Gee, George Edward and Pym Yeatman, eds., Records of the Borough of Chesterfield (Chesterfield: Wilfred Edmunds) Read this source online
Text name(s):
Number of pages of primary source text: 165
Author(s):
Dates: 1155 - 1675
Archival Reference:
Original Language(s):
- English - Middle English
- Anglo-Norman
- Latin
Translation:
- Translated into English.
- Original language included.
Translation Comments:
Geopolitical Region(s):
- England
County/Region: Chesterfield; Derbyshire; Nottingham; Nottinghamshire; Derby; Derbyshire
Record Types:
- Law - Legislation
- Custumal
- Charters, Deeds
- Law - Local Ordinances
Subject Headings:
- Royalty / Monarchs
- Government
- Family / Children
- Economy - Trade
- Economy - Guilds and Labor
- Towns / Cities
Apparatus:
- Index
- Introduction
Comments:
The majority of the sources in the volume are royal charters given to the borough of Chesterfield, with some documents relating to the boroughs of Nottingham and Derby because the Chesterfield charters seemed to have been modeled off of previous charters granted to these towns. These charters provide for the borough’s own yearly fair and weekly market. In addition, the burgesses would have the privilege to collect the tolls, possess a merchant gild, choose their own reeve, bequeath the same customs to their heirs, and be exempted from certain taxes. Other documents include leases, pardons, grants to monasteries, and letters patent. Even though the custumal, the Chesterfield Black Book, seems to have been lost (as stated in the introductory essay), the local customs of the town seems to have survived in the documents numbered XX and XXI, which cover the following areas: the duties and elections of civic officers (especially the aldermen), the responsibilities of burgesses, disputes between burgesses, oath taking, collection of tolls, keeping the council’s secrets, rendering accounts, and use of the common pastures.
Introduction Summary:
The introduction (pp. v-xi) goes into the history of the towns of Nottingham and Chesterfield and explores the provenance of the documents relating to these places.
Cataloger: ELC
