England Land and Property: Difference between revisions

=== Introduction ===

[[Image:Halsway Court, Somerset, England.JPG|thumb|right|332x243px]]The records in this section usually pertain to transactions among the wealthy class. If your ancestors were poor, search the records described in [[England Court Records]].   

In medieval times, transfer of land by deed included the witnessed act of the seller handing to the buyer part of the property, such as a piece of turf or handful of soil or the key to a building.  This was called 'livery of seisin.'  

=== Feet of Fines ===

"From the 12th century an alternative method of recording that a transfer of land had taken place was by a fine or, from the 15th century, a recovery. These were both judgments in court actions about fictititious disputes."<ref name="null">Herber, Mark D. "Ancestral Trails: the complete guide to British Genealogy and Family History." Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, Ltd. 1997, p. 517.</ref> Such court actions, and the corresponding levying of a fine, served to record the transfer of property. They were also used to bar entails. The final judgement was recorded three times on a document, which was then cut into three pieces with wavy cuts. The top left and right pieces were given to the seller (the vendor or deforciant) and the purchaser (the plaintiff or querient) and the bottom piece, or foot, was retained by the court and enrolled on the rolls of the feet of fines of the Court of Common Pleas. Fines date from the 12th to the 19th centuries.  

 

=== Leases ===

Leases were for varying lengths of time and required the payment of rent to the landlord.&nbsp; Leases could be for the life-times of three named persons (often father, son, and grandson), which could be&nbsp;altered as needed and upon a further payment to the landlord.&nbsp; Therefore these records can be of particular genealogical value.&nbsp; Copies of leases were retained by the landlord and by the tenants and&nbsp;may be found in country record offices in estate collections.  

Tenants&nbsp;could sub-lease property to others.  

=== Lease and Release ===

These two documents were a way to transfer land without the inconvenience and expense or court process of other forms of transfer.&nbsp; These lasted from the mid-17th century until 1845.&nbsp; The documents were drawn up by lawyers and copies may be held by county record offices.  

=== ''The Return of Owners of Land 1873'' ===

Known as the 'modern Domesday Book,' these returns were compiled throughout the United Kingdom, except in London.&nbsp; They identify the owners of one acre of land or more, and were compiled from&nbsp;records of rates paid by landowners.&nbsp; These have been published.&nbsp; (FHL book 942 R2L, 2 vols.; also on film 1696632 Item 6; also on CD from S &amp; N Genealogy Supplies.&nbsp; Also look in the [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library Catalog] for a county of interest and the topic of 'Land and property.')  

=== Tithe apportionment maps and schedules ===