Grantees of offices, commissions and pardons
(1350-1354) The Patent Rolls are the Chancery enrolments of royal letters patent. Those for the 24th to the 27th years of the reign of king Edward III (25 January 1350 to 24 January 1354) were edited for the Public Record Office by R. F. Isaacson, and published in 1907. The main contents are royal commissions and grants; ratifications of ecclesiastical estates; writs of aid to royal servants and purveyors; and pardons. SPENE. Cost: £2.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Clergy, the religious and the faithful in Britain and Ireland
(1362-1404) These are abstracts of the entries relating to Great Britain and Ireland from the Regesta of popes Urban V, Gregory XI, (Anti-Pope) Clement VII, Urban VI and Boniface IX, and the Lateran Regesta of Boniface IX. Many of these entries relate to clerical appointments and disputes, but there are also indults to devout laymen and women for portable altars, remission of sins, &c. This source is particularly valuable for Ireland, for which many of the key government records of this period are lost. Urban V was consecrated and crowned 6 November 1362 (the day from which his pontificate is dated); Gregory XI was crowned 5 January 1371; Clement VII 31 October 1378; Urban VI 18 April 1378; Boniface IX 9 November 1389 and died 1 October 1404. Until 1376 the papacy was in exile at Avignon. The extracts were made by W. H. Bliss from Regesta ccxlv to cccxx and Lateran Regesta i to xliii, and published in 1902. Bliss remarked that 'although the writing of the Papal Registers of the 14th century is clearer than that of many contemporary English MSS., the entries in them were for the most part founded upon petitions or letters from different countries, and the scribes in the Papal Chancery must have experienced even greater difficulty in copying English proper names than English students experience nowadays in reading the early Chancery Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office. Not having local or personal knowledge, they constantly misread doubtful letters.'SPENE. Cost: £4.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Close Rolls
(1441-1447) The close rolls of the 20th to 25th years of the reign of king Henry VI record the main artery of government administration in England, the orders sent out day by day to individual officers, especially sheriffs of shires: they are an exceptionally rich source for so early a period. There is also some material relating to Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the English possessions in France. SPENE. Cost: £4.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Tradesmen of York
(1272-1558) No man or woman could trade in the city of York without having obtained 'freedom' of the city.Their names were recorded on the 'Freemen's Roll', or Register of the Freemen of the City of York, which contains about 19,900 names for this period. A list of names was prepared for each year, the year being here reckoned as starting at Michaelmas (29 September) until 1373, and thence at Candlemas (2 February). Each annual list starts with the name of the mayor and the camerarii or chamberlains. The chamberlains were freemen charged with the duty of receiving the fees of the new freemen; of seeing that only freemen traded in the city; and of preparing this roll, which was compiled from the names on their own account books from the receipts for the fees. There are three groups of freemen: those who obtained freedom after serving out an apprenticeship to a freeman; the children of freemen; and those who claimed freedom by 'redemption', i. e. by purchase or gift from the Mayor and Court of Aldermen.
SPENE. Cost: £2.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Masters and Apprentices
(1744) 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 father's name and address, as well as details of the date and length of the apprenticeship.SPENE. Cost: £8.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Scottish Partnerships Dissolved and Trustees of Bankrupts
(1855) Trading partnerships dissolved in Scotland, and appointment of trustees for Scotch Sequestrations: business failure and bankruptcy often caused people to restart their lives elsewhere, so these are an important source for lost links
SPENE. Cost: £6.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Bankrupts, Assignees, Trustees and Solicitors
(1887) Bankruptcy notices in England and Wales. October to December 1887SPENE. Cost: £6.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Inhabitants of county Armagh
(1888) Bassett's Book of Antrim is a directory listing traders, farmers and private residents in the county, with notes on local manufacture and for anglers and sportsmen.SPENE. Cost: £6.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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