Reviewer, editor, pagecreator, pagedeleter
41,690
edits
England Manors: Difference between revisions
m
Formatted list of counties/shires
(Updated information about the completed, searchable database for the Manorial Documents Register, with the full list of available counties was added. The previous information reflected information from 2013. The links were updated as well. A link to the Manorial Document Register Digitial Guide from NA was also added.) |
m (Formatted list of counties/shires) |
||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
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> | ||
| Line 26: | Line 26: | ||
#'''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 == | ||
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> | ||
| Line 39: | Line 39: | ||
The '''MDR''' provides record indexes for the following counties in England and Wales: | The '''MDR''' provides record indexes for the following counties in England and Wales: | ||
<br> | '''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. | 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 | 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> | ||