Office act books 1

This series consists of office act books, although the volumes in the series bear various labels applied at different times subsequent to their compilation and not all such descriptions appear to be accurate. They include titles such as 'correction books', 'act books of the official principal', 'liber actorum ex officio expenditorum' and 'liber assignationum'. Further research may well clarify the series more fully. Some volumes contain visitation information.

Act books recorded the daily judicial business of the court and the hearing of cases under Canon Law. There were two basis types of cause or case, namely office causes and instance causes. Office causes were brought by the Office of the Judge against a defendant and were primarily concerned with maintaining the spiritual discipline of both clergy and their parishioners. Causes relating to discipline were often described as 'correction business', the idea being that it was the Bishop's duty to correct the manners and morals of his flock. Cases included non-attendance at church, recusancy refusing to conform to the practices of the church, clandestine marriage, and acts of immorality, which covered a multitude of cases. Information was often brought to the attention of the court through the process of visitations. A secondary function was to oversee the general administration of the church. Cases involved the granting of faculties to alter church buildings, the granting of licences to parish officers and professional people and the administration of church revenues. All proceedings were recorded by the Judge's Registrar in the act book, often some time after the case was heard, and information usually included the names of the parties, sometimes the charge against the defendant, and sometimes also the outcome. Extracts from the evidence are rarely included.

The volumes are arranged chronologically.

<span class="wrapper"><p>For November 1554 - June 1555, September 1560 see DL/C/614</p> <p>For July 1574 - Mar 1575 see DL/C/615</p> <p>For October 1589 - January 1589/90 see DL/C/616</p> <p>For March 1604/5 - January 1605/6 see DL/C/617-618</p> <p>For February 1610/11 - November 1611 see DL/C/619</p> <p>For November 1618 - January 1619/20 see DL/C/620</p> <p>For January 1618/19 - October 1620 see DL/C/621</p> <p>For July 1624 - March 1628/9 see DL/C/622-624</p></span>

Some of these records have been microfilmed. Please use microfilm where available.