OXFORD ARCHDEACONRY PAPERS

The collection contains the following records for the Archdeaconry of Oxford, and peculiar jurisdictions (those ecclesiastical areas within the Diocese of Oxford, but outside the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Oxford and being directly under the control of the Archbishop of Canterbury) - namely Aylesbury, Banbury, Bierton, Buckingham, Cropredy, Dorchester, Horley, Hornton, King's Sutton, Langford, Leighton Buzzard, Monks Risborough and Newington, and Thame:

The court records (ARCH/1) deal with cases concerning the behaviour of the clergy, marriages, morals and religious beliefs of the laity, tithes (one-tenth of agricultural production made as a payment to the church from parishioners), wills, church fabric and parish customs.

The visitation records (ARCH/2) created from the visits made by the bishop and archdeacon, or their officials, to every parish on a regular basis, are useful sources of information on education, charities, church fabric and the moral and religious life of the parish.

The financial records (ARCH/3) include: fees and account books (1558 - 1790); and procuration books and register accounts (1676 - 1822) relating to procurators - persons who manage the affairs of another by virtue of a charge received from him.

The records of clergy (ARCH/4) include: mandates for induction (1660 - 1840), the orders given by the bishop to the archdeacon to induct named clerks into livings; sequestration bonds (1690 - 1837) made for the taking over of a benefice (endowed church office), after the resignation or inability of the incumbent clerk in performing their duties; subscription books including ordination lists and institutions to livings (1692 - 1737) recording basic information on the names of clerks, their qualifications and careers; and surrogates' bonds and accounts (1754 - 1837) relating to officers who stood in office for another, often as deputies to grant licences or hold courts.

The parochial records (ARCH/5) contain parish register transcripts for both the Oxford Archdeaconry and peculiar jurisdictions (1605 - 1821), which were sent on a regular basis by parishes to the Registry. They provide a valuable source for family history giving baptisms, marriages and burials, and should be consulted together with the original parish registers which they compliment.

The benefice papers (ARCH/6) include: terriers (1601 - 1811), surveys describing glebe land and often adjacent owners, details of church fixtures, the churchyard, fees, rates and tithes, and other buildings on church land; presentments of clerks by patrons of church livings, property leases and accounts for City and parishes of Oxford (1580 - 1824); papers relating to University and Colleges of Oxford (1606 - 1789), papers relating to Oxfordshire parishes (1596 - 1867) and papers relating to peculiar jurisdictions (1606 - 1831).

The non-Archdeaconry papers (ARCH/7) includes: papers of Percival Walsh's office (solicitor?) (1600 - 1839), register of precepts for a sheriff's court (1604 - 1615), papers from other dioceses in England and Wales such as inventories and excommunications (1601 - 1827), register of the Peculiar Court of Bibury, Gloucestershire (1638 - 1639), and Stamp Office papers (1780 - 1827).

Some of the records dating from before 1733 are in Latin.

The following documents were transferred to Buckinghamshire Archives in 1981:

ARCH/1/A3/A/1-3

ARCH/1/A3/C/1-3

ARCH/1/A3/D/1

ARCH/1/A3/G/1

ARCH/1/A3/H/1.

The following document was transferred to Berkshire Record Office

ARCH/3/A1/1

Further accessions, 4308, 5417, and 5757, were received in December 1997, May 2005 and July 2008 and were incorporated into the catalogue in September 2009 by Hannah Jones.

Administrative History

The Archdeaconry of Oxford forms part of the Diocese of Oxford which was founded in 1542. The diocese had been carved out of the vast area covered by Archdeaconry of Oxford then under the Diocese of Lincoln. The Archdeaconries of Berkshire (formerly in the diocese of Salisbury) and Buckingham (formerly in the diocese of Lincoln) were added to the Diocese of Oxford in 1836 and 1845 respectively.

The current Archdeaconry of Oxford is in the Episcopal Areas of the Bishops of Dorchester and Oxford, and has the following Deaneries (groups of parishes):

Aston and Cuddesdon

Bicester and Islip

Chipping Norton

Cowley

Deddington

Henley

Oxford

Witney

Woodstock

Open

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred from the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Finding Aids

The indexes to the diocesan collections include:

Oxfordshire Parochial index (two manuscript volumes) of terriers, pre-1850 faculty papers, churchwardens' presentments, subscription books and certificates of dissenting meeting houses and arranged by parish.

`Parochiae' (a manuscript index of visitation returns/clergy answers, correspondence, and returns of schools and recusants, also arranged by parish).

There is also an index to `loose' diocesan papers for each parish in the diocese from about 1850 onwards. It relates mainly to faculties, mortgages, orders in council, conveyances and consecration deeds, with two index volumes for each archdeaconry

`Episcopat' (an index arranged by subject; includes some correspondence)

Canon Oldfield's `Clerus' (an index to bishop's registers containing ordinations, institutions, resignations, curates' licences and subscription books, 1542-1615, in alphabetical order arranged by name of clergyman). There is also a list of incumbents and curates arranged by parish.

Indexes of Marriage Bonds and Allegations: three sets of indexes for diocesan, archdeaconry and peculiar courts, 1634-1856. The diocesan and peculiar indexes give most of the details of bride and groom found in the original document, the archdeaconry index is a name index only.

Person name indexes to the wills: printed indexes to probate records of the bishop and archdeacon's courts, 1516-1732 (2 volumes) and 1733-1857, with the peculiar courts, 1547-1856 (1 volume).

Related Material

For Oxford Diocesan collections see DIOC also held at Oxfordshire Record Office.