Richard Freeman of Batsford was an eminent lawyer who became Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1707. His daughter Mary married Walter Edwards and their sons Walter and Thomas assumed the name Edwards Freeman. Thomas Edwards Freeman went on to inherit the Batsford estate, but died in 1808 without heir and devised his estates to his wife's nephew John Mitford. Another eminent lawyer, he was made Solicitor General in 1793, Attorney General in 1799, speaker of the House of Commons in 1801 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1802. He was knighted in 1793 and created Baron Redesdale in 1802. Several other members of the Freeman, Edwards and Mitford families were also lawyers
From the guide to the The Watermark Collection, 1560-1820, (University of Leicester)
