Nature of Source
Letters Patent, 1548, granting to Francis, Earl of Shrewsbury, the office of warden, chief justice, and justice itinerant. Boston Public Library
Introduction
The Patent Rolls are records of Letters Patent issued by the Crown and enrolled in the Court of Chancery. They represent one of the most complete and oldest continuous administrative records in the world, spanning over 800 years. They form one of the principal series of royal administrative records and survive from the reign of King John (from 1201) onwards. Although there are small gaps, most notably during the English Civil War and Interregnum (c. 1642–1659), when some records were lost or not created.
Letters Patent were issued as open documents in the form of a public legal notice from the monarch or later government. They are so called because they were not sealed but left open to all, with the Great Seal attached hanging pendant at the foot.
Nature of the Records
Patent Rolls contain enrolments (official copies) of royal letters dealing with a wide range of matters connected with government, landholding and royal authority.
These include:
- Grants of lands, offices and annuities.
- Grant or confirm liberties such as specific privileges or exemptions from certain ordinary laws, taxes or feudal obligations.
- Licence to trade or practise a trade, often bypassing guild controls.
- Licence to alienate land (sell or transfer land), especially for manors or crown property.
- Charters to found or incorporate institutions such as universities companies and cities.
- Grants to new recipients of estates following forfeiture or attainder (attainder is the legal process resulting in loss of titles or land for those found guilty of treason or serious felony.
- Pardons for offences to restore lands or reverse forfeiture/attainder. Pardons recorded on the Patent Rolls can be particularly rich in detail and may include the name of the individual, the nature of the offence and circumstances surrounding the pardon.
- Wardships and marriages of heirs.
- Appointments to royal and local offices.
- Grants of denization before 1844 (These conferred limited rights on foreign-born individuals).
The records therefore reflect the exercise of royal favour and authority, rather than routine local or private transactions. A licence in this context represented a sovereign grant overriding restrictions such as feudal rules on land and guild or trade monopolies.
The Letters are primarily written in Latin until 1733 and thereafter in English and can be heavily abbreviated in earlier periods. The rolls are arranged chronologically by regnal year and are difficult to use without calendars and indexes.
Wardships and Tenants-in-Chief
Particular importance is given to tenants-in-chief, who held land directly from the Crown. When such a tenant died leaving an underaged heir, the Crown assumed control of the estate through the right of wardship. The Patent Rolls record:
- Grants of custody of lands and heirs
- Rights to arrange marriages of heirs
- Financial arrangements relating to these rights
These particular records can provide valuable information about family relationships, inheritance and estates.
Land Grants and Property
Grants and leases of Crown lands are a key feature of the Patent Rolls and form an important collection for genealogists. Entries may include:
- Names of grantees
- Previous holders of the land
- Brief descriptions of property or location
Many grants relate to former ecclesiastical lands and religious orders especially following the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Others follow cases of attainder and forfeiture.
Patents for Inventions
From the 16th century onwards, particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Letters Patents were increasingly used to grant exclusive rights or monopolies, including early patents for inventions. The Statute of Monopolies (1624) prohibited the Crown from granting most private monopolies. The new Statute made a key exception for the ‘true and first inventor’ of a new manufacture.
This later development led to the modern association of the term ‘patent’ with new inventions protected usually for a fixed period of 14 years and eventually to the foundation of modern patent law.
Development of Letters Patent
From the 16th century onwards, the volume and complexity of government business increased dramatically. Central government expanded in scale with individual departments such as the Treasury and Admiralty maintaining their own records without the need to enrol decisions with the Chancery The rise of print also transformed how government communicated proclamations and notices. The official government newspaper, The London Gazette (from 1665), became the key outlet to announce official government business. By the 18th and 19th Centuries, Letters Patent were no longer needed for routine government administration. Instead, they were reserved for formal acts requiring the authority of the Crown under the Great Seal and the granting of exclusive rights to inventions.
Additional Resources
The following GenGuide sources could assist in researching Letters Patent records:
Where Found
- Series C 66, Chancery and Supreme Court of Judicature: Patent Rolls, 1201-2012. Original calendars and indexes to the patent rolls, in the form of brief notes of enrolments, kept year by year, are in C 274.
- Series C 67, Chancery: Supplementary Patent Rolls, 1275-1749.
County Record Offices
Local archives may hold original Letters Patent (the actual documents sent to grantees) and printed calendars of Patent Rolls from publishers such as HMSO and the List and Index Society.
List and Index Society
Published calendars of patent rolls, many with name indexes. The Society publishes records found in The National Archives, the British Museum, Scottish Record Office and others. The published records includes calendars of TNA’s holdings of Lay Subsidy Rolls, calendars of Patent Rolls, Tithe Award Records. Publications in yellow binders or covers relate to TNA records whilst those in red relate to records from other sources.
Period Covered
1199 – 1946
Genealogical Value
- Names and addresses.
- Family relationships.
- Land owned.
Further References
- Astle, Thomas & Caley, John (eds). Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri Londinensi [Calendar of patent rolls in the Tower of London]: Record Commissioners, 1802
- Chambers, Paul. Medieval Genealogy: How to Find Your Medieval Ancestors: The History Press, 2005
- Hardy, Thomas Duffus, Sir. (ed.). Rotuli Litterarum Patentium in Turri Londinensi asservati, 1201-1216: Record Commission, 1835
- His Majesty’s Stationery Office. Published Calendars. (Available to view or download online from the Internet Archive, HathiTrust, British History Online and Google Books. Many volumes include useful name indexes, place indexes and subject indexes)
- Noble, Malcolm. A Practical Introduction to Medieval Genealogy: Bookcabin, 2026
- Patent rolls of the reign of Henry III preserved in the Public Record Office 1216-1225: HMSO, 1901
- (Further volumes extend the series. Search Bibliography of British and Irish History for other volumes and series)
Websites
The National Archives Research Guide
How to look for records of Royal grants in letters patent and charters from 1199. This guide will help you to find records of royal grants issued to individuals, public bodies or institutions since 1199 and now held at The National Archives.
University of Nottingham
Manuscripts and Special Collections: Letters Patent. The webpage provides a research guide specifically explaining Letters Patent, including their identification, purpose and differences from Letters Close.
Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
The Foundation was established in 2001 by a group of British genealogists and historians with a special interest in the medieval period. The Foundation promotes the study of medieval genealogy and prosopography focusing on the period before 1500 AD. The FMG publishes a journal titled Foundations, which includes articles and reviews related to medieval genealogy. FMG has established a specialised collection of books, journals and offprints relating to medieval genealogy, heraldry and prosopography kept at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies in Oxford. The Library Catalogue provides a bibliographic catalogue of secondary source material for medieval genealogy and heraldry.
Brepols Publishers
Bibliography of British and Irish History. The resource is regularly updated database of over 680,000 books, journal articles, essays, edited collections, theses, and reviews on British and Irish history from 55 BCE to the present day. Managed by the Institute of Historical Research and hosted by Brepols. It is highly useful for locating medieval primary source material and for printed calendars such as Chancery records and other medieval bodies like the Exchequer or General Eyres. Brepolis itself is a specialist online platform of academic databases focused on medieval and early modern European history and literature.
Essex Record Office
Letters Patent and the Calendared Rolls. Archive assistant Edd Harris presents a handy guide to these documents from the medieval royal courts.
University of Michigan
The Middle English Compendium. The site contains three Middle English electronic resources: the Middle English Dictionary which is the world’s largest searchable database of Middle English lexicon and usage for the period 1100-1500; Bibliography of Middle English prose and verse; Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse.
Medieval Genealogy
The section offers a clear expert guide to Chancery rolls (Close, Patent, Fine, Charter Rolls) especially useful for family historians.
Medieval Genealogy
The page links directly to digitised rolls, calendars and projects, noting date coverage, series classes and access points.
The History of England
Glossary Of Medieval Terms.
Online Databases
British History Online
BHO provides fully searchable digitised calendars of the Close Rolls, Patent Rolls, and Fine Rolls. Digitised Calendars of Patent Rolls cover the period 1216–1343, spanning the reigns of Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, and part of Edward III. Some volumes require a subscription for full access. Access the records under: Browse Catalogue → Guides and Calendars → Select Close Rolls, Patent Rolls or Fine Rolls. BHO consists of a digital library of British historical sources developed by Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust.
Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
The database aims to provide structured information relating to all the recorded inhabitants of England from the late sixth to the late eleventh century. It is based on a systematic examination of the available written sources for the period. Sources include chronicles, saints’ lives, charters, inscriptions and coins.
TannerRitchie Publishing
Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online. The MEMSO database contains a large repository of medieval and early modern documents such state papers, calendars, charters, rolls, chronicles, accounts and correspondence from the archives of Britain, Ireland and continental Europe covering c.1100-1800.
University of Sheffield
Lands of the Normans in England, 1204-1244. The digital research project examines the 13th-century Anglo-French aristocracy between 1204 and 1244. It provides an interactive database of nearly 3,000 individuals and places, using historical records to map the redistribution of estates following the French annexation of Normandy. The project built the database using 2,000 individual documents collected from over 100 historical sources such as Charter Rolls, Patent Rolls, Feet of Fines, Cartularies, Chronicles and other primary sources.
Anglo-American Legal Tradition
Explore digital images of documents from Medieval and Early Modern England from The National Archives, 1200 to 1650. Series covered include:
- Series CP 40 (Court of common pleas plea rolls)
- Series KB 27 (Court of king’s bench plea rolls)
- Series E 159 and E 368 (Memoranda rolls)
- Series E 13 (Exchequer plea rolls)
- Series C 33 (Chancery orders and decrees)
- Series JUST 1, (Records of the General Eyre and commissions of assize)
- Series CP 25 (Feet of Fines)
CD Roms
Internet Archive
Charters and other Writs of the Royal Burgh of Aberdeen 1171-1804. Transcripts of crown charters and letters patent, acts of Parliament and Privy Council, miscellaneous writs and an inventory of the Sheriff’s records for the county dating back to the late 12th century.
HathiTrust Digital Library
View or browse published calendars of Patent and Close Rolls.
