Nature of Source
Records from the old civil administrative areas known as Hundreds which were positioned between the county and parish. They were first in evidence in the tenth century and declined in importance as other bodies took over their functions. The Hundred as an administrative unit was finally abolished with the passing of the Local Government Act of 1894.
The Hundred court, held once a month, held jurisdiction over the Hundred unit of administration and dealt with Crown land and property issues, so expect to find the names of tenants amongst the court rolls. The courts also dealt with minor criminal offences and private disputes and pleas. The court also had the power to raise taxes. The County Courts Act of 1867 deprived the Hundred courts of all their powers and functions.
In northern England counties such as Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Leicester the Hundred was known as a Wapentake and in Wales as Cantrefi.
In addition to the Hundred Court Rolls another set of records knows as Hundred Rolls are available covering England and Wales. These were the result of an inquiry or census taken by officials of firstly Henry III and then Edward I. The Rolls are referred to as the second Domesday Book and record all property and land for the purposes of taxation and to assert the King’s rights over land and property. The Rolls of 1279 are particularly detailed with many counties listing all tenants. All surviving rolls are held at The National Archives in Kew.
Where Found
The National Archives (Series SC 5, Hundred Rolls and Eyre Veredicta. The series includes surviving original returns to government enquiries of 1255, into royal rights, including forests; of 1274-1275, into liberties and the misdeeds of officials and of 1279-1280, into liberties and land-holding)
County Records Offices (Find the details of a local UK archive from a searchable list of over 2,500 archives hosted by The National Archives)
Period Covered
950 – 1894
Genealogical Value
- Names of tenants.
- Names of jury members and freeholders
- Names of those involved in disputes.
- Names of landowners.
Further References
- Cam, Helen. The Hundred and the Hundred Rolls: An Outline of Local Government in Medieval England: Methuen & Co, 1930 (Preview available from Google Books)
- Casson, Catherine & Casson, Mark & Lee, John & Phillips, Katie. Business and Community in Medieval England: The Cambridge Hundred Rolls Sources Volume: Bristol University Press, 2020
- English, Barbara (ed). Yorkshire Hundred and Quo Warranto Rolls 1274-1294: Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1996
- Harley, J.B. The Hundred Rolls of 1279, in The Amateur Historian Volume 5 Number 1 Autumn 1961, British Association For Local History
- Hyde, Patricia & Stone, Eric. Oxfordshire Hundred Rolls of Bampton and Witney Borough, 1279: Oxfordshire Record Society, 1968
- Illingworth, W (ed).Rotuli Hundredorum Temporibus Henrici III et Edwardi I: Eyre and Strahan, 1812-18. (Two volumes of published hundred rolls with indexes)
- John, Trevor. The Warwickshire Hundred Rolls of 1279-80: Stoneleigh and Kineton Hundreds: Oxford University Press, 1993
- Raban, Sandra. A Second Domesday? The Hundred Rolls of 1279-80: Oxford University Press, 2004
- Stone, Eric and Hyde, Patricia. Oxfordshire Hundred Rolls of 1279: Oxfordshire Record Society, 1968
- Thompson, John S. (ed). Hundreds, Manors, Parishes and the Church: A Selection of Early Documents for Bedfordshire, BHRS, 1990
- Winchester, Angus. Discovering Parish Boundaries: Shire Publications, 2000
Websites
www.roffe.co.uk/rolls.htm (The Hundred Rolls, by David Roffe)
www.roffe.co.uk/shrp.htm (The Sheffield Hundred Rolls Project. The project aims to edit unpublished verdicts from various thirteenth-century Hundred Rolls inquests, spanning the period 1255 to 1280. The site has a translation of one of the Stamford rolls of 1275)
www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/guide/feu.shtml#hundred (Medieval English Genealogy: Hundred Rolls late 13th century)
www.kentarchaeology.ac/khrp/hrproject.pdf (Kent Hundred Rolls Project. The website created by the Kent Archaeological Society comprises the complete rolls for Kent, in the original Latin and in an English translation by Dr Bridgett Jones)
www.britannica.com/topic/hundred-English-government (Encyclopaedia Britannica: Hundred: English Government)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_(county_division) (Wikipedia entry: Hundred County Division)
www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_hundreds_of_England_and_Wales (Wikiwand: List of hundreds of England and Wales)
www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-history/early-census-taking-in-England-and-Wales/index.html (Office for National Statistics: Early census taking in England and Wales)
www.balh.org.uk/publication-tlh-the-amateur-historian-volume-5-number-1-autumn-1961 (Harley, J.B. The Hundred Rolls of 1279, in The Amateur Historian Volume 5 Number 1 Autumn 1961, British Association For Local History)
www.houseofnames.com/blogs/Hundred-Rolls (House of Names: Hundred Rolls)
Online Databases
www.british-history.ac.uk/staffs-hist-collection/vol5/pt1/pp105-109 (British History Online: The Staffordshire Hundred Rolls. Originally published by Staffordshire Record Society, London, 1884)
CD Roms
N/A
