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=== Close Rolls === | === Close Rolls === | ||
From 1204/5 until the late 19th century, letters to wealthy individuals from the Crown were folded (closed) and impressed with the Great Seal. They contained deeds, transfers of land, and records of charities, coinage, armed forces, wills, and so on. These letters are in the Public Record Office. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of a few. Look in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under any of the following: | From 1204/5 until the late 19th century, letters to wealthy individuals from the Crown were folded (closed) and impressed with the Great Seal. They contained deeds, transfers of land, and records of charities, coinage, armed forces, wills, and so on. These letters are in the Public Record Office and classified as C 54. | ||
Many of the individuals in these records were not royalty. The records can include manor surveys of tenants, land inheritances, widow dowers, and minor wardships, which act as a sort of ‘census’ record that indicate an individual was in specific location at a specific time. Close rolls can be the stepping stone to additional records in that particular time period and area. | |||
According to the Medieval English Genealogy website at http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/guide/rol.shtml, there are about 180 volumes of printed abstract versions of these records up to 1509 that are indexed by name. They are extremely valuable for genealogists and go up to the reign of Queen Elizabeth. | |||
The National Archives states, "Close rolls were made up by the regnal year.” Additionally, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, rolls were divided up into four divisions, B, Y, E, and N:<br> | |||
*'''B''' - Anglesey, Brecon, Cornwall, Carmarthen, Caernarvon, Devon, Glamorgan, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey and the City of London | |||
*'''Y''' - Bedford, Chester, Derby, Dorset, Hertford, Lincoln, Nottingham, Northumberland, Oxford, Rutland, Stafford, Suffolk, Sussex, Warwick, Westmorland and Berwick upon Tweed | |||
*'''E''' - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cardigan, Denbigh, Essex, Hampshire, Hereford, Kent, Monmouth, Pembroke, Wiltshire and Haverfordwest | |||
*'''N''' - Cambridge, Cumberland, Durham, Flint, Gloucester, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Leicester, Merioneth, Montgomery, Norfolk, Northampton, Radnor, Shropshire, Worcester and Yorkshire<br> | |||
Some of these Close rolls are available online through BYU’s Family History Archives. You can access them at http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/sources/rolls.shtml . Please note that these records are in Latin, and you may need a translator to assist you as you read through them. | |||
<br>In addition, a “Calendar of various Chancery rolls” is available on the Internet Archives website at http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026113880. One of the advantages to these records is that they are in English and have an index that lists surnames.<br> | |||
The Family History Library has microfilm copies of a few. Look in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under any of the following: | |||
*ENGLAND - PUBLIC RECORDS | *ENGLAND - PUBLIC RECORDS | ||