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The manorial system divided up the land in rural England from the reign of William the Conqueror to the Victorian age.<\/p>\n
Each manor had a lord or lady, to whom all inhabitants and landholders within its bounds owed a form of allegiance according to the unique customs of the manor. The lord usually appointed a steward to preside over the various courts that were held to uphold the various customs and bylaws, among other administrative tasks.<\/p>\n
The tenants, often referred to as \u2018villeins\u2019, were closely bound by the customs of the manor, in particular restrictions that were imposed on property transfer through a family. On the death of a customary tenant, the land was surrendered back to the lord\u2019s possession during a session of the court baron. The new tenant \u2013 usually the next of kin \u2013 was then admitted to the land, and the details noted in the written rolls of the court, known as manorial records.<\/p>\n
Crucially, they were handed a copy of the relevant court roll entry, which is why the land tenure is referred to as \u2018copyhold\u2019. Manorial records often survive in unbroken sequences as far back as the 13th century.<\/p>\n
Even if your ancestors did not possess copyhold land, their names may still appear in manorial records. The manorial courts dealt with petty squabbles, encroachment on the lord\u2019s land, poaching, illegal cultivation on waste ground, and misdemeanours relating to the right to graze livestock on common land for example, so these records are a colourful snapshot of our relatives\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n
For those of us with ancestors who were customary tenants, manorial records can be a gold mine of information. By the 18th century<\/a> many rolls started to include an internal alphabetical name index, or had separate registers of admission and surrender. Because of the nature of the entries, you should be able to follow a chain back in time from generation to generation.<\/p>\n Sometimes tenants surrendered land back to the lord so that it could be re-granted on more favourable terms, often including a named series of successors \u201cto the use of a will\u201d \u2013 a loophole designed to get round restrictions on passing copyhold property via a last will and testament that remained in place until the law changed in 1815. Because they were used relatively recently, you can connect them to more familiar sources such as the aforementioned surveys as well as parish registers, census returns<\/a> and wills<\/a>.<\/p>\n Manorial records are scattered around the country or may even still be in the hands of the current estate owners. The Manorial Documents Register was created in 1924 to help researchers locate the whereabouts of relevant material.<\/p>\n