| Content Description | Lady Frances Pierrepont was the daughter of the 1st Earl Manvers. In 1802 she married Vice-Admiral William Bentinck, Count Bentinck, grandson of Charlotte Sophie, Countess Bentinck. William Bentinck had inherited the estate at Doorwerth in The Netherlands on his grandmother's death in 1800. He died in 1813. In his will, he bequeathed Doorwerth to his third son Charles Aldenburg Bentinck (1810-1891). Lady Frances acted as a guardian to Charles until he came of age, and an administratrix of his goods. The Doorwerth estate had been sequestrated during the occupation by the French. In 1813, Lady Frances and her lawyers began work on taking control of the estate again and proving Charles's title to it.
In 1821, Lady Frances married Henry William Stephens. Charles came of age in 1831, and sold Doorwerth in 1837 to Jacob Adriaan Prosper, Baron van Brakell (1808-1853).
This series of correspondence deals mainly with legal issues concerning the title to Doorwerth. There are also some papers relating to the family's other estate at Varel and Kniphausen, Germany. |