<S)n the 



Inqmsitiones ftost JKortem for 

 from lenrj) III. to jUdiarb 

 (12164485). 



By EDWARD ALEXANDER FRY. 



'T may be useful to those who have not had much 

 experience in early genealogical hisiory to state 

 briefly * what inquisitiones post mortem were 

 and wherein lies their usefulness to us in these 

 latter days. 



Inquisitiones post mortem were one of the 

 most distinctive features of the feudal system in 

 England ; they were introduced in the reign of 

 Henry III., about 1216, and continuing to be 

 held throughout the course of nearly 450 years 

 were only formally abolished on the accession of Charles II. to the 

 throne, though they had practically ceased to be taken after 1640. 



* Much fuller accounts will be found in the introduction to the 

 abstracts of inquisitiones published in " Dorset Records " and in various 

 genealogical handbooks, as, for instance, Sim's "Manual," p. 123; Rye's 

 " Records and Record Searching," p. 85 ; Phillimore's " How to trace the 

 History of a family," p. 130; and particularly the introduction to the 

 " Calendarium Genealogicum " by Roberts, and Mr. Scargill-Bird's 

 " Guide to the Public Records," p. 141. 



