University Archives
Lloyd-Greame family, of Sewerby
The estate papers in this collection relate to the manor of Sewerby, Bridlington, which was in the hands of the de Sewerdby family from at least the twelfth century until descendants in a female line sold it in 1545. It passed to the Carliell (Carlisle) family of Bootham, York, until 1714 when it was sold to John Greame (1664-1746). The Greame family had originated in Scotland before moving south and establishing themselves in and around Bridlington as yeoman farmers and merchants. John Greame (1709-1798) and his wife, Alicia Mary ('Almary') Spencer (1724-1812) greatly improved the house and gardens, work that was continued by their nephew, John Greame (1759-1841). He married an heiress, Sarah Yarburgh of Heslington, who was descended from a family who had held lands in Lincolnshire from the time of the Norman Conquest, and then Anne Elizabeth Broadley, daughter of Isaac Broadley of the merchant family of Hull and Brantingham. Yarburgh Greame (1782-1856), inherited estates in Lincolnshire from his mother's family and added the surname Yarburgh, becoming Yarburgh Yarburgh. He also greatly improved the Sewerby estates and built Sewerby Church in a neo-Norman style between 1846-8. He was High Sheriff of Yorkshire. His sister, Alicia Mary Greame (1783-1867), inherited. She was married to George Lloyd (1787-1863) from a family of merchants and lawyers of Stockton Hall, York. When they died, George John Lloyd, succeeded to the Heslington estates and assumed the name Yarburgh and Yarburgh Gamaliel Lloyd (1813-1890), who was vicar of Dunston in Lincolnshire, succeeded to Sewerby House and estates of around 7000 acres in the East and North Riding and added the surname Greame, becoming Yarburgh Gamaliel Lloyd-Greame. His son, Yarburgh George Lloyd-Greame (1840-1928), became a colonel in the Yorkshire Artillery and was married to Dora Letitia O'Brien, second daughter of James Thomas O'Brien (1792-1874), Bishop of Ossory, Ferns and Leighlin, the noted evangelical theologian of the Church of Ireland whose papers, including 12 bozes of sermons and the correspondence of his wife, are embedded in the family collection. In 1934 the Sewerby estate was sold to Bridlington Corporation and it is now open to the public. The papers of the Lloyd-Greame family number circa 4500 items. The collection is rich in title deeds for Yorkshire including many medieval deeds. There are rentals, settlements and wills for Sewerby in particular. There are a number of items of particular interest for church history including a 1684 justice's warrant to levy fines on 25 named people at a conventicle held in Bridlington, records relevant to the building and early years of Sewerby church 1845-1848 and Sewerby parish records. This collection is also rich in maps and plans including an illuminated plan of Little Hatfield by John Carr (1717). There are also manorial records for Grindale 1670-1865. There are several items of Sir George T M O'Brien who was Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong 1892-5 and Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific 1897-1902 and letters about the publication of The flaw in the marble written by his daughter, Alice O'Brien, in 1896. In addition there are two seventeenth-century farming and personal account books which include some medicinal recipes and servants' wages. The collection also contains appointments and commissions (1648-1880) for members of the Carliell and Greame families. Family correspondence begins in 1704 and includes letters to Yarburgh Gamaliel Lloyd Greame 1854-1890 about estate affairs and 20 letters to him from Yarburgh George Lloyd on board the RMSS Pacific in the Americas. [DDLG; DDLG(2)]