The Sheridan of Frampton archive is that of the Sheridan family who lived at Frampton House near Dorchester from 1835 until it was demolished in 1932.
This collection includes plans and maps of Frampton House and the surrounding area, but also includes personal diaries, poetry and manuscripts from the members of the Sheridan family. From these personal documents you get a real sense of the individual members of the family.
Frampton House was not originally owned by the Sheridan family, Richard Brinsley Sheridan (the grandson of the famous Irish playwright of the same name) eloped with Marcia Maria Grant in 1835, the only daughter of Sir John Colquhoun Grant who owned Frampton House. This seems to have been somewhat of a family tradition, as many of the men in the Sheridan family ran away and married in secret. Not long after their marriage, Maria’s father passed away and the house became the property of the Sheridan family.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan was an MP and had an impressive political career in Dorset. He was the High Sheriff for Dorset in 1838, an MP for Shaftesbury (1845-1852) and Dorchester (1852-1868), he was also Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset. If you want to learn more about Richard, we hold a number of his diaries dated between 1849 and 1875 (D-SHE/15/1 – 11).
These diaries contain notes on his day to day life and expenditures, but also gives us an insight into life at Frampton. He records some notable events, including details of a fire at Frampton in 1859 that caused extensive damage, and a visit from the Queen of the Netherlands in 1872.
There is a lovely journal in this collection by Charles K Sheridan, Richards brother (D/SHE/13). Charles recorded the details of a voyage he took around Portugal and Spain in 1837 for his mother and sisters to read. From the first few pages, you can tell that he had a mischievous personality and close relationship with his family. The journal begins, with the line
‘Journal of Charles K. Sheridan who circumnavigated the Atlantic on the bottom crust of a twopenny loaf’.
The diary is dotted with several illustrations by Charles, many of them being drawings of himself as a sailor. Before he starts to record his journey, there is a warning to unauthorised readers:
‘As the following pages were only intended for my own amusement, and the perusal of my Mother, and sisters, should anyone else get hold of it, and find fault with the spelling … I hereby declare they are liars and cowards’.
Unfortunately, Charles died at the British embassy in Paris in 1847, after what contemporary newspapers described as ‘a long illness’ aged only 30. The parish records show that he was buried in Frampton on the 10th June 1847.
Within the collection, there is also a scrap book of poetry, most of it by Caroline Norton which was originally owned by her mother Caroline Henrietta Sheridan (D-SHE/11). Caroline Norton was Richard sister, and a well-known poet and reformer.
Caroline married George Norton in 1827 and they had three sons together, but by 1835 their relationship had broken down. In June 1836, George Norton brought a case to court against his wife and Lord Melbourne (the then Prime Minister), and tried to sue Melbourne for £10,000 in damages for adultery. Even though the case was quickly dismissed, Caroline was left penniless and her husband got custody of their children. This led Caroline to campaign for rights for women after separating from or divorcing their husbands. Her campaigning led to two laws being passed, The Infant Custody Act in 1839 and the Matrimonial Causes Act in 1857
This relatively small collection gives us a great insight into the extended Sheridan family, we hope you enjoyed finding out about them. You are welcome to visit Dorset History Centre to have a look at some of the records mentioned, or others relating to the Sheridan family. We have now re-opened on a limited basis, so please do get in touch: archives@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk