Peerage SWINTON CASTLE Estate Masham 1878 MAISTER v ANNE DANBY HARCOURT

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Peerage SWINTON CASTLE Estate Masham 1878 MAISTER v ANNE DANBY HARCOURT:
$1181.18

Peerage SWINTON CASTLE Estate Masham 1878 MAISTER v ANNE DANBY HARCOURT a.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:hover.imagelink {color:#000000;} a:visited.imagelink {color:#696767;} a.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #000000; } a:visited.imagelink img.saleimage { border: 2px solid #696767; } Description

Firstly... to really appreciate the item you need to ENLARGE the photographs...left mouse click ...they may look a differant colour due to the flash...the item you see will be the item you get.

This item is FREE TRACKED shipping - postage to any country.

Description

This is a really fabulous hand written Victorian official document .. as you can see it is all written on large plain paper with raggy edges... all attached at the top left corner with string.. the plain LOOKING paper has actually got water marks as well as faint lines so it makes it alot easier for the person writing the document.

The paper has then all been attached at the top and FOLDED in half .. but to read it you must unfold the crease. ..it has a title of what it is all about on both sides. ...which is typical of this sort of solicitor written official document.

So in the folded position .. you read the wording on the side.. it has crossings out as well as pencil and blue wording on the pages in places too.

Yorkshire Summer Assizes York 13 th July 1878 ... In the HIGH COURT of JUSTICE Exchequer Division between JOHN MAISTER Plaintiff and ANNE HOLWELL DANBY VERNON HARCOURT ...Sued as A.H. Danby Vernon Harcourt Widow / Defendant ...Wrongful Dismissal Services Rendered Slander etc. BRIEF FOR THE PLAINTIFF .... Mr D Seymour Q.C. with you Mr John Edge ... right down at the bottom W.S. HIND . HULL & BEVERLEY.

Now ... turning the paperwork over and opening it flat you will see ALL the above wording written down the full length of the top half of the first page..the bottom half of the page starts with CASE ...to the left margin it says COPY OF THE PLEADINGS ACCOMPANY THIS BRIEF. ...so here starts the FIRST page of 78 pages.. and there are some pages marked a,b,c, etc.

As stated.. some of the pages have words crossed out, other words added, scribblings, short hand of sorts, in pencil as well as a blue crayon like pencil.

So the first page starts with Swinton Park Estate consists of about 23000 acres of land and nearly the whole of the market town of Masham, the villages and townships of Ellington ( High & Low ) Healey with Sutton , Ilton Cum Pott and Swinton and Warthermarske with portions of Ellingstring & Fearby and Burton on Ure in the North Riding of the County of York. .. The estate came into the possession of the Danby family about the year 1517.... The seat of the family is at Swinton Park.

Defendant is a Tennant for life at the Estate - Her first husband was the Late William Danby Esquire - after his decease in 1833 Defendant married in 1838 Captain afterwards Admiral Harcourt who died in the year 1863 - Admiral Harcourt had 25 years use of the rents etc of Swinton Estate and accumulated a large amount of money out of the proceeds of the Estate which he let run to rack. Defendant is over 82 years of age and as tenant for life has the control of the Estate except the timber , which is placed under a seperate trust pursuant to the will of the late Mr Danby.

Charles Tucker Esq is the surviving Trustee of the timber estate.

There are upwards of 330 tennants on the Estate and the rent roll is about £12,800 .....then it carries on all about the defendants outgoings etc. ..estate wages and this and that and all sorts. ..it then goes on to say it is custom to have a Steward to manage the estate.. who is paid a salary and has residence at Swinton.

Mr Henry Tumper of Fumper was steward for many years prior to 1864 when he died the fences around the woods, and the farm buildings , gates, walls, fences, houses and other buildings on the estate were all in a very dilapadated condition....these were so dilapidated and so expensive that if the Defendant had died , her successor might possibly have claimed heavy compensation.

Mr Pallister succeded Mr Tumper and acted as Steward till 1868 July and he was dismissed as the accounts being unsatisfactory , especially the timber account.

Plaintiff served his articles with Messrs Russell of York Solicitor , the senior partner of whom was Agent to Lord Downe , Plaintiff was admitted as a Solicitor in 1840 , he did the Stewards accounts for Lord Downe .. he practised as a solicitor for a short time and he was elected the Registra of Deeds and Wills for East Yorkshire and the Town and County of the town Kingston upon Hull , which office he still retains. Plaintiff was Steward for the Barlow & Drax Estates of Colonel Thompson from 1840 untill 1873 when they were sold ...under Plaintiffs management Colonel Thompsons property increased in value by draining, building etc about £1000 per year... thus Plaintiff gained very good experience as Steward & Land Agent ..... the testimonials produced to Defendant at the time of plaintiffs appointment shewed he was in every respect qualified to act as Defendants Steward ... Plaintiffs Office of Registra was considered an especial reccomendation as thereby he had independant income and was considered a very honoray appointment.

Then it goes on with COPIES of letters all dated and signed and to and from addresses at the top and bottom of each .. these are interesting ... being YORK - LONDON - SWINTON - MIDDLEHAM - HULL - SELBY - BEDALE and mention alot of peoples names etc.... friends of John Maister as well as relations and friends of Anne too.. some being Lords and high class folks.

As you read thru it ... it makes interesting reading about ther Estate and how it was run etc.. the work that John did for the estate , getting back onto its feet , drawing all maps , plans of the estate as there were NO plans of the estate when he got the job.. he worked on his own most of the time but did employ his son CHARLES as a clerk later on... it is INTERESTING to note just here that Charles Maister then became the LAND AGENT - STEWARD for the Cunliffe family after Anne left.. so in theory his father John who this is all about cannot have been that bad a person as his son surely wouldnt have been employed by the next owner of the estate.

Anyway ..as you read thru it you will see this old lady Anne was probably going mad.. she employed a GAMEKEEPER to spy on John and what he was doing from day to day , Anne was probably getting alot of jealous people saying stuff about him that was not true.. as I have read all the pages I would say John Maister was a grand fellow and doing a grand job for Swinton Estate, and it prospered whilst he was running the estate for sure .. he made alot of repairs and did alot of other work.

About page 12 .. there are lists of the townships and the number of houses etc with all the REPAIRS that were made to them during Johns time on the estate...interesting here in Masham it says 78 houses thoroughly repaired and 23 new roofs put on and full renovation of the Mill , dam etc....Swinton township 26 houses repaired .. a NEW SCHOOL built at a cost of £445...6 farmhouses repaired ... names certain tennants some of which of those buildings were burnt down.. THE HALL .. this is SWINTON CASTLE as you know it now.. South Wing and Servants officers were re- slated and re - leaded by Mrs Danby Harcourt at her expense and are not included in the building expenses of £19947-13-2 ..the laundry , avary and museum have been re-slated and leaded as well...then goers to the other townships of Healey , Ilton & Moorheads, Fearby, Ellingtons , Colsterdale & Caldbergh ..making a total of houses repaired 130 , farm houses etc 38, new built house at Grimesgill 1 , new built school 1 , and Mills and dams repaired 3. ...that is 173 out of 323 dwellings repaired etc. ...with other wording and stuff about the Timber Estate etc.. then signed by John Maister Nov 1 1876.

Then more copies of letters and his statement of how he came to the estate etc.. his job description and the lack of CONTRACT etc.. for the job....since he was a Gentleman and Anne being a Lady ..there was no need for a signed contract.

Page 28... COUNSEL will observe how defendant interfered with the most trivial matters, the system of bullying and espionage to which plaintiff has been subjected was degrading and unpleasant , defendant had spies to tell her tales about plaintiff who could not be abscent a day without her knowing about it.... GREENWOOD the keeper was the principal agent in this matter, he is a low bred man and formerly worked as a navvy and signalman on a railway.. he knows very little of the duties of a HEAD GAMEKEEPER.

Interesting letters from Lady Lavinia Bertie who was the sister of Lord Norrey or Norvey.

Copies of OPINION letters..about the case.... from Mr John Edge, Mr Redman ... these written in a differant hand writing and signed too.

Then it seems the main subject is the FIELD BOOK .. this is where John Maister wrote all the acreages , plans and maps of the land, tennants, farms etc etc..

Page 53 is now titled PROOFS ..... John Maister and there are 16 pages of writing ..with JOHN MAISTER name written in the right hand side margin.. page 69 is Johns son...CHARLES MAISTER of Hagg House near Selby ... then other peoples words etc for the case with their names in the right hand margin ..these names include JOSEPH HIND - ROBERT WISE - DIGBY CALEY - JOSEPH TIFFIN - JAMES OLDHAM - JOHN WALKER FORD - HENRY SMITH - WILLIAM CLUTTON - DAVID RUSSELL - THOMAS YOUNG - G.B. PEIRSON - RICHARD WILLIAM FENWICK MILLS - JOHN B BOOTH .

This last small paragraph of wording from John B B ooth is the LAST bit in the paperwork... it sort of does not look finished off... MAYBE .... I am thinking this case was SETTLED OUT OF COURT... I dont know. ..maybe you know.. this group of papers I think is of interest to any relations of the named people even the living relatives of John & Charles Maister ... or anyone else for that matter.. as I said earlier.. if you do a google search to see CHARLES MAISTER in relation to SWINTON PARK you will find in Bulmers Directory ..Charles Louis Nathaniel Maister land agent .. commissioner of income tax... and lieut. commanding B. Company 1st Vol. Batt. Princess Wales\' Own Yorkshire Regiment... at Swinton ......and he married Augusta Elizabeth Whitelock of Grinton Reeth area.

Not only is this an interesting document... it may well be other ONLY one in existance.. if John Maister got paid out before it went to court all other paperwork may have long since been burnt thrown out etc... as well as that... this whole story would make a really fascinating PERIOD DRAMA for anyone into creating something from this SCRIPT ..its all written as it happened.. the area of SWINTON CASTLE still exists and has not changed much and someone with abit of skill into making this a screenplay it would be really quite watchable.

The paper is approx 13 and half inch x 16 and half inch.. there are approx 79 pages.. the edges are tatty and raggy , curled corners, scribbles as described. the pages have been folded in half as you see it on my first photograph. ...a VERY GOOD READ and interesting STORY.

Please see close up pictures for more detail.

Theitem(s) areshown next to an English 1 penny which is 20mm dia for scale.

Conversion ... approx... 2.5cm = 25mm =1 inch

If you have any questions, please contact me via messages.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

I post every business day (Monday to Friday). If you buy something and pay for it Friday noon or Saturday please be aware it will be posted to you on Monday as I am usually at a live sales veiwing & buying on Saturdays. Once an item is the in the postal system any delays are out of my control, see the postage label to see the date it was sent.

I accept returns within 14 days on all items sent back to me in the condition you received it in. If you are in any way unhappy with your item please message me to arrange a return. Item(s) to be returned in its original packaging please. Please note if you or a third party tamper with, changes or repairs an item, this would automatically NULL AND VOID my full return policy, i.e. returns will not be accepted.

If you return the item because you\'ve changed your mind, and there is no error in the description, return postage will not be refunded. Also there will be a re-stocking fee charged of £25.00, which will be deducted from the refunded amount.

UK BUYERS I accept CHEQUES in UK Sterling, PAYPAL or Bacs BANK TRANSFER. Cheque payments will incurr a DELAY in despatch, of 6 working days to clear.

INTERNATIONAL BUYERS I will accept Paypal payments or bank wire transfer (IBAN) from anywhere in the world.

PAYMENT TERMS Please ensure I receive payment within3 days or email me if there will be a delay...as automated alerts are sent on the 5th day.

WORLDWIDE

SHIPPING

var itemNumber = window.ItemID ? window.ItemID : -1; function passpara(){return + itemNumber + \'&baseurl=\'+escape((function(){var d = return d })());}
diggerlee Store
function passparaSC(){return \'&baseurl=\'+ escape((function(){var d = return d })()) +