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.
|
Top of Page
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|
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
|