Cliffe/Vigors Family and Estate Papers

Repository: National Archives of Ireland

Identity Statement

TitleCliffe/Vigors Family and Estate Papers
Archive ReferenceIE 0625/1096
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/cliffevigors-family-estate-papers
Creation Dates1611-1930
Extent Medium28 boxes

Context

Creator(s): Vigors family of Burgage, County Carlow Cliffe family of New Ross, County Wexford

  • Administrative History ↴

    Many members of the Cliffe family were sovereigns and recorders of New Ross (Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. ix, 1889, 312-17). Besides intermarrying with their cousins, the Vigors, the Cliffe family married members of the Leigh and Tottenham families, these were also prominent in New Ross life (Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland), [op. cit.]. Col Philip Doyne Vigors (1825-1903) was a Vice President of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. He published numerous articles in its Journal on New Ross and was preparing a work on the history of the Vigors family (Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. xiv, 1904, 87-7). His comments and initials are visible on many bundles of documents in this collection and are marked in this list in bold. It presumably was he who collected and preserved the material on the Cliffe, Wilson, Vigors, Leigh and Tottenham families.
  • Archival History ↴

    The papers of the Vigors family were accessioned 16 March 1979, received from Terence C. Vigors of County Carlow
  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Donation

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: Vigors family of Burgage, County Carlow Cliffe family of New Ross, County Wexford ↴

    The documents in this collection fall into neat groups. By far the largest section is that devoted to the legal work of Bartholomew Cliffe, Exchequer Attorney, who resided at New Ross. Many members of the Cliffe family were sovereigns and recorders of New Ross (Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. ix, 1889, 312-17.)
    Besides legal material, which is devoted largely to the Cliffe family – where the names of other New Ross sovereigns such as Napper, Tench and Winkworth appear – there is Vigors estate material, religious material relating to the Rev. Thomas Mercer Vigors, of Powerstown, and correspondence to and from members of the Vigors, Cliffe and Dyneley families. These detail life from India and Australia in the mid nineteenth century, county life in Co. Carlow in the early twentieth century, and correspondence with P.O.W.s during World War I.
    In all over two centuries of Wexford and Carlow life are detailed in this collection.

  • Appraisal Destruction ↴

    Those items not required by the National Archives were transferred to the National Museum of Ireland.
  • Arrangement ↴

    The collection is arranged as follows:
    1 Ecclesiastical 1678 – 1866
    2 Estate 1702 – 1902
    3 Household 1735 – 1887
    4 Leases 1673 – 1858
    5 Legal 1720 – 1893
    6 Photographs c.1862 – c.1875
    7 Testamentary 1705 – 1888
    8 John Cliffe 1729 – 1830
    9 Robert Corbet 1779 – 1792
    10 Dyneley Family 1846 – 1932
    11 Rev. Edward Vigors (1747 – 97) 1787 – 1799
    12 Edward Vigors (1878 – 1945) 1878 – 1930
    13 John Cliffe Vigors (1814 – 81) 1838 – 1880
    14 Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 1840) 1800 – 1855
    15 Rev. Thomas M. Vigors (1775 – 1850) 1793 – 1851
    16 Thomas M.C. Vigors (1853 – 1908) 1771 – 1890
    17 Cliffe family 1722 – 1862
    18 Vigors family 1723 – 1892
    19 Miscellaneous 1611 – 1920

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions Open to all with a valid readers' ticket
Conditions Governing ReproductionReproduction is at the discretion of the archivist
Creation Dates1611-1930
Extent Medium28 boxes
Material Language ScriptEnglish
Finding Aids A full descriptive list is available to view online Archive Web Link →

Allied Materials

Related MaterialFurther material relating to the Vigors family is held in the National Archives of Ireland: IE 0625/1140 Papers of Colonel Philip Doyne Vigors

Descriptive Control Area

Archivist NoteAdapted by Natalie Milne, March 2014; enhanced by Aideen Ireland, NAI, September 2014.
Rules/ConventionsISAD(G): General International Standard Archival Description. 2nd ed. Ottawa: International Council on Archives, 2000. National Council on Archives: Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names. Chippenham: National Council on Archives, 1997.
Date of DescriptionsMarch 2014, September 2014.