The Everyday Life in a Northumbrian Manor Project is now reaching the end of its first year. Within this time, we have been able to recruit 65 volunteers, across four volunteer groups, working both in-person and remotely to make Northumbrian manorial records more accessible. The groups have been working to transcribe records relating to their local manors, with documents from Tweedmouth and Spittal, Norham, Wooler, Morpeth, Hexham and Allendale transcribed so far. These documents contain a wealth of information, which will help us all to gain a better understanding of how Northumbrian manors functioned.
Manors could hold their own courts, have their own laws and customs, and they kept accounts of court proceedings. From the records, we can find lists of tenants, and their types of tenancy agreement. This gives us local names, and some ideas about the customs of the manor, which may also be detailed in the court rolls, alongside presentments of broken rules and surveys. In addition to this, as manorial records for some of the Northumbrian manors extend earlier than the Parish records, they can also be a useful resource for anyone with an interest in their family history. The records mention women, sometimes by name, but in other cases as the ‘the wife of…’, and this gives us some insight into the history of the ‘everyday woman’, though as these mentions are sometimes when women were brought before a manorial court, it is perhaps not the most favourable view!
The Everyday Life in a Northumbrian Manor Project has 1.5 years still to go, and in this time, we will be starting two more volunteer groups, producing more talks and workshops, and eventually introducing our manorial records into work with schools. It’s been fascinating so far, so watch this space for our future findings!
I have experience of transcribing documents. If you need anymore volunteers.