Researching manorial documents Frances Kerner

frances.kerner@ntlworld.com

The origin and history of common lands in England is inseparably bound up with the history of the manor

Sir Thomas Edward Scrutton Commons and Common Fields 1886

Common land

‘land subject to rights of common, waste land not subject to rights of common’

80-90 % waste The common The commons The common waste The waste Lord’s waste The heath/moor Waste lands

The manor Definitions Questions

Court Records Other records

The manor residence

a single administrative unit of a landed

estate manor distinguished by court various size

Common

A profit that a Man hath in the land of

another person Giles Jacobs 1744

Common Rights (Appurtenant to property

for use of dominant tenement) Pasture Pannage Estovers Turbary Piscary Rights in soil

Waste Waste those lands which are not in any Man’s occupation, but

lie Common; which are so called, because the Lord cannot make such Profit of them as other Lands, by Reason of that Use which others have thereof in passing to and fro, etc but upon this none may build, cut down Trees or dig without the Lord’s Licence

Giles Jacobs 1744

Manorial Courts (1250-1350)

Anything which affected the Lord’s property and land

Damage to his crops by stock Damage to hedges Ditch maintenance Simple dispute between tenants Entry and marriage fines

Manorial documents 13th-15th century

Extent Custumal Accounts Court rolls

Manorial Courts 1600 + Court Baron…..3 weeks Court Leet with view of Frankpledge…twice a year Regulation of the common fields Copyhold admissions and surrenders

The records

Court Rolls Court Books Surveys Orders Pains Bylaws Custumal

History of the common

• What was its extent in the past ? • What were its physical characteristics ? • Who lived on/near the common ? • Can you determine the common rights ? • Can you detect conflict? • How was the common’s sustainability

managed ? • Who are the court officers ?

Encroachment

Who is presented at court for

encroachment ? What are encroachers fined for? Property & landholding

Also we present Robert Weedon for setting upp a gate on the wast therefore he is amerced X11d (22nd April 1652)

Court Roll 28th March 1676 West Wycombe Manor

• Item it is ordered that every person that shall henceforth putt any cattle uppon any common within this Mannor except such as have lawfull right to common shall for every default therin every weeke so offending forfeit x s

• Item it is ordered that every copieholder that shall at any time from henceforth take any surrender of any cottage or tenement sett or erected on the common within this Mannor shall forfeite and pay unto the poore people of the parish of West Wycombe aforesaid the sume of v L of lawfull English money for every offence

• Item it is ordered that noe person whatsoever shall att any time hereafter plough, breake or digg upp and carry away the waste or commons within this Mannor uppon paine or forfeiting for every pole……..of ground soe ploughed or digged up and carried away x s

• Item it is ordered that every person that shall keepe any geese on the commons shall for every month? soe offending forfeite and pay for every goose soe kept vi d

Wm Sharpe of the parish of Fingest for digging Clay in the Lord of this Manor’s Waste

Manorial Records

Law of Property Act 1922 Copyhold tenure ended Needed proof of ownership Manorial records kept Master of the Rolls

Where to find

The National Archives County Record Offices Other Repositories (University)

Manorial Documents Register The National Archives

Buckinghamshire Hertfordshire Bedfordshire Oxfordshire

The decline of the manorial court

Who manages the common Schemes of regulation Minute books Committees

Other sources

Title deeds Account books Valuations Letters Sketches/plans Wills

Parish Records

May have role in common regulation Parish Charities Churchwarden Accounts Vestry Minutes

Counterpart Lease D-D/6/365 15th July, 1754 (i) Sir Francis Dashwood of West Wycombe, Bt.

(ii) Thomas Philamore, John Gadbury, churchwardens, Thomas Batting, Aaron Wooster, Overseers of the Poor of West Wycombe. Messuage, cottage, orchard, garden at Wheelers End, to be used as a workhouse. Term: 3 years. Rent: 1s.

An Act for the better Relief and Employment of the Poor (1782)

• XXVII. And be it further enacted, That in order to encourage the salutary and benevolent Purposes of this Act, and to afford better Accommodations for the Poor at such Poor Houses, it shall and may be lawful for the Guardians of the Poor, where any such Poor House shall be provided, purchased, or agreed to be erected, to inclose from any Waste or Common Land or Ground lying near or adjoining thereto, with the Consent and Approbation of the Lord of the Manor, and the major Part in Value of the Freeholders or Persons having Right of Common thereupon, signified under their Hands and Seals, any Part or Portion of such Waste or Common Land, not exceeding ten Acres, for the Purpose of building upon, or occupying, cultivating, and improving the same, for the Use and Benefit of such Poor House, and the poor Persons within the Parish, Township, or Place, where the same shall be, or within the Parishes, Townships, or Places which shall be united therewith for the Purposes of this Act.

Gilbert’s Act 1782

Jackson’s Oxford Journal, Feb.1790

Common

Meadow

The presentation is illustrated with the author’s photographs of documents representing locations within the Buckinghamshire Chilterns. Their reproduction here is gratefully acknowledged in the following table.

Slide no Document Location Permission 1 Map of the Manor of West Wycombe c 1702-17

(Extract Booker Common) West Wycombe House (CD copy held at CBS)1

Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

3 Map of the Manor of West Wycombe, 1767 (Extract Booker Common)

West Wycombe House (CD copy held at CBS)

Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

10,11 12 Topographicall Description…of the Mannors of Wendover Borrough and Wendover Forrence….of Dame Mary Wolley, 1620 CBS ref: MAR 48

CBS Reproduced with the permission of Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society

19, 20, 21 Extract from West Wycombe Manorial Court Book, 17th Oct. 1737 CBS ref: D-BASM/88/69

CBS Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

22 Court Roll, Manor of Hambleden, 22nd April 1652 CBS Ref: D-BASM/32/1

CBS Reproduced with the permission of Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society

24, 25 Manorial Court documents, Great Marlow Manor, 28th April 1707 CBS Ref: D/CE Box D

CBS Reproduced with the permission of the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

26 A Plan of the bounds of Peterley in the County of Bucks 1767 CBS Ref: D93/44

CBS Reproduced with the permission of the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

28 Map of the Manor of West Wycombe c 1702-17 (Extract Booker Common)

West Wycombe House (CD copy held at CBS)

Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

29 Map of the Manor of West Wycombe c 1702-17 (Extract West Wycombe Church and Hill)

West Wycombe House (CD copy held at CBS)

Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

1 Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies.

Slide no Document Location Permission 30 Map of the Manor of West Wycombe, 1767

(Extract Booker Common) West Wycombe House (CD copy held at CBS)

Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

39 Extract from CBS Manorial Catalogue CBS Reproduced with the permission of the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies

43, 44, 47 Vestry Minutes, West Wycombe Parish. CBS Ref: PR227/8/1

CBS Reproduced with the permission of the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies and the Revd Nigel Lacey

49 Map of the Manor of West Wycombe c 1702-1717 (Extract from Wheeler End Common)

CBS Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

50 Map of the Manor of West Wycombe, 1767 (Extract Wheeler End Common)

West Wycombe House (CD copy held at CBS)

Reproduced with the permission of Sir Edward Dashwood

51, 52 Buckinghamshire County Council Commons Register Maps (OS maps marked with CL 13 and CL48)

Buckinghamshire County Council

"Printed and Published by the Director General at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, 1934" "Crown Copyright Reserved" "©Crown Copyright and Landmark Information Group Limited 2012. All rights reserved. 1934"

53 Tithe Map of Fingest CBS Ref: 169

CBS Reproduced with the permission of the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies