Records of Religious Houses

So far we have examined the archives of the two provinces and the dioceses. Yet we should not forget the hundreds of religious houses swept away by the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s. These created records, too, and since they were great landowners and dealt with many people are not insignificant. However, the dissolution did result in many of their records being destroyed or lost. Some do survive, at TNA, BL and elsewhere. To find which institutions were near where your ancestors lived, try Knowles and Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales (1971).

Their archives include cartularies. These are copies of charters which were in the institution’s possession and describe land given to that institution. Then there are chronicles, a list of which has been compiled by the Mississippi State University (www.chronica.msstate.edu/chronica). They often refer to local events and people, so have clear genealogical value. Although written in Latin and often in private hands, some have been transcribed and published in the Rolls series of 255 volumes which cover the period up to the sixteenth century. These should be available at university libraries. County history societies have transcribed them too. Papal Registers are another possible source, and these volumes have been calendared as ‘Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, 1198–1513’. Another volume concerns petitions to the Pope from 1342 to 1419. Marriages between members of the aristocracy are often mentioned, especially where there was concern about close relatives marrying.

Don’t forget that cathedrals will contain many monuments and vaults, with varying details of those buried there. There may even be a brass or sarcophagus if you are extremely fortunate. Usually these will be from the upper echelons of sacred and secular society, but if your ancestor is amongst them there may be useful information therein – as well as being an excellent subject for a photograph or rubbing, but do ask permission from the cathedral authorities first.

Other diocesan records relate to clergymen, such as books listing their ordinations and institutions to benefices. The Church also ran schools, such as the charity schools in the eighteenth century, though records rarely listed pupils, but chiefly schoolmasters and benefactors. Finally, don’t forget that the Church was a significant holder of lands and kept many estate records including surveys and other records relating to tenants.

Apart from wills, most researchers do not often come into contact with the archives of the Church above parish level. However these archives should not be dismissed. Although the Act Books will not be your first port of call, an inspection of any published volumes for the diocese(s) your ancestors dwelt in would not be a difficult or time-consuming process. If your ancestors were teachers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries you should certainly seek out the certificate confirming their adherence to Anglicanism.