in character from the State Papers Domestic. The Domestic Papers
relating exclusively to Ireland have been calendared under the
title of State Papers, Ireland, for the years 1509–1601 and 1603–1665,
with a special volume dealing with the papers concerning Adventurers
for Land. From 1670 these papers are calendared in the
Domestic volumes.
Scotland.—Originally there were in the State Paper Office two sets of papers relating to Scotland, State Papers Domestic, Border Papers, containing papers concerning the Council of the North and the Wardens of the Marches; and State Papers Foreign, Scotland, before the union of the two crowns. The first calendar of these was a Calendar of State Papers, Scotland, 1509–1603, containing brief notes of all the State Papers Foreign, Scotland, and of many of the Border Papers which were removed from their places without any record of the removal. Next came the Calendar of State Papers Foreign, in which were included apparently all the Border Papers for the period covered which had escaped the previous raid; notes, however, were made of the papers so taken. Out of the original 75 volumes of Border Papers only 36 remained. At a later date the papers drawn for the Foreign Calendar were restored and now form the first 19 volumes of the series, while the 36 volumes originally remaining have now become the final 23. At the same time the State Papers Foreign, Scotland, were annexed, and became State Papers Domestic, Scotland. In their present arrangement the Border Papers have been calendared in the following volumes: vols. 1–19 in the State Papers Foreign 1547–1560; vols. 20–42 in the Scottish General Register Office Calendar of Border Papers 1560–1603. The State Papers Domestic, Scotland, from 1547 onwards, are being fully calendared in the Scottish General Register Office Calendar of Scottish Papers with other material. Those from 1509 to 1547 are dealt with in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. (see below, Special Collections). A list of these three Classes has been published (No. III.).
Foreign.—Calendars of the State Papers Foreign have been published for the period 1547–1580. A few of these papers are also calendared in the first volume of the State Papers Spanish (see below under Spain). The Record Office has published a list of the State Papers Foreign (No. XIX.).
Colonial.—These papers are calendared in two sets, an “East Indies” (1513–1634, which has been continued to 1639 by the India Office in Miss E. B. Sainsbury’s Court Minutes of the East India Company) and an “America and West Indies” (1574–1693, In progress).
Departmental Records.—From time to time all the government departments, with the exception of the India Office, deposit such papers as they wish to preserve in the Public Record Office; thus the Treasury, Home Office, Foreign Office, Colonial Office, Admiralty, War Office, Local Government Board and Board of Trade have all placed important papers in the care of the Master of the Rolls. A calendar of the earlier Treasury Papers, which extends from 1660 to 1668 and 1720 to 1745 has been published; also a list of the Admiralty Records (No. XVII.). For each department a limiting date is fixed from time to time; documents before that time are open to students; later ones are only accessible under special conditions.
Subordoinate and Independent Jurisdictions.—Palatinate of Durham:-For the earlier records see G. T. Lapsley’s County Palatine of Durham (Harvard Historical Series, vol. viii.), pp. 327-337. The letters sent out from the bishops’ chancery are enrolled on the Cursitors’ Records, Nos. 29 to 184. They are calendared in Reports 31 to 37 and 40. One of the registers (Bishop Kellawe’s) has been printed in full in the Rolls series (No. 62) with additions from the register of Bishop Bury. The Cursitors’ Records also include seven bundles of Inquisitions Post Mortem (Nos. 164–180), calendared in the 44th Report; and a volume (No. 2) contains transcripts of similar documents, calendared in the 45th Report. The records of the Exchequer of Durham, though deposited in the Public Record Office, are treated as the private record; of the Ecclesiastical Commission, and are only accessible with a special permit. To the judicial records the only printed means of reference is the list of Judgment Rolls (20 Henry VII. to 7–8 Victoria) in the Record Office list of Plea Rolls (No. IV.)
Palatinate of Chester.—The letters sent out from the chancery are enrolled upon the Chester Recognizance Rolls (1 Edward II. to 34 Charles II. with a few rolls down to 1 William IV.) calendared in Reports 36–37 and 39. The financial records of the Exchequer of Chester are listed among the Ministers’ Accounts (List No. V.) of the county of Chester. The Inquisitions post Mortem and ad quod damnum (Edward III. to Charles I.) are indexed in the 25th report. The judicial records consist of Pleas in the Exchequer, a court of equity. Its records are Bills and Answers (Henry VIII. to George IV.), calendared in the 25th Report up to Philip and Mary; and Decrees and Orders. The court of the justices of Chester was at common law; its Plea Rolls (44 Henry III. to 1 William IV.), with a separate series for Flint (from 12 Edward I.) are listed among the Plea Rolls (List No. IV.). The Deeds, Inquisitions and Writs of Dower upon these rolls for the period Henry III. to Henry VIII. are calendared in the 26th–30th Reports without an index. The Assize Rolls for the counties of Chester and Flint and for the honour of Macclesfield are listed among the other assize rolls (List No. IV.).
Wales.—The following are the principal records of the principality of Wales: Ministers’ Accounts and Court Rolls, including those of the principality and of the honours and manors of the Lords Marchers, listed in Lists Nos. V. and VI. Of the judicial records of the Great Sessions of Wales, set up by the act 34 & 35 Henry VIII., c. 26, the Plea Rolls are listed in the list of Plea Rolls (No. IV). For an account of the Court of the Marches in Wales, see C. A. Skeel’s The Council in the Marches of Wales.
The Duchy and Palatinate of Lancaster.—The duchy of Lancaster comprises all the estates of the duke of Lancaster; the palatinate is limited to the county of Lancaster. The records of the palatinate, transferred to the Public Record Office from Lancaster castle, related to the county and are either enrolments of writs or of a judicial nature. The records of the duchy, trans erred from the office of the duchy at Westminster, include similar records and others dealing with the manorial and financial records of all the estates within and without the county. For the Duchy Records see the detailed list (No. XIV.), where the means of reference to this collection are fully described. Of the Palatinate Records the enrolments of writs are classified as Patent and Close Rolls. The former, a broken series from 5 John of Gaunt to 21 Henry VII., are calendared in the 40th Report; the latter (in 3 rolls, a broken series, II Henry IV. to 9 Edward IV.) in the 37th Report; but certain enrolments of the palatinate are among the duchy records. The judicial records of the chancery are not calendared; but the proceedings by way of appeal from that court to the Duchy Chamber at Westminster are dealt with in the duchy list. Proceedings under common law include Plea Rolls (2 Henry IV. to 11 Victoria) listed in the list of Plea Rolls (No. IV.); and for criminal proceedings there are palatinate Assize Rolls (Henry VI. to 6 Victoria), of which there is a list in the same place. But certain rolls which were among the Duchy Records will be found apart at pages 139–140 of the same list.
Bishopric of Ely.—The act 1 & 2 Victoria, c. 94, places the records of this palatinate under the charge of the Master of the Rolls. They have never been removed to the Record Office, but remain at Ely with the episcopal records, where they can be inspected. A valuable descriptive list has been published by Alfred Gibbons for private circulation.
Special Collections.—For the classification of the records hitherto described the knowledge preserved of their origin and purpose has been used. There exist, however, masses of records where this path is now inaccessible; these have been formed by putting together records of a similar nature either in ignorance of their history or without regarding it; the justification of this course of action must be found in the special circumstances of each case. These collections are as follows:—
Ministers Accounts are the accounts of bailiffs, receivers, and other officers managing estates, including, first, those of the duchy of Lancaster; second, accounts of crown lands filed as vouchers in the King’s Remembrancer’s Office; third, accounts of monastic and other lands seized by the crown, or acquired by it by purchase, inheritance or marriage. A list of these accounts has been published by the Record Office (Nos. V. and VIII.) covering the period down to 1485. For the accounts of the duchy of Lancaster a list will be found in the 45th Report, extending to the reign of George III.
Court Rolls are records of the proceedings and profits of manorial and other private courts coming from the same sources as the Ministers’ Accounts, and closely connected with them. For a list see Record Office, Lists and Indexes, No. VI.; and for specimens Select Pleas in Manorial Courts, edited for the Selden Society by F. W. Maitland.
Ancient Deeds.—In this collection are placed all documents which appear to have formed part of a title to land, some original royal charters and other analogous records. There are five series, A, B, C, D, and E, distinguished by their former place of custody. Documents too large for the ordinary method of packing have a double letter, e.g. A.A., and to those bearing fine seals the letter S is added, e.g. AS or AAS. There are thus in all fifteen classes. The A classes are derived from the Treasury of Receipt, or Chapter House at Westminster, and are largely monastic; the B classes are from the court of Augmentations; the C classes are chancery deeds, probably deposited as exhibits in suits or for enrolments; the D classes are from the King’s Remembrancer’s office; and the E classes are from the Land Revenue office. In 1907 five volumes of a descriptive catalogue had been published by the Record Office.
Ancient Correspondence consists of documents which in form are rather of the nature of a letter than a writ or petition. Most of them were found detached in the Chancery records, but similar documents from other sources have been added. The introduction to the Record Office List (No. XV.) contains some account of the formation of the class, and the list gives references to printed collections based upon these documents. Vol. 53 contains letters of the Cely Family and is published (Camden Society, 3rd series, vol. i.).
Ancient Petitions.—The history of the formation of this class
