England Manorial Court Records (National Institute)

Manorial Courts Baron Records
A court baron which dealt with land and other matters within the manor was held by the lord of the manor or his legally-trained steward at least once a year or as often as its business demanded. The records, the court roll or book, was typically in Latin from feudal times until the end of 1732, except for ten years in the Commonwealth period. From 1733 they will be in English and may have a contemporary index at the beginning, end or at the side of the text. Records, where they survive, continue until 1922 or to the date of enfranchisement of all copyhold land in that manor, if earlier.

There were many categories of land business within the court baron: here I shall discuss only the inheritance of copyhold land, other transfers being dealt with in the section on sale and transfer of land.

Copyhold Land
Inheritance of Copyhold Land Manorial court records are one of the few local sources pre-dating parish registers and are hence of huge significance for family historians whether they need to see the descent of tenancies or the local gossip!

Copyholders were also known as customary tenants in that they were subject to the customs of the manor. There were several ways in which their land could be inherited or passed from one generation to the next (as outlined above), and which way depended on the custom in that manor.

The system was simple—upon the death of a copyholder his heir(s) had to report this fact to the court within a year and a day or risk forfeiture of the land. The property was surrendered to the lord of the manor. If there was a will this was presented to the court and the heirs would pray to be admitted to the property as tenants, upon payment of a small fee, termed a relief. Larger land holders might make such arrangements at the court before they died. Most customary tenants were male but widows and spinsters could inherit property, which upon (re)marriage would usually become her husband’s.

Chart: Surrender and Admission

Court Rolls
At the death of a copyholder if the copy from the manorial roll could not be found then the manor court had to pass the land to the heir-at-law. This was a problem encountered by Samuel Pepys in 1661 when his uncle Robert Pepys died, as described by Leeson and Gibson (Editorial [concerning Samuel Pepys]. Genealogists Magazine Vol 17 #11, page 581-582.). Sometimes the heir was not immediately known and hence a proclamation was made in the court roll as shown below.

Chart: Proclamation for Heirs

A good deal of information about the property and occupiers may be given, and reference made (termed reciting), to previous court rolls and wills for example in the manor of Long Ditton, Surrey on 7th August 1790 it was presented that Ann Land of Thames Ditton, widow had died. The property was described in detail and the fact that it was formerly in the possession of John Walter blacksmith and late of Thomas Fitzwalter, by whose will, dated 14 August 1777, the land was devised (entailed) after Ann Land’s death to her surviving children, John and James Land, and Ann Fernyhough nee Land. There was a yearly rent of 10d, an herriot, and a fine of £3 as they were admitted as joint tenants.

Further examples of admission to copyhold property are given by Camp (Landowners and Occupiers in England and Wales. Family Tree Magazine. Part 1 in Vol 16 #3, page 19-21; Part 2 in Vol 16 #4, page 27-28; Part 3 in Vol 16 #5, page 27-28.). Some manors kept Books of Abstracts of the Court Rolls, an example is below.

Chart: A Court Roll Abstract Book

Finding Manorial Court Records
There is no central collection of these records, nor are they usually in relevant county archives but are widely dispersed wherever a particular lord’s estate papers happen to have come to rest, whether in private muniments or public archives. TNA only hold the manorial records relating to manors which were, at some stage, in crown hands (Cox 2001).

When the manorial system was dismantled in 1922 the value of the manorial records as evidence of title to property was recognized by the Master of the Rolls drawing up regulations for their control and custody. The result was the Register of Manorial Documents (Manorial Documents Register = MDR) containing their ownership and location, formerly managed by the Historical Manuscripts Commission at Quality House in Chancery Lane, but now amalgamated with the PRO (Public Record Office) as TNA (The National Archives) at Kew, Surrey.

The MDR is arranged by county and lists manors alphabetically by their name, but there is also a list of parishes with the names of all the manors in each. It is partially computerized—Wales, Hampshire including the Isle of Wight, Middlesex, Norfolk, Surrey and the three Ridings of Yorkshire are available online.

The National Register of Archives (NRA) can assist in finding the right repository for those not yet computerized. Plenty have been microfilmed and can be found more easily in the FamilySearch Catalog as they are under the place they concern rather than the place where they are presently archived. Look under COUNTY – PLACE – COURT RECORDS or LAND RECORDS or MANORS. An example on film of a published court roll is Chilham, Kent 1654-1656, which was written in both Latin and English as it was during the Commonwealth period, and has an extensive historical introduction by Jessup. [Note that this is one of those items that is hard to find on the FamilySearch Catalog because it is an article in a serial publication; Smith’s Inventory turns them all up, though!]

Elrington’s article (Lordship and Lineage: The Descent of Manors in the Victoria County History. Genealogists’ Magazine Vol 23 #2, page 41-47.) on descent of manors shown in the Victoria County Histories is useful, and Travers (Manorial Documents. Genealogists Magazine Vol 21 #1, page 1-10.), and later Ellis ( Manorial Records for Family History. Sussex Family Historian Vol 11 #3, page 83-91, 1994), surveyed the history of manors and of the founding of the Historical Manuscripts Commission of England and Wales, the Manorial Documents Register and the National Register of Archives. These are now all with TNA and a modern overview is on their website.

Some county archives are getting their detailed catalogues online, one that can be recommended is Essex Record Office. There are all kinds of useful manorial records described there, and many more awaiting input. Cavell’s article on manorial records online is essential reading to understand the progress being made in access to these records.

Readable simple articles and booklets on the manor and manorial records include those by Cox (What’s at Kew for You ? Records of Your Family from Mediaeval Times. Practical Family History #47, page 10-11,2001), Franklin (Some Mediaeval Records for Family Historians: An Introduction to the Purposes, Contents and Interpretation of Pre-1538 Records Available in Print), Harvey (Manorial Court Rolls. #47 in Short Guides to Records edited by Kathryn M. Thompson. Historical Association, London. . and on, 1993), McLaughlin (Manorial Records, 1996), Overton (A Guide to the Medieval Manor, 1994), Palgrave-Moore (How to Locate and Use Manorial Documents, 1985) and Park (My Ancestors Were Manorial Tenants. How Can I Find out More about Them, 1990). Ellis (Using Manorial Records, 1997) and Stuart (Manorial Records: An Introduction to Their Transcription and Translation, 1992) are more detailed texts, the latter being an excellent study manual for those wanting to tackle the old writing and Latin with its many abbreviations. West (Village Records, 1982) contains a good list of published manorial records and can be updated by recourse to TNA and county archive lists.

Morley shows how persistence, even with Latin text pays off in putting your ancestors in context amongst their neighbours. Everett (A Twentieth Century Manorial Court. North West Kent Family History Vol 7 #4, page 118-122) tells about attending one of the half dozen manorial courts still existing, at Stockbridge, Hampshire in 1995. Biggs (The Court Baron. North West Kent Family History Vol 5 #10, page 355-359) has a good example of the use of court baron records to show inheritance of property.

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