England Church Courts, High Court of Delegates, Peculiars and Donatives, and Doctors Commons (National Institute)

High Court of Delegates
The final court of appeal from the ecclesiastical courts from 1559 to 1832 was to the High Court of Delegates. There were very few cases heard here but those concerning probate were indexed in The Genealogist New Series volumes 11 (A-N) and 12 (O-Z) on film 0496959.

Peculiars and Donatives
In addition to the main courts described, a number of smaller courts existed and their rights were jealously guarded from ancient times. They belonged to church and other dignitaries outside the archdeaconry and were mostly known as Peculiar Courts. Peculiars were of many kinds - their jurisdiction could cover a parish or parishes (not necessarily contiguous), a city, borough, township, liberty, manor, cathedral, church, deanery or college precinct. They were presided over by a city corporation, college, lord of the manor, archbishop, bishop, dean, dean and chapter, subdean, chancellor, precentor, succentor, vice-chancellor, prebendary, rector, vicar or mayor. These people were each able to appoint a commissary to do the job for them. And, just to frustrate the researcher, a place could lie in more than one peculiar, and occasionally one whole peculiar was wholly included within another one!

Some counties had very few peculiars while others, such as Yorkshire, had dozens and many had ceased to be effective well before 1858 when they were officially abolished. They are noted briefly in Humphery-Smith (The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers. Phillimore, Chichester, West Sussex, England, 1995), and Gibson (Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills. Federation of Family History Societies, 2001) gives all the names, but the classic description of all of them is by Marshall (A Handbook to the Ancient Courts of Probate and Depositories of Wills. H. Cos, London. ). Litton (Pitfalls and Possibilities in Family History Research: Parishes, Peculiars and Liberties. Family Tree Magazine. Vol 16, #10, page 28) has a sensible and informative article on peculiars, parishes and liberties. There is something quintessentially English about the very concept of peculiars.

The memory of them still lingers in Theakston’s strong ale Old Peculier (sic) which commemorates the Peculiar Court of Masham, North Yorkshire (Cole and Titford).

Donatives were similar to peculiars but were exempt from the jurisdiction of an archdeacon or bishop so had no visitations by a bishop or inhibition, and the incumbent could be appointed directly by the patron without a bishop’s consent. In addition records such as marriage licences and bishop’s transcripts, as well as the process of probate, were not treated in the same way.

Donatives were abolished in 1818. A particularly interesting example of a peculiar court is that of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire which included the borough and its nine chapelries, including Shottery, all associated with Shakespeare. Brinckworth (Shakespeare and the Bawdy Court of Stratford. Phillimore, Chichester, Sussex. Reviewed by Emmison in Genealogists’ Magazine Vol 17 #6, page 300-301) has surveyed these court records and links them to the author, his family, friends and contemporaries.

Doctors' Commons
Doctors Commons was the popular name for the College of Advocates (the doctors of civil and canon law) a collegial institution providing meeting rooms, library, dining hall and chambers for judges and advocates from the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts. It was analogous to the Inns of Court for the common lawyers and only about half-a mile west of them. Doctors’ Commons was accommodated at different sites near St. Paul’s Cathedral between 1496 and 1857.

Several courts and lawyers’ chambers were physically situated close to Doctors Commons, a fact that causes some confusion as the whole neighbourhood south of St. Paul’s Cathedral went by this name.

They included:


 * Court of Arches
 * Prerogative Court of Canterbury
 * Court of Faculties and Dispensations
 * Bishop of London’s Consistory Court
 * Court of Admiralty
 * Court of Bishop of Winchester.
 * Archdeaconry Courts for London, Middlesex, Surrey and Rochester.
 * Deans and Chapters of Westminster and St. Paul’s.
 * The Faculty Office and Vicar-General of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Squibb (Doctors’ Commons: A History of the College of Advocates and Doctors of Law. Oxford University Press. . [Reviewed in Genealogists’ Magazine Vol 19 #6, page 208].) wrote the definite history of Doctors’ Commons and his work includes names and brief biographies of all known members. A vivid and most readable portrayal of proceedings at Doctors Commons has recently been provided by Cox (Hatred Pursued Beyond the Grave. Tales of Our Ancestors from the London Church Courts. HMSO and Public Record Office and At the Court of Scolds. Family Tree Magazine Vol 10 #2, page 8-9). Plenty of fictional examples are to be found in the writings of Charles Dickens, who worked as a clerk at Doctors Commons for several years and from it found much material for his books, especiallySketches by Boz, Our Mutual Friend, David Copperfield, and Pickwick Papers.

Records of the members and their activities exist, including:


 * Subscription book which has names and signatures of most of them from 1511-1855.
 * Long book concerning residential members.
 * Minutes, treasurer’s and rent books

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Court Records-Criminal, Civil and Ecclesiastical offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

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