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The Challenge of Old Legal Manuscripts in Modern Law Libraries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 August 2023
Abstract
On the few occasions that old manuscripts are encountered in modern practice they may raise problems of reading old handwriting and identifying the place of the document in the legal process. This article by Barbara Tearle gives advice on why specialist help is needed and where to obtain it.
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- Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by British and Irish Association of Law Librarians
References
Footnotes
1 Aston Cantlow PCC v Wallbank [2003] UKHL 37. I am grateful to Guy Holborn for pointing out the case and for commenting on a draft of this article.
2 In an 18th century manuscript poll book I encountered a name where the final letter of Thomas had been repeated at the beginning of the surname (Thomas Stale instead of Thomas Tale). Perhaps the man had a lisp or a heavy cold when he gave his name so that the two names ran into each other and the scribe just wrote down what he heard.
3 I saw such a deed displayed in a specialist design museum in Vilnius. The curators did not know where it originated nor what language it was in. Previous visitors had made wild guesses including High Dutch. The presence of the British royal arms was sufficient to identify the country of origin, but it took me a long time to provide the museum staff with the names of the parties and the property to which it referred.
4 Cheney, C R, A Handbook of Dates for Students of British History, new ed. by Jones, Michael (CUP 2000)Google Scholar.
5 Proceedings in the Courts of Justice Act 1731 c. 26 for England and the Court of Exchequer in Scotland; Courts in Wales and Chester Act 1732 c. 14; and the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 c. 6 in the Irish Parliament.
6 Forrest, Mark, Reading Early Handwriting 1500-1700 (British Association for Local History 2019)Google Scholar.
7 Alcock, N W, Old Title Deeds: A Guide for Local and Family Historians (2nd ed. Phillimore 2001)Google Scholar.
12 See Chapter 4 ‘How’ in Alcock's Old Title Deeds, which describes property documents in detail.
15 James Derriman, Chancel Repair Liability: How to Research It (rev. ed., Wildy, Simmonds and Hill Publishing 2006). A summary of research procedure (but without the helpful historical background) is on The National Archives site, ending with a reference to the effect of the Land Registration Act 2002 <www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/chancel-repair-liabilities-england-wales/>.
16 For example, Bucks, Sarah and Wadey, Phil, Rights of Way: Restoring the Record (2nd ed. Bucks and Wadey Publishing 2017)Google Scholar. The authors are members of the Open Spaces Society and the British Horse Society and do not appear to be lawyers.
17 A boke of presidentes exactly written, in maner of a register. Newly corrected, with addicions of dyuers necessarye presidentes mete for all such, as desyre to learne the fourme and maner howe to make all maner of euidences and instrumentes as in the table of this boke more playnely appeareth: with also the begynning and ending of the termes (London 1559) [353p.] STC 333 (2nd ed.).
18 e.g. William West, The first part of Symboleographie: which may be termed the art, or description, of instruments and presidents (London 1647). Section 393 describes bargains and sales and the following sections are precedents.
26 Béatrice Couture and others, The challenges of HTR model training: Feedbacks from the project Donner le goût de l'archive à l’ère numérique (Université de Montréal 2022). Open access <https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2212/2212.11146.pdf>.
27 Guidance on keeping archives of solicitors and law firms, September 2021, version 1 <www.britishrecordsassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Keeping-Archives-of-Solicitors-and-Law-Firms-v1-2021.pdf>.