Everyday Life in a Northumbrian Manor
All Manor of Things: An introduction to manors and their documents
Surrender and Admittance
Surrender and admittance to land in a manor was a big part of the work undertaken by the manor court. This created a number of documents which have survived. Here’s a quick summary below about the documents which can also be found in the section on manorial documents.
These documents include the surrender of copyhold land by a tenant, and the admittance (or admission) of a new tenant to that land. This process had to go through the Court Baron, regardless of whether the property was passing to an heir or a completely new tenant. For example, if these records exist for a manor in which an ancestor lived, it’s possible to work out exactly what properties they owned over time.
The documents will include:
- The name of the individual(s) coming to court to surrender their land.
- The land in question: This would usually be the name of a property, e.g. “Moss Farm”, or the name of the land owner again, e.g. “Mr Bloggs’ land”. It was usually distinguished by the names of the surrounding properties. For example, “the property is bordered on the east by Mill Farm, and on the west by the land of Mr Smith, etc.” The challenge here can sometimes be working out exactly what was included in the property!
- The size of the land: This is usually given in acres, roods and perches – see section on measurements.
- The name of the individual(s) who will be admitted as the new tenants.
- Any fines or costs.
Types of documents – Notice of Intent to Surrender
Here is an example of a “Notice of Intent to Surrender”. This is a common document in the Hexham Manor Court collection and transcripts of many of these can be found on our website.
These documents were created before any surrenders and admittances went to the manor court, but include the same information. They detail what will take place at the next court, during the surrender and admittance process. Try reading this sample document. There is also a transcript with added line numbers to help.
Marg[are]t Bell
1 The undersigned John Smith of Whitfield Mill Gentleman and John
2 Roe of Chapelhouse in Allendale Yeoman do hereby give you Notice
3 that at the Court to be holden for the Manor of Hexham this day they
4 propose to surrender in Court All those parcels of Land in East
5 Allendale called the High Acres and Street Leazes consisting of two Closes
6 and a little Garden boundring on the Lands of High Frost Hall
7 on the North and South and Chapel house on the East Under the
8 apportioned Rent of 1/6 and right of Passage through the Fold at
9 Chapel House aforesaid between the said Closes and the Easter m
10 Loaning at all times and for all purposes / But saving and reserving
11 always unto the said John Roe his Heirs and Assigns Liberty to
12 place Ladders Scaffolding and other things necessary for rebuilding
13 altering and repairing his Stable at Chapelhouse aforesaid at all
14 times when occasion shall require in the Field adjoining the
15 said Stable/ To the Use and Behoof of Margaret Bell of
16 Kiddy Green Widow & her assigns for and during the
17 Term of her natural Life without Impeachment of
18 or for any manner of Waste so far as the Nature
19 and Tenure of the said Premisses will admit with
20 Remainder to the uses of his Will to be executed in the
21 Presence of three credible Witnesses with Remainder to her
22 Heirs and Assigns Upon a Sale of the said Premisses
23 made to her in Consideration of the Sum of three
24 hundred and twenty pounds purchase Money. —-
25 Dated this Twentieth Day of November in the Year
26 of our Lord 1813
To the Steward of the said John Smith
Manor or his Deputy. John Roe
X
This may seem quite complicated, but it can be broken down into sections. Use the line numbers as a guide to find the parts mentioned below.
- Lines 1-2: These list the individuals who will surrender their land at court. “John Smith of Whitfield Mill Gentleman and John Roe of Chapelhouse”.
- Line 3: The name of the manor – Manor of Hexham.
- Lines 4-7: These provide details on the land to be surrendered. “Land in East Allendale called the High Acres and Street Leazes consisting of two Closes and a little Garden boundring on the Lands of High Frost Hall on the North and South and Chapel house on the East”.
- Lines 8-15: The original conditions set by the Lord of the Manor – here it is a rent of 1 shilling 6 pence and rights of access.
- Lines 15-16: The name of the tenant to be admitted to the land: “Margaret Bell of Kiddy Green Widow”.
- Lines 17-22: The conditions/terms for her admission to the land – she can keep this land for her life and leave it to her heirs.
- Lines 23-24: The payment – £320.
- Lines 25-26: The date – 20 November 1813.
This shows the process – a person would go to court to surrender their lands (which are specified) and normally at the same time another person would be admitted as the new tenant.
Surrenders and Admittances in Court Books/Rolls
Admittances can also be found in Court books or rolls. This one has been included in a court roll for Norham Town in 1761.
The admittance is halfway down the image. Here’s an enlarged copy of the section:
“2 s 6 d John Stawert came into Court and entered into Two Messuages or Tenements & Garden
Barn & Stable Situate on the Southside of The Town of Norham between a Messuage or
Tenem[en]t of Rob[er]t Fenwick Esquire on the East and a Messuage or Tene[men]t of Tho[ma]s Byars
on the West And also to a /two\ Butts of Land & a Bank of land lying behind the s[ai]d Messuages
or Tenements boundered by the Lands of the s[ai]d Rob[er]t Fenwick Esq[ui]re on the East the Lands
of the s[ai]d Thomas Byars on the West & the Lands of George Ferrow on the South”
This is an admittance, not an “Intent to surrender”. Here the land has already been surrendered and John Stawert wants to be admitted to that land.
Here is a summary to break it down.
The person being admitted as a tenant is John Stawert and the remainder of the entry describes the land to be passed over. A fine (charge) must be paid for this admittance – 2 shillings and 6 pence. John Stawert would have to pay this before he could become a tenant of the manor.
Surrenders and Admittances as a deed
The final example is a surrender and admittance for Tweedmouth and Spittal manor. It looks like a deed, but the title of the document indicates that Henry Wilson and his wife, Ann are surrendering the land so that James Ainslie and Margaret his wife can be admitted. The date is 28 April 1837.
When opened up, this document is very large and had to be copied as two images which have been joined together here. There is also a transcript below.
This may seem complicated at first but it is telling us the same information as the other documents.
- The name of the individual(s) coming to court to surrender their land (line 8, blue box): “Henry Wilson of Spittle aforesaid Fisherman and Ann his Wife”.
- The land in question (line 12, green box): “All that piece or parcel of Copyhold land or ground…situate at the South end of Spittle…bounded by the Goswick Road on the East by the Spittle Road on the West by a parcel of the same Allotment belonging to John Bell on the North and another parcel thereof belonging to Samuel Bell of Gateshead on the South.”
- The size of the land (line 16, yellow box): “along the boundary line on the East side one hundred and ninety one links of a land measuring chain and along the boundary line on the West side two hundred such link.” Links and chains are not covered in the measurements section, but a chain is 66 feet or 20.1 meters and there are 100 links in a chain.
- The name of the individual(s) who will be admitted as the new tenants (line 20, red box): James Ainslie and Margaret his Wife
- Any fines or costs: It just tells us that they (line 26, purple box) “having paid a fine are accordingly admitted tenants”.
When reading surrenders and admittances, try and break them down into smaller sections. The bullet points help show the order that information should appear in the document – name of person surrendering land; description of the land; name of person being admitted and any fine to be paid.
Although these documents can seem very complicated, just remember that you don’t have to be able to read every word. Instead, just find the information you need which should be set out in the format above.
