CROWN SERVANTS
Series One: The Papers of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, 1593-1641, from Sheffield Archives

"For those interested in unravelling the mysteries of early Stuart Britain, this is the ideal place to start. No scholar can hope to make sense of why Charles I’s three kingdoms slide into Civil war without a thorough understanding of the Wentworth Papers. Any library collection of British History must be regarded as incomplete without this set." 
Professor Thomas Cogswell, Department of History, University of California, Riverside.

The Strafford archive provides a wealth of evidence on the tumultuous confrontation between King and Parliament leading up to the English Civil War.  It includes:

• Correspondence and papers which reflect turning points in Wentworth's career, especially his appointments as Lord President of the Council of the North and as Lord Deputy of Ireland;
• Original letters featuring important topics for the Early Stuart period such as Yorkshire politics, recusancy, and the implementation of financial expedients like knighthood fines and ship money;
• Material on Church affairs and the influence of Archbishop Laud;
• Papers relating to Strafford's trial, which also include diurnal proceedings of both Houses of Parliament, November 1640-May 1641.

"The contents of the collection add greatly to our understanding of government and society in the seventeenth century, particularly political affairs in the 1630s. It will be a great asset to scholars for the collection to be more widely available."
Professor Gerald E. Aylmer, former Master of St Peter’s College, Oxford and author of The King’s Servants: The Civil Service of Charles I, 1625-1642.