Catalogue description Palatinate of Durham: Chancery: Deeds, Series G

This series contains miscellaneous deeds of the palatinate of Durham. In common with other bodies of deeds acquired by the Public Record Office they were distinguished by a letter of the alphabet, becoming Deeds, Series G. Unlike many of these series of deeds they were not further divided according to age, size, fineness of seals and so on. The origins and nature of the collection are obscure, and are likely to remain so until the series is catalogued. It does, however, appear that the greater part of the collection is of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century date. Evidences of title of one sort or another predominate, but the series does include other sorts of legal papers and some correspondence.

The records seem, for the most part, to have accumulated among the archives of the register (registrar) of the Durham Chancery Court. They include a quantity of conveyances made in favour of the register or, less often, in favour of the chancellor of the County Palatine of Durham, as security in respect of processes heard before the Durham Chancery Court. The Court heard cases relating to the finances of the bishop of Durham, and it seems probable that a significant number of these conveyances represented security for debts owing to the bishopric. Other deeds are likely to have been lodged with the Chancery Court as exhibits in legal proceedings. Some of the deeds in the series are evidences of certain charitable foundations which were under the jurisdiction of the chancellor.