Pipe Roll
(1241-1242)
The Great Rolls of the Pipe are the central record of the crown compiling returns of income and expenditure from the sheriffs and farmers of the various English counties or shires. This is the oldest series of public records, and the earliest surviving instances of many surnames are found in the Pipe Rolls. This is the roll for the 26th year of the reign of king Henry III, that is, accounting for the year from Michaelmas 1241 to Michaelmas 1242. Most (but not all) of the entries in which names appear relate to payments for grants of land and fines or pardons arising from the proceedings of the justices. The text was edited by Henry Lewin Cannon for Yale Historical Publications and printed in 1918. The name of the county is given at the head of each page, and variant spellings, omissions and additions found in the duplicate Chancellor's Roll [C. R.] are given in the footnotes.COKAYNE. Cost: £4.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Patent Rolls: entries for Essex
(1278-1279)
Calendars of the patent rolls of the reign of king Edward I are printed in the Calendars of State Papers: but these cover only a fraction of the material on the rolls. From 1881 to 1889 the reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Record Office also include calendars of other material from the rolls - about five times as many entries as in the State Papers - predominantly mandates to the royal justices to hold sessions of oyer and terminer to resolve cases arising locally; but also other general business. The calendar for the 7th year of king Edward I [20 November 1278 to 19 November 1279], hitherto unindexed, is covered here.COKAYNE. Cost: £6.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Lancashire Assizes
(1202-1285)
All the surviving records of the assizes held by the royal justices in eyre (itinerant) in Lancashire during this period were extracted by colonel John Parker and published by the Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society from 1904. The justices not only tried all civil actions outstanding on their advent, pleas of the crown and common pleas, but also interrogated the juries of each wapentake and borough as to the Capitula Itineries, the Articles of the Eyre, inquiring into the king's proprietary rights, escheats, wardships, and questions of maladministration. Only a dozen complete rolls survive for this period; but Appendix I (pp. 218-253) gathers together from the Patent Rolls of the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) a schedule of Lancashire assizes for which justices were assigned; and Appendix II (306-342) adds the fines and amercements before the justices during that reign, as recorded on the Pipe Rolls.COKAYNE. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Grantees of offices, commissions and pardons
(1317-1321)
The Patent Rolls are the Chancery enrolments of royal letters patent. Those for the 11th to the 14th years of the reign of king Edward II (8 July 1317 to 7 July 1321) were edited for the Public Record Office by G. F. Handcock, and published in 1903. The main contents are royal commissions and grants; ratifications of ecclesiastical estates; writs of aid to royal servants and purveyors; and pardons. Most extensive are the commissions of oyer and terminer to justices to investigate complaints about specific crimes and wrongs in particular counties.COKAYNE. Cost: £2.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Grantees of offices, commissions and pardons
(1350-1354)
The Patent Rolls are the Chancery enrolments of royal letters patent. Those for the 24th to the 27th years of the reign of king Edward III (25 January 1350 to 24 January 1354) were edited for the Public Record Office by R. F. Isaacson, and published in 1907. The main contents are royal commissions and grants; ratifications of ecclesiastical estates; writs of aid to royal servants and purveyors; and pardons. COKAYNE. Cost: £2.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Close Rolls
(1429-1435)
The close rolls of the 8th to 13th years of the reign of king Henry VI record the main artery of government administration in England, the orders sent out day by day to individual officers, especially sheriffs of shires: they are an exceptionally rich source for so early a period. There is also some material relating to Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the English possessions in France. Also included is the Exchange Roll of 1424 to 1434, of licences to transmit sums of money out of the realm.COKAYNE. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Close Rolls
(1441-1447)
The close rolls of the 20th to 25th years of the reign of king Henry VI record the main artery of government administration in England, the orders sent out day by day to individual officers, especially sheriffs of shires: they are an exceptionally rich source for so early a period. There is also some material relating to Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the English possessions in France. COKAYNE. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Landowners and tenants in Cambridgeshire
(1345-1485)
Inquisitions ad quod damnum were held by the appropriate sheriff or escheator (or other officer in whose bailiwick the matter in question might lie) to investigate cases in which the royal or public interest might be damaged by proposed alienation or settlement of land (especially alienation to religious uses, into mortmain). The key findings from these inquisitions were as to the tenure of the land and the service due from it; its yearly value; the lands remaining to the grantor, and whether they sufficed to discharge all duties and customs due from him; and whether he can still be put upon juries, assizes and recognitions, so that the country be not burdened by his withdrawal from them. Generally speaking, this process had the makings of a system of licensing such alienations, and raising money in proportion to the valuations. Equally, there are many items that deal with subjects such as the closing of public roads, the felling or inclosing of woods, or the proposed grant of liberties or immunities. A calendar of these inquisitions from the 19th year of the reign of king Edward III to the 2nd year of Richard III was prepared by the Public Record Office and published in 1906. We have now indexed this calendar by surname and county. Most of the individuals appearing in the calendar are either pious individuals seeking to make grants to religious bodies for the sake of their souls; or landowners securing the disposition and settling of their real estate. But some other names do appear - tenants, trustees, chaplains and clerks.COKAYNE. Cost: £6.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Liegemen and Traitors, Pirates and Spies
(1587-1588)
The Privy Council of queen Elizabeth was responsible for internal security in England and Wales, and dealt with all manner of special and urgent matters
COKAYNE. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Cecil Manuscripts
(1594-1595)
Letters and papers of sir Robert Cecil and the Earl of Essex.COKAYNE. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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