Chancery and successors: Crown Office: Coronation Rolls

C 57

1308-2024

Coronation Rolls are the formal, official and legal state records of coronation proceedings, drawn up by the Clerk of the Crown.

The earliest roll is for Edward II. There are no rolls for Edward III, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth I, Charles I or George III.

From the early seventeenth century, these rolls provide a record of the accession of the sovereign, followed by a proclamation of the coronation and of the peers' attendance, the appointment of the Court of Claims and the petitions to it (in full) with their answers, a short account of the ceremony with the services performed, and a list by rank of those doing homage.

Each roll includes a recital of claims made to perform services at coronations, and adjudications made on these claims by a Court of Claims set up ad hoc to examine them.

From 1702 the oath sworn by the sovereign is included as a schedule, and except in the case of George IV, this is signed. Declarations against the transubstantiation of the sacrament and the archbishop of Canterbury's certificate are included from 1714 onwards.

From 1685 the rolls end with a memorandum of their transfer to the custody of the Keeper of the Rolls.

The languages used vary: earlier rolls are in Latin and French, with English used from the seventeenth century onwards.

Court of Claims minutes for the twentieth century are in PC 10

There are copies of older coronation claims in SP 9

Public Record(s)

English, French and Latin

• Chancery, Clerk of the Crown, 1300-1875
• Crown Office, 2003-2024
• Lord Chancellor's Department, Crown Office, 1972-1972
• Lord Chancellor's Office, Clerk of the Crown, 1875-1972

18 roll(s)

Open

Topics

Litigation

Royalty

Events and exhibitions

The Coronation Rolls for Edward II, Henry IV and Henry V (C 57/1-3) were transferred to the Public Record Office by the Crown Office in accordance with an order of 10 June 1856 which removed them from the Wakefield Tower. At 31 December 1858, the remainder of the rolls (C 57/4-13) were in the Rolls Chapel, their usual repository; and subsequently came into the custody of the Public Record Office. Subsequent transfers have been made under the direction of the Master of the Rolls.

Early royal coronation records point to the evolution of an ad hoc Court of Claims to decide on the entitlement of claimants to perform services at the coronation ceremony. Most claimants are entitled by hereditary title, personal or tenurial grounds. However, the court is not bound by precedent.

The court was convened by the Clerk of the Crown and its proceedings enrolled on the Coronation Roll.

For Charles III?s coronation, no Court of Claims was convened. Instead, a Coronation Claims Office was created within the Cabinet Office to consider claims to perform an historic or ceremonial role. The Clerk of the Crown created the Coronation Roll for Charles III with the support of the Major Events Division in the Cabinet Office.