Nature of Source
Documents relating to the administration of an estate which can include plans, accounts, terriers, rentals, valuations, surveys, leases, deeds, maps and correspondence. Many villages were controlled by an estate owning family. Estate maps were drawn up by the landowner showing the extent of his lands. The amount of detail varies and could include every dwelling and building or just the boundary, paths and key landmarks.
Estate records were only considered manorial documents before about 1540 and were written in Latin until 1734. The names of tenants are often listed in estate records. Leases could name family members when a plot of land or dwelling was handed down through the family. The lease could also indicate the date of death of a person. Some families owned land in Ireland and England, so their Irish estate papers might be found in English archives.
Later maps especially from the 19th century were drawn up for the purposes of land redevelopment following the breakup of large estates. The municipal authorities produced detailed maps showing street names with the names of individual owners and occupiers of land earmarked for redevelopment.
Also see
Court Baron/Customary Records
Court Leet Records
Land and Property Records including Title Deeds
Maps & Gazetteers
Palaeography/Handwriting
Where Found
County Record Offices
Local archives hold documents created by wealthy landowners, gentry families, noble families or large estates over many generations. These were often deposited in local archives by the family or their solicitors when the estate was broken up, sold or given to the county. The types of documents deposited include:
- Title deeds and leases
- Manorial records
- Rentals and surveys
- Maps and plans
- Accounts and financial records
- Correspondence and personal papers
- Legal and administrative papers
- Household and domestic records
British Library
The library holds a number of family and estate papers and landed estate archives acquired from private collections.
Lambeth Palace Library
The Library is an important repository for ecclesiastical estate records in England. The records primarily deal the extensive lands and properties owned or administered by the Archbishops of Canterbury and other central Church of England institutions over many centuries. Strongest coverage is for manors and estates in Kent (especially around Canterbury and Maidstone), Sussex, Surrey, and other areas historically owned by the See of Canterbury. Please consult the key finding aid Estate Documents at Lambeth Palace Library: A Short Catalogue by Jane E. Sayers.
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian holds estate records primarily from Oxfordshire landed families often linked to Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and neighbouring counties.
National Library of Scotland
The library has a specialised collection of Scottish estate records, estate maps, valuation rolls and related material. The Library holds Estate Maps of Scotland from 1772-1878, a digitised collection of estate maps that show the physical layout of landed estates, including field boundaries, farm buildings, tenant property locations and landscape features.
National Records of Scotland
Most of the estate records held are part of the Gifts and Deposits series, reference GD. The GD collections include the family and estate papers of landowners from all over Scotland and can include estate records, rentals, rent rolls, leases, tacks, household accounts and estate buildings. The collections also include maps and plans from landed estates and families.
National Library of Wales
The Library holds substantial family and estate archives from Wales’s landed gentry including title deeds, rent books, manorial records, rentals and surveys and estate accounts. The Library has a large and important collection of manuscript estate maps relating to Wales; ranging in date from the 16th century to the 20th century.
University of Nottingham
Manuscripts and Special Collections. Family and Estate Collections. The University holds a significant number of family and estate collections. With material ranging in date from the 12th to the 20th centuries, the collections represent some of the most important Nottinghamshire landowning families whose influence stretched the length and breadth of the country and even extended abroad.
Period Covered
1500 – Onwards
Genealogical Value
- Names, dates of death and marriage and family relationships.
- Occupation and status.
- Land held and addresses.
- Estate maps are useful for house history research.
Further References
- Bailey, Mark. The English Manor c.1200 – c.1500: Manchester University Press, 2002 (Preview available from Google Books)
- Beech, Geraldine & Mitchell, Rose. Maps for Family & Local History: The National Archives, 2004 (Preview available from Google Books)
- Bennett, H.S. Life on the English Manor: A Study of Peasant Conditions 1150-1400: Cambridge University Press, 1937
- Chambers, Paul. Medieval Genealogy: How to Find Your Medieval Ancestors: Sutton, 2005
- Delano-Smith, Catherine & Kain, Roger. English Maps: A History: British Library, 1999
- Durie, Bruce. Documents for Genealogy & Local History: The History Press, 2013
- Ellis, Mary. Using Manorial Records: Public Record Office, 1997
- Foxell, Simon. Mapping London: Making Sense of the City: Black Dog Publishing, 2011
- Foxell, Simon. Mapping England: Black Dog Publishing, 2007
- Franklin, Peter. Some Medieval Records for Family Historians: FFHS, 1994
- Harvey, P.D.A. Manorial Records: British Records Association, 1999
- Hindle, Paul. Maps for Local History: Batsford, 1988
- Hindle, Paul. Maps for Historians: Phillimore, 1998
- Hindle, Paul. Medieval Roads and Tracks: Shire, 2008
- Hone, Nathaniel J. Manor and Manorial Records: Methuen, 1906 (available to view online at the Internet Archive)
- Howgego, James. Printed Maps of London circa 1553-1850: Dawson, 1978
- Hyde, Ralph. Printed Maps of Victorian London, 1851-1900: Dawson, 1975
- McLaughlin, Eve. Manorial Records: McLaughlin, 1996
- Masters, Charles. Essential Maps for Family Historians: Countryside Books, 2009
- Mills, Anthony. A Dictionary of London Place Names: Oxford University Press, 2010
- Mitchell, Brian. A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2009
- Noble, Malcolm. A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy: Bookcabin, 2026
- Oates, Jonathan. Tracing Your Ancestors from 1066 to 1837: Pen and Sword Books, 2012
- Oliver, Richard. Ordnance Survey Maps: A Concise Guide for Historians: Charles Close Society, 1993
- Palgrave-Moore, Patrick. How to Locate and Use Manorial Records: Elvery Dowers, 1985
- Park, Peter. My Ancestors were Manorial Tenants: Society of Genealogists, 2002
- Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Guide to Landed Estate Records: Belfast 1994
- Stuart, Denis. Manorial Records: An Introduction to Their Transcription and Translation: Phillimore, 2005
- Waller, Ian. Introducing Manorial Records: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Manor for Family Historians: The Family History Partnership, 2020
- Whitfield, Peter. London: A Life in Maps: British Library, 2006
- Whynne-Hammond, Charles. English Place Names Explained: Countryside Books, 2005
- Winchester, Angus J. L. and Straughton, Eleanor A. Sources in Local History: Finding and Using Manorial Records: The Local Historian, 2007
Websites
www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/projects/manorialrecords (Cumbrian Manorial Records. The Cumbrian Manorial Records Project raises awareness of the records generated by the manorial administration. The site has an introduction to manors and manorial rights and the various classes of manorial record; A guide to locating and using manorial records for family and local history; A guide to baronies and other superior lordships in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands and a quick guide to the meaning of specialist or obsolete terms encountered in manorial records)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/manors (The National Archives Research Guide: How to look for records of Manors. This is a brief guide to researching records of manors. Manorial records are incomplete and are kept in a variety of archives)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/manors-further-research (The National Archives Research Guide: How to look for records of Manors: further research. If you are researching a particular area in England and Wales before the 1920s this guide will tell you what sort of information exists and where to find it)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/manorial-documents-lordships-how-to-use-manorial-document-register (The National Archives Research Guide: How to look for records of Manorial documents and lordships and how to use the Manorial Documents Register)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/discovery-help/accessing-records-manorial-documents-register (The National Archives Research Guide: Accessing the records of the Manorial Documents Register. The guide includes a Glossary for Manorial Documents Register)
https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/resource/glossary-of-medieval-terms (The History of England: Glossary Of Medieval Terms)
www.nottingham.ac.uk/ManuscriptsandSpecialCollections/ResearchGuidance/Manorial/Glossary.aspx (Manorial Glossary)
www.manorialsociety.co.uk/glossary.html (Manorial Society of Great Britain: Glossary of Manorial Terms)
www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk (Some Notes on Medieval English Genealogy)
www.lordsandladies.org/feudalism.htm (Feudalism. The article provides comprehensive information about the English and European feudal system and its effect on the vassals, serfs and the lords and ladies who lived on the manors. The site includes a Feudalism Pyramid showing the hierarchical structure of feudal society)
www.ancestrysolutions.com/referencecentre/dictionnaires/Defsland.html (Dictionary of terms found in Land Records)
https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/Using_Our_Collections/Collection-Guides/Collection-Guides.aspx (Bedfordshire Archives Collection Guides: Manorial Documents including: The Manor and its Court, Manorial Court Rolls and Copyhold Tenure)
English Manorial Court Records as a Source for Eighteenth- and Nineteenth Century Families, by Cecil Humphery-Smith
www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/manorial/types.aspx (Types of manorial record)
www.history.ac.uk/gh/Estate.htm (Estate Maps at Guildhall Library, by Stacey Gee)
https://somerset-cat.swheritage.org.uk/researchGuides (Somerset Archives and Local Studies Research Guide: Maps)
www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/estate-records (National Records of Scotland Research Guide: Estate Records. If your ancestors worked the land, owned or rented property, then the surviving records of landed estates may provide useful sources)
www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/maps-and-plans (National Records of Scotland Research Guide: Maps and Plans. The collections include includes plans from government departments and agencies, nationalised industries, and the courts, as well as churches, private organisations, landed estates and families)
Online Databases
England
Manorial Documents Register (The Manorial Documents Register is a catalogue and register of known surviving manorial court documents across Britain, identifying the nature and location of the records)
https://gis.worcestershire.gov.uk/website/tithesmapping (Worcestershire Tithe Mapping. Explore 18th and 19th century Tithe, Inclosure and Estate Maps searchable by name with transcribed entries from the original documentation. Digitised by Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service)
http://searcharchives.bl.uk (British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. Use the Archives and Manuscripts catalogue to find family and estate papers)
www.sutherlandcollection.org.uk (The Sutherland Collection. The Sutherland Papers are the massive archive created by the Leveson-Gower family, Marquesses of Stafford and Dukes of Sutherland. It is the single most important archive collection relating to past life in Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent. The collection contains hundreds of thousands of documents, volumes and maps created and preserved over 10 centuries)
University of Nottingham
Manuscripts and Special Collections. Family and Estate Collections. The University holds a significant number of family and estate collections. With material ranging in date from the 12th to the 20th centuries, the collections represent some of the most important Nottinghamshire landowning families whose influence stretched the length and breadth of the country and even extended abroad. Users can browse the Manuscripts Online Catalogue for descriptions of all family and estate collections
www.staffsnameindexes.org.uk (Tenants of the Manor of Newcastle under Lyme, 1700-1832)
https://familyrecords.dur.ac.uk (Durham University Library: Family and Local History Records: Bishopric and Cathedral Estates, 16th-20th centuries. Manorial records from the estates and manors in County Durham and Northumberland as well as in Allertonshire and some other parts of Yorkshire. The records include the property transactions of leasehold and copyhold tenants)
www.tiger2.f2s.com/1611MacclesfieldSurvey (1611 Survey of Macclesfield Manor and Forest. This website lists all those freeholders, copyholders and tenants living in the area at the time of the Survey providing the first census-type survey made in the district)
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk (Wotton Survey, Kent, 1557-1560. Transcribed survey of land owned by the Wotton family whose estate covered 6,000 acres in nearly every part of the county, from Ringwould in the east to St Mary Cray in the west and from Cliffe on the Thames estuary to Lydd on Romney Marsh)
www.sog.org.uk/search-records (SoG Data Online: Index to the Manor of Markeaton, Mackworth & Allestree, Derbyshire 1650-1851)
www.dhi.ac.uk/conisbrough (University of Sheffield: Conisbrough Court Rolls. Conisbrough was one of the important royal manors of Yorkshire. The Court Rolls provide a unique account of the working lives and relationships of its inhabitants. Discover the historic workings of a manor and learn more about Conisbrough and how its past has contributed to its present)
Scotland
Online Catalogues (Listing of online catalogues for the partial whereabouts of records including the National Register of Archives for Scotland [NRAS])
Scottish Archive Network [SCAN] (Online catalogue covering archive records but not printed material of 52 Scottish archives. The site also includes an extensive links page, a Knowledge Base and other research tools. The catalogue includes the catalogues of the National Archives of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. The records includes business and society records and family and estate papers but not those held in private hands or in solicitor’s offices. SCAN also maintains the websites www.scottishhandwriting.com and www.scottishdocuments.com. Used with National Register of Archives for Scotland, a search should cover all available family and private archives)
https://maps.nls.uk/estates (National Library of Scotland: Estate Maps of Scotland, 1730s-1950s: Online access to clear and detailed maps showing the grounds or territories owned by landowners showing such features as enclosure of fields and common, field and common land boundaries and the development of planned villages)
CD Roms
Anguline Research Archives (Court Rolls of the Honor of Clitheroe in the County of Lancaster, 1377-1567. Translated and transcribed by William Farrer. Also includes a list of the tenants and freeholders in 1443 and a list of the names of jurors for the period 1523-1567)
Hathi Trust (Court Rolls of the Honor of Clitheroe in the County of Lancaster, 1377-1567. Translated and transcribed by William Farrer)
