The National Archives and the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) have been working together to improve the contents and accuracy of the Manorial Documents Register and make all of it accessible.
As part of this project the manor records for Kent, including those in the Swale area are now available at the National Archives.
Manorial documents have huge potential for family and local historians because they contain information about the lives of ordinary people going back to a period when few other sources may be available. They also add richness and detail to the information researchers can obtain from parish registers and wills.
The documents are available to view, though not currently online.
Manor and manorial records
A manor was an estate belonging to an individual, the lord or lady of the manor. However, they also belonged to hospitals, schools or colleges. Originally manorial tenants paid their rents in a combination of money or goods, and services (ploughing, cutting hay or corn), but later all rents became money payments.
The records available include:
- court rolls or court books, recording land transfers
- surveys, of manor’s land
- rentals
- accounts.
Using manorial records
Early records are usually in Latin, but will be in English from 1733 onwards.
The records is one of the few sources to be used to study the lives of ordinary people, during this period. As an example, court leet records often give the names of people who were fined for illegal brewing, and all sorts of other things, like fighting, leaving dunghills in the road, not trimming their trees or letting their pigs wander on the common!
Family history: Manorial records are full of names and are a rich source for family historians. For the medieval period, they may be the only source available and from the 16th century onwards they can provide additional information about people named in the parish records. If a particular property was handed down through one family, the court rolls will provide a record of this and can be a means of overcoming gaps in parish registers.
House history: Rentals, surveys and entries in court records can help in tracing the history of someone’s house. They may provide detailed descriptions of the property and, if you can identify the house concerned, even brief rentals may help in compiling a list of owners.
Local history: Court records, surveys, accounts and even rentals are full of property descriptions and minor place names and sometimes these can be linked to manorial maps. They may provide information about the crops which were grown and even the animals kept on the manor.
The list of manors in Swale, which the National Archives catalogue shows they have records for are:
- Badlesmere – Badlesmere, Woods Court
- Bapchild – Bapchild, Morris Court, Rodfield
- Borden – Criols, Posiers, Sutton Otherwise Sutton Barne
- Boughton Under Blean – Boughton Otherwise Boughton Under Blean, Butlers Otherwise Brenley, Dane Otherwise Dane Court
- Doddington – Down Court, Sharsted
- Eastchurch – Kingsborough, Northwood, Shurland
- Eastling – Divan Court, Huntingfield, North Court
- Faversham – Faversham, Kingsmill, Langdon
- Frinsted – Yokes Court
- Goodnestone (Next Faversham) – Goodnestone
- Graveney – Graveney
- Harty – Harty
- Hernhill – Dargate
- Leaveland – Leaveland
- Leysdown – Leysdown
- Lower Halstow – Barksore
- Luddenham; Kent – Luddenham
- Lynsted; Kent – Bedmangore, Bumpett, Lodge
- Milstead – Higham, Milstead Otherwise Hoggeshaw
- Milton Next Sittingbourne – Milton, Norwood
- Minster In Sheppey – Minster, Neats Alias Neats Court, Rushenden
- Murston – Herst In Merston, Murston
- Newington – Ayington, Newington Lucies, Newington, Wormdale Otherwise Borden
- Newnham – Newnham, Sholland (Delaune/Thornycroft)
- Norton – Norton
- Oare – Oare
- Ospringe – Denton, Elverland,Plumford, Queen Court
- Otterden – Boardfield, Hurst, Monketon, Otterden
- Preston (Next Faversham) – Copton, Hamme, Preston, Selgrave, Westwood
- Rodmersham – Rodmersham
- Selling – Harefield, Perrywood, Pucklesale, Selling
- Sheldwich – Huntingfield, Lees Court
- Sittingbourne – Bayford, Chilton, Goodnestone
- Stalisfield – Darbys Court, Stalisfield
- Stockbury – Guildsted
- Stone (Next Faversham) – Elverton
- Teynham – Teynham
- Throwley – South Wilderton, Throwley, Wilderton
- Tonge – Tonge
- Tunstall – Tunstall, Ufton
- Upchurch – Gore, Ham Alias West Court, Horsham, Otterham
To search for Kent manorial documents by manor, parish or document use the Manorial Document Register on the National Archives website here.