Suit Rolls

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 133 EGR2/1/10
  • Dates of Creation
      1598
      1682-1843
  • Language of Material
      Language: Latin  before 1733.
  • Physical Description
      25 items.

Scope and Content

The suit rolls list tenants who owed suit of court at the twice yearly sessions of the court leet and view of frankpledge held for the barony of Dunham Massey. All the rolls except EGR2/1/10/1 are in fact volumes or gatherings. A roll would generally be used for several years, the list of suitors being amended as changes of tenancy took place. Suitors' names are written down the left-hand side of the page, and marks against them indicate their attendance, essoins or non-appearance. In later suit rolls these are neatly recorded in pre-ruled columns. When there was no more room on the page to add further columns a new roll would be compiled.

[In addition to the separate suit rolls recorded below, lists of suitors are also incorporated in the following court rolls and court books: court book, 1534 (EGR2/1/4/1, pp. 23-24); court book, 1536 (EGR2/1/4/2, pp. 11-12); court book, 1539 (EGR2/1/4/3, p. 1-3); court book, 1541 (EGR2/1/4/4, p. 1-3); court roll, 1544 (EGR2/1/3/4); court roll, 1582 (EGR2/1/3/5); court roll, 1583 (EGR2/1/3/7); court roll, 1584 (EGR2/1/3/8); court roll, 1595 (EGR2/1/3/9); court roll, 1596 (EGR2/1/3/11); court book, 1625-9 (EGR2/1/4/12, pp. 109-116).]

Arrangement

EGR2/1/10/19, /22 & /25 were found with suit rolls for other courts in a parcel annotated "Court Leet | Books" and numbered "71/4", within a tin trunk at the Altrincham Estate Office.