George Booth (1675-1758), 2nd Earl of Warrington, built up an outstanding collection of silverware at Dunham Massey, much of it the work of Huguenot artists. On his death the collection, together with the rest of the Booth family's property, passed to his daughter Mary, and thence to the Earls of Stamford. The collection of plate at Dunham Massey remained largely intact until the 7th Earl of Stamford vacated the Hall in 1855 and all the pieces, with the exception of the Chapel plate, were removed to Enville. Under the will of the 7th Earl, Enville Hall and the silver collection were inherited by a distant branch of the Grey family. However Roger Grey, 10th Earl of Stamford, bought back a substantial portion of the collection in the Foley-Grey sales of 1921 and 1931, and it is now on display at Dunham Massey Hall. For a detailed study of the 2nd Earl of Warrington's collection of plate see J.F. Hayward, 'The Earl of Warrington's Plate', Apollo, July 1978, pp. 32-9.
In addition to George Booth's personal inventory of plate referred to below, there are four inventories dating from the periods of the 5th and 6th Earls of Stamford. Each contains detailed records of every single piece of silver and silver gilt in the Hall, including the weight in ounces and drams.
[Plate is also recorded in the general inventories of household goods (EGR7/17 above). Within EGR3, Papers of the Booth Family, there is a detailed inventory of plate compiled by George Booth (1675-1758), 2nd Earl of Warrington, in 1750-4 (EGR3/6/2/11). Many of the pieces appear in the later inventories listed here. The papers of George Harry Grey (1737-1819), 5th Earl of Stamford, contain two invoices from Robert Garrard of London, goldsmith and jeweller, dated 29 May 1813 and 1 June 1815, for £310 16s 3d and £161 15s 4d respectively, for making, repairing, regilding and altering articles of silver (EGR4/1/6/21/4 & EGR4/1/6/23/60); there were deductions from both bills in consideration of the sale of old pieces of silver.]