ANCIENT DEEDS BELONGING TO THE CORPORATION OF BATH

NOTES AS TO ARRANGEMENT OF DEEDS, ABBREVIATIONS, DATES, &c.

In order to avoid any departure from the schedules of documents and references preserved in the Guildhall, it has been decided to print the translations according to the six bundles and in the order in which the deeds have been kept for a long period. Hence chronological order is not maintained. For the most part documents relating to the same properties or properties in the same situation are together, but this is not invariably the case.

Many of the deeds, particularly the earlier examples are undated. As far as possible the approximate date has been given in brackets, this being arrived at after consideration of the handwriting, the names of the witnesses and the relationship of the transaction effected by the deed to other transactions effected by other dated deeds. The modern rendering of dates has been added in parenthesis in the case of the dated deeds.

The actual spelling of names as given in the deeds has been followed, although the spelling varies constantly and sometimes in the same deed.

Abbreviations have been expanded whenever the meaning was obvious.