Papers of Dodson and Pulman, Solicitors of Taunton

Among the papers archived with the Somerset Record Office by the legal firm of Dodson and Pulman, of Taunton in Somerset, are a collection of documents relating to the estate and affairs of the Lethbridge family, formerly of Sandhill Park, near Taunton and Westway House, Devon.

A bundle of 60 or so documents (catalogued DD\DP 17/11) are the surviving records kept between 1798 and 1814 by Taunton attorney Robert Beadon on the matter of Sir John Lethbridge's maintenance of his illegitimate daughter by Mary Jane Vial. The daughter was named Mary Jane after her mother, but later came to be known as Claire Clairmont.

The papers kept by attorney Beadon establish beyond doubt that Sir John Lethbridge accepted (albeit grudgingly) that he was Claire's father, her birth being the result of a liaison with Miss Vial during some undetermined period in 1797.

The depositors and the Somerset Record Office have kindly given permission for me to transcribe the Lethbridge/Vial documents and make the transcriptions available for non-commercial use by scholars, historians, genealogists and others who may be interested in filling in a hitherto blank space in a fascinating history.

How to access the letters

• To view the letters on screen in chronological order, go to 'View the letters' and use the chronological links to open each letter in a separate page.

• To download the letters as Word documents (indexed under their Somerset Record Office copy number), go to 'File downloads'.

• For a summary of the events covered in the letters, as well as links to the more significant, go to the Chronology and events pages.

• To see a complete index of the letters, with notes, comments and editorial conventions used, go to 'The Lethbridge Papers: Index and editorial notes'.

Contact me

I can be contacted by email to maryjanesdaughter@optusnet.com.au

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