MAIDSTONE BOROUGH RECORDS

(Part catalogued) (The records include accounts of the Corpus Christi Fraternity from 1474 although the borough was not incorporated until 1549)

Maidstone was incorporated as a borough in 1549 and its records are among the most complete and extensive of any of the ancient boroughs in the County. The records catalogued here include only those that had been placed by the Borough Council in the care of its museum and had been administered with substantial collections of private archive material, the majority of which has now also been transferred to the Kent Archives Office. The majority of records thus transferred relate to the administration of the borough before the implementation of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. They include a particularly valuable series of electoral papers and the pre-Reformation accounts of the Corpus Christi Guild. A few post-1835 are also included in this catalogue. However, the majority of such records remain in the custody of the present Maidstone Borough Council and a few have been transferred from other sources and await cataloguing. It is hoped that all these remaining records can be brought together and included in a supplement to the present catalogue.