Explore the feet of fines for Surrey created during the time period from 1558 to 1760.
Explore the feet of fines for Surrey created during the time period from 1558 to 1760.
Each result will provide you with a transcript, which will include all or some of the following fields:
Cliff Webb, who provided the transcripts, transcribed them from the holdings at The National Archives (TNA). In most cases, the actual fine is in the year and term referred to in the note, but in some cases, the original record may be found in the next or subsequent term’s bundle. The TNA references for the original records are in the form: (class reference)/(bundle number)/(regnal year)/(legal term). The class reference is CP 25/2 for all feet of fines, and the legal term is given in the record. The regnal year is the year starting with the anniversary day of the accession of the monarch. For example, Elizabeth I ascended to the throne on 17 November 1558, so her first regnal year (expressed as 1 Elizabeth or 1 Eliz) runs from that date to 16 November 1559. A legal term could, however, run through the anniversary date; Michaelmas term usually did run into the next year and so was recorded with a double regnal year (e.g. 1 & 2 Eliz).
At TNA, the documents are divided into bundles that contain the fines for a county for a given run of years. At the start of a list of fines, those transactions that involved more than one county (called double county fines) were recorded. Double county fines are arranged in different bundles than those that only pertain to one county.
Reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1602/3)
Double County fines
If you need to find the actual year quickly, simply add 1558 if Hilary, Easter, or Trinity terms, and also add 1558 to the first of the double years if it is Michaelmas term.
Reign of James I (1602/3-1625)
Double County fines
Reign of Charles I (1625-1648/9)
Double County fines
Commonwealth (1648/9-1660)
Double County fines
Reign of Charles II (1660-1684/5)
Double County fines
Reign of James II (1684/5-1688)
Double County fines
Reign of William & Mary/William III (1688/9-1701/2)
Double County fines
Reign of Anne (1701/2-1714)
Double County fines [bundles numbers not provided]
Reign of George I (1714-1727)
Double County fines
Reign of George II (1727-1760)
Double County fines
Feet of fines were documents of a fictitious suit of law created to obtain a secure transfer of land. The document recorded the final agreement (or concord), written in triplicate, between buyer and seller: two copies side by side and one copy across the bottom of the sheet (the foot of the fine). An indented or wavy line separated the three sections; one section was given to the seller, one to the buyer, and one (the foot) to the court. The idea behind this system was that forgeries could be identified by showing they didn’t fit the three-piece jigsaw of the authentic, original foot of fine.
However, there was no legal obligation to have the title of property registered this way; such fines were usually one of several deed conveyance documents.
The amount of detail provided in a foot of fine varied from period to period. For example, some will provide the full names of all the buyers and sellers while others only provide the last name of the first buyer in a transaction. Documents were recorded in Latin in a Chancery script until the Hilary term 1732-1733. Following 1733, the records were recorded in English and in a script that was easier to read.
Begin your search broadly with just a name.
If needed, you can narrow your results by adding in additional search criteria such as a year, place, or keyword (e.g. Michaelmas).