Add MS 89332

A volume, in two parts, containing manuscript transcriptions of letters and documents compiled by Walter Fawkes and relating to the Hawksworth family. The first part of the volume contains transcripts of correspondence, dating 1663-1667, and the second part consists of transcripts of documents such as wills, deeds, and surveys, relating to the Hawksworth family and their property, dating 1252-1668.

The volume contains material relating to the Farnley Wood Plot of 1663, an unsuccessful Parliamentarian uprising in Farnley, West Yorkshire, that sought to overthrow the newly restored monarchy.

The copies of letters in the volume's first section are written in secretary hand and contain correspondence between several parties and individuals, including Walter Hawksworth, Henry Bennet (1st Earl of Arlington), George Villiers (2nd Duke of Buckingham), Richard Boyle (Earl of Burlington), John Goodricke, King Charles II, John Dawnay (1st Viscount Downe), John Rushworth, and William Morrice. The letters mostly pertain to matters of government and finance, though there is also letter giving an account of the Great Fire of London, 1666.

The transcribed documents of the second section are written in italic hand and are mostly in English, though also contain Latin and some French. The transcripts replicate original documents and closely copy written text, seals, and coats of arms. The documents are mostly medieval wills and deeds that remained in possession of the Hawksworth family in 1666.