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