The Sutherland Estates: The Scottish Estates
The Sutherland Estate had been the largest landed estate in the Highlands for much of the eighteenth century, and previous to that date; owned by the Gordon family, under their title of Earls of Sutherland ...
The Trentham Estate and Neighbouring Towns, 1861
The letter above was written by George Flemming at Trentham to the third Duke of Sutherland on the 13th December 1861. Flemming tells the Duke about sums of money which the second Duke of Sutherland had ...
The Trentham Estate: The Chief Agent’s Cash Book, 1778-1785
The image above shows a page taken from the Chief Agent’s Cash Book dating from 1778-1785. Thomas Horwood, Earl Gower’s Chief Agent during this period was responsible for keeping this account of payments ...
The Trentham Hotel in the Sutherland Papers
The photograph above shows the Trentham Hotel in the early twentieth century. The Hotel was known as the 'Roebuck Hotel', after the Duke of Sutherland donated a statue of a roebuck to the hotel in 1865.
The ...
The Upper White Dressing Room, West Hill, 1824
Mahogany furniture featured prominently in the Upper White Dressing Room at West Hill. A ‘Bowed front mahogany Dressing Table with Drawer Lock & Key’ was housed in the room, alongside a ‘Mahogany tray ...
The Valet’s Dressing Room and the Housemaid’s Closet, West Hill, 1824
A dressing room adjoined the Valet’s Room, at West Hill, containing a ‘Mahogany Wash hand Table with handsome marble top’ and a ‘Mahogany Boot & Shoe horse’.
A description of the Housemaid’s Closet ...
The Valet’s Room, West Hill, 1824
Beginning on the second floor, the Inventory of West Hill describes the ‘Right Hand Bedchamber’ as the ‘Valets Room’. The room had a colour scheme of blue and white, including a ‘Blue and white painted ...
The Wash House at West Hill, 1824
Like the Bakehouse and Laundry, the Wash House at West Hill was fitted out with functional equipment, including six washing troughs, lead pipes supplying hot and cold water and a coal box.
‘A Stout ...
The Westhill Fruit Dispute, August 1830
Amongst the many documents providing an insight into household life at West Hill are a number of papers from August 1830 relating to a dispute over the sale of fruit grown on the property.
A letter ...
The Working Gardens at West Hill, 1824
The Inventory of West Hill made in 1824 describes the working gardens on the estate, telling us about the fruit and flowers produced there. The Inventory lists a ‘melon ground’ which had ‘3 light Melon ...
Thomas Smith’s Accounts for the Lilleshall Estate, 1668-1671
The document featured above is taken from Thomas Smith’s Accounts for the Lilleshall Estate for February and March 1670. Smith was an estate agent working for Sir Thomas Gower. The Accounts provide a ...
Trentham Estate Accounts in the Sutherland Papers
The Estate Accounts in the Sutherland Papers form one of the most fascinating sections of the collection. Spanning over hundreds of years, these papers and volumes kept by agents working for the Leveson-Gower ...
Trentham Gardens
The Sutherland Papers contain an enormous wealth of documents relating to Trentham Gardens. Accounts, correspondence, maps, plans and advertisements provide a fascinating insight into this famous local ...
Trentham Gardens: ‘The Beauty Spot of the Midlands’ in the Early Twentieth Century
As a result of sewage contamination in the River Trent, Trentham Hall had become uninhabitable by the early twentieth century. After the fourth Duke of Sutherland, Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (1851–1913), ...
Trentham Home Farm
The statement featured above relates to the management of ‘Trentham Home Farm’ on the Duke of Sutherland’s Trentham Estate. The statement was produced to examine the management of the farm and provides ...
Trentham Park in the 1890s
One of the most intriguing documents relating to Trentham is the large notice featured above. This is the draft of a notice which was printed to provide information to people visiting Trentham Park in ...
Vouchers for Westhill, August 1840
The Sutherland Papers contain a wealth of vouchers for purchases made for the West Hill estate in the nineteenth century. A number of vouchers from August 1840 tell us about the products which local tradesmen ...
West Hill: Produce & Supplies for 1837
Inventories of West Hill indicate that the Duke of Sutherland’s estate in Wandsworth had a working farm and working gardens providing produce to the mansion house. The image above shows a tabulated document ...