Harley Tidbits

From time to time the Harley Surname List at Rootsweb receives information that falls into an unspecified category. This page will contain those submissions...

• Submitted by Michael Harley: Margaret Harley Bentinck and her husband William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, developed the farm property they owned near London called Marylebone; thus many street names and squares are familiar names, these include Oxford St, Wimpole St, Henrietta St, Margaret St, Portland St, Mortimer St, Cavendish St, Vere St, and of course the most famous of them all, Harley St.
  
  In 1753, Margaret and her mother, Henrietta, Countess of Oxford, sold the balance of the great Library which became the Harleian Manuscripts Collection of the British Library , Margaret's son William Harley was twice Prime Minister of England.
  
  For those interested in further reading, The University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections contains the Papers of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland in the Portland Collection
  
  

• Submitted by Michael Harley: Ships in Port during 1881 census...Royal Navy training ship IMPLACABLE in port at Davenport England 1881, on board was James H. Harley, aged 17 years, nationality shown as Scottish.
  
  

• Submitted by Dianne Harley Wintch: WIGMORE CASTLE..."There has been a castle at Wigmore since 1069, although the surviving ruins date from the 13th and 14th centuries and represent the fortress of the Mortimer dynasty from which they controlled large parts of central Wales. Passing to Richard, Duke of York, and ultimately to Edward IV, it became a royal castle. Ludlow offered better accomodations and Wigmore was rarely used, being partly ruinous by the 16th century. Sold by Elizabeth I in 1601 to the Harleys of nearby Brampton Bryan, it was technically held by Sir Robert Harley for Parliament in the Civil War. However, he could not garrison it, and rather than risk its being seized for the crown, it was slighted before it saw any action. As a consequence, it was not remodelled in the 16th century and its defences were not modified in the 17th century, leaving the medieval castle remarkably undisturbed."
  
  For further reading of Wigmore's significance as an historical archeological resource, and the Monument Protection Programme's attempts at preservation, visit English Heritage: Archeological Review 1995/96, Midland Properties.