Special Collections

Milton S. Eisenhower Library

The Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland 21218

410-516-8348

William Law Phelps (fl. 1803-1834)

Papers (1741-1840)

Ms. Hut. 8

Size:          15 volumes 

               (1.25 linear ft.)

Processed:     March 1990

By:            Joan Grattan  

Provenance:    The papers were formerly part of the Peabody

               Institute Archives and were transferred to

               Special Collections, January 1990.

Access:        Access to this collection is unrestricted.

Permission:    Permission to publish material from this

               collection must be requested in writing

               from the Manuscripts Librarian at the

               address above.

Citation:      William Law Phelps papers Ms. Hut 8, Special

               Collections, Milton S. Eisenhower Library,

               The Johns Hopkins University.

                William Law Phelps (fl.1803-1834)

                       Papers (1741-1840)

                           Ms. Hut 8

Provenance

The papers of William Law Phelps were formerly part of the

Peabody Institute Archives.  They were transferred to Special

Collections, January 1990.  The accession number is 89-90.37.

Biographical Note

William Law Phelps was a solicitor in Evesham, a market town in

Worcestershire, England.  Evesham is located on the north bank of

the Avon River in what is known as the Vale of Evesham, a

district which is mainly agricultural.  Biographical information

of William Law Phelps has not been found, but his legal papers

indicate he was engaged in a law practice at least 1803-1834.

Scope and Content Note

This collection is formed by the legal papers (1741-1840) of

William Law Phelps and other solicitors who were associated in a

legal practice in Evesham, England.  The papers are bound into 15

volumes without any apparent chronological or subject order.

Despite the absence of a precise order, the papers are a good

representation of the work of an English country solicitor in the

nineteenth century.

The bulk of the material is in the form of correspondence (1803-

1834) addressed to Phelps or jointly to Phelps and an associate

solicitor:Phelps & (Edward) Savage, 1812-1820; Phelps & (Thomas) Blaney, 1803-

1816; Phelps & (Samuel) Kinsey, 1816-1822;  Phelps & (George)

Best, 1827-1831; Phelps & Smith, 1833; and Phelps & (Samuel)

Amos, 1811-1834.  Interfiled with the correspondence are

receipts, notes, bills, and a few small account books.

For purposes of description, the volumes have been loosely

arranged in chronological order and artificially assigned a

volume number.

Although the bulk of the material in this collection involves

Phelps, the contents establish that Thomas Blaney  preceeded

Phelps as solicitor in Evesham.  An early associate of Blaney was

Mr. Welch. (See V. 2)  It is likely that Phelps and Blaney became

associated around 1803. Some complaints and testimony are dated

from the 18th century (1740-1799) and form part of the material

specific to Thomas Blaney or to Blaney and Welch.  Included are

marriage and baptismal records from a parish church in Quinton,

1758; certificates for the British Tontine (1792-1793); rent

receipts and transactions for Thomas Rous (1741-1764).          

Between 1760 and 18l5, thousands of acres of common agricultural

fields and pastures were converted into individual holdings

during the enclosure movement in England.  Since the law practice

of Phelps and and his associates was located in an agricultural

area, some of their work involved settling land disputes

resulting from enclosure.  (See V.6, 1799-1825 and V.7, 1800-

1822.)  Another case of several years duration concerned the

Bredon estates in Worcestershire.  (See V. 9, 1806-1821.)

Subjects of other cases include collection of accounts, rents,

dissolution of partnerships, settling estates, tresspass, and

foreclosures.  Some of the complaints demonstrate how highly

regarded the countryside was held by the local people.  One

notice included in V. 2, 1758-1822 asks for information

concerning the defacement of a brook called Twyning Cowpasture

brook.     

Members of an Evesham merchant family named Goore were clients of

Phelps for many years.  Included at the back of most of the

volumes are bills from tea dealers, paper makers, tobacconists,

snuff makers, and dye makers addressed to Francis and later,

Thomas Goore.

After 1834, the correspondence is addressed to Samuel Amos, and

deals primarily with settling estates.  The final item relates to

the estate of William Balden and is dated 1840. 

Of related interest is a collection on deposit at the State

Historical Society of Wisconsin.  The papers of Sir Thomas

Phillipps (1792-1872), an English antiquary and collector of rare

manuscripts, include material of William L. Phelps from the same

period.  

A listing  of the volumes which are arranged chronologically can

be found in the Container List.

                         Container List                         

                            Ms. Hut 8

Box 1    

     V.1    1741-1840 

     V.2    1758-1822

Box 2

     V.3    1764-1810

     V.4    1765-1821

Box 3

     V.5    1783-1834

     V.6    1799-1825

     V.7    1800-1822

Box 4

     V.8    1800-1823

     V.9    1806-1821

Box 5    

     V.10   1807-1818

Box 6

     V.11   1811-1819

     V.12   1819-1834

     V.13   1821-1830

Box 6

     V.14   1822-1833

     V.15   1825-1840

                              Index

                            Ms. Hut 8

Amos, Samuel                  1,2

Best, George                  1

Blaney, Thomas                1

Bredon estates                1

Evesham (England)             1.2

Goore, Francis                2

Goore, Thomas                 2

Inclosures--England           1,2

Kinsey, Samuel                1

Land tenure--England--Worcestershire.   1.2

Lawyers--England--History.    1,2

Phelps, William Law           1,2

Practice of law--England--19th century.      1,2

Rous, Thomas                  1

Savage, Edward                1

Smith, Mr.                    1

Twyning Cowpasture brook      2

                        Table of Contents

                            Ms. Hut 8

Provenance..........................................1

Biographical Note...................................1

Scope and Content Note..............................1

Container List......................................3

Index...............................................4