Talk:Littleton baronets

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Sir Edward Littleton (died 1610)[edit]

I've found nothing to support that he was MP for Stafford in 1597, so removed that statement. History of Parliament online gives Sir Edward Stafford, not Littleton, and Henry Bourchier, as MPs that year. The footnote to VCH does not help: it just gives dates.

In fact Littleton was an unsuccessful candidate for the Staffordshire seat (which is quite different) in 1597. He was actually elected with a large majority but tricked out of the seat by the Dudley family and the Sheriff, so never became an MP. I'll cover the story in a short biography soon. Sjwells53 (talk) 13:51, 21 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Biography now uploaded Sjwells53 (talk) 15:30, 23 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Edward Littleton (died 1630)[edit]

Unfortunately, every source I've consulted says he died in 1629. In fact, he was buried in July, which rules out calendrical confusion. I'm not ready to write a biography yet, so there's plenty of time to prove me wrong about this. However, I'll try to cover him later this year, and at that point I'll chnge it here and chase it through Wikipedia. Sjwells53 (talk) 15:30, 23 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I would suggest that you consult primary scources, if you can. My (ancient) copy of Burkes Peerage (1939 edn, s.v. Hatherton) gives the date as 25 August 1630. Peterkingiron (talk) 14:01, 24 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Not so, however, Victoria County History, or the local church, where he is buried, although I think they may just have accepted VCH, which they reprint for the use of visitors. VCH actually repeats the date 1629 for his death a total of three times, and cites Burke 1931. It also uses that year as a baseline for comparison of values and incomes of Littleton property, suggesting that a will was executed in that year, and it cites a document in the county record office, which I suspect is part of the process. FamilySearch, which is not always reliable, gives burial as 26 Jul 1629, so a death date in 1630 would suggest he was buried alive. History of Parliament online doesn't have a biography until later this year, but already has him on the 1604-29 index page for members as dying in 1629. The printed source behind this is dated 2010. None of these, or Burke, which seems to vary, is primary, but I think they are pretty good secondary sources, and that's what Wikipedia generally insists on. The church will probably still have some records on the premises, so I could trouble the vicar for them, although I'm not expert in handling original documents from the period, and I think that counts as "original research" if anything does. I'm still not certain myself but my guess is the 1630 date is simply a mistake and that it ought to be changed in line with the great majority of reliable sources. Sjwells53 (talk) 10:54, 25 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's probably time to make the change. History of Parliament for the period is now online and confirms the 1629 date yet again. It cites the parish register, which was published by the Staffs county record office a long time ago and is at present out of print. Apart from some editions of Burke, I can't see there's much to base a date of 1630 on.Sjwells53 (talk) 17:29, 21 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]