Title deeds to properties in Bath: 'Ancient Deeds'
Reference Number
BC/6/2/1
Level of Description
Series
Title
Title deeds to properties in Bath: 'Ancient Deeds'
Date
13th century - 16th century
Extent
Extent: 550 items
Description
Records of property transactions relating to the Bath area, and a small number of wills.
This series comprises almost 550 "Ancient deeds", early written records of property transactions which took place in Bath in the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries. They record transactions between many private individuals and the church, as well as transactions made by the Mayor and Commonality of Bath (the predecessor to the Corporation and the Council). As such, they offer a fascinating insight into life in Bath in the medieval period. There are also a handful of wills.
The documents are almost all in Latin and are written on small pieces of parchment with seals attached. They are among some of the earliest documents in existence to record property transactions between private individuals in England.
The deeds were arranged into 6 bundles by John Furman, a lawyer, in the 1770s. This arrangement has been retained. A translation of the deeds made by Rev. C W Shickle was published by the Bath Records Society in 1921.
This catalogue has been created by volunteers from Shickle's published translation. For the first time the records can be seen in the context of the records of Bath City Council as a whole. This catalogue follows the format of the catalogue to later series of deeds, and the dates have been re-formatted to make them consistent and searchable. Further work remains to be done on descriptions of the seals and the listing of numbers BC/6/2/1/6/1-14, which had been recorded as missing since at least 1921 but which were identified in 2017.
Bibliography
Ancient Deeds belonging to the Corporation of Bath XIII-XVI Cent., translated and epitomised by The Rev. C. W. Shickle, Bath Records Society, 1921. Full text available on-line and at Bath Record Office.
Related records
DD\WHb, WALKER-HENEAGE AND BUTTON FAMILY AND ESTATE PAPERS, COKER COURT, Somerset Record Office, also contains medieval deeds for Bath and district, published in 'Medieval Deeds of Bath and District, volume 73, part II, Somerset Record Society, 1974
BC/2/6 Title deeds to properties owned by Bath City Council and Bath & North East Somerset Council, to the properties of charities administered by them, and to some other properties in Bath
