English Legal Documents mss., 1510-1858

Series:

General:

1. Dated on back in pencil.

General:

1. Once sealed but seal has been broken off.
2. Dated on back in pencil.

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Dated on back in pencil.

Series:

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Dated in pencil in corner on front: 1647
3. Reverse side has ink notes indicating that it is related to a priory.
4. Reverse side has red pencil statement of "King Charles 1649."

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. In left margin: "Witlesey Gnee Marie" (sp?)
3. Dated in pencil in corner on front side: 1628.

General:

1. Latin text on front side and English text on reverse side.
2. Dated at bottom in document (1629) and in pencil on back (1629).

General:

1. Latin text on front side and English text on reverse side.
2. Signed Rich Godwin, M. Chimney, Nicholas Trott, etc.
3. Dated in red pencil on back: "James I 1616."

General:

1. Dated in red pencil on back: "Cromwell 1654."

General:

1. Written on vellum on both sides.
2. Announces that Bernard Hale of county Norfolk, gentleman, and John Hale of county Hartford, gentleman, owe John Mynne of Lincoln Inn in Middlesex county, gentleman, £1,000.
3. The document begins: "Know all men by these presents that Bernard Hale…"

General:

1. Latin text on front side and English text on reverse side.
2. Includes remnants of red seal.
3. Signed (presumably witnessed) by William Plomer, John Plomer, and Geo. Battll (sp?)

General:

1. Appears to involve a manor at one point (see lines 5, 6, 8, and 11)
2. Dated to February in the rule of King Charles, possibly Charles II?

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Involves "Thome Grantham, Militis," a name written in a different ink (which is black rather than brown).
3. Dated to the regnal years of King James, possibly James I.

General:

1. Written in Latin and in English
2. The inside of the document is a list of receipts by Abigail Foster, probably charting the Crows' payment of their debt in installments.
3. Seal has been cut out, presumably by collector.

General:

1. Written in Latin in very densely packed secretary hand.
2. Dated in red pencil on the back as "early 17th century."

General:

1. Announces that James Spurlinge the elder and James Spurling the younger of Welton owe Lady Mary Colepeper, widow, £300 and lays out conditions for repayment.
2. Includes seal.
3. The document begins: "This Indenture made the sixth day of July in the year of the reign of our sovereign Lord James by the grace of God King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland …"

General:

1. Written in Latin on front side and summarized or translated in English on reverse side.
2. Several cuts have been made into the document, possibly to indicate that the debt has been paid?

General:

1. Written in Latin on front side and summarized or translated in English on reverse side.
2. Seals have been detached but imprints remain in paper.

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Dated in pencil on back.

General:

1. The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral are leasing Thatcher a house and property.
2. Document begins: "This Indenture made the nine and twentieth day of June in the two and thirtieth year of the reign of our sovereign Lord Charles the second by the grace of God…"

Series:

General:

1. Text is as follows: "The State of New Jersey to Daniel Ketchan, esquire, one of the justices of the peace in the county of Monmouth, Greeting: We being willing for certain cause to be certified of a certain plaint before you levied and brought by William Carter against Thomas Lloyd in a plea of debt as is said do command you that the plaint aforesaid with all things touching & concerning the same by whatever names the parties may be called in the same before the Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature of New Jersey to be held at Trenton on the first Tuesday in September next distinct and openly under your seal you send that therein may be done what of right according to the laws & customs of New Jersey ought to be done. Which James Henrey, Esquire, Chief Justice of our said court at Trenton aforesaid. The eleventh day of May in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and ninety six."
2. Ink is badly faded

General:

1. Written in Latin.

General:

1. John Lingard is a London wine cooper.
2. The lord of the manor of Southwell is represented here by his steward Richard Turner Becher, esquire.
3. Dated 1770 in document and on back in red pencil.

Series:

General:

1. Noted as received June 27.
2. Acknowledges receipt of a gift of a gold watch and also forwards bills to Mr. French, Mr. Bogle, and Mr. Borrowes as well as business information relating to the managing of a sugar-producing estate in St. Kitts, West Indies.

General:

1. Noted as received September 25 and answered October (?) 16.
2. French apologized for the poor sugar harvest.
3. Seal has survived intact.

General:

1. French wrote to report that he had sent 10 of the promised 13 measures of sugar but was unable to send the remaining 3.
2. Noted as received January 7, 1801 and answered January (?) 8.

General:

1. The document states that The Lord Mayor of London, Sir Peter Laurie, has ordered the fuller revelation of debts related to the plantations and colonies, wherefore Thomas Chandler has provided an affidavit indicating that he is a person of good credit.

General:

1. The document indicates that a check had been sent for $30 to pay a debt.

General:

1. The letter congratulates Vroom on his safe return from Europe and asks for the return of money left in Vroom's hands during a court case.
2. Signed Davis S. Hunt.

Series:

General:

1. Signature: "Ri. Dawson" (Richard Dawson)

General:

1. Signature: "Ri. Rowber" [?] (Richard Rowber)

General:

1. Presumably detached from an official document or paper prepared for an official document at some point.

General:

1. Signature reads: "Tho. Ashley" (Thomas Ashley)
2. Seal depicts a man wearing laurels, possibly Virgil or Caesar.

General:

1. Signature is ornate to the point of illegibility.
2. Seal depicts a man wearing laurels, possibly Virgil or Caesar.

Series:

Subseries:

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Dated to reign of Charles II.

General:

1. Document begins: "This Indenture made the tenth day of March in the one and forty year of the reign of our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth…"
2. Dating reflects Old Style dating where the legal year began March 25 rather than January 1.
3. Written in secretary hand.

General:

1. Dated 1669.
2. Written in Latin but with some English?
3. John Randolph is referred to in the text as "Johis Randolph."

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Date given as 1671.
3. Cooke family includes: Sara Cooke, Martha Cooke, Abigail Cooke, Roberta Cooke, etc.
4. Probably written by a scribe and then signed by someone else.
5. Written in secretary hand.

General:

1. Issued as payment for military service in the wars in Ireland, where Stevington served as cornet in the regiment of Lord Deputy Charles Fleetwood.
2. Valued at £382, 10s, 5d (but possibly with more to come after).

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Date given as 1669.
3. John Sheffield is referred to in the text as "Johis Sheffield."

General:

1. Dated in the reign of King James, probably James I, i.e., between 1603 and 1625.
2. Written in secretary hand.

General:

1. Dated in the reign of King James, probably James I, i.e., between 1603 and 1625.
2. Badly faded ink.

Subseries:

General:

1. Dated to November in the 32nd year of the reign of King Charles (i.e., 1680).
2. Ink faded in places.

General:

1. Dated to the fourth year of the reign of William and Mary.
2. Written in the city of Rochester.
3. Partially faded ink.

General:

1. Written in the county of Durham between people living in the town of Barnard Castle.
2. The tenants of the property pay £80 to Mark Addington and his wife Isabell.
3. Secretary hand.

General:

1. Stamped with two six Johnny penny stamps as it was sealed.
2. One of the signatures has been torn out, possibly to indicate that the debt had been settled.

General:

1. Samwell Stevens was a baker living in Stanwell.
2. Michael Stevens was his father and a basket-maker.
3. Written in secretary hand.

General:

1. Dated to November in the 32nd year of the reign of King Charles (i.e., 1680).
2. Pencil dated to 1680.
3. Possibly involves a barber surgeon?
4. Faded ink.

Subseries:

General:

1. Ann Vigures lived in the parish of St. Martin in the Fields in Middlesex County.
2. Vigures was a widow and a linen draper and partner with Margarett Johnson, another widow and linen draper.
3. Johnson is made sole executrix of Vigures' will and, after some bequests have been made, heir to the residue of her estate.
4. Document begins: "God's Will be done mine is as follows…"
5. Dated 1770 in red pencil on reverse side but dated Nov. 13, 1777 in document.

General:

1. Dated to the reign of King George III (1760-1820).
2. Very badly faded ink.

General:

1. Daniel Bell was a tallow-chandler who was living in Middlesex but had once lived in Tottenham.
2. Signed several times on back side by "Thomas Shepherd, steward"
3. Ink faded in places.

General:

1. Ann Adams was a spinster living in the parish of Saint George Hanover Square in the county of Middlesex.
2. The will specifies that Adams be buried at the parish church of St. Martin in the Fields near her sister.
3. Bequests include pictures of Adams's parents and of King Charles and Queen Ann to a widow.

General:

1. Mary Lucy Thomson was a widow. The first Mary Winifred Drummond was Robert Drummond's wife and the second was his daughter. Elizabeth Lucy Plowdon was also his daughter.
2. The rent on the house was 25 shillings (5 shillings to be paid to each of the five lessors).
3. Includes seals.
4. Includes stationer's mark indicating that the document was sold with some of the words previously filled in (and the rest was to be filled in by the clerk). The stationer is David Anthony, Stationer, in Cursitor Street Chancery Lane.
5. Ink faded in places where document was folded.

Subseries:

General:

1. Castile lived at Oldpalace Yard in the parish of St Margaret Westminster in Middlesext County. Includes bequests to his brother John Castile's family: £50 to his brother's widow, Mary Castile, £50 to his nephew John Castile (with a proviso that if he causes any trouble about the will, he receives nothing), and £50 each to his nieces Ann Fish, Sophia Castile, and Charlotte Castile.
2. Includes bequests to the family of his deceased sister Sophia Price: £200 to his niece Sophia Tanner.
3. Includes bequest to David Jacobs of Oldpalace, victualler and his wife Mary: 5 guineas (i.e., £5, 2 shillings, 1 pence) to be spent on a ring.
4. The reside of the estate was to go to Margaret Crawford and Georgiane Lubre, two spinsters currently residing with Castile at Oldpalace Yard, who are also to act as his executrices.

General:

1. The document indicates that Samuel Coates, gentleman, had leased land to the cabinet maker Joseph Florist on April 14, 1787 for 40 years. This land came into the possession of Bainbridge, who in turn leased it to Langdon for the remainder of these forty years. Bainbridge had now however sold the land outright to Langdon.
2. Includes stationer's mark indicating that the document was sold with some of the words (and the rest to be filled in by the clerk). The stationer is James Dancer, law stationer, Furnival's Inn, Holborn.

General:

1. Two documents linked together at bottom.
2. Faded ink.

General:

1. Darell and Friend both lived in Kent.
2. The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Canterbury retained fishing rights and all salvage rights on the property.
3. The annual rent was £10.
4. Signed and sealed.

General:

1. Benjamin Barker had settled land on his future wife Ann Rickard, daughter of Reverend Thomas Rickard. Ann having died, Barker deeds the property to the use of their son, John Barker, but with the stipulation that if John Barker dies before reaching the age of 21 and without having legal issue, Barker's other three sons (James Rickard Barker, Benjamin Barker, and Thomas Barker) will inherit the property jointly.

General:

1. Walker leased two tenements and a parcel of land to Smith.
2. Thomas Walker is of Walbrook in London; Thomas Smith is of Grace Church Street in London.

General:

1. Witnessed by Ann Hobson.

Subseries:

General:

1. Harrison left everything to his wife Mary Harrison, whom he appointed as executrix.
2. Witnessed by John Williams, Henry Testill, and Ann Tyrrell.
3. A slip of paper is pinned to the front of the document reading "William Harrison the Testator in the year 1754 lived in Breams Buildings Chancery Lane and Died in Westminster — Decr. 1781"

General:

1. The document establishes that Richard Frost, copyhold tenant of a manor, surrendered all of his rights to a manorial property in his will.
2. On the reverse of the document, the document is dated July 30, 1780 and notes that this is the Manor of Waldringford with Sailton (?).

General:

1. Goodin Bowen once lived in Mount Pleasant, NC, and was then living in Middlesex.
2. In a note dated November, 7 1799, Elizabeth Budd states that she executed Bowen's will.
3. Ink partially faded.

General:

1. Noted on back to have gone into probate July 30, 1788.

General:

1. Signed and sealed.

Subseries:

General:

1. The document appoints John Nesbit as his lawful attorney in St. Vincent.
2. The document also lists the slaves Richard Cantlon owned by name.

General:

1. Anna Samuel was a widow administrating the property of her husband Emanuel Samuel, formerly of Madras in the East Indies.
2. Consists of several pages tied together in top corner.
3. Sealed and signed at bottom.

General:

1. The document stipulates that Ruth Georges (mother of the bride) will give her plantations on the island of Tortola (West Indies) with all associated livestock and slaves over to Charles Combe after the marriage is solemnized.
2. Ruth Georges is to be paid an annual annuity of £100.
3. Consists of several pages tied together in top corner.

General:

1. Includes provisos for children's inheritance.
2. Consists of several pages tied together in top corner.

General:

1. Thomas Avey lived in Stanton in Suffolk County.
2. Avey appoints Robert Evelyn Lofft as executor of the will.
3. Dated on back by the probate court June 9, 1841.

Subseries:

General:

1. Richard Bardley was Hannah Bradley's father.
2. Apparently a sale or transfer of property for ten shillings.
3. Heavily faded ink.

General:

1. Tichborne had been renting property to Braver and was now transferring it wholly over to him.

Subseries:

General:

1. The document stipulates that if Garman was paid £500 by August 21, 1681, he would sell the land discussed in the indenture back to Griffin.
2. The document states that John Currance and Bennett Griffin had sold property to Bennett Garman in a separate indenture.

General:

1. William Ryvett (deceased 1680) was owed considerable money by the city of London and left £500 of that debt to Jane Mary Bateman. There is a description of an Act of Parliament aimed at settling all such debts (presumably to assert that the debt is worth something). This debt is now being transferred to Jane Mary Ash, widow of the . the widow of the baronet Joseph Ash. by the Batemans.

General:

1. Perche was renting land from the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral for 13 shillings 4 pence.

General:

1. Culpeper ceded one piece of property to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral in exchange for a different piece of land.
2. Seal may have been cut out of document by collector.

General:

1. Opening is written in Latin but the text turns into English later on.
2. Written on parchment with several holes, one of which has been mended with thread.
3. The author of the will leaves everything to his son Stephen Dawson that is not specifically granted to somebody else beforehand.

Subseries:

General:

1. Randolph was renting property from the Dean and Chapter at a rate of £18, 3 shillings, 4 pence.

General:

1. The lease was set to last 30 years and cost 38 shillings to be paid in equal installments on the feast days of the Christmas, the Annunciation, the Nativity of John the Baptist, and St Michael's.
2. Dated on reverse side in green pencil as 1713.
3. Seal may have been cut out of document by collector.
4. N.B.: Hunt is acting as the executioner of William Hunt's will, which makes this a bit confusing as to why he is renting land from the Cathedral.

General:

1. Written in Latin.
2. Involves a draper named George.
3. Slightly faded ink.

Subseries:

General:

1. The court notes that the Flewetts have acknowledged that the land had been sold to Pardoe and Grove for £120.
2. Document begins "This is the final agreement made in the court of our sovereign lord the King at Westminster from the day of the Holy Trinity in three weeks in…" which suggests May as a likely month.
3. Document completed before Robert Eyre Alexander Denton, John Fortescue Aland, and Thomas Roeve, justices.

General:

1. Dated to the seventh year of King George II's reign (i.e., probably May, 1734).

General:

1. Frances Baynton lived in the parish of St. George's Hanover Square.

General:

1. The document states that James Tugent, in exchange for 5 shillings from Susanna de Bessé Grimaudet, has transferred his annual annuity of £50 to her.

General:

1. The document specifies that Mitten had bought property from Allen and his wife Elizabeth.
2. At the bottom of the document is a note in another hand that the debt of £100 has been paid in two installments (£60 and £40).
3. Signed and sealed.

General:

1. The document confirms the least of a barn in the yard of Thomas Warren as well as farmland to Eldridge with the proviso that Winch and his heirs will always have the rights to any timber grown on the land.
2. Signed and sealed.

General:

1. Document lists Richard Slater as party of the first part, Samuel Fairman and his wife Elizabeth Fairman as parties of the second part, and William Barber (party of the third part)
2. For £210 and 5 shillings paid to Slater by Elizabeth Fairman (with the consent of her husband), Slater sold Barber Carroom Number 326.
3. Elizabeth Fairman retained some claim upon the property, however, and could take rents and profits from it even though it belonged to Barber.
4. Signed and sealed.

General:

1. Aquila (a man) sold Cork a quarter interest in the Angell Inn in the town of Tiverton in county Devon for £70.
2. Document starts with: "This indenture made (on treble sixpenny stamp'd parchment) the six and twentieth day of September in the seventh year of the reign of…"

General:

1. A second document, "A Schedule of Goods," is stitched to it.
2. Sealed and signed by James Joye.
3. Dated on back in green pencil: "George II 1732."
4. Badly faded ink in several places.