Catalogue records
Manuscripts and Special Collections has a number of web and catalogue resources which may be of assistance for users who wish to undertake further research on Laxton, estate records, manorial records, or material relating to open field farming and enclosure in the East Midlands.
Further online resources
For more about manorial records, see the Research Guidance: Manorial Records pages on the Manuscripts and Special Collections website. The Research Guidance: Weights and Measures pages will help users understand old land measurements used in estate and manorial records.
Archdeaconry Resources is an extensive set of webpages giving advice on using the archives of the Archdeaconry of Nottingham court. Depositions and other cause papers like the ones detailing the case against Peter Roos for adultery in 1610 (see Theme 3, Falling Foul of the Law) are described in detail in the series AN/LB. Presentment Bills naming offenders from each parish are described in detail in the series AN/PB.
University of Nottingham Library Catalogue (NUsearch)
The East Midlands Collection contains books, pamphlets, periodicals and other materials on the historic counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. There are a number of publications about Laxton in this collection. The collection also contains local periodicals such as the Transactions of the Thoroton Society. Catalogue records can be searched on the University of Nottingham Library Catalogue (NUsearch).
General guidance on using NUsearch can be found on the help pages.
Manuscripts Online Catalogue
The Manuscripts Online Catalogue contains descriptions of over 500 archive collections. The archive of the Dukes of Newcastle, parts of the papers of the Dukes of Portland, the collection relating to the Denison family of Ossington, many other family and estate collections, and the archive of the Archdeaconry of Nottingham have been catalogued to item level, with detailed descriptions of individual items which can be searched online.
The Manvers collection (Ma) and the Denison collection (De) contain a great deal of material about the families' estates at Laxton.
Many of the archives contain relevant research information. They include:
- enclosure acts and awards
- estate accounts
- rentals
- surveys
- maps and plans
- correspondence
- manorial records
- Archdeaconry court records
Using the Manuscripts Online Catalogue
From the opening search screen of the Manuscripts Online Catalogue, click on 'Search the catalogue'. Typing a keyword into the 'Free text search' box will search across multiple fields.
Users should note the following:
- A record will only be returned if it contains the exact search term - any differences in spelling, etc, will mean that some documents may not be retrieved.
- When using a commonly used term, users may find themselves faced with numerous false hits. For example, if you wished to retrieve documents by or about the Earl of Lincoln, and used 'Lincoln' as a search term, you would also retrieve every document relating to the place called Lincoln.
If you find you are retrieving a number of false hits, you can narrow your search down by using the other search options. For instance, type your required search term into the 'Free text search' box, and also type 'De' into the 'Document Reference' box. This will ensure that only results from the Denison archive are retrieved.
Searches can also be narrowed down by date. Type your required search term into 'Free text search', and also type the exact year, or a range of years, into the 'Date of creation' field. You can even combine this with a 'Documen Reference' search to target the search still further.
Remember to try alternative spellings if there are no initial results.
Name indexes (selected collections only)
By selecting 'Search the name index' in the opening search screen of the Manuscripts Online Catalogue, you will be able to access individual name authority terms. When you view a name authority record, you can choose to see all manuscript catalogue records associated with it.
The name index search on the Manuscripts Online Catalogue also lets you search people named in Presentment Bills and brought before the Archdeaconry court for committing ecclesiastical offences between 1587 and the early 18th century.
More details about these databases and their contents are available on a help page for name indexes. When you view an index entry you can choose to see the 'event' record associated with it (details of the document in which the person was named), and from there you can click the link at the bottom to see the full catalogue record for the event. This describes the presentment in detail.
Place indexes (selected collections only)
By selecting 'Search the place index' in the opening search screen of the Manuscripts Online Catalogue, you can search all of the place name authorities included within the system. Therefore, if you wish to know more about events in a particular place, you could access information by entering the place name in the 'CityTownVillage' field. This will retrieve the name authority term for that place, and will enable you to link to every catalogue record containing information about the place.
Subject indexes (selected collections only)
Free text searching cannot provide access to concepts - that is, terms or ideas which are not mentioned explicitly in the description. For example, a letter may be all about enclosure, but may not say so specifically. The Newcastle, Denison and most of the Portland papers have been catalogued using subject terms including the following:
- Administration of estates
- agricultural improvements
- agriculture
- courts
- enclosure
- estate business
- estate holdings
- Inclosures
- land
- Land tenure
- landlords
- law and order
- livestock
- manorial business
- Manorial courts
- manors
- occupations and professions (by type) e.g. farmer, bailiff
- parishes
- Poor Law
- rural development
- taxation
- tenants
Suggested Searches
Suggested searches using the Manuscripts Online Catalogue.
Archdeaconry cause papers relating to people from Laxton
Search for:
'Laxton' in Title/Description and 'AN/LB' in DocumentRef
See results
Archdeaconry presentment bills from the parish of Laxton
Search for:
'Laxton' in Title and 'AN/PB' in DocumentRef
See results
All catalogue records including the word 'Laxton' in any part of the description
Search for:
'Laxton' in Free-text fields
n.b. this search brings up more results than the place name index term search below. This is because not all online catalogues have been indexed at item level. However, because this is a free-text search it might include results which relate to the personal name Laxton, and are therefore not relevant for research into the parish's history.
See results
All catalogue records including the place name index term 'Laxton'
Search for:
'Laxton' in Place, and then click on the first choice, Laxton in Nottinghamshire
n.b. this is a more limited data set than the free text search above, because place name indexing has not been carried out on all online catalogues. However, it is more targeted, and all results will relate to the parish of Laxton in Nottinghamshire.
See results
Catalogue records relating to enclosure
Search for:
'enclosure inclosure inclosures' in Term and check the 'OR' box underneath 'When searching for more than one word in a field' at the bottom of the form
See results
Catalogue records relating to manors
Search for:
'manor manors manorial' in Term and check the 'OR' box underneath 'When searching for more than one word in a field' at the bottom of the form
See results
Catalogue records relating to members of the Roos or Rose family
Search for:
'Roos Roose Rose' in Surname and check the 'OR' box underneath 'When searching for more than one word in a field' at the bottom of the form.
See results
Archdeaconry index entries relating to members of the Roos or Rose family
Search for:
Go to the Participants indexing search form, type 'Roos Roose Rose' into Search all name fields, and check the 'OR' box underneath 'When searching for more than one word in a field' at the bottom of the form.
See results
Next page: About the project