Series
Signet Office: King's Bills
Catalogue reference: SP 39
What's it about?
SP 39
Fair copy petitions (otherwise known as 'King's Bills'), prepared by the Clerks of the Signet, for grants, pardons, commissions, etc., which were submitted via the Secretaries of State to the King for signature with the sign manual, which...
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- SP 39
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Title (The name of the record)
- Signet Office: King's Bills
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1567-1645
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Description (What the record is about)
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Fair copy petitions (otherwise known as 'King's Bills'), prepared by the Clerks of the Signet, for grants, pardons, commissions, etc., which were submitted via the Secretaries of State to the King for signature with the sign manual, which transformed them into warrants to the Signet for action to be taken.
The King's Bills do not represent all petitions to the King, but those which had gone through some kind of official check first, apparently administered by the Secretaries of State. Most have a precis (in English) for the King. If the petition was an official one, it bears the signature of the drafter (usually one of the law officers) and gives the authority on which it was drafted.
The series was previously known as State Papers Domestic Warrants.
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Related material (A cross-reference to other related records)
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From 1661 the series is continued in SO 7
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English and Latin
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Signet Office, 1444-1851
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 37 volume(s)
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Unpublished finding aids (A note of unpublished indexes, lists or guides to the record)
- SP 39/1-30 are indexed (the references no longer match exactly, but the modern reference can be ascertained by comparing dates) in SP 130/54
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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Once a petition had been approved with the sign manual, the resulting warrant would either pass under the Signet, controlled by the Secretaries of State (as would appear to be the case with SP 39) or it could act as an immediate warrant, bypassing the Signet and the Privy Seal, and going direct to the Great Seal.
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Publication note(s) (A note of publications related to the record)
- The records are calendared in: Calendar of State Papers Domestic Series of the reign of James I ed. M A Everett Green (London 1857-1859) Calendar of State Papers Domestic Series of the reign of Charles I ed. J Bruce W Douglas Hamilton and S Crawford Lomas (London 1858-1897). Please speak to staff at the Map and Large Document Room enquiry desk for the precise location.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C13581/
Catalogue hierarchy
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
Within the department: SP
Records assembled by the State Paper Office, including papers of the Secretaries...
You are currently looking at the series: SP 39
Signet Office: King's Bills