Talk:England Land and Property

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Family History Library • 35 North West Temple Street • Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 USA England, How to Use Land Records Guide Introduction Records that document ownership and transfers of land are called title deeds. Only the counties of Yorkshire and Middlesex (excluding the city of London) had registries of deeds, which began in the early eighteenth century. England did not have a national registry of deeds until 1862, and even then registration was voluntary. Compulsory registration began in some areas in 1899 and gradually become the standard throughout the country. Therefore, since most title deeds were not registered, finding records to document ownership and transfers of land can be complicated. For more information about land records, see Background. What You Are Looking For You are looking for land records pertaining to your ancestors and their property, which may: • Name family members. • Identify relationships. • Give details of marriage contracts. Steps These two steps will help you find and use land records. Step 1. Learn more about land records. To learn more about specific types of land records, follow these links to informative Public Record Office leaflets: LAND CONVEYANCES • Enrolment of Deeds, and Registration of Title • Trust Deeds (Lands for Charitable Uses), 1736-1925 • Feet of Fines, 1182-1833 (leaflet not yet available) COMMON LANDS • Common Lands CROWN LANDS • Crown &amp; Royalist Lands: 1642-1660 England, How to Use Land Records Research Guidance Version of Data: 08/08/01 2 LAND ENCLOSURES • Enclosure Awards LAND INHERITANCE • Land Inheritance: Court of Wards and Liveries, 1540-1645 TITHE RECORDS • Tithe Records in the Public Record Office Step 2. Find land records. While original land records are held in England, the Family History Library has microfilm copies of many land records. These include the records of the Registries of Deeds for: • Yorkshire: 1. West Riding 2. North Riding 3. East Riding 4. City of York • Middlesex For more information about finding land records, see Where to Find It. Background Description Technically, land in England was owned by the Crown. The feudal manorial system was introduced into England by the Normans in the late eleventh century. Land was held directly from the Crown by tenants-in-chief in return for services, such as providing knights in times of war. A tenant-in-chief, who held several manors, might sublet some of his manors to other men in return for similar services. These other men were "mesne" lords of the manor. They in turn had tenants on their manors who gave similar services to them. The mesne lord appointed a sheriff, a bailiff, and other officers to help him run the manor. This was the feudal system of land ownership and management. Manors came in all sizes. Some were smaller than a parish, and others were large enough to encompass several parishes. Though some manors survived into the twentieth century, most were broken up or reverted back to the Crown much earlier. The feudal system of owing service to the lord of the manor died out before the eighteenth century and was replaced by rent or lease payments paid in cash to the landlord. Tenants held land by either: • Freehold. • Leasehold. • Copyhold. Transfers of land from one tenant to another, or from a tenant to his or her heir, was done by title deed. Before 1862, title deeds included: • Conveyances. • Wills. • Trust deeds. England, How to Use Land Records Research Guidance Version of Data: 08/08/01 3 Land records tend to be difficult to use because: • Few are indexed. • Handwriting is hard to decipher. • They may be written in Latin. • They include unfamiliar legal terms. Land records provide limited details about the lives of the parties to the deeds, but they are a main source of information for land ownership and are particularly valuable when church records are not available. Where to Find It Family History Centers Most Family History Centers will not have microfilms of land records in their permanent collections, but centers can borrow microfilms from the Family History Library. There is a small fee to have a microfilm loaned to a Family History Center. Family History Centers are located throughout the United States and other areas of the world. Find a Family History Center near you. Family History Library The Family History Library holds some English land records, mostly on microfilm. There is no fee for using the microfilms in person. For a list of English land records available at the Family History Library, look in the Family History Library Catalog. Go to What to Do Next, select the catalog, and look for land records for England or Great Britain, or a specific county. If you can supply an index reference, you may request photocopies of land records from the library for a small fee. You will need to fill out a Request for Photocopies form with the index reference and the library microfilm number of the record. The microfilm number is available from the Family History Library Catalog. Send the form and the fee to the Family History Library. See Library Services and Resources for more information about using the Family History Library and Family History Centers. In England Land records are held by both the Public Record Office of England and by county repositories and libraries. Addresses for many English repositories can be obtained by choosing "Repository Lists" on the ARCHON home page. Addresses for public libraries can be obtained from Public Libraries on the Web.