Download/Print Selected Image
Copy Caption to clipboard
Probert, John, active 1764, A survey and valuation of estates the property of Nicholas Smyth Esqr. and his Lady , 1767
- Title(s):
- A survey and valuation of estates the property of Nicholas Smyth Esqr. and his Lady : lying in the several parishes of Condover, Berrington, St. Chadd, Westbury, Pontesbury, and Pulverbatch : and in the several townships of Condover, Ryeton Magna, Ryeton Parva, Dorrington, Chatford, Westley, Little Lyth, Cantop, Alkmoor, Westbury, Pontesbury, Oaks, Wrentnall, Church Pulverbatch and Castle Pulverbatch, in the county of Salop. : made in 1767 / by their most obedt. servt., J. Probert.
- Published/Created:
- England, 1767.
- Physical Description:
- 1 volume (122 leaves) : illustrations, maps ; 36 cm
- Holdings:
- Rare Books and ManuscriptsIn Process G5753.S4 S87 1767+ OversizeYale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon CollectionView by request in the Study Room [Request]
Note: The Study Room is open by appointment. Please visit the Study Room page on our website for more details. - Copyright Status:
- Copyright Information
- Full Orbis Record:
- http://hdl.handle.net/10079/bibid/12793323
- Classification:
- Maps & Atlas (printed)
- Notes:
- The surveyor John Probert (ca. 1731-1818) mapped many estates in west Shropshire and portions of Montgomeryshire. In early life, he was a shoe cleaner, before moving to Powis Castle as a stable assistant. He remained employed by the Powis family from 1769 until as late as 1815. He eventually became manager of the Powis estates, along with those of the families Clive and (perhaps) Mytton. An account of Probert is available in: Silvester, R.J. "John Probert and the map of Trefnant township." The Montgomeryshire Collections 89 (2001): 163-178. And: Silvester, R.J. "John Probert of Copthorne: a Georgian land agent." Transactions of the Shropshire Archaelogical Society LXXXIV (2009): 51-71.
On Jan. 29, 1767, Nicholas Smyth, of Nibley, married Anna Maria Leighton, who was made heir to the Condover estates by the will of her grandmother, Letitia Mytton, of Halston. Condover Hall, built in 1598, remained in the hands of the Owen family for many years, and subsequently to Edward Pemberton and Reginald Cholmondley. See: Smyth, John. The Berkley manuscripts. Gloucester: John Bellows, 1883.
Bound in contemporary gold tooled red morocco.
Manuscript survey, by John Probert, of the Shropshire estates of Nicholas Smyth. The survey includes 44 maps and appears to be entirely the work of Probert, whose name appears on the title page. The entirety of the survey is written on vellum. Tabular valuations are written in black ink, with ruling in red ink. The maps are drawn in pen and black ink with light use of gray wash.
The title page features an elaborate frame incorporating illustrations of flora and fauna. It also frames a key to the symbols used in the accompanying maps. The volume includes a slightly inconsistent pagination, and page numbers are referenced in the abstract beginning on the verso of leaf 117. In total, the estates occupied over 8273 acres. The abstract includes columns for recording yearly values and yearly rents, but this information is incompletely recorded. Tables for evaluations of individual farms record the names of fields and tennants, acreage, the quality of land (meadow, watered, garden,arable, etc.), and the the value per acre.
The detailed maps show dwellings, out buildings, fences and gates, walls, gardens, orchards, hedges, pastures, arable lands, lanes, open roads, rivers, ponds, mounds, and hills. Each maps also includes a cartouche, a scale (in chains) and the names of neighboring estates. Most maps occupy a full page. There are three folding maps, including: Map of Condover Demesne (leaf 9); Map of cottages and inclosures within the manor of Westbury, the property of Nicholas Smyth Esqr., and his Lady (leaf 79); and Map of estates in the township and parish of Pontesbury and county of Salop, the property of Nichs. Smyth Esq ... (leaf 84).
The beginning of the volume also includes information about Condover Hall, including a plan of the hall and two full-page views, followed by brief descriptions of the "manor house" and of the "Lords of the Manor of Condover." - Subject Terms:
- Abbey, J. R. -- Ownership.Boundaries (Estates) -- England -- Shropshire.Condover Hall (Shrewsbury, England)Land tenure -- England -- Shropshire.Owen family.Probert, John, active 1764.Real property -- Great Britain -- Shropshire.Shropshire (England) -- Maps.Smyth, Anna Maria.Smyth, Nicholas.Surveying -- Instruments.
- Form/Genre:
- Maps -- England -- Shropshire.
Land surveys -- England -- Shropshire.
Ink drawings.
Watercolors. - Export:
- XML
- IIIF Manifest:
- JSON