5 



Mr. J. H. Round introduced the subject of Court Rolls, and stated 

 that Sir Alfred Scott-C.alty, Garter King-of-Arms, and Mr. Burke, 

 Somerset Herald, who were both present, would be willing to serve 

 on a committee to prepare a report as to what steps could be taken 

 for their scheduling and preservation. The importance of Court 

 Rolls might be summarized as Genealogical and Institutional, and 

 they therefore appealed to a large class of students. 



How important they were from the latter point of \ iew was well 

 shown in the recent great work of Prof. Vinogradoff on the English 

 Manor, in which he concluded that the Manor stood to the world of 

 Western Europe in much the same relation as the City did to ancient 

 Greece. A letter was read from Mr. Brady stating that he had long 

 been anxious to take part in a Society for dealing with Court Rolls 

 and had received great promises of support from landowners and 

 stewards. 



Mr. Oswald Barron, F.S.A., said he had found owners ready to 

 give access to Court Rolls and to part with them to proper custody. 

 He pointed out that the Public Record Office has power to take 

 charge of them, and suggested that this was the best place of deposit. 

 As they would always be accessible it would be better not to encourage 

 the retention of the power of withdrawal, which might \ery possibly 

 cause great trouble. 



Mr. Willis- Bund gave instances of the easy acquisition of Court 

 Rolls, and pointed out that part of the work of any Committee would 

 be to prepare a list of the Manors in the Kingdom. 



Mr. R. T. Andrews spoke of the manner in which Rolls and other 

 ancient Deeds got separated from their lawful possessors, and instanced 

 the finding of the Minutes of a Corporation in a la\\yer's strong room. 



The Hon. Secretary stated that the subject seemed one that the 

 Congress might well take up. There was a substantial balance in 

 hand, and, although this was satisfactory in one way, it would be much 

 more satisfactory if the money was spent on some useful object. The 

 difficulty was always to find an active Secretary for any new under- 

 taking, and it was understood that Mr. Burke would be willing to 

 serve in this case. He was of opinion that something should be done 

 to show students how Court Rolls should be dealt with. A summary 

 might be given of the various points of interest and suggestions as to 

 wliat and how abstracts should be published. He thought that a good 

 way of doing this would be to publish a short Court Roll treated in a 

 model wa)-. At present few knew how to deal with the matter, and 

 such an example would probably lead to many undertakings. 



Dr. Phillimore pointed out that it was difficult to say that Court 

 Rolls would never be of further value, as they might have to be con- 

 sulted as to title or as to such matters as mining rights. He proposed, 

 and the Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, F.S.A., seconded, that Mr. Round, 

 Garter King-of-Arms, Somerset Herald, Mr. I. Brady, and Mr. Oswald 



