Catalogue description Exchequer: King's Remembrancer: Returns of Papists' and Nonjurors' Estates

Following the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, all catholics refusing to take oaths of loyalty to king and government were required to register their names and estates at quarter sessions. Lands not so registered would be forfeit.

This series consists of returns by clerks of the peace for most counties of England and Wales and several towns of the names and estate details of catholics and nonjurors, registered pursuant to an Act of 1722.

The returns describe the estates in detail, giving precise locations and dimensions of lands; land and building names; topographical and building details; and all privileges and appurtenances. Tenants are named, with details of tenure, and rents are sometimes given. In most instances it is not clear whether the returnees were catholics or nonjurors.

Also in this series are a few certificates of the Land Tax Commissioners, concerning the assessment of double tax on the property of catholics.

Similar returns, pursuant to an Act of 1715, are among the records of the Forfeited Estates Commission: FEC 1

In 1880 a detailed list was compiled by W H Hart, a clerk in the Public Record Office. Appended to the list is a printed article entitled 'A register of the lands held by catholics and nonjurors in the county of Kent in the reign of King George I' (J Russell Smith, 1870), also by Hart. This gives transcripts of the returns for Kent, and accompanying notes.