Resources

ENGLISH GENEALOGICAL RESOURCES
1085/6	The Domesday Book	William the Conqueror's land survey of England. Only tenants-in-chief and their sub-tenants, i.e. the great landowners, before and after the Conquest, were recorded by name.
1130 - 1800's	Pipe Rolls	Accounts of Crown revenues rendered by the King's sheriffs to the Exchequer. Tenants-in-chief can be traced in them.
1182 Onward	Feet of Fines	Judgements of title to land, written three times on a single scroll, cut in wavy lines to avoid forgery and filed at the Court of Common Pleas. Early source of surnames.
1198 - 1293	Book of Fees (Liber Feodorum)	Regular surveys of feudal tenure covering a wide range of material from the 13th century.
1199 - 1517	Charter Rolls	Royal charters issued under the Great Seal, including confirmations (with recitals) of earlier charters.
1199 - 1471	Fine Rolls	Earlier were known as the Oblata Rolls. They record payments or 'offerings' to the crown which were required for the transaction of almost any administrative or judicial business.
1199 Onward	Court of Chancery	Records of royal grants of land and rights, to individuals and corporations.

1200 Onward	Manorial records	Ordinary tenants are focused on. They often also identify the lord of the manor. Dated references can provide a chronological clue eg, the date of the death or remarriage of a widow holding the manor for her life.
1204 - 1509	Close Rolls	Typically conveyed orders to the officers of the crown; including writs summoning peers to Parliament. Also used for the enrolment of private deeds.
1200 - 1436	Liberate Rolls	Records of writs authorising payments by the Exchequer and writs connected with the accounting procedure.
1200 - 1522	Norman Rolls	Cover a variety of Chancery and Exchequer business in Normandy, before 1204; also a list of the English lands of Normans, which were seized by the king. They resumed, as 'Norman Patent Rolls', after the reconquest of Normandy by Henry V.
1214 - 1338	Scutage Rolls	Records of exemption from scutage, payment made instead of performing military service, also summonses for domestic military campaigns.
1216 - 1660	Inquisitions Post Mortem (IPMs)	Are among the most 'genealogist friendly' of records, and were a mainstay of traditional medieval genealogy. These were inquiries, undertaken after the death of a feudal tenant in chief. Many other people are mentioned.
1216 - 1509	Patent Rolls	Records of royal grants of land and rights, to individuals and corporations.
1217 - 1835	Memoranda Rolls	Memoranda made in the Exchequer covering a wide range of financial matters.
1218 - 1485	Miscellaneous Inquisitions	Inquiries on a wide range of subjects, including estates, which were forfeited for treason.
1255 - 1280	Hundred Rolls	The largest collection of material from 13th century inquests. They do not include the majority of the returns from Kirby's Quest.
1284 - 1431	Feudal Aids	Regular surveys of feudal tenure covering a wide range of material that extends to the early 15th century. Including "Kirby's Quest"
1290 - 1344 1524 - 1546	Lay Subsidy Rolls Revived by Henry VIII	Lists of those paying taxes on goods, levied for a specific purpose like a foreign war. Important source for the origins of surnames.

1346 - 1367	Register of Edward, The Black Prince
1377 - 1381, 1641 & 1660 - 1697	Poll Tax Returns Revived under Charles 1st and 2nd	A tax per head, first levied under Richard II. Important for calculating the population at the time. Provides early evidence of many surnames.
	Catalogue of Ancient Deeds
1483/4 Onwards	College of Arms founded by Richard III	College has registers of armorial bearings granted to English and Welsh families from the 15th century, with pedigrees of thousands of families.
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1500's Onward	Ecclesiastical Courts	Dealt with disputes over attendance and behaviour in church, conduct of parsons, state of the church, wills, slander, etc. Nicknamed the Bawdy Courts due to large number of cases involving fornication and adultery.
1500's Onward	Quarter Sessions and Assize Courts	Though these were in place in the 14th C., few records survive from before the late 16th C. Assize courts tried the most serious crimes.
1524 - 1546	Lay Subsidy Rolls	Medieval tax on moveable goods revived by Henry VIII. Lists used to calculate population.
1530 - 1688	Heralds' Visitations	County surveys of claims to arms by Heralds of the College of Arms.
1538	Parish Registers Introduced by Thomas Cromwell, Chief Minister to Henry VIII
1538	Each parish in England and Wales ordered to keep a register of baptisms, marriages and burials.
1558	Earliest date from which many registers exist	From 1598 it was ordered that every parish should keep a bound register and older registers should be copied into it. Many parishes only made their copies from Elizabeth 1'st first regnal year.
1598	Bishops' Transcripts introduced	Copies of the registers that had to be sent annually to the bishop. Invaluable as a backup where the original registers have gaps, but details can vary.
1597/1601	Earliest Poor Law Acts	Care of the poor became the responsibility of the parish. This remained in place until 1834. Large numbers of records covered by the Poor Laws include relief payments, settlements, burials, bastardy bonds.

1641/42	Collection for distressed Protestants in Ireland	In March 1641/42 Charles 1st ordered a collection from every parish for the relief of English Protestants in Ireland ousted by the Catholic Irish. Lists include many women and supplement the Protestation Returns.
1642	Protestation Oath Returns	In 1642 Parliament ordered all males over 18 to take an oath to defend the "true religion".
1649 - 1660	Commonwealth Interregnum	Period from the execution of Charles 1st the restoration of Charles 2nd. Many pedigrees enter a "black hole". Civil registration from 1653 to 1660.
1662 - 1688	Hearth Tax Returns (survive only to 1674)	A tax on number of hearths in a household, it was a principal source of revenue for Charles II and James II.
1622 Onward	First English Newspaper
1665/6 Onward	London Gazette	Carries many official notices of appointments, honours, promotions, business affairs, bankruptcies, etc.
1695 - 1706	Marriage Duty Act	A tax on marriages, births and burials and on bachelors and widowers.
1696 Onward	Poll Books	Lists of electors and how they voted.
1693 - 1900s	Land Tax	Ran for 270 years was abolished in 1963. Few early returns, but from 1780-1832 fairly uniform survival for many counties.
1696 - 1851	Window Tax	Replaced the Hearth Tax.
Late 1600's Onward	Social, trade and commercial directories	First London directory in 1677. Increasingly published in the 18th and 19th centuries. A major source in later Victorian times.

1752	Calendar Changes
1752	Britain switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, used in Catholic countries since 1582. Eleven days lost in September to bring the country into line with Europe. Start of the year changed from March 25th to January 1st.
1754	Hardwicke's Marriage Act	A law to prevent clandestine marriages, it required all marriages to be performed in the Church of England, the only exceptions allowed being those of Jews and Quakers.
1757 Onward	Militia lists and musters	An extensive variety of military records list from this date.
1784 Onward	Assessed taxes	An assortment of taxes was levied on such things as shops, servants, horses, carts and wagons, hair powder etc. Some records survive in county record offices.

1801	First Census Taken
1801	A few returns that give names have survived from 1801 - 1831.
1832	Reform Act	Introduced electoral registers.
1834	Poor Law Amendment Act	Heralded the second period of poor relief in England and Wales. Scrapped the old parish system and introduced Boards of Guardians.
1837	Civil Registration
1837	Introduced into England and Wales on July 1st 1837, under which the state took over responsibility for registration of all births, marriages and deaths.
1841 Onward	Census Returns	Census returns from 1841-1901.
1858	Wills	The state took over responsibility from the church for proving wills. Records at the Principal Registry of the Family Division. Pre-1858 wills dating from the 14th century are widespread.
1875	Births registration compulsory	Though people were supposed to register births from the inception of the system, fines weren't imposed for failure until this date.
* Based on "DATES IN ENGLISH GENEALOGY" by Roy Stockdill

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