Palatinate of Chester: Modern Deeds, Series F

WALE 31

1410-1815; 20th century

This series was arbitrarily created out of the collection of private deeds (largely evidences of title) accumulated by the administrative institutions of the palatinate of Chester. These were distinguished as Modern Deeds because were of seventeenth century and later date.

The series is mostly made up of evidences of title which had formerly been part of private archives. These evidences are chiefly the documentation of conveyancing, although there are some wills and bonds. Among the remaining material are some letters and accounts.

The deeds mainly concern places in Cheshire and relate to influential local families such as the Whitbys. The series also includes a quantity of records of uncertain provenance for places in Shropshire and many documents linked to Matteo De Renzi, merchant and citizen of Dublin, and his son, concerning their possessions in Ireland. A major collection of De Renzi papers can be found in SP 46/90-SP 46/93.

The oldest record in this series is a later copy of a grant of 1410, the most recent a copy of an indenture of apprenticeship dated 1815. There are also some later traces of attempts to sort the records.

The series consists of 753 records, including three bundles of letters, which since at least 1962 had been held in eleven boxes numbered as follows: 1, 2A part 1, 2A part 2, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 4C, 5C, 7B.

The current arrangement is the result of a resorting project conducted between 2016 and 2019. Although on the dorse of some of the documents there is evidence of an archival arrangement, most probably numbers given by the court if and when the deeds were produced as evidences, alongside traces of later attempts at sorting the series, it has been impossible to reconstruct any past arrangement. Therefore, the records have been arranged and grouped by either family, estate or lawsuit, when possible. Miscellaneous material, including a leather sack possibly used for collecting deeds and various archival labels referring to previous sorting attempts, are collected at the end of the series.

Boxes 5A, 5B, 6, 7A, and 8 were transferred to the National Library of Wales in or after 1962.

Public Record(s)

English and Latin

753 papers and parchment membranes

Open

It seems probable that the documents were lodged with the exchequer of Chester and the other courts of the Palatinate for the purpose of enrolment. Some of the deeds are marked as enrolled, or as evidence to be shown at legal proceedings and exchequer audits and never reclaimed by the litigants.