Introduction

The wealth and high status of the Leveson-Gower family brought with them high expectations from promoters of social welfare. At a time when local and national government did far less than today to alleviate social problems, the role of charitable gifts and support from wealthy people was much greater.

As landowners in Staffordshire and Shropshire, the Leveson-Gower family provided land and money for the establishment of public buildings including schools, churches and children’s homes. The family were patrons or contributors to many institutions such as hospitals.

The general improvement of the tenants and inhabitants of the estate can be seen in the establishment of the savings banks at Lilleshall and Trentham and in the provision of social infrastructure at Hanford.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Dukes of Sutherland led national philanthropic campaigns in their fundraising work with the Stafford House and Mansion House Committees.

Follow the links below to find out what correspondence, account books, plans and scrapbooks in the Sutherland Papers can tells us about philanthropy on the Sutherland estates…

Philanthropy in the Sutherland Estate Accounts

Click here to see examples of philanthropy in the Sutherland Estate Account books.

Charity in the Sutherland Estate Accounts

Click here to see examples of charity in the Sutherland Estate Account books.

Hanchurch Holiday Home
Philanthropic Hanford
Lodge Porter’s Books
The Duke of Sutherland and Staffordshire Hospitals
Trentham and Lilleshall Savings Banks
The Mansion House Committee and Ireland
The Stafford House Committee and Overseas Aid
Seventeenth Century Charity in Trentham