Fine Rolls
(1246-1272)
The fine rolls of the 31st to 57th years of the reign of king Henry III record part of the government administration in England. These excerpts from the rolls list in transcript applications by plaintiffs for various writs (such as 'ad terminum' and 'pone') and for assizes to be held by the justices in eyre to look into their grievances. A fine of half a mark (6s 8d) or a mark (13s 4d) was usually levied; the cases are normally identified by county, and record that the appropriate sheriff had been notified. There are also more extensive records, in which more detail is given. The excerpts were made by the Record Commission and printed in 1836.KU. Cost: £4.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Patent Rolls: entries for Staffordshire
(1275-1276)
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 4th year of king Edward I [20 November 1275 to 19 November 1276], hitherto unindexed, is covered here.KU. Cost: £6.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Somerset Assizes
(1272-1279)
The records of the assizes held by the royal justices in eyre (itinerant) in Somerset during this period were edited by Lionel Landon and published by the Somerset Record Society in 1926. 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 hundred and borough as to the Articles of the Eyre, inquiring into the king's proprietary rights, escheats, wardships, and questions of maladministration. Appendix I adds some scattered Somerset items from rolls for 1204, 1218 and 1240.KU. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Patent Rolls: entries for Cambridgeshire
(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.KU. Cost: £6.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Close Rolls
(1302-1307)
The close rolls of the 31st to 35th years of the reign of king Edward I, that is to the day of his death (7 July 1307), 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. In amongst this official material, the rolls were also used as a way of recording many acknowledgments of private debts and contracts between individuals. Most of the contents relate to England, but there are also entries concerning Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the English possessions in France.KU. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Clerks and Clergy in Cornwall and Devon
(1307-1326)
The register of bishop Walter de Stapeldon of Exeter, containing general diocesan business, but in particular including ordination lists for monks and clergy. Only a small proportion of the clerks went on to acquire benefices and remained celibate. LatinKU. Cost: £6.00. | 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. KU. Cost: £2.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Clerks and Clergy in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire and Devon
(1370-1375)
The register of bishop William de Courtenay of Hereford, containing general diocesan business, but also including ordination lists for monks and clergy. Only a small proportion of the clerks went on to acquire benefices and remained celibate. Hereford diocese covered almost all Herefordshire, southern rural Shropshire, a westward arm of Worcestershire, and a northwestern slice of Gloucestershire. The ordinations for the first two years, 1370 and 1371, took place while the bishop was still resident in Devon, and contain mainly Devon men.KU. Cost: £6.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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London and Middlesex Feet of Fines
(1198-1485)
Pedes Finium - law suits, or pretended suits, putting on record the ownership of land in London and Middlesex.KU. Cost: £4.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Landowners and tenants in Essex
(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.KU. Cost: £6.00. | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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