Catalogue description Palatinate of Chester: Court of Great Sessions of Chester and Flint: Files of Prothonotary's Papers

This series contains files of the prothonotary of Chester. They comprise original files of draft pleas and papers connected with the current civil business of the sessions from 1534/35 down to 1659. Included are applications for the issue of writs, paper writs, sometimes with original tongues and seals attached, bills of costs, copies of documents, warrants of attorney, depositions, formal affidavits and minor correspondence of temporary importance only. The earlier papers are on intact files bearing nineteenth century date labels, but most also with clearly contemporary labels on the bottom paper on the file: an early example reads Papir' drawen' term' Pasche xxxiiij H viij in fin' anni.

By the end of the reign of Elizabeth I and subsequently the files had achieved greater formality, and have stronger parchment covers and more elaborate labels, for example 'Papers of the session held at Chester the xj th day of October 1658'. By then also the papers are serially numbered from the back of the file, and are subdivided by section labels bearing names, perhaps those of the prothonotary's various subordinate clerks. Before the accession of Mary in 1553 there are only five files in all, four for the reign of Henry VIII and one for the sixth year of Edward VI.

By the earlier years of Elizabeth's reign there are some files apparently exclusively devoted to Flintshire business; the prothonotary also held the senior office in the Court of Great Sessions of Flint. Some of the items on the files have apparently been annotated to indicate that their contents have been enrolled, presumably on the plea rolls; they probably represent plea roll drafts.