Add to wish listBookmark this page

Search between and

Basket GBP 0 items £0.00 view basket > Click here to change currency

Our indexes 1000-1999 include entries for the spelling 'lesk'. In the period you have requested, we have the following 11 records (displaying 1 to 10): 

Buy all	£58.00
Get all 11 records to view, to save and print for £58.00

These sample scans are from the original record. You will get scans of the full pages or articles where the surname you searched for has been found.

Your web browser may prevent the sample windows from opening; in this case please change your browser settings to allow pop-up windows from this site.

Officers and tenants of the Scottish crown (1488-1496) In 1887 the 10th volume of Rotuli Scaccarii Regum Scotorum, or The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, was published in Edinburgh as part of the Scottish Series of Chronicles and Memorials. The main text is a transcript in extended Latin, but with some passages reduced to an abstract in English (in italics), of the rolls of the Scottish royal exchequer from 19 June 1488 to 12 October 1496 (rolls cclxxviii to ccxcv, old numbers ccxciii to cccix). This more or less continuous series alternates between accounts of the Ballivi ad Extra (royal chamberlains, lessees of lordships, rangers of wards, receivers &c) and those of the Custumars (receivers of customary payments and similar revenues) and bailies (bailiffs) of burghs (boroughs). In all, they give a summary description of all these sources of royal revenue - and not only mention the payers and receivers in general, but also refer to many occasional payments to and receipts from individuals hardly otherwise found in the surviving records. An appendix (pages 629 to 763) of rentals of royal property throughout Scotland in the same period gives a rich harvest of personal names; and another (764-772), an Index in Libros Responsionum, lists persons to whom sasine (seisin) was granted in 1492 to 1496. LESK. Cost: £4.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Inhabitants of Aberdeen (1398-1570) Extracts from the first 27 surviving volumes of Aberdeen burgh (borough) records were made by John Stuart for the Spalding Club and published in 1844. Although it is believed that the town records were preserved on parchment rolls until about 1380, and in book form thereafter, by 1591 the town clerk remarked that there existed of the earliest records only 'peces and partis of four ald imperfyt and informall buikis conumitt and eitten be mothes, for aldnes and antiquite euill to be red, yit to be keipit for a monument be resoun of the antiquite'. The regular series of books surviving comprised 61 folio volumes from 1398 to 1745, and these contained the proceedings of the Council of the Burgh, of the Baillie Court, and the Guild Court. LESK. Cost: £4.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Scottish litigants, rebels and cautioners (1569-1578) The Privy Council of Scotland exercised a superior judicial authority in the kingdom, and consequently received and dealt with a constant stream of petitions, as well as dealing with the internal security of the state. This register of the council from July 1569 to June 1578, in the reign of king James VI, was edited by John Hill Burton, Historiographer Royal for Scotland, and published under the direction of the Lord Clerk Register of Scotland in 1878. Some of the individuals mentioned are the complainants, those of whom they complained, and the sureties on both sides: at this period, some of the complainants are alleging serious attacks, often of a feuding nature. Many of the bonds entered into by the cautioners are promises to keep the peace towards such enemies. Failure to answer to the council when summoned was a serious contempt, leading to being denounced a rebel, with serious consequences. But 'horning' was also used in the pursuit of debts: there was no imprisonment for debt in Scotland, but a creditor could have an obstinate debtor ordered, in the sovereign's name, to pay what was due, failing which, the debtor could be put to the horn, denounced as a rebel, and imprisoned as a rebel. LESK. Cost: £4.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Merchants and traders in Aberdeen (1399-1631) A. M. Munro searched the council registers of the royal burgh of Aberdeen, and compiled this list of burgesses admited to the borough. The entries prior to 1591 were contained in lists engrossed in the council registers at the close of the minutes for the year ending at Michaelmas, but after that date in addition to the annual lists, which are continued, there is almost always a separate minute of admission under the respective dates. The records before 1591 are not only sparser, often with no more than a name, but are also lacking for 1401-1405, 1413-1432, 1434-1435, 1518-1519, 1557 and 1562-1564 - other blanks were filled in from the guildry accounts where such existed. Guild burgesses were allowed unfettered trading rights in Aberdeen; simple burgesses could only deal in Scottish wares (so being barred from the lucrative English and Flemish imports and exports); trade burgesses were limited to their own particular trades; and the council was able ex gratia to create honourary burgesses, who were accorded the full privileges of burgesses of guild and trade, and among whom numbered members of almost every family of note in Aberdeenshire. Burgesses could thus be created by descent, by apprenticeship into a trade, or ex gratia, and in the later portions of this roll the precise circumstances are usually given, sometimes also with the name of a cautioner or surety. Burgesses, masters and cautioners are all indexed here. LESK. Cost: £4.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Letters and papers of James first duke of Ormond, Lord Deputy of Ireland (1681-1683) This correspondence deals with a large variety of personal and public affairs in Ireland and England. LESK. Cost: £4.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Treasury Books (1693-1696) Records of the Treasury administration in Britain, America and the colonies, from January 1693 to March 1696. These also include records of the appointment and replacement of customs officers such as tide waiters and surveyors. The calendar was prepared by William A. Shaw for the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury and published in 1935, from letters patent, privy seals, royal sign manuals and warrants, treasury warrants, commissions, orders, letters, memorials, reports and other entries, all not of the nature of Treasury Minutes. LESK. Cost: £4.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Apprentices registered in Scotland (1778) Apprenticeship indentures and clerks' articles were subject to a 6d or 12d per pound stamp duty: the registers of the payments usually give the master's trade, address, and occupation, and the apprentice's name, as well as details of the date and length of the apprenticeship. There are central registers for collections of the stamp duty in London, as well as returns from collectors in the provinces. These collectors generally received duty just from their own county, but sometimes from further afield. The indentures themselves can date from a year or two earlier than this return. (The sample entry shown on this scan is taken from a Bristol return. Each entry has two scans, the other being the facing page with the details of the indenture, length of service, and payment of duty.) IR 1/60 LESK. Cost: £8.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Apprentices registered in Scotland (1779) Apprenticeship indentures and clerks' articles were subject to a 6d or 12d per pound stamp duty: the registers of the payments usually give the master's trade, address, and occupation, and the apprentice's name, as well as details of the date and length of the apprenticeship. There are central registers for collections of the stamp duty in London, as well as returns from collectors in the provinces. These collectors generally received duty just from their own county, but sometimes from further afield. The indentures themselves can date from a year or two earlier than this return. (The sample entry shown on this scan is taken from a Bristol return. Each entry has two scans, the other being the facing page with the details of the indenture, length of service, and payment of duty.) IR 1/60 LESK. Cost: £8.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
Masters of Merchantmen (1804) The Society for the Registry of Shipping was instituted in 1760, and published an annual register and supplement. The annual register consisted of an alphabetical list of ships surveyed for insurance in Britain and Ireland, together with an alphabetical supplement. The society maintained a Registry Office at which alterations and additions were notified, and members delivering their registers when called for had them updated and returned on the following or the ensuing day. Each ship was given a number within each letter of the alphabet: ships' names were not unique, so within each name a ship was identified by the name of the captain or master at the time of the last survey. Then abbreviations indicate the type of vessel (Bg, brig; Cr, cutter; Dr, dogger; G, galliott; H, hoy; K, ketch; S, ship; Sk, smack; Sp, sloop; Sr, schooner; St, schoot; Sw, snow), and whether sheathed (s) and/or doubled (d) with copper (C) and iron bolts (I B) or over boards (W & C), or copper fastened (c f) or copper bolted (c b), sometimes with a date, such as (17)88. The third column, reserved for masters' names, is not particularly wide; with short surnames, an initial will be given; but longer surnames omit the initials, and even longer surnames are abbreviated. It will be borne in mind that these are the names of the masters not (necessarily) in 1804, but at the time of the last survey. Often new masters had been appointed by the time of re-survey, and their names are added in slightly smaller type under the original master's names in the third column. In the fourth column is the tonnage: where there is a blank under the number this indicates that the ship had two decks; more often the letters S D (B) for single deck (with beams); D W for deep waist; S D W single deck with deep waist; B D W single deck with beams and deep waist. Underneath the entry may run references to recent repairs: Cl. clincher built; Drp. damages repaired; grp. good repairs; len. lengthened; lrp. large repairs; N. (new) B. bottom, D. deck, Kl. keel, Sds. sides or UW. upper-works; rb. rebuilt; rsd. raised; S. rprs. some repairs; or trp. thorough Repair. In italics, the timber of the ship is described - B. B., black birch; C., cedar; H., hazel; J., juniper; L. O., live oak; M., mahogany; P., pine; P. P., pitch pine; S., spruce; W. H., witch hazel. Where the vessel was armed, the number of guns is given, and occasionally a remark such as 'captured' will appear. The fifth column gives the place that the ship was built. For foreign ships this may be as vague as 'Dutch' or 'French'; but nothing in this record specifically indicates the nationality of ship, master or owners, except that an A. under the owner's name indicates that the vessel was United States property. The sixth column gives the year of the ship's age; some were still sailing after 30 or 40 years. The seventh column gives the owner's name, abbreviated in the same way as the master's name. Where the master was the owner, the word Capt. will appear. With vessels owned abroad, the name in this column is sometimes that of the port of origin, not the surname of the owner. Where there has been a change of owner by the time of re-survey, the new name is put underneath in smaller type. The printer sought to avoid confusion by aligning names of ports to the left and surnames to the right, but that leaves longer names doubtful. The eighth column gives the feet of the draught of water when loaded. The ninth column shows the destined voyage for which the survey took place, with the port of survey abbreviated (Be., Belfast; Br., Bristol; Co., Cork; Cs, Cowes; Da., Dartmouth; Du., Dublin; Eh, Exmouth; Ex., Exeter; Fa., Falmouth; Gr., Greenock; Hl, Hull; La., Lancaster; Lh, Leith; Li., Liverpool; Lo., London; Ly., Lynn; Po., Poole; Ph, Portsmouth; Sc., Star-Cross; Tn., Teignmouth; Tp., Topsham; Wa., Waterford; Wn, Whitehaven; Ya., Yarmouth), and the letter C where the vessel was a constant trader between the two ports. The tenth column gives the classification of the vessel (A, first; E, second; I., third - O and U for fourth and fifth are never used) and its stores (1, first; 2, second; 3, third) and the year of survey, e. g. 00 for 1800, or, if surveyed during 1803, the month, e. g. 3 for March. Where the vessel has been re-surveyed, the classification letter and number will be repeated or revised in the final column. The sample scan is from the main list. This is the index to masters in the main list. LESK. Cost: £6.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge
British merchant seamen (1835-1836) At this period, the foreign trade of ships plying to and from the British isles involved about 150,000 men on 15,000 ships; and the coasting trade about a quarter as many more. A large proportion of the seamen on these ships were British subjects, and so liable to be pressed for service in the Royal Navy; but there was no general register by which to identify them, so in 1835 parliament passed a Merchant Seamen's Registration Bill. Under this act this large register of British seamen was compiled, based on ships' crew lists gathered in British and Irish ports, and passed up to the registry in London. Each seaman was assigned a number, and the names were arranged in the register by first two letters of the surname (our sample scan shows one of the pages for 'Sm'); in addition, an attempt was made to separate out namesakes by giving the first instance of a name (a), the second (b), and so on. But no effective method was devised to prevent the same man being registered twice as he appeared in a second crew list; moreover, the original crew lists were clearly difficult for the registry clerks to copy, and some of the surname spellings appear to be corrupted. A parliamentary committee decided that the system devised did not answer the original problem, and this register was abandoned after less than two years: but it is an apparently comprehensive source for British merchant seamen in 1835 to 1836. The register records the number assigned to each man; his name; age; birthplace; quality (master, captain, mate, 2nd mate, mariner, seaman, fisherman, cook, carpenter, boy &c.); and the name and home port of his ship, with the date of the crew list (usually at the end of a voyage). Most of the men recorded were born in the British Isles, but not all (for instance, Charleston and Stockholm appear in the sample scan). The final column 'How disposed of' is rarely used, and indicates those instances where a man died, was discharged, or deserted his ship during the voyage. LESK. Cost: £8.00.	Sample scan, click to enlarge

1 | 2

Research your ancestry, family history, genealogy and one-name study by direct access to original records and archives indexed by surname.