Packington Hall (Staffordshire) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Packington Hall in Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, England was a country mansion designed by architect James Wyatt

James Wyatt

James Wyatt RA , was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical style, who far outdid Adam in his work in the neo-Gothic style.-Early classical career:...

in the 18th century that was the home of the Levett

Levett

Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...

family for many generations. The Levetts had ties to Whittington, Staffordshire

Whittington, Staffordshire

Whittington is a village and civil parish which lies approximately 3 miles south east of Lichfield in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,591. The parish council is a joint one with Fisherwick...

and nearby Hopwas

Hopwas

Hopwas is a village in Staffordshire, England. It lies just over west of Tamworth and east of Lichfield. It is situated where the A51 road crosses both the River Tame and the Coventry Canal...

for many years.

Packington Hall is located approximately two miles from Lichfield, and was likely built for Zachary Babington

Zachary Babington

Zachary Babington , High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1713 and 1724, was a barrister.He was the son of John Babington , and was named for his grandfather Dr. Zachary Babington, chancellor of Lichfield Cathedral...

whose daughter Mary Babington married Theophilus Levett, town clerk of Lichfield. From Theophilus Levett the home passed to a succession of family members, including MP John Levett, the Rev. Thomas Levett

Thomas Levett (rector)

Rev. Thomas Levett served as rector of Whittington, Staffordshire, for 40 years, and as a large landowner in addition to being clergy, played a role in the development of Staffordshire's educational system. He was also a member of one of Staffordshire's longest-serving families in ecclesiastical...

, who was the vicar of Whittington, and Robert Thomas Kennedy Levett, DL

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

, JP

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

.

The Levett family, many of whom also resided at Wychnor Hall

Wychnor Hall

Wychnor Hall is an early 18th century country house near Burton on Trent, Staffordshire. Formerly owned by the Levett family, descendants of Theophilus Levett, Steward of the city of Lichfield in the early eighteenth century, the hall has been converted to a Country Club. It is a Grade II listed...

in the same county, embraced vicars, MP's, barristers and soldiers. Levetts of Wychnor and Packington also served as High Sheriff of Staffordshire

High Sheriff of Staffordshire

This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Staffordshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...

. The family was related to the Levetts of Milford Hall

Milford Hall

Milford Hall is a privately owned 18th-century country mansion house at Milford, near Stafford. It is the home of the Levett Haszard family and is a Grade II listed building....

in the same county, as well as to the Floyer

Floyer

Floyer may refer to:* John Floyer , English physician and writer* Floyer Sydenham , English classical scholar...

s of Hints Hall, Hints, Staffordshire

Hints, Staffordshire

Hints is a small village and civil parish between Lichfield and Tamworth in Staffordshire, within Lichfield local government district. The village is on the line of Watling Street, which was formerly the A5, but the A5 now runs in a cutting north of the village. The name of the parish council is...

, the Gresleys

Gresley Baronets

The Baronetcy of Gresley of Drakelow was created in the Baronetage of England on 29 June 1611 for George Gresley of Drakelow Hall, Derbyshire who was later High Sheriff of Derbyshire and Member of Parliament for Newcastle under Lyme .The Gresleys were an ancient Norman family, descended from Nigel...

of Drakelow

Drakelow

Drakelow is a hamlet in the parish of Church Gresley in South Derbyshire, England. It is two and a half miles south-west of Burton on Trent. It is pleasantly situated on the east bank of the River Trent. Drakelowe Hall was the principal residence of the Gresley Baronets, but this has been replaced...

, the Arkwrights, the Disbrowes, the Wilmot-Sitwells, the Prinsep

Prinsep

Prinsep may mean any of several notable members of the British Prinsep family.The family descended from John Prinsep, an 18th-century merchant who was the son of Rev. John Prinsep, rector of Saundby, Nottinghamshire, and Bicester, Oxfordshire...

s, the Repingtons, the Parkyns

Parkyns Baronets

The Parkyns Baronetcy, of Bunney Park in Nottinghamshire, is a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 18 May 1681 for Thomas Parkyns. On 3 October 1795 Thomas Parkyns Member of Parliament for Stockbridge and Leicester and son and heir of the third Baronet, was raised to the Peerage...

, the Kennedys of Culzean

Culzean Castle

Culzean Castle is a castle near Maybole, Carrick, on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland...

and others. The several Levett byways in Lichfield

Lichfield

Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...

are named for the family.

The last member of the Levett family to reside at Packington Hall was Rev. Thomas Prinsep Levett, son of Col. Robert Thomas Kennedy Levett, and graduate of Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College, Cambridge

Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...

, and a longserving clergyman at Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond is a market town and civil parish on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and serves as the Park's main tourist centre...

and Selby Abbey

Selby Abbey

Selby Abbey is an Anglican parish church in the town of Selby, North Yorkshire.-Background:It is one of the relatively few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period, and, although not a cathedral, is one of the biggest...

. Rev. Thomas P. Levett died at Frenchgate, Richmond, in 1938. Rev. Thomas Levett's brother Robert Kennedy Levett attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...

, and also chose a career in the ministry. Another brother, George Arthur Monro Levett, went up to Christ's College, Cambridge

Christ's College, Cambridge

Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...

after Clifton College

Clifton College

Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...

, and became a land agent

Land agent

Land agent may be used in at least three different contexts.Traditionally, a land agent was a managerial employee who conducted the business affairs of a large landed estate for a member of the landed gentry of the United Kingdom, supervising the farming of the property by farm labourers and/or...

in Kent.

Packington Hall was subsequently sold to the Bowden cable

Bowden cable

A Bowden cable is a type of flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force or energy by the movement of an inner cable relative to a hollow outer cable housing...

manufacturing company CTP Gills Ltd., which manufactures parts for automotive companies. The company occupied the home in the 1940s when its factory in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

was bombed. CTP Gills was sold in 2006 to Suprajit, an Indian engineering firm. In 2007 Gills Cables Ltd vacated the property and moved to a smaller factory in Tamworth

Tamworth

Tamworth is a town and local government district in Staffordshire, England, located north-east of Birmingham city centre and north-west of London. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker...

External links

Packington Hall, Home of Rev. Thomas Levett, Whittington, Staffordshire. Photograph ca 1900

External links

Further reading