Identity area
Authorized form of name
Description area
History
The most illustrious member of the family was Sir Lancelot Shadwell (1771-1850), last vice-chancellor of England. The eldest son of Lancelot Shadwell, a barrister and "an eminent conveyancer", Sir Lancelot was appointed a King's counsel in 1821. After a short parliamentary career lasting from 1826 to 1827, he took up the vice-chancellorship in 1827, a position which he held until his death.
The personal and business papers in this collection mostly relate to Sir Lancelot's son, Alfred Hudson Shadwell, a solicitor, who died in 1884. He inherited estates at Greenford and Northolt in 1857 from his uncle Charles Shadwell who was also engaged in the practice of law.
{References: Dictionary of National Biography, Vol.XVII; V.C.H. Middlesex Vol. IV}.