ASSEMBLY BOOK

SUMMARY OF CONTENTS

The Assembly Books dating from 1539-1785 have been calendared in detail, but this method has not been adopted for ZA/B/5 because this volume has already been indexed for persons, places and subjects and because the handwriting presents no difficulties for the reader. It was therefore decided to produce a guide to the contents of the fifth Assembly book, and the following pages comprise a summary of each entry, as it occurs, in the Assembly book. The information given may be sufficient for a superficial study of 1785-1825, but the following omissions should be noted:

1. Only the names of persons elected to office are recorded, not the names of their predecessors.

2. The reasons for vacancies are not stated, except in cases where a person was fined for not accepting office.

3. Fines for admissions as freemen are not stated.

4. Income attached to almshouses is not stated.

5. Names of persons making affidavits for the enrolment of apprenticeship indentures are not recorded, but the name of the master, taken from the Apprentice Indenture Registers, is stated in square brackets.

6. Corporation property is not described in detail.

7. There is only a brief summary of reports of corporation committees.

It may therefore be necessary to consult the original for fuller information if a topic is being studied in detail.