerous legal cases. These cases concerned intriguing incidents such as the illegal capture of fishing boats and lawsuits regarding Sir Walter’s numerous debts. These legal papers are particularly intriguing, telling us about Sir Walter’s activities and also providing an insight into the English legal system in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.