Catalogue description Chancery: Crown Office: Entry Books of Commissioners

These entry books, compiled in the Crown Office of the Chancery, list the names of the commissioners appointed to the various commissions which were issued by that office between 1601 and 1673, with a gap between 1646 and 1652. The texts of the commissions, which were standard, are not included.

The main types of commission were the regular judicial commissions (the circuit commissions of oyer and terminer, commissions of gaol delivery, commissions of nisi prius, commissions of assize, commissions of dedimus potestatem, and commissions for the north and Wales). Justices of the peace for towns and liberties are included, but not justices of the peace for the counties. Other judicial commissions, such as gaol delivery of a specified gaol, or oyer and terminer for piracy, also appear. In addition to the judicial commissions, the entry books list the members of the whole range of administrative commissions.

Most volumes have a place index; some subjects are also included in the indexes.