Papers of Lieutenant-General Thomas Marten and Caroline Harriet Marten of Beverley

1 - 13 Accounts and Finance

14 - 17 Correspondence

216/18 - 27 Deeds of Title

216/28 - 43 Newspapers and Press Cuttings

216/44 - 46 Wills

216/47 - 101 Miscellaneous

The papers of Thomas Marten and Caroline Harriet Marten (nee Ellison) comprise mainly family accounts and wills with a large number of papers relating to the military career of Thomas Marten in the Royal Dragoons.

Accounts and financial papers include early nineteenth century records of the Ellison family, a bank book for Thomas Marten 1866-68, accounts for his funeral in 1868 and a household account book for Caroline Marten 1882.

Correspondence in the collection to Thomas Marten is from members of the Royal Dragoons and the Dublin United Services Club and topics include troop organisation in Ireland and Waterloo. Letters to Caroline Harriet Marten are about her property and local families. There is also a little correspondence between Sir George D'Aguiler and Lord Raglan and between the solicitor Thomas Crust and the legatees of the will of Caroline Marten. The collection also contains the marriage settlement of Thomas Marten and Caroline Harriet Ellison (1825) and the wills of Henry Ellison (1831), Thomas Marten (1869) and Caroline Harriet Marten (1880; codicils of 1881 and 1882).

This collection is rich in press cuttings about military affairs, especially the Crimean War. It also contains various documents such as orders, billeting details and mess rules for the Royal Dragoons and a historical record of the 1st Dragoons. Miscellaneous items include a general order for the funeral of the duke of Wellington and a letter to Thomas Marten as bannerol in the funeral about the necessary mourning apparel, as well as invitations to dinner with the duke of Wellington and the earl of Lichfield. There is a bundle of papers concerning the Chartist riots in Sheffield 1839-1840 as well as the colonel's epaulettes and two pairs of shoe buckles.

All the papers in the collection relate to Thomas Marten who married Caroline Harriet Ellison in 1825. Her father was Henry Ellison of St Mary's Manor in Beverley, who left her a considerable inheritance. Thomas Marten was lieutenant-colonel in the 1st Dragoons serving in Ireland from 1835. He briefly retired but was asked to resume command of the Royal Dragoons in 1839 to deal with the Chartist riots in Sheffield. In the 1850s he volunteered for the Crimean War. In 1868 he died. He and his wife had no children and he left his stocks and shares to his brothers, Henry Marten and William Marten, as well as some of his capital assets to his nephew Thomas Wright Marten. Caroline Harriet died in 1882 and left the remainder of the estate to a number of indirect relatives and the papers and memorabilia of the couple came into the hands of their solicitor at that time.

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