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Maud Allan
Maud Allan (1873–1956) was a celebrated West End dancer in the early 20th century until she became entangled in one of the most sensational trials of the 1920s.
Department
Records of the Court of Requests
Catalogue reference: REQ
What's it about?
REQ
Records of the Court of Requests from around 1492 to 1642 relating to civil jurisdiction in poor people's matters. Books of the court are in REQ 1. Proceedings are in REQ 2 and REQ 3. Documents relating to Shakespeare are in REQ 4
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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REQ
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Title (The name of the record)
- Records of the Court of Requests
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Date (When the record was created)
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c1492-1642
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Description (What the record is about)
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Records of the Court of Requests from around 1492 to 1642 relating to civil jurisdiction in poor people's matters.
Books of the court are in REQ 1. Proceedings are in REQ 2 and REQ 3. Documents relating to Shakespeare are in REQ 4
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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)
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Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
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English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Court of Requests, 1483-1642
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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4 series
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Access conditions (Information on conditions that restrict or affect access to the record)
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Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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in 1859 Chapter House, Westminster
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Litigation
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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
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The records were removed from the Palace of Westminster to the Chapter House, Westminster in 1732.
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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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The Court of Requests, first mentioned in the patent rolls in 1483, began as an informal committee of the King's Council 'for the expedition of poor men's causes'. It exercised a civil jurisdiction comparable to the criminal jurisdiction of the Court of Star Chamber. Though eventually it dealt with almost every kind of complaint for which 'request and supplication' to the sovereign sought an equitable remedy, it remained primarily a poor person's court; and an order in Chancery of 1588, followed by further ordinances of 1618-1619, expressly referred all poor complainants to the Court of Requests. It dealt occasionally with such criminal matters as civil disturbance and forgery, and late in the 16th century was exercising a wide Admiralty jurisdiction. It was presided over by the Lord Privy Seal, assisted by Masters of Requests.
The Court of Requests continued to sit until 1642, but it was not revived at the Restoration. However, Masters of Requests continued to be appointed at late as 1680.
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C243/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
You are currently looking at the department: REQ
Records of the Court of Requests
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