The March meeting of the Frome Family History Group welcomed Jenny Pope to give an idea of how manorial records can help with family history research.
Christine Featherstone of the group reports, “The origin of manorial records is not defined, but may have started as early as Roman times. An index to most records, The Manorial Documents Register, is held at the National Archives in Kew. The records themselves may be held in local record offices or in private hands; the MDR provides brief descriptions of documents and details of their locations.
“Jenny described the two most common records to be found, the Court Baron and the Court Leet and view of Frankpledge. The main business of the Court Baron was the resolution of disputes involving a lord’s free tenants within a single manor, to enforce the feudal services owed to the lord of the manor by his tenants, and to admit new tenants who had acquired copyholds by inheritance or purchase, for which they were obliged to pay a fine to the lord of the manor.
“The Court Leet dealt with civil matters including to enquire regularly into the proper condition of watercourses, roads, paths, and ditches, to guard against all manner of encroachments upon the public rights, whether by unlawful enclosure or otherwise. It also sought to preserve landmarks, and overlook the common lands, to guard against the adulteration of food and to inspect weights and measures. Frankpledge was a system in Medieval England under which all but the greatest men and their households were bound together by mutual responsibility to keep the peace. All men over 12 years of age were organised in the system for mutual surety.
“Jenny described her involvement in the project by the Wiltshire Family History Society to summarise the manor records held at the Wiltshire Record Office and to make them available to more people. Many of us are not able to read Latin or old handwriting, making a summary a useful tool in the quest to find information on our ancestors. The manorial court records team have completed their first two titles, for Hilmarton & Goatacre and Holt. Both are available as downloads through Genfair or in hard copy from WHFS.
“Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 24th April where there will be a return visit from popular speaker Ted Udall, on the subject of social history and parish registers. All our talks start at 7.30 in the library. We also hold regular family history advice sessions in the library on the first Saturday in the month from 9.30am – 11.30am. If you would like to come along, please book a computer with the library staff.”
