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Plumer Family Collection
MS.2018.026
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Title: Plumer Family Collection
Creator:
Plumer, Thomas, 1711-1781
Creator:
Plumer, Joseph, 1716-1747
Creator:
Plumer, Hall, 1751-1820
Creator:
Plumer family
Identifier/Call Number: MS.2018.026
Physical Description:
.5 Linear feet
1 box
Date (inclusive): 1730-1882
Abstract: Collection of
manuscript notebooks, letters, and documents from 18th-19th c., spanning several generations
of the Plumer family and their distant relations. Multiple items have been annotated in 1858
by a likely relative, Thomas C. Price, Vicar of St. Augustine, Bristol.
Language of Material:
English .
Thomas Plumer (1711-1781) of Lilling Hall in North Riding, Yorkshire, was a London wine
merchant and father to five children, including two sons, Hall (1751-1820) and Thomas
(1753-1824). The former was a civil servant and public works contractor who owned a 43-acre
estate called 'The Pantheon' in what is now Chennai, India. The estate, sold in 1793,
eventually became the Chennai Museum. Hall's brother, Thomas, was a judge, politican and
Master of the Rolls.
This collection consists of various materials spanning several generations of the Plumer
family, including notes and letters of Thomas Plumer (1711-1781), a Latin exercise book of
his brother, Joseph (1716-1747), and a manuscript notebook of Tamil translations written by
Thomas's son, Hall Plumer (1751-1820). The majority of Thomas' letters are addressed to his
wife Nancy, though he also writes to his sister-in-law, Betsy, and a Reverand Mr. Hazeland
of Tottenham, to whom he has entrusted the education of his two sons.
Other materials in the collection include an 18th c. epitaph and religious poem presumably
written by Thomas, a record of the Hall family (Alice Hall was Thomas' mother), legal wills
of Thomas Plumer and Rev. Francis Plumer, a marriage settlement, financial accounts of
Susanna Plumer, notes on the history of local castles, and letters from various Plumer
relations.
This collection is open for research.
[Identification of item, Box/Folder number], Plumer Family Collection, MS.2018.026, William
Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Collection processed and described by Sacha Schneider, 2020.
Clark Library purchase, Dean Cooke, 2018.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Letters -- England -- 18th century
Letters -- England -- 19th century
Plumer, Thomas, Sir,
1753-1824