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Archival/written
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| Extract from the Rolleston cum Fiskerton parish register. The second entry reads "George Deconsonne an househoulder about 27 years of age fallinge out with Thomas Heifield at the boules, was by the said Thomas stricken upon the head with two boules in a bagge on Saturday September 9th at night, whereby havinge his braine pan broken as was supposed, dyed on Munday in the night September 11th and was buried the day followinge, 1592." |
An excellent introduction to the wide range of material available for the study of village history, with many examples of key document types with transcriptions and translations:
- John West, Village Records, Phillimore, (3rd edition) 1997
A comprehensive guide to sources for researching building history in Nottinghamshire:
- Adrian Henstock, Tracing the history of your house: documentary sources for the history of Nottinghamshire buildings 1500-1950, Nottinghamshire Local History Association, 1988.
Also useful:
- J.H. Harvey, Sources for the history of houses. Archives and the user no 3. British Records Association, 1974.
- Nick Barratt, Tracing the History of Your House, HMSO 2001
There are also a number of WEA publications which contain facsimiles and transcriptions of a wide variety of village records:
- J R Samuels (ed.) The changing villages: Aspects of local history in Aslockton, Scarrington and Whatton. Nottingham: Workers’ Educational Association, East Midlands District, 1985
- J R Samuels (ed.) Life and landscape in East Bridgford, 1600-1900. Nottingham: Workers’ Educational Association, East Midlands District, 1985
- J R Samuels (ed.) A glimpse of Weston and Moorhouse. Nottingham: Workers’ Educational Association, East Midlands District, 1985
A good selection of village records (parish registers and accounts, manorial records, inventories and household accounts, quarter sessions etc) have been published in:
- P A Kennedy ed. Nottinghamshire historical documents in facsimile, Nottinghamshire Local History Council, 1962
Official
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| Extract from the Hearth Tax return for Ossington, 1674. |
Taxation records are a useful source for village history. Lay Subsidy rolls from the early 14th century list village taxpayers by name and are available on microfilm at Nottinghamshire Archives. Later rolls can be consulted at National Archives and the ‘E179’ database should be searched to see what is available for Nottinghamshire villages:
The Protestation Returns from 1641/2 list all male inhabitants aged over 16 and have been transcribed and published:
- W F Webster, Protestation Returns, 1641/2 — Notts/Derbys, West Bridgford, privately published, 1980
Hearth tax records from the late 17th century list householders and the number of chargeable hearths in the house:
- W F Webster, ed. Nottinghamshire hearth tax, 1664:1674, Thoroton Society Record Series, 37, 1988
Parish records
The standard guide to the wide range of parish records which includes a large number of examples from Nottinghamshire:
- W E Tate, The parish chest. A study of the records of parochial administration in England (3rd Edition) Chichester: Phillimore, 1983
Nottinghamshire Archives holds most parish records for villages in the county. Use the Access to Archives website to search the catalogues:
Parish registers
The earliest parish registers in the county date from the mid-16th century, following Thomas Cromwell’s Injunction of 1538 that instructed every parson, vicar or curate to keep a “boke or registere” in which should be written “the day and yere of every weddyng christening and burying”.
Parish registers are held at the Nottinghamshire Archives Office. Most can be viewed on microfilm. The most useful guide to surviving parish registers is
- C R Humphrey-Smith. The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers. [2nd ed.] Chichester: Phillimore, 1995, pp220-223
Other parish records
Vestry minutes (also commonly called parish or town books), churchwardens’ and constables’ accounts can shed light on the village community in the post-medieval period. The best example in the county is the material that survives for Clayworth in north Nottinghamshire. Clayworth is particularly blessed: The Rector’s Book, a chronicle of local events maintained by William Sampson between 1672 and 1701; The Town Book (recording the accounts of parish officials) covering 1674-1714; a number of wills and inventories also survive for the period 1670-1710. Editions of the Town Book and selected wills and inventories have been published and analysed by an adult education class at Nottingham University:
- E R Perkins, ed. Village life from wills & inventories: Clayworth parish, 1670-1710 (Centre for Local History Rec. Series, 1) University of Nottingham, Centre for Local History, 1979
- A Rogers, ed. Coming into line. Local government in Clayworth, 1674-1714 (Centre for Local History Rec. Series, 2) University of Nottingham, Centre for Local History, 1979
Census
From the 1841 Census enumerators’ books record the names, family relationships, ages and occupations of all inhabitants. Microfilm copies can be consulted at Nottinghamshire Archives and Local Studies Libraries throughout the county. Scanned images of the original 19th century census enumerator's books for the county, reproduced on multiple CD sets for reading using Adobe Acrobat Reader software have been produced by The Archive CD Books Project. The 1841, 1851, and 1861 censuses are currently available for purchase:
Quarter Sessions
These were Court sessions held four times a year in each County and County Borough. Presided over by a Justice of the Peace early Quarter Sessions dealt with both law and order and the administrative tasks which were later carried out by local government. Quarter Sessions records contain a wealth of information that can add colour and texture to village history. The records cover a fascinating range of issues: meat eating and meat selling in Lent, alehouses, highways, apprentices, poor relief, disloyalty, Quakers, absence from church, vagrants, poaching, chimney taxes, witchcraft, hue and cry etc.
A representative selection of extracts from the archives has been published for both the 17th and 18th centuries:
- H Hampton Copnall, Nottinghamshire county records. Notes and extracts from the Nottinghamshire county records of the 17th century, Nottingham: Henry B Saxton, 1915
- K Tweedale Meaby, Nottinghamshire. Extracts from the county records of the eighteenth century, Nottingham: T Forman, 1947
Personal
A personal account of life in Laxton at the turn of the 20th century:
- B A Wood, C Watkins and C A Wood, Life at Laxton. The memories of Edith Hickson, Nottingham: University of Nottingham, The Department of Adult Education, 1983
Reminiscences on aspects of village life during the 20th century can be found in:
- [Oakes, E.], ed. Stories of Old Blyth in Nottinghamshire. Blyth: privately published, 1977
- Rachel Gardner, Maplebeck: continuity and change, Mapleck: privately published, 2001
- B W Smith, A history of Kingston on Soar up to the 19th century, Kingston-on-Soar: Brickyard Publishing, 1988; B W Smith, Kingston-on-Soar: further chapters in the history of an estate village, privately published, 1990
- T Shipside, I lived in a village. Stories of life and folk in Nottinghamshire in general and Oxton in particular. Nottingham: privately published, 1956
In 1960, the Nottinghamshire Local History Council held a competition, "The Memories of a Villager ". Entries were received recalling rural life in Arnold, Aslockton, Balderton, Beckingham, Bingham, Blidworth, Blyth, East Bridgford, Upper Broughton, Bunny, Calverton, Car Colston, Caunton, Clifton, North Collingham, Cropwell Bishop, Cropwell Butler, Dunham, Edwinstowe, Farndon, Farnsfield, Flintham, Granby, Gringley-on-the-Hill, Gunthorpe, Harworth, Headon, Hickling, Hoveringham, Hucknall, Jacksdale, Kinoulton, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Kneesall, Lambley, East Leake, Linby, Mansfield, Manton, Ollerton, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Rampton, Ranby, Ruddington, Selston, Shelford, Southwell, West Stockwith, Syerston, Thrumpton, Tuxford, Warsop, Watnall, Welbeck, Whatton, Wilford. The entries were deposited in the Nottinghamshire Record Office (DD. 121/1) and a summary of the entries published in:
- Arthur Cossons, The villagers remember, Transactions of the Thoroton Society, 66, 1962, pp67-82
Administrative
Charters
Several cartularies, recording the grants of land and tenements in Nottinghamshire villages to monastic houses, have been transcribed and translated:
- R. T. Timson (ed.) The Cartulary of Blyth Priory, Thoroton Society Record Series, 28, 1969; Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Joint Publications, 17. H.M.S.O., 1973
- Violet Walker and Duncan Gray. Newstead Priory cartulary, 1344, and other archives, Thoroton Society Record Series, 8, 1940.
- C. J. Holdsworth (ed.) Rufford Charters. Thoroton Society Record Series, 29, for 1970 and 1971; 30, for 1972 and 1973; 32, for 1976 and 1977; 34, for 1980 and 1981. Nottingham, 1972-1981
- Trevor Foulds, The Thurgarton cartulary, Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1995
The cartularies of other monastic houses such as Beauvale Priory, Welbeck Abbey and Felley Priory have not been published; microfilms of the originals can be viewed at Nottinghamshire Archives and their contents are detailed in:
- Foulds, T. Unpublished monastic cartularies in Nottinghamshire: a guide to their contents, Transactions of the Thoroton Society, 88, 1984
- Foulds, T. Unpublished ecclesiastical and secular cartularies in Nottinghamshire: a guide to their contents, Transactions of the Thoroton Society, 90, 1986
Deeds, manorial and estate records
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| Extract from a rental for Langar and Barnstone, c.1340. |
The vast majority of surviving manorial and estate records are unpublished and are deposited at Nottinghamshire Archives and Nottingham University Manuscripts Department. Manorial records fall into the following main types:
- Manorial court rolls record the activities of manorial courts which “regulated the administration of the manor by enforcing local customs and agricultural practices, settling minor disputes and debts and transferring property rights, notably copyhold tenure, where a tenant’s legal title was based on an entry on the court roll”
- Manorial accounts detail the income and expenditure of manorial officials such as the steward, reeve or bailiff
- A manorial extent is a description and valuation of all the items on the manor
- A rental lists the names of all tenants who held land in the manor, together with a description of the land they held and a record of the rent they paid
- The custumal was “a survey of rent, services and other customary obligations owed by tenants, both free and unfree, to the lord of the manor, and of the rights and obligations of the lord”
Manorial court rolls contain details of the working lives and activities of the people of the manor; manorial extents “provide the essential topographical and statistical detail as the backcloth to the scene.”
A very helpful guide to using manorial records for research is:
- Denis Stuart, Manorial Records, an introduction to their transcription and translation, Chichester: Phillimore, 1992.
The “standard guide” on medieval estate management and associated records is:
- P D A Harvey, Manorial records, Archives and the user No. 5, British Record Association, Revised edition, 1999
The manuscripts department at Nottingham University has produced a useful online introduction to manorial records:
Use the Access to Archives website to search for deeds, manorial and estate records relating to Nottinghamshire villages:
Searching for specific types of document on the Access to Archives website is not particularly easy or intuitive. For example, if you are looking for court rolls for a particular village (e.g. Skegby) you should enter the following search terms:
skegby near10 “court roll”
The search above specifies that you want all records that contain the word 'Skegby' within 10 words of the phrase 'court roll'.
Although catalogues for some of the major family collections held by Nottingham University Manuscripts Department can be searched on the Access to Archives website, it is advisable to try the department’s own online catalogue as well:
Some Nottinghamshire manorial records have been printed in the Thoroton Society Record Series. The following examples have been translated and published in ‘A Miscellany’, Thoroton Society Record Series, XI, 1944-5:
- Customary agreement to enclose, North Collingham, 1567
- Rental of Robert de Caunton, 1340
- An extent of Langar and Barnstone, c. 1340
- Account roll of the manors of Scarrington, Car Colston, Screveton and Orston, 1413-1414
An extent made in 1431 for Upton, near Southwell, appears in
- K.S.S. Train, A second miscellany of Nottinghamshire records, Thoroton Society Record Series, XIV, 1951
A very detailed manorial extent for the manor of Hodsock, near Blyth, dating from 1324 has been translated and printed in
- J Z Titow, English rural society, 1200-1350, Allen & Unwin, 1969, pp151-160.
An extract from the Mansfield Court Roll for 1315/16, along with a transcription and translation, was published in:
- P A Kennedy ed. Nottinghamshire historical documents in facsimile, Nottinghamshire Local History Council, 1962, pp7-10
Extents and surveys appear among the inquisitions post mortem (a local enquiry into the lands held by people of some status in order to discover whatever income and rights were due to the crown) that have been translated and published in the Thoroton Society Record Series:
- W.P.W. Phillimore (ed.) Abstracts of the Inquisitiones Post Mortem and other Inquisitions relating to Nottinghamshire, 1485-1546, Thoroton Society Record Series, III 1905.
- John Standish (ed.). Abstracts of the Inquisitiones Post Mortem and other Inquisitions relating to Nottinghamshire, 1279-1321, Thoroton Society Record Series, IV, 1914.
- T.M. Blagg (ed.) Abstracts of the Inquisitiones Post Mortem and other Inquisitions relating to Nottinghamshire, 1321-1350. Thoroton Society Record Series, VI 1939.
- K.S.S. Train (ed.) Abstracts of the Inquisitiones Post Mortem and other Inquisitions relating to Nottinghamshire, Part I, 1350-1388. Thoroton Society Record Series, XII,1952.
- Violet Walker (ed.) Abstracts of the Inquisitiones Post Mortem and other Inquisitions relating to Nottinghamshire, Part II, 1388-1436. Thoroton Society Record Series, XII, 1952.
- Mary A. Renshaw (ed.) Inquisitiones Post Mortem relating to Nottinghamshire, 1437-1485, Thoroton Society Record Series, XVII,1956.
Other useful Record Series volumes are:
- R.F. Hunnisett (ed.) Calendar of Nottinghamshire coroners' inquests, 1485-1558. Thoroton Society Record Series, XXV, 1969.
- Martyn Bennett (ed.) A Nottinghamshire village in war and peace: the accounts of the constables of Upton, 1640 - 1666, Thoroton Society Record Series, XXXIX, 1995.
- P.A. Kennedy (ed.) Nottinghamshire household inventories, Thoroton Society Record Series, XXII, 1963.
© THOROTON SOCIETY | CREATED: 22 January 2006