Correspondence and manuscripts

This series includes letters, documents, manuscripts, and poems related to the Leigh family of Adlestrop and their extended family, friends, and business and political associates. There is a large group of letters from William Leigh (1691-1757) to his younger brother Theophilus Leigh (1693-1785), Master of Balliol College, Oxford; and a second large group of letters from Theophilus Leigh to his daughter Mary "Molly" Leigh Leigh (1731-1797). The material is written by multiple generations of the Leigh, Chandos/Brydges, Hastings, and Cooke families, and also includes letters written by women and children. The letters discuss domestic, religious, business, and political issues in England during the 17th and 18th centuries. Subjects include health, illness, and death; marriage and childbirth; education and university life; patronage; and politics and government. The material in this series contains page numbering, annotations, and notes made by Mary Leigh Leigh and others in her time, as well as other owners over the centuries.