| Located At | Staffordshire Record Office |
| Level | Section |
| Title | Newport family of High Ercall and Weston under Lizard, Earls of Bradford of the first creation |
| Administrative History | By her marriage to Richard Newport, 2nd Earl of Bradford (1st creation) in 1681 Mary Wilbraham brought the Newports to Weston. The Newport family had long been established in Shropshire, as lords of High Ercall since the 15th century and occasionally sheriffs of Shropshire since the 16th. They were always loyal to the Crown and were active in the Royalist cause during the Civil War. Their loyalty was rewarded by being raised to the peerage as Lords Newport in 1642, as Vicounts Newport in 1674 and as Earls of Bradford in 1694. Richard Newport succeeded as 2nd Earl of Bradford in 1708 and two of his sons by his marriage with Mary Wilbraham succeeded in turn as 3rd and 4th Earls both dying without issue. Upon the death of Mary, Countess of Bradford in 1737 the Weston estate passed to her son Thomas, the 4th Earl.
In 1762 on the death of Thomas Newport, his estates at Weston and Walsall, inherited through his mother, and those in Shropshire at High Ercall, inherited through his father, devolved upon his sister Diana, Countess of Mountrath, and Henry Bridgeman, his nephew. They both joined in a deed of partition in 1763, by which the late Earl's estates were divided into two, the Walsall lot and the Weston lot. Lady Mountrath and Sir Henry Bridgeman then literally drew lots for the Newport estates, Lady Mountrath drawing Walsall and Sir Henry, Weston. |
| Date | 1442-1847 |
| Description | The is little in the collection relating to the majority of the Shropshire estates of Henry Newport, 3rd Earl of Bradford, which were left by his will away from his legal heir and passed to his illegitimate son by Ann Smyth and thence to the Pultney family. [See Collections For a History of Staffordshire New Series Volume 2, pages 190-191 for account of the acquisition of the Newport estates by the Pultney family.] |
| Extent | (2 rolls, 10 bundles, 1 volume and 73 items) |
| Access Conditions | Please give minimum of 2 working days' advance notice for production. |
| Notes | Please note that this is a draft catalogue and this description is subject to possible alteration in future. |