Biography of Anne Chambers, née Mellish (1781-1855)
Anne (whose name was often spelt Ann) was the elder daughter of Charles Mellish of Blyth. She was baptised on 11 April 1781 at Marylebone parish church in London.
She inherited Hodsock Priory and the other Mellish family estates on the death of her brother Henry Francis Mellish in 1817, in the same year as the death of her husband William Cecil Chambers, which also brought her some Chambers family property, principally in Derbyshire.
She improved Hodsock Priory in 1829-1833 by building a new south wing and Italian terrace in the Gothic Revival style. Both her sons predeceased her, so on her death in 1855 the estates passed to her cousin William Leigh Mellish.
Family
She married William Cecil Chambers (1768-1817), eldest son of the Rev. William Chambers, rector of Achurch, Northamptonshire but originally of Derby, in 1811 and had:
- William Mellish Chambers (1812-1845), barrister
- Charles Henry Chambers (c.1816-1840), served in the army
The Chambers family tree was as follows:
- Thomas Chambers, had:
- John Chambers, of Derby, m. Elizabeth and had:
- William Chambers (c.1724-1777), clergyman. m Dorothy Rolleston (-1809), daughter of the Rev. John Rolleston of Watnall, Nottinghamshire, and had:
- William Cecil Chambers (1768-1817)
- Lancelot Chambers (1773-), of Morden, Surrey
- A daughter
- Hannah Sophia Chambers (-1765), m Brownlow Cecil, 8th Earl of Exeter (-1754)
Archive Collections
- Papers relating to Anne Chambers are part of the Mellish Collection held in Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham
- Papers of the Mellish Chambers family of Hodsock are held at Nottinghamshire Archives (reference: DD/2103)