Catalogue description Palatinate of Chester: Court of Great Sessions of Chester: Docket Roll

This series consists of a single docket roll of the Court of Great Sessions of Chester covering sessions held between 18 October 1540 and 4 October 1546, the last session of Henry VIII's reign. The heading of each individual rotulus, and the several sessional headings on each one, describes it as the 'dogget' of John Birkheved [Birkenhead], esquire (armiger). Under each heading is a repertory of some of the contents of the plea rolls for those years, being a number of single or two-line entries giving brief details of some entries in the plea rolls and the rotuli on which they occur.

The greatest attention seems to be given to the attorneys representing the parties, rather than details of the parties themselves or the case. This strongly indicates that the roll was compiled on the behalf of an attorney and is not an official record of the court. John Birkheved may have been a relative of Thomas Birkheved, an attorney prominent in the entries in the plea rolls, and it is conceivable that he kept it on his behalf.

The roll can therefore be used to some extent as a means of reference to entries in the plea rolls for those years. It consists of four rotuli. It is not known whether it ever formed part of a larger series, or whether it was the only one ever compiled.