The borough of Tamworth

TAMWORTH

The borough of Tamworth, on the borders of Staffordshire and Warwickshire, lay partly in each county until 1888, when it was transferred wholly to Staffordshire, in which county its history will be dealt with in detail. The Castle, of which several Warwickshire manors were held, was held by the family of Marmion from the end of the 11th century until the end of the 13th, when it passed by the marriage of a co-heiress of Philip Marmion to Alexander Frevile. In this family it descended for six generations, until on the death of Sir Baldwin Frevile in 1419 it went to his sister Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Ferrers. On the death of John Ferrers in 1680 his heir was his granddaughter Anne, wife of Robert Shirley, eldest son of Lord Ferrers of Chartley. Their daughter and eventual heir Elizabeth married Sir James Compton, subsequently Earl of Northampton. (fn. 1) The countess died in 1741 and her daughter and eventual sole heir Charlotte in 1751 married George, Viscount Townshend, whose son George became 1st Marquess Townshend in 1786. After the death of the 3rd Marquess in 1811 the estates were sold to John Robins, a London auctioneer, and on his death in 1831 were broken up, but the castle was bought by the trustees of Lord Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend. (fn. 2) In 1897 the Corporation of Tamworth acquired from the 5th Marquess Townshend the castle and manorial rights. (fn. 3)

Some portions of the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Tamworth and formerly chapelries or hamlets thereof remain in Warwickshire and constitute the modern parishes of Amington with Stonydelph, Bolehall with Glascote, and Wilnecote with Castle Liberty. Certain adjustments of the boundaries between the borough and those parishes were made in 1890, 1931, and 1934. (fn. 4)