Catalogue description Office of the Auditors of Land Revenue: Ancient Deeds, Series E

Private conveyancing deeds, including a number of bonds, wills, letters of denization and other documents, acquired by the auditors of the land revenue. Most of the records are likely either to have been obtained from the Augmentation Office or brought to the auditors' office for enrolment. Others may well have been attributed to the series in error. By and large the series contains conveyancing documentation (smaller deeds dating from before 1603).

There are also records of gifts, grants and demises made by the monarch - the enrolment of which was one of the chief tasks of the Land Revenue Auditors. These tend to be more numerous from around piece 600, but it is difficult to be certain whether this distribution is of any significance.

The series clearly includes large parts of the estate archives of certain families and religious houses and in certain instances particular archives, or sections of them, can be found concentrated within a given range of piece numbers. It appears that some smaller archives have been kept together - or virtually so - in the lis. These collections relate to Thorney Abbey, Cambridgeshire (892 and 892/1-29, all from Henry VIII's reign); the Trinitarian house at Hounslow, Middlesex (674-681 and 901, 943); Hospital of St Mary within Cripplegate, (London) and its founder William Elsing; The Minories (London), Pentney Priory (Norfolk), Robert Becket of Cartuther (Cornwall); Thomas Catcot of Lamyatt, Somerset (826-834, all 29 Eliz I); Robert the Smith of Cosby (Leicestershire) and Maud his wife (510-17, all from Edward II's reign); and Tymperleys, off Trinity Street, Colchester (922 and 922/1-11).

Later deeds are in LR 16

Larger deeds of this period are in LR 15

From 1900 to 1903 Office of Land Revenue Records and Enrolments