(!rijc Court l:\ons of xf)t J^anor of 

 ^olmcsficltr, Co. I3rrt)j>. 



With Notes by ihe Editor. 



|T is a matter for much congratulation that, through 

 the courtesy of the Duke of Rutland and the 

 kindness of Mr. Carrington, the custodian of His 

 Grace's archives, we have been able to recover the 

 parochial history of Holmesfield from the year 1480 down 

 to 165 1— a period of 171 years — from the Court Rolls of 

 that manor. The church registers of Holmesfield only reach 

 as far back as 1727; but the unrecorded years after 1538, when 

 Parish Registers were first instituted, may perhaps in some way 

 l)e covered by the registers of Dronfield, which once comprised 

 the township and district of Holmesfield. 



Some people are apt to complain of dry names, and to thirst 

 for entertaining biographies ; but every name involves a biography 

 — if unwritten, perhaps as edifying to a thoughtful mind as the 

 garnishing of character which often attaches to others. ' He lived, 

 and he died,' is the summary of the lives of most men. The 

 church registers tell us no more, and their record is prized 

 exceedingly. The Court Rolls, however, frequently reveal the 

 estate and status of most of the parishioners, especially of the 

 copyholders ; whilst in the records of the Courts Leet the poorer 

 class appear and live again. We see them in their quarrels, their 

 trespasses, and frailties ; for these Leet Rolls are the records of 

 parochial jurisdiction and administration, invaluable to every 

 lover of local history. 



