The following British databases have been added at The Original Record in the last couple weeks.
1322-1347
Beverley Chapter Act Book
The minster (collegiate church) of St John of Beverley in Yorkshire was an important foundation with extensive ecclesiastical and temporal rights exercised by the chapter. The main register of the administration in both respects was the chapter act book, and this edition of the act book from 2 February 1322 to 19 November 1347 was edited by Arthur Francis Leach for the Surtees Society and published in 1903. The act book material occupies pages 1 to 136; to this were added extracts relating to Beverley from the registers of the Archbishops of York from 1279 to 1381; miscellaneous documents from York Minster manuscripts and the British Museum from 1135 to 1314; and a copy of the Beverley Provost’s Book, compiled in 1417, but with material from the preceding centuries. All these sources are covered by this index: but the bulk of the personal references are from the chapter act book, and relate to clergy at or connected with Beverley.
1665
Oxford Hearth Tax Return
Hearth tax was raised by assessing each householder on the number of chimneys to the dwelling. This provided a simple way to make a rough judgment as to the value of the dwelling. In Oxford the returns were made by ward, and then by parish. The return for 1665 (164/154) was edited by J. E. Thorold Rogers and printed for the Oxford Historical Society in 1891. The Roman numerals given are the numbers of hearths: where two or more people are grouped together with one number, it may be assumed that they were heads of separate households sharing a single building with that number of chimneys. Full names are given: only in a few instances is occupation given, nor are the streets indicated; however, there were thirteen ancient parishes in the city, none being very extensive, so a fairly good indication of location is given by the parish name.
1754-1757
Board of Stamps Apprenticeship Books: Country Collectors’ Returns
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. Each collector’s return for each year has been indexed separately. IR 1/52
1760-1761
Home Office Papers
This calendar of Home Office papers was edited by Joseph Redington and published in 1878. The period covered by this index is from the accession of king George III, 25 October 1760, to 31 December 1761. The documents abstracted were a part of the great archive called the State Papers Domestic, and comprised letters to and from the Secretaries of State, and other letters; reports; memorials and petitions; and warrants of various kinds. Some repetitive material was reduced into tables. We have teased out this diverse and heterogenous material into separate indexes for each subject.
1826
Northumberland Poll Book
An election to choose two knights of the shire to represent Northumberland took place at Alnwick from 20 June to 6 July 1826. The candidates were Henry Thomas Liddell (L), Matthew Bell (B), Thomas Wentworth Beaumont (Bt) and Viscount Howick (H). The franchise included all freeholders of property worth 40 shillings or more per annum: each had two votes, but could plump for a single candidate. This poll book was published in 1827 and lists the voters from each ward: the freeholder’s full name (surname first), residence, and the nature of the freehold (such as ‘house at Corbridge’). The votes are shown in the right hand columns, with plumpers shown by a dagger.
1864
Patent Abstracts
Abstracts of British patents for new inventions applied for and granted from 1 January to 31 December 1864: giving date, name and address, and short description of the invention. It is then stated whether ‘Letters patent sealed’ or ‘Provisional protection only’.
1916
Roll of Honour
Lists of names of soldiers wounded, died of wounds, died, killed, missing presumed dead, and taken prisoner by the enemy, were issued to the British national press under the title Roll of Honour. Each man is identified by surname, initials and number. The regimental returns from which the daily Roll was compiled were made up over the previous week or weeks. Each regimental return may be partial, covering only part of the alphabet. The lists are provisional, in that a man reported wounded one day may appear as died of wounds later; a missing presumed dead may later be reported as having been found, or as having died; the lists of prisoners of war were provided by the enemy and will relate to captures weeks earlier. However, these rolls are the most comprehensive single source of names of British and allied combatants meeting with misfortune in the Great War. This is the roll published 1 August 1916.
1195-1214
Cumberland, Derbyshire, Devon and Dorset Feet of Fines
Pedes Finium – law suits, or pretended suits, putting on record the ownership of land in these counties. This transcript was prepared for the Commissioners of the Public Records by Joseph Hunter, and printed in 1844. It covers entries for the county from the surviving rolls from the 7th year of the reign of king Richard I to the 16th year of king John. Each county is indexed separately.
1774
Sussex Poll Book
A poll of freeholders to elect two knights of the shire to represent the county of Sussex was taken at Chichester in 1774. This poll book lists each voter’s full name; abode; where the freehold lay and of what it consisted (b., barn; f., farm; g., garden; h., house; l., land; m., mill; o., orchard; r., rectory; w. sh., workshop); and the name of the occupier (if any) (often surname only); with dashes in the right-hand columns indicating votes for the candidates, Lord George Henry Lennox, sir Thomas Spencer Wilson and sir James Peachey. The franchise was limited to freeholders of 40 shillings per annum and more.
1815-1836
Unstamped Publications: Return of Convictions
The 1815 Stamp Act increased the tax on newspapers to fourpence a copy. Many radical newspaper publishers and the booksellers and newsagents who sold their popular papers ignored the law, and were liable to suffer prosecution either by authority of the Stamp Office which regulated the tax or by a common informer. In 1836 the House of Commons ordered these returns to be made from each prison, giving details of the convictions that had been made under the Act. The returns are not entirely consistent from one gaol to another, but most give names, dates, and period of imprisonment. There are returns from Alnwick, Appleby, Borough Compter (Southwark), Brecon, Bridewell Hospital, Bristol, Carlisle, Clerkenwell, Derby, Durham, Exeter, Giltspur Street, Glasgow, Hexham, Horsham, Hull, Kingston-on-Thames, Kirkdale, Knutsford, Lawford’s Gate, Leicester, Liverpool, Louth, Middlesex, Monmouth, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Northallerton, Northampton, Norwich, Petworth, Portsmouth, Preston, Salford,
Salop, Southwell, Spilsby, Stafford, Stamford, Tynemouth, Usk, Warwick, Westminster, Wilts and York, each indexed separately.
1822
Members of the Association Incorporated for Discountenancing Vice and Promoting the Knowledge and Practice of the Christian Religion.
This society had an extensive membership in Ireland, of which this list was published as the 13th appendix to a Sermon preached before the members and their president, the Lord Lieutenant, in St Peter’s church by Charles R. Elrington, D. D., his chaplain. The list gives each member’s full name, surname first, with the year of admission to the society. This index also covers the fourteenth appendix, listing the members’ subscriptions received in 1821, but some for previous years’ arrears as far back as 1817, and whether paid in diocesan committees or in Dublin. Most of the members were gentlemen or clergy.
1824
London Bankruptcy Proceedings
English bankrupts could be dealt with in the provinces (Country) or London (Town). Town proceedings covered not only London but many provincial cases. The weekly Law Advertiser included this section entitled Results of Last Week’s Meetings, giving date, name (surname first, in capitals), stage of the process (such as last examination, appointment of assignees, dividend) and the prospective date of the next meeting (sine die when the case was, effectively, closed).
1859
Class Lists of Trainee and Established Schoolmasters and Schoolmistresses
The Committee of Council on Education set examinations for candidates for admission into training colleges, and to become teachers. Class lists for the various categories of candidate were printed for the examinations at Christmas 1859. Firstly, there are class lists of examinations of trainee teachers at the various training colleges in Britain. The names are given for the second year first, arranged by division in the examination (in order of merit for the first and second divisions), and then for the students of the first year, arranged similarly. Full names are given (with initials for middle names). The letter (D.) indicates that the candidate had obtained a certificate of competency as a teacher of drawing; an asterisk a prize in drawing. There were training colleges for masters at Bangor, Battersea, Borough Road, Carnarvon, Chelsea, Cheltenham, Chester, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Hammersmith, Highbury, Peterborough, Ripon, Saltley, Westminster, Winchester and York; and for mistresses at Cheltenham, Derby, Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ripon, Salisbury, Southlands, Truro, Warrington, Westminster, Whitelands and York. There are also lists of Queen’s Scholars: first class scholarships of £17, with a personal allowance of £3, were awarded to pupil teachers and others for their teacher training. The scholarship lists are arranged in order of merit, with full names (surname first), and the name of the school at which the candidate was teaching. Those candidates who were not pupil teachers have their names in italics. Thirdly, there are lists of established teachers who had also taken the examination and gained the qualification: these lists are divided into schoolmasters and schoolmistresses; within those by denomination of school; and within those in turn by whether the teachers were aged under or over 35. All the colleges, scholarship lists and school lists have been indexed separately.
1864
Gun’s Unclaimed Money Register
Gun & Co. of 17 Charlotte Street, London, published this ‘List of Next of Kin & Heirs, &c., who have been Advertised for in the English, Irish, Scotch, United States of America, Canadian, Australian, East and West Indian, and other Newspapers, since 1704. Money & Property to the value of many Millions Sterling want Claimants’. The list of 4076 names gives surname, christian name, and, occasionally, locality. Copies of the actual advertisements were furnished to enquirers by the company at a cost of six shillings.
They now have 8.7 million entries directly available online. Free unlimited search. All records hand-indexed (no OCR). Purchase sets of scans, or buy open access to the surname(s) of your choice, including variants. Look for your ancestors at The Original Record.
