Title:

Manorial Records in Ewyas Lacy

Date:

1566 - 1920

 

The split of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy into separate moieties in 1241 made the subsequent ownership of land, property and manorial rights in the area considerably more complex than normal to establish. However, this very complexity has had the advantage for local historians and family history researchers in that it obliged those claiming title to parts of the shared Lordship of Ewyas Lacy to identify their supposed holdings in detail at relatively frequent intervals through surveys of various kinds. These are collectively referred to as Manorial Records in this article and include all documents relating to all or most of the land holdings in the Manor and recorded usually by tenure, in a single document.

 

One recognised way of achieving this was by means of formal Manorial Surveys carried out by jurors empanelled by the Lord of the Manor, and required to address specific questions set out by him. These questions typically include the recognised boundaries and extent of the moiety of the manor being surveyed including commons, forests and waste, the names of the tenants and their holdings of land and buildings, the nature of their tenure whether freehold, copyhold or leasehold, and the rents and other customary entitlements such as heriots, duty of service etc. payable to the Lord of the Manor. Other types of records take the form of inventories of properties, such as Rentals or Terriers, which were set out from time to time by Stewards for purposes of estate management, and include a similar range of information. Reference is also often made in both types of document to how lands have descended from one generation of tenants to the next, the names of people holding adjoining land, and [in passing] to a variety of other important information about the social, economic and family history of the manor.

 

There is a significant number of such documents held on this website as transcriptions or as photographs in our Digital Images collections. We have brought these together and highlighted them in this Theme page because of their importance as a primary entry point for anyone researching family names and genealogy or the history of specific houses and parcels of land in the area. They also provide a unique overall view of the status and development of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy as a whole over a significant time span.

 

Follow the links below to access the detailed material relating to each moiety of the manor of Ewyas Lacy. DI refers to a Digital Image; FT to a full transcript and CS to a catalogue summary. References to known surveys that have not yet been transcribed or photographed are included for completeness, but without hyperlinks.

 

1. Moiety of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy descended from Maud de Lacy [1241]

    

    

1566

Survey of all tenures for Robert Dudley

FT

1653

Survey of sequestrated interests for Thomas Harrison

DI

1667

Survey of Freeholds for Trevor Williams

DI

c1690-1700

Abstract of interests for lives for Sir John Williams

FT

1705

Survey of all tenures for John Jeffreys

FT

 

 

 

2. Moiety of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy descended from Margery de Lacy [1241]

    

    

1624 +1718

 

Survey of all tenures

Gwent Record Office MAN/A/151 0022 & 0028

1626-1712

Court Books all tenures

DI

1628-1790

Schedule of Expired Leases

CS

1660-1779

Abstract of Leases

DI

1687 + 1718

Survey of Leases and Copyholds

DI

1701

Survey of all tenures

FT

1711

Survey of all tenures

DI

1711

Court Baron all tenures [rental summary]

DI

1729-1858

Court Rolls of Copyholds

FT

1736-1790

Survey of Copyholds & Leases

DI

1757-1838

Abstract of Leases

DI

1760-1862

Agents book of Copyholds & Leases

FT

c1800

Survey of Copyholds & Leases with maps

DI

1816-71

Court Rolls of Copyholds

DI

1818

Abstract of Leases

DI

1818

Schedules of Copyholds & Leases

CS

1819-1861

Abstract of Leases

DI

1846

Account of expired & unpaid Copyholds & Leases

DI

1852-1911

Court Rolls of Copyholds

DI

1858

Abstract of Copyholds & Leases

DI

1859-1919

Schedule of Expired Leases

CS

1920

Terrier of Copyholds & Leases

DI

1920

Sale Catalogue

FT

1920

Sale purchasers

FT

 

These Records each relate to most if not all parishes within the Hundred of Ewyas Lacy with the exception of Cusop, which was not part of the Manor.

 

Links

Boundary of the Manor of Ewyas Lacy

The Lordship of Ewyas Lacy


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