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Formatted list of counties/shires
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It is estimated that there were between 25,000 and 65,000 manors in England, compared to the approximately 12,000 to 15,000 parishes.<br> | It is estimated that there were between 25,000 and 65,000 manors in England, compared to the approximately 12,000 to 15,000 parishes.<br> | ||
== Manor Courts | == Manor Courts == | ||
Each manor held two periodic courts to administer affairs of the manor. The surviving records of these courts are the most valuable to the genealogist. Court was held at intervals ranging from six weeks to six months. The two courts held were Court Baron and Court Leet (by the 1600's known as View of Frankpledge). The procedure was judicial, but the matters dealt with were both administrative and judicial.<br>The principal for the manor was "Justice shall be done by the lord's court, not by the lord."<br> | Each manor held two periodic courts to administer affairs of the manor. The surviving records of these courts are the most valuable to the genealogist. Court was held at intervals ranging from six weeks to six months. The two courts held were Court Baron and Court Leet (by the 1600's known as View of Frankpledge). The procedure was judicial, but the matters dealt with were both administrative and judicial.<br>The principal for the manor was "Justice shall be done by the lord's court, not by the lord."<br> | ||
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#'''Court Leet''', originally for villeins, dealt with petty crimes, and the election of officials for the manor. These officials were: bailiff (appointed by the steward), reeve, hayward, beadle, constable, ale-taster, and two affeerers.<br> | #'''Court Leet''', originally for villeins, dealt with petty crimes, and the election of officials for the manor. These officials were: bailiff (appointed by the steward), reeve, hayward, beadle, constable, ale-taster, and two affeerers.<br> | ||
== Manor Records | == Manor Records == | ||
Records survive from 1246; most manors stopped holding court in the 1800's.<br> | Records survive from 1246; most manors stopped holding court in the 1800's.<br> | ||
The Manorial Documents Register (MDR) lists extant manorial records and their location. They also have a list, by parish, showing the manors lying within each parish. The MDR is a type of catalogue, which identifies what records exist and where they are located. Actual records are held in The National Archives (Kew, near London), county record offices, large reference libraries, muniment rooms in the manor house, and sometimes in the private papers of the solicitors for the estate.<br> | The '''Manorial Documents Register (MDR)''' lists extant manorial records and their location. They also have a list, by parish, showing the manors lying within each parish. The MDR is a type of catalogue, which identifies what records exist and where they are located. Actual records are held in The National Archives (Kew, near London), local archives, county record offices, large reference libraries, muniment rooms in the manor house, and sometimes in the private papers of the solicitors for the estate.<br> | ||
The National Archives website describes the MDR: | The National Archives website describes the MDR: | ||
<blockquote>The Manorial Documents Register is the official register of manorial documents for England and Wales. We maintain it on behalf of the Master of the Rolls. The Register contains information about the nature and location of surviving manorial documents. Manorial documents have statutory protection under the Manorial Documents Rules. They are defined in the Rules as court rolls, surveys, maps, terriers, documents and books of every description relating to the boundaries, franchises, wastes, customs or courts of a manor. Only those types of document defined in the Rules as manorial documents are noted in the Manorial Documents Register. Title deeds and other evidences of title are not defined as manorial documents and are therefore not included in the Register. The Manorial Documents Register is not a register of title, and we do not seek to collect information about the ownership or descent of manors.<ref>The National Archives, About the Manorial Documents Register. Retrieved 16 Nov 2011 from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr/aboutapps/mdr/about.htm.</ref><br> </blockquote> | <blockquote>The '''Manorial Documents Register''' is the official register of manorial documents for England and Wales. We maintain it on behalf of the Master of the Rolls. The Register contains information about the nature and location of surviving manorial documents. Manorial documents have statutory protection under the Manorial Documents Rules. They are defined in the Rules as court rolls, surveys, maps, terriers, documents and books of every description relating to the boundaries, franchises, wastes, customs or courts of a manor. Only those types of document defined in the Rules as manorial documents are noted in the Manorial Documents Register. Title deeds and other evidences of title are not defined as manorial documents and are therefore not included in the Register. The Manorial Documents Register is not a register of title, and we do not seek to collect information about the ownership or descent of manors.<ref>The National Archives, About the Manorial Documents Register. Retrieved 16 Nov 2011 from http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr/aboutapps/mdr/about.htm.</ref><br> </blockquote> | ||
<br> | <br>In 2022, the National Archives completed the digitization of the Manorial Document Register. Click here to visit the [https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/manor-search '''MDR searchable database'''] on the National Archives' website. | ||
The '''MDR''' provides record indexes for the following counties in England and Wales: | |||
'''England'''<br> | |||
{| width="60%" | |||
|- | |||
| valign="top" width="20%"| | |||
* Bedfordshire | |||
* Berkshire | |||
* Buckinghamshire | |||
* Cambridgeshire | |||
* Cheshire | |||
* Cumberland | |||
* Cornwall | |||
* Derbyshire | |||
* Devon | |||
* Dorset | |||
* Durham | |||
* Essex | |||
* Gloucestershire | |||
| valign="top" width="20%"| | |||
* Hampshire | |||
* Herefordshire | |||
* Hertfordshire | |||
* Huntingdonshire | |||
* Kent | |||
* Lancashire | |||
* Leicestershire | |||
* Lincolnshire | |||
* Middlesex | |||
* Norfolk | |||
* Northamptonshire | |||
* Northumberland | |||
* Nottinghamshire | |||
| valign="top" width="20%"| | |||
* Oxfordshire | |||
* Rutland | |||
* Shropshire | |||
* Somerset | |||
* Staffordshire | |||
* Suffolk | |||
* Surrey | |||
* Sussex | |||
* Warwickshire | |||
* Westmorland | |||
* Wiltshire | |||
* Worcestershire | |||
* Yorkshire | |||
|} | |||
<br><br> | |||
'''Wales'''<br> | |||
{| width="60%" | |||
|- | |||
| valign="top" width="20%"| | |||
* Anglesey | |||
* Brecknockshire | |||
* Caernarfonshire | |||
* Cardiganshire | |||
* Carmarthenshire | |||
| valign="top" width="20%"| | |||
* Denbighshire | |||
* Flintshire | |||
* Glamorgan | |||
* Merioneth | |||
| valign="top" width="20%"| | |||
* Monmouthshire | |||
* Montgomeryshire | |||
* Pembrokeshire | |||
* Radnorshire | |||
|} | |||
Click [https://cdn.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archives/mdr-map.pdf '''here'''] to view the Manorial Documents Register Counties Map. | |||
The National Archives has created the following helpful resource: '''[https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/finding-records-in-discovery-and-other-databases/manorial-documents-register/a-guide-to-manorial-documents/ A Guide to Manorial Documents.]''' The digital guide offers background, descriptions, instructions, and document images to guide researchers through the process of searching for manorial records. | |||
Razi and Smith attempted to create a nationwide inventory of all surviving pre-1500 manor court records. It is published in the Appendix to Zvi Razi and Richard Smith, ''Medieval Society and the Manor Court'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) {{FSC|2544651|item|disp=FS Library British Book 942 P2rz}}.<br> | Razi and Smith attempted to create a nationwide inventory of all surviving pre-1500 manor court records. It is published in the Appendix to Zvi Razi and Richard Smith, ''Medieval Society and the Manor Court'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) {{FSC|2544651|item|disp=FS Library British Book 942 P2rz}}.<br> | ||