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Fonds

Godmanchester Borough

Catalogue reference: G

What’s it about?

This record is about the Godmanchester Borough dating from c1154 - 1953.

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Full description and record details

Reference
G
Title
Godmanchester Borough
Date
c1154 - 1953
Description

The Record Office has an excellent collection of town records, stretching back to the thirteenth century; the records include many of the original charters themselves, court rolls and books, burgess rolls, views of frankpledge and minute books.

Held by
Huntingdonshire Archives
Language
English
Creator(s)
<corpname>Godmanchester Borough, Cambridgeshire</corpname>
Physical description
2 series
Immediate source of acquisition

Further documents received June 1966 Records of Manor of Godmanchester received 1985

Unpublished finding aids
<p>For a detailed list of the pre-1835 records, please consult catalogue number 15: Godmanchester Borough Records, in the searchroom. Lists of all the court rolls, books and views of frankpledge 1272-1878 can be found in catalogue number 30: Manorial Records file. Details of municipal borough records 1835-1961 may be found in catalogue number 14: Local Authorities file, also in the searchroom.</p>
Administrative / biographical background

Godmanchester was an ancient Crown demesne until 1212, when it was granted to the free men of Godmanchester and became a self-governing manor. In 1604 it was incorporated as a free borough under a charter of James I, which enabled Godmanchester to have a town clerk and a common seal. The 1604 charter remained in force as the Governing Charter until the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act, with the exception of a brief period 1685-88.

The 1835 Act replaced the old borough with an elected council. This was in turn abolished in 1961, and replaced by Huntingdon and Godmanchester Borough Council.

Publication note(s)
<span class="wrapper"><p>Many of the documents covering the 1278-1400 period are used and discussed in J A Raftis A Small Town in Late Medieval England (Toronto 1982); , while some early modern records are used in the same author's Early Modern Godmanchester: Survivals and New Arrivals (Toronto 1990).</p> <p>There is a brief and useful history of the borough in Philip Dickinson The Borough of Huntingdon and Godmanchester (Huntingdon 1969); . Details of the oddities of the self-governing manor system can be found in the Victoria County History of Huntingdonshire, vol 2 pages 287-290 (London 1932). The best popular account of Godmanchester's pre-1835 municipal history is still Robert Fox The History of Godmanchester (London 1831). All of these works are available in the searchroom library.</p></span>
Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/dc8f9ec1-c52a-4bdc-b9f1-3da7d28735f6/

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This record is held at Huntingdonshire Archives

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Godmanchester Borough