Medieval English genealogy: updates: 27 June 2026
This page contains brief details of the latest batch of updates to the site, and includes newly added and updated links.
For brief details of these and older additions
- without links, to make site maintenance easier - see
the what's new page.
If you'd like to receive a notification by email when this site is updated,
please let me know by email at cgp@medievalgenealogy.org.uk.
Contents:
News
Another new volume of the Victoria County History has just appeared:
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John H. Chandler, editor, A History of the County of Wiltshire, volume 20 (2026)
This covers Chippenham Hundred (parishes of Chippenham, Bremhill, Christian Malford, Hardenhuish, Kington Langley, Kington St Michael, Langley Burrell). [For further information see the publisher's website.]
Colin Blanshard Withers kindly sent details of his recent series of books giving biographical details of the officers and senior clerks of the Chancery, the Privy Seal Office and the Receipt of the Exchequer (Lower Exchequer) in the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV (1337-1413) and the serjeants of Chancery between 1190 and 1372. The final volume in the series, covering the officers of the Upper Exchequer under Richard II and Henry IV, is in preparation.
New material
The late Duncan Harrington, who is sadly missed, was working before his death on abstracts of the Kent feet of fines for 1338-1377, which were intended for publication by the Kent Archaeological Society. These were therefore not included in the abstracts of feet of fines on this website. The Kent feet of fines for 1272-1307 were also not included, because there existed unpublished manuscript abstracts of them. Since Duncan's death I tried several times to contact the Kent Archaeological Society to find out whether Duncan's abstracts still existed, but I received no response.
Fortunately photographs of these documents are available at the Anglo-American Legal Tradition website. In order to fill the gap in coverage, I have now compiled draft indexes of the personal and place-names in these feet of fines. These will require further checking against the original documents, and I have not attempted to standardise surnames or add the modern spellings of place-names, as I did when indexing the abstracts of feet of fines. But the search results do include links to the photographs at AALT, so that the originals can be seen. Further information is available on the search page.
The following indexes have been added to the Plea Roll database:
- King's Bench: KB 9, indictment rolls and oyer and terminer commissions (15 files from the period 1493-1497), by Vance Mead
- Court of Common Pleas: CP 40/1104 (Hilary Term, 1540), by Vance Mead
The KB 9 files have also been added to the AALT Lists and Indexes database.
New links
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Medieval source material on the Internet:
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Public records: Inquisitions post mortem:
- R. Steward-Brown, editor, Cheshire Inquisitions Post Mortem. Stuart Period. 1603-1660. Volume I. A-D (1934) (Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire)
Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, volume 84. English translations.
- R. Steward-Brown, editor, Cheshire Inquisitions Post Mortem. Stuart Period. 1603-1660. Volume II. E-O (1935) (Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire)
Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, volume 86. English translations.
- R. Steward-Brown, editor, Cheshire Inquisitions Post Mortem. Stuart Period. 1603-1660. Volume III. P-Y (1938) (Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire)
Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, volume 91. English translations.
- J. Paul Rylands, editor, Lancashire Inquisitions Returned into the Chancery of the Duchy of Lancaster ... Stuart Period, Part I. 1 to 11 James I (1880) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society, volume 3. English abstracts.
- J. Paul Rylands, editor, Lancashire inquisitions Returned into the Chancery of the Duchy of Lancaster ... Stuart Period, Part II. 12-19 James I (1887) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society, volume 16. English abstracts.
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Public records: Common law records:
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Probate records:
- Arthur Meredyth Burke, Indexes to the ancient testamentary records of Westminster (1913) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Indexes to the records of the peculiar court of the dean and chapter of Westminster, 1504-1700, Westminster wills and administrations in the consistory court of London, 1540-1556, and miscellaneous records in the muniments of Westminster Abbey, 1228-1700.
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Urban and guild records:
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Victoria County History:
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British History Online:
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Internet Archive:
- Cornwall, volume 2, part 5 (1924) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Essex, volume 3 (1963) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Can be 'borrowed' temporarily; requires free registration.
- Hampshire, volume 1 (1900) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Hampshire, volume 5 (1912) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Hertfordshire, volume 2 (1908) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Kent, volume 2 (1926) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Can be 'borrowed' temporarily; requires free registration.
- Leicestershire, volume 3 (1955) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Shropshire, volume 1 (1908) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Shropshire, volume 2 (1973) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Shropshire, volume 3 (1979) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Staffordshire, volume 2 (1967) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Can be 'borrowed' temporarily; requires free registration.
- Staffordshire, volume 3 (1970) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Can be 'borrowed' temporarily; requires free registration.
- Staffordshire, volume 20 (1984) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
- Wiltshire, volume 3 (1956) (Internet Archive - Text Archive)
Can be 'borrowed' temporarily; requires free registration.
[Other copies at: Internet Archive - Text Archive.]
Updated links
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A brief guide to medieval English genealogy:
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Medieval source material on the Internet:
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Modern biography and prosopography:
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Public records: Chancery rolls:
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Victoria County History: