Catton Hall Archive

Acquisition of the estate, family, official and political papers of the Derbyshire families of Horton of Catton, Wilmot of Osmaston-by-Derby and Wilmot-Horton of Catton and Osmaston and of the families into which they married, spanning over five hundred years. They include the papers of Sir Robert John Wilmot Horton MP (1784-1841), Under Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Governor of Ceylon, and a prominent political pamphleteer and publicist with a wide circle of influential correspondents. His papers cover a wide range of political and social concerns particularly emigration, economic policy, the poor, slavery and the Catholic question. The archive had been on loan to Derby Record Officer for almost 30 years.