Records Group

The Records Group has been working on Chesham's Manor Court Records for some time. Our work has been given fresh impetus by the launch of the national Manorial Documents Register (MDR) which aims eventually to identify the nature and location of all manorial records in the UK. The Register may be viewed and searched at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr

At present we are starting or continuing work on three projects in this area. They are:

The Early Rolls.

We are working on the transcription and translation of Chesham's earliest Manor Court Records, which date from the beginning of the reign of Edward II in 1307. Our aim is to construct an account of life in Chesham at the beginning of the fourteenth century. One of the records, held at the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies in Aylesbury and dating from 1310, is shown below (click to enlarge).

Eighteenth Century Chesham.

Some years ago, members of the Society transcribed and translated a number of Chesham's eighteenth century Manor Court Records. We are going to revisit this work with the to see how it can be used to throw some light on the life of Chesham at the time.

The Grove.

The Grove was a sub-manor of Chesham's main manor, Chesham Highham. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, it belonged to Walter Langton, one of the most powerful people in the country. Both The Grove and William Langton are mentioned in Chesham's earliest Manor Court records. In addition, a small and rather sparse collection of Manor Court records for The Grove survives. The contents of these documents show The Grove as anything but a subservient sub-manor, and we are trying to use them to make sense of the early history of the Grove.

One of The Grove's Manor Court Rolls is shown below (click to enlarge).