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London Metropolitan Archives

CITY OF LONDON: MANORS


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): CLA/043

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: CITY OF LONDON: MANORS

Date(s): 1539-1987

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 0.75 linear metres

Name of creator(s): Corporation of London

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Southwark was granted to the citizens of London by a charter of Edward III in 1327, following a petition from the citizens because felons and thieves escaped the City into Southwark where they could not be followed. A further charter issued by Edward VI in 1550 aimed to ensure that Southwark was completely absorbed into the City by making the citizens lords of the three manors there - the Guildable Manor, the King's Manor and the Great Liberty.

On 1 July 1880 Sir Henry William Peek, MP for Mid Surrey and importer of spices, tea and other groceries conveyed East Burnham Common, Burnham Beeches and other waste lands of the Manor of Allerds to the Corporation.

The Finsbury and Halliwell Estates were leased by the Corporation of London from the Prebendary (a canon of a cathedral or collegiate church who obtained income from a prebend or estate) of St Paul's Cathedral between 1514 and 1867, at which date the Corporation was unable to renew the lease. In 1665 part of the land was set aside to create Bunhill Fields burial ground.

The Manor of Isleworth Syon was in the hands of Walter de St. Valery in 1086, having been granted to him by William the Conqueror as a reward for his support during the conquest of England. The family retained possession of the manor until 1227 when it escheated to the crown. In 1229 a full grant of the manor was made by Henry III to his brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, whose son Edward inherited it in 1272. In 1301, Edward's widow Margaret was assigned the manor by Edward I as part of her dower, but it reverted to the crown on her death in 1312. The manor was eventually granted for life by Edward III to his wife Queen Philippa in 1330. The reversion was included in a grant of lands to Edward, Duke of Cornwall, in 1337. In 1390 Queen Anne the wife of Richard II was given a life interest in the manor. Henry V held the manor, as Prince of Wales, but when king, separated the manor from the duchy of Cornwall by Act of Parliament in 1421 in order to bestow it upon his newly founded convent of Syon. It remained as part of the convent's possessions until the dissolution in 1539 when it fell into the hands of the Crown and was added to the Honour of Hampton Court. In 1604 James I granted the manor to Henry, Earl of Northumberland, in whose family it remained.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records relating to manors, 1539-1985, including the manors of East Burnham (Burnham Beeches); Finsbury Manor; Isleworth Manor and especially Southwark Manors (Kings Manor, Guildable Manor and Great Liberty Manor). Papers include deeds, surveys, court baron minute book, court leet minute books, verdicts and presentments of leet juries and proceedings of courts leet.

The court leet was a special court of record which the lords of certain manors were empowered by charter or prescription to hold. The Recorder held the Court Leet on behalf of the Corporation as lords of the manor. The legal jurisdiction of courts leet was abolished in 1977.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

In sections according to catalogue.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: City of London.

Physical characteristics:

Fit

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Corporation of London Records Office.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

See also CLA/045 Finsbury and Halliwell Estates and COL/SP Subject Series: Places for more on Southwark. For a plan of East Burnham see COL/PL and COL/SVD/PL.

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: February 2009


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Courts baron | Courts | Administration of justice
Courts leet | Courts | Administration of justice
Manorial courts | Courts | Administration of justice
Manorial records | Documents | Information sources
Primary documents

Personal names

Corporate names
Finsbury and Halliwell Estates | Corporation of London
Guildable Manor, the Kings Manor and the Great Liberty | Corporation of London x Southwark Manor
Manor of Allerds | Corporation of London x Burnham Beeches
Manor of Isleworth Syon | Corporation of London

Places
Finsbury | London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Hertfordshire | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Isleworth | Middlesex | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Southwark | London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Greater London
Hounslow
Islington