Books in the Devon and Cornwall Record Society series

This volume presents the second half of the survey conducted of manors in the Duchy of Cornwall in 1650, covering thirty-seven manors across the Duchy. It gives much information about the spread of population and the Duchy's tenants, and is of particular interest to economic, social and family historians, as well as for the study of Cornish place names. The second and final volume of the survey is published as DCRS new series, vol. 27.

This volume presents the second half of the survey conducted of manors in the Duchy of Cornwall in 1650, covering twenty-seven manors in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and west Devon. It gives much information about the spread ofpopulation and the Duchy's tenants, and is of particular interest to economic, social and family historians, as well as for the study of Cornish place names. The first volume of the Parliamentary Survey is published as DCRS newseries, vol. 25.

This volume for 1997 contains transcriptions of all the 266 probate inventories that could be traced for the parish of Uffculme, Devon, together with abstracts of the accompanying wills and administrations which have survived. Added to these are 322 further abstracts of wills and administrations under the Salisbury jurisdiction (and now housed at the Wiltshire Record Office in Trowbridge) which have no surviving inventories. These further wills and administrations extend to the end of the year 1800 (with a few in the Dean of Salisbury's list beyond that date). Where possible, notes are included on related burial and marriage entries taken from the Parish Registers.The survivalrate of probate inventories for Devon is poor, as so many perished with the wills when the Exeter Probate Registry was destroyed in the Blitz in 1942. The Uffculme ones escaped because Uffculme was a Peculiar Parish in the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Salisbury and were kept in Salisbury during the war. The publication of this volume will give an insight into the sort of information the historian may gain from this type of document as well as providing aspects of life in Uffculme and farming and woollen cloth-making

The documents printed in this volume comprise parish tax records for eighteen parishes across Devon. These 26 church rates, 1 clerk rate, 13 Easter books, 5 military rates and 21 poor rates not only show the range of taxes payablein the county but also show how differently they were organised from one parish to another. The documents have been drawn from archives in Devon, London and Somerset and have not been previously published. This series will provide details on thousands of Devonians who are otherwise unrecorded.

This carto-bibliography of over 1300 Devon manuscript maps published in two volumes contains details not only of the maps themselves, extracted from 30 separate repositories in addition to some in private hands, but also biographical information on the surveyors who made them, over a third of whom have not appeared in any national cartographic reference book. There is also an Introduction which explains the significance of these, mostly large-scale, Devonmaps and how they fit into the national cartographic picture. The detailed list of maps is arranged in alphabetical order of parish for ease of reference and there is a Personal Names index. There are coloured illustrations of some of the maps and the two volumes will be presented in a slipcase. The volumes will be an indispensable reference tool for all interested in the social history, the landscape and archaeology of Devon.

John Lydford was a fourteenth-century canon lawyer and cleric who acted as an advocate in the church court at Canterbury and held various official positions in the English church. He left a book of notes and documents relating tocanon law, which are edited here with an introduction. Its contents include legal formulas for use in court cases, notes about points of law, and records of particular cases drawn from the church courts of Oxford, Hereford, Winchester and Exeter. John Lydford's book therefore offers an unusual insight into the workings of the medieval English church and its courts.

This volume presents eight tax returns for the city of Exeter dating from the Tudor period. It includes the assessment of 1522, which also lists men with few assets and so offers one of the most detailed surveys of population surviving from the period. It will interest family historians, economic and social historians working on the history of towns, and historians of Tudor government.

This volume presents early insurance registers kept by the Sun Fire Office, which list and value the goods of cloth manufacturers. The textile industry was an important part of Devon's economy in this period and these documents survive in greater numbers for Devon than for any other area outside London. They tell us much about an important eighteenth-century industry, as well as about economic history and the history of business and insurance.

The Exeter Cathedral Fabric Accounts document the history of Exeter Cathedral during a period when it was being extensively rebuilt by a series of active bishops. They show how the rebuilding was financed and give a detailed account of what was involved in a medieval building project, listing workers' wages, the cost of materials, and they show how building materials were transported to Exeter from Devon and from other parts of England. This informationtells us much not only about the history of Exeter Cathedral and its bishops, but also about the relationship between the Cathedral and the surrounding area, and the economic history of the region. This volume presents the accounts from 1279 to 1326, and Volume Two (new series 26) presents the accounts from 1328 to 1353.

The Exeter Cathedral Fabric Accounts document the history of Exeter Cathedral during a period when it was being extensively rebuilt by a series of active bishops. They show how the rebuilding was financed and give a detailed account of what was involved in a medieval building project, listing workers' wages, the cost of materials, and they show how building materials were transported to Exeter from Devon and from other parts of England. This informationtells us much not only about the history of Exeter Cathedral and its bishops, but also about the relationship between the Cathedral and the surrounding area, and the economic history of the region. This volume presents the accounts from 1328 to 1353, and Volume One (new series 24) presents the accounts from 1279 to 1326.

Beavis Wood (d. 1814) was the Town Clerk of Tiverton for over forty years, from 1765 to 1806. This volume presents a selection of his letters to Nathaniel Ryder, MP for Tiverton for much of this period, and to other correspondents. They give a colourful account of the society, local politics, and economy of Tiverton, and tell us much about urban society and politics in the period.

The priory of Launceston was founded in the 1120s and owned a large collection of properties in the Launceston area. Its cartulary gives information about many aspects of the Priory's existence, including its tenants, quarrels over land and boundaries, and dealings with local laypeople. Particularly interesting are the details about the Priory's relationship to local parishes, where we see disputes over church maintenance, lights, and other day to day aspects of parish life.

Exeter has one of the best-preserved medieval city archives in England, and the receivers' accounts are unusually early of their kind. First extant in 1304, they list the income and expenditure of the city corporation each year, thereby throwing light on Exeter before, during, and after the Black Death. The topography of the city, property holding and the economy are all featured, as are city government, law and order and civic entertainments. Important people are mentioned visiting Exeter: judges, bishops, noblemen and royalty such as Princess Joan and the duchess of Brittany. Altogether there is a detailed and delightful picture of life in a medieval city.This edition provides a full translation of the first eleven accounts with an introduction and index, together with specimens of four other early accounts from the 14th century: a city rental, a murage account relating to the city walls, an account of the wardens of the Exe bridge, and the first surviving receiver's account from Barnstaple.