1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide for advice on how to find records, or other forms of proof, of a person changing their name. There is advice on the kinds of records that have been created since the 16th century right up to the present day.

You may find that proof of a change of name simply does not exist. Contrary to popular belief, it has always been possible to change your name without having to register the change with the government or any other official body. It is still perfectly legal for anyone over the age of 16 to start using a new name at any time, as long as they are not doing so for a fraudulent or illegal reason.

The National Archives cannot provide legal advice. If you have changed your name and need legal advice on providing evidence of the change, to obtain a passport for example, you will need to speak to a solicitor or to Citizens Advice.

For advice on changing your name by deed poll and ‘enrolling’ the change in England and Wales, go to the Change your name by deed poll page on GOV.UK.

For advice in Northern Ireland visit nidirect or in Scotland refer to National Records of Scotland.

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide for advice on finding records of:

• coastguard stations
• the administration of the coastguard service
• functions carried out by the coastguard service

We hold administrative records before and after the formation of the Coastguard service in 1822. None of these records are available to view online so to see them you will have to either visit us in Kew or, if you can locate document references, order copies.

Read our guide on Coastguard officers if you are looking for records of a person who served in the Coastguard service.

1. Why use this guide?

The National Archives holds a huge collection of official trade marks, created by British and foreign businesses between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. This treasure trove of thousands of designs and artworks, in the form of drawings, paintings and prints, includes everything from complex illustrations to simple logos. By following the advice in this guide you can find and see the original designs of trade marks submitted to the government for official registration.

The collection presents a rich and colourful history of British commercial graphic design, marketing and manufacturing, for both the home and overseas markets. It provides insights into the tastes and consumer habits of the United Kingdom and beyond in the Victorian, Edwardian and inter-war eras and can be used to help trace the history of specific companies and brands.

Among the collection you can find early logos used by British household names like Slazenger, Birds Eye, Colman, Rowntree and many others. We hold copies of countless other designs for lesser known companies, many long since out of business.

For records of trade marks registered since 1938, go to the Intellectual Property Office, known until 2007 as the Patent Office (see section 6).

A number of files were destroyed by enemy action in the Second World War.

5. Registers and how to locate them

Once the representation was received and given a number, an entry was made in a corresponding register with details of the manufacturer and/or company registering the trade mark.

The registers record:

• names and addresses of the owner or manufacturer and/or their agent
• date the trade marks were registered
• the material class the goods were placed under
• the trade mark number issued by the Patent Office
• the material class the goods were classified under (see Appendix)
• subsequent renewals of the mark and the names and addresses of subsequent owners

Unfortunately just four specimen registers (and two indexes), all for representations in BT 82, survive. Most registers from between 1876 and 1938 were destroyed under section 6 of the ‘Public Records Act of 1958’. These four registers and two indexes are in BT 900.

Click on the links below to request the registers – they are for trade marks registered…:

• 3 October 1876, in BT 900/16
• 5 October 1876, in BT 900/15
• 1884, in BT 900/17 (an index for registrations from 15 Jan 1884 to 3 October 1884 is in BT 900/20 – the index gives name of applicant, class of goods, page, date of registration)
• 1934, in BT 900/18
• 10 November 1933 to 11 December 1935, in BT 900/19

There are no registers for the representations in BT 244 making it difficult to link a trademark to its owner unless details were written alongside the representations, which they quite often were.

6. Other places to find records of trade marks

You can use our catalogue to search for records held in other archives. Search using the terms ‘trademark’ and ‘trade mark’ (both terms are used in equal measure).

Modern-day trade marks

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), known until 2007 as the Patent Office, holds the modern-day responsibility for the registration of trade marks. Search the IPO database to find trade marks by name of company or description of trademark. If you find the registration number this way you can then look for the original representation in our records, assuming the trade mark was registered before 1939.

Trade Marks Journal

The ‘Trade Marks Journal’ has appeared continuously, in numbered issues since 1876, published weekly, in which all newly accepted marks are reproduced. Complete sets are available at the British Library on microfilm (the British Library trade marks collection pages offer further guidance).

The publications record details of the trade marks for which protection has been sought and also identify the individuals and/or companies which have made the application, in many cases by applicant name and by type of product.

7. Further reading

Consult our legislation.gov.uk website for the texts of the various Acts of Parliament relating to trade marks.

The following texts are all available in The National Archives library.

A Century of Trade Marks 1876-1976 (HMSO, 1976)

Commerce and Culture: Nineteenth-Century Business Elites, edited by Robert Lee (Ashgate, 2011)

Marks of Excellence: The History and Taxonomy of Trademarks, Per Mollerup (Phaidon, 2013)

Trade Marks and Brands, edited by Lionel Bently, Jennifer Davis and Jane C Ginsburg (Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Appendix: Material classes

The table below shows the 50 material classes established by the Trade Mark Registration Act of 1875. To be granted trade mark protection, applicants had to register their goods under one or more of these classifications.

Class 1 Chemical substances used in manufacturer photography or philosophical research.

Class 2 Chemical substances used for agriculture and horticultural purposes. Examples: Artificial manure, sheep washes.

Class 3 Chemical substances used in medicine and pharmacy. Examples: tinctures, extracts, barks, patent medicines, cod-liver oil.

Class 4 Raw vegetable and animal substances used in manufactures. Examples: Resins, oils, dyes, tanning substances, fibrous substances (e.g. Cotton hemp, flax, jute). Wool, silk cork seeds glue bone sponge.

Class 5 Unwrought and partly wrought metals used in manufacture. Examples: Iron and steel, pig and cast, rough, bar and rail, including rails for railways, bolt and rod, sheets and boiler and armour plates, hoops, wire; Lead, pig, rolled sheet; Copper; Zinc.

Class 6 Machinery of all kinds and parts of machinery except agricultural machines and implements, included in class 7. Examples: steam engines, boilers, pneumatic machines hydraulic machines, Locomotives, sewing machines, weighing machines, machine tools, mining machinery, fire engines.

Class 7 Agricultural and horticultural implements and machines. Examples: ploughs, drilling machines, reaping machines, thrashing machines, drainage implements, dairy implements, garden implements, cider presses, beehives.

Class 8 Philosophical instruments, instruments and apparatus for useful purposes or for teaching.

Class 9 Musical instruments.

Class 10 Horological instruments.

Class 11 Surgical instruments and apparatus.

Class 12 Cutlery edge tools. Examples: Knives, forks, scissors, shears, files, saws, corkscrews, tweezers, button hooks.

Class 13 Metal goods not included in other classes.

Class 14 Goods of precious metals (including aluminium, nickel) and jewellery and imitations of such goods and jewellery. Examples: plate, clock cases, pencil cases, Sheffield and other plated goods, gilt and ormolu work.

Class 15 Glass Examples: Window and plate glass, painted glass, glass mosaic, glass for optical purposes.

Class 16 Porcelain and earthenware Examples: China Stoneware, terra-cotta, statuary porcelain, tiles, bricks.

Class 17 Manufactures from mineral and other substances for building or decoration. Examples: cement, plaster, imitation marble.

Class 18 Engineering, architectural and building contrivances. Examples: diving apparatus, warming apparatus, ventilating apparatus, filtering apparatus, lighting contrivances, drainage contrivances, electric bells.

Class 19 Arms and military stores, not included in class 20. Examples: cannon, small arms, fowling pieces, swords, shot and other projectiles, camp equipage, military equipment, military accoutrements.

Class 20 Explosive substances Examples: gunpowder, gun cotton, Dynamite, fog-signals, percussion caps, fireworks, cartridges.

Class 21 Naval architectural contrivances and naval equipment. Examples: boats, anchors, chain cables, windlasses, rigging, logs.

Class 22 Carriages Examples: railway carriages, wagons, railway trucks, velocipedes.

Class 23 Cotton yarn and thread.

Class 24 Cotton piece goods of all kinds.

Class 25 Cotton goods not included in classes 23, 24 or 38.

Class 26 Linen and hemp yarn and thread.

Class 27 Linen and hemp piece goods.

Class 28 Linen and hemp goods not included in classes 26 and 27.

Class 29 Jute yarns and tissues and other articles made of jute.

Class 30 Silk, spun, thrown or sewing.

Class 31 Silk piece goods.

Class 32 Other silk goods not included in classes 30 and 31.

Class 33 Woollen and worsted yarns.

Class 34 Woollen cloths and worsted stuffs.

Class 35 Woollen and worsted gods not included in classes 33 and 34.

Class 36 Carpets, floor cloth and oil cloth. Such as Drugget, mats and matting, rugs.

Class 37 Leather and skins unwrought and wrought and hair and feathers. Examples: Saddlery, harness, portmanteaus furs bristles, haircloth wigs, hair mattresses.

Class 38 Articles of clothing. Examples: hats of all kinds, caps and bonnets, hosiery, gloves, boots and shoes, other ready-made clothing.

Class 39 Paper (except paper hangings, stationery, printing and book binding). Examples: envelopes, sealing wax, pens (including steel pens) ink, playing cards, blotting cases.

Class 40 Goods manufactured from India-rubber and futta-percha not included in other classes.

Class 41 Furniture and upholstery. Examples: paper hangings, papier-mâché, mirrors, japan goods.

Class 42 Substances used as food. Examples: Cereals pulses oils, hops, malt, dried fruits, tea, spices, sago, salt, starch, sugar, preserved meats, honey confectionery biscuits, oil cakes, pickles, vinegar.

Class 43 Fermented liquors and spirits Examples: Beer cider wine whisky liqueurs.

Class 44 Mineral and aerated waters, natural and artificial.

Class 45 Tobacco, whether manufactures or unmanufactured.

Class 46 Seeds for agricultural and horticultural purposes.

Class 47 Candles, illuminating oils, matches and common soap.

Class 48 Perfumery (including perfumed soap).

Class 49 Toys, games of all kinds, archery, fishing tackle.

Class 50 Miscellaneous, including: Goods manufactured from ivory, bone and wood, not included in other classes. Goods manufactured from straw or grass, not included in other classes. Goods manufactured from animal and vegetable substances, not included in other classes. Tobacco pipes. Umbrellas. All goods not included in the foregoing classes.

 

This guide will tell you how to look for records of coastguard officers.

What do I need to know before I start?

The Coastguard was formed in 1822 by the amalgamation of three services set up to prevent smuggling:

• the Revenue Cruisers
• the Riding Officers
• the Preventive Water Guard

From 1822 several different departments were responsible for the Coastguards, so Coastguard records are widely scattered in The National Archives.

After 1856 the duties of the Coastguard were defending the coast, providing a reserve for the Royal Navy, and preventing smuggling.

What do I need to know before I start?

What records can I see online?

What records can I find at The National Archives at Kew?

What records can I find in other archives and organisations?

What other resources will help me find information?

This is a brief guide to help you with your research. Records of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales are kept in various places, but not usually at The National Archives. This guide will help you to find out where else you can look.

What do I need to know before I start?

Online records

Records in other archives and organisations

Other resources

This is a guide to finding records of the Indian Army during British rule. The vast majority of these records are currently held by the British Library.

The army in India during British rule

Online records

Records available only at The National Archives in Kew

Records in other archives and organisations

Other resources

To piece together the complete history of a house you will almost certainly need to contact and probably visit a variety of archives. The National Archives is not usually the best place to start unless you are only interested in who the occupants were in the very specific years for which we happen to have records (most significantly the census years, every ten years from 1841 to 1921; the Valuation Office Survey years from 1910 to 1915; and the year of the 1939 Register). This guide provides some suggestions for where else you can go to find records and what kind of information you might find.

Where to start

Our online records

Records available only at The National Archives in Kew

Books

1. Why use this guide?

Use this guide for advice on how to find ‘feet of fines’, documents held at The National Archives that record details of land and property changing hands between 1195 and 1833. Medieval feet of fines are particularly significant as they are often the only surviving record of a conveyance. The use of fines was a means of creating a legal record of land ownership.

For Welsh feet of fines please contact the National Library of Wales.

2. What are feet of fines?

Feet of fines are court copies of agreements following disputes over property. In reality, the disputes were mostly fictitious and were simply a way of having the transfer of ownership of land recorded officially by the king’s court.

The agreements were normally written out three times on a single sheet of parchment – two copies side by side and one copy across the bottom (the foot) of the sheet, separated by an indented or wavy line. The purchaser kept one copy, the seller the other and the final copy – ‘the foot of the fine’ – was kept by the king’s court as a central record of the conveyance. Using one piece of parchment separated in this way gave protection against fraud or forgery as only the genuine copies would fit together – like a jigsaw.

3. The records and what they tell us

1. Why use this guide?

This guide will help you to find records of the following in the medieval and early modern periods:

• land ownership
• prominent people
• legal and administrative processes concerning land transfer and inheritance

It does not relate to coroner’s inquests or medical examinations which take place after a suspicious death.

2. What were inquisitions post mortem?

Inquisitions post mortem were local inquiries into valuable properties, in order to discover what income and rights were due to the crown and who the heir should be.

These inquiries took place when people were known or believed to have held lands of the crown, and therefore involved individuals of considerable wealth and status. All have been indexed, and many are published in English.

3. Why were inquisitions post mortem held?

Under the feudal system all land belonged to the monarch and was therefore either held by him directly (the royal demesne) or on his behalf, directly or indirectly.

Those who held land directly on the king’s behalf were known as tenants in chief. When a tenant in chief died without an heir his lands escheated to (fell into the hands of) the king. If there was an heir, the king kept the lands until a livery of seisin took place; this involved the heir making a payment, known as a relief, in order to assume possession.

If the heir was under age the king kept the lands until he or she came of age (at 21 for men or 14 for women) and the king received rights of wardship and marriage, collecting the revenues of the estate and disposing of the heir in marriage. He was able to sell these rights to third parties, who were not necessarily the next of kin. These feudal tenures and rights were abolished in the Interregnum, and again by Charles II.

4. What happened at inquisitions post mortem?

It’s important to understand how inquisitions post mortem were held, as the surviving documents reflect their process.

When the chancery heard of the death of a tenant in chief, a writ of diem clausit extremum (‘he closed his last day’) was drawn up, ordering the escheator (the royal official who held the inquest locally) to hold an inquisition in his county.

Depending on the holdings of the deceased, writs could have been issued to the escheators of multiple counties. Each writ gives the name of the deceased and instructs the escheator to take the lands into the king’s hand, to summon a jury of local men to answer a series of questions relating to the extent, tenure and value of the lands, properties and rights of the deceased, and to identity the nearest heir.

Other writs might ask the escheator to certify (de certiorari) the true value of lands. This often happened in cases of dispute, where a previous escheator had not performed his commission, or the value of knights’ fees and advowsons of churches.

The inquisition was held locally, close to the lands which were to be valued.

5. What information do the records contain?

The inquisition return would detail, in order:

• the county
• the name of the escheator
• a list of the jurors
• the name of the deceased and the date of their death
• a brief description of each landholding
• its value (which was often underestimated)
• the tenure by which it was held

This section may include extracts (in English) from a will or an enfeoffment to use (putting the lands into the hands of trustees, in order to avoid the king’s claims to livery and wardship etc., and also to allow lands to be left to people other than the heir at law). Lastly the next heir is identified and their age given. If the heir was of age (over 21, or over 14 for an heiress), the age given may be an estimate.

The next heir was usually one male, one female, or a number of females: lands were split between daughters (who were treated as having an equal claim if there was no male heir), but not between sons. Sometimes a proof of age was recorded in a separate type of inquisition (de aetate probanda).

Widows also had rights of dower in the lands, which continued long after the deaths of their husbands, and there are inquisitions (de assignatione dotis) into this as well. These inquisitions are included with the inquisitions post mortem.

6. What happened to the inquisition documents?

The escheators usually returned the inquisition documents into the Chancery which had ordered them (C 132-142). However, if one had been held under the escheator’s own authority, it was returned only into the Exchequer (E 149-150). The Exchequer also received duplicates (less the jury lists) of those ordered by Chancery.

This was done to support the escheator’s accounts (in E 136) of his administration of land falling into the king’s hands (for however brief a period). After 1540, another copy was sent into the Court of Wards and Liveries (WARD 7). Quite often the Exchequer and Wards inquisitions are easier to read, because they have been used less.

7. Researching inquisitions post mortem at The National Archives

There are various ways to access records of inquisitions post mortem, depending on the date of the inquisition and the current state of publication of its records.

Using Discovery, our catalogue

The Chancery series for Henry III – Henry VI are now searchable on our catalogue, by county, name and peerage title.

Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem

There are detailed summaries of the contents of each inquisition in the Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, which cover 1236 to 1447 and is available in our reading rooms. The standards of editing vary, with more details included in later publications. Each volume is indexed: if you want to look at the original documents, note the file reference printed after each entry; for example, E.Inq.P.M. File 49 (15), or C. Edw. III 40 (2).

Understanding the document references

These references need to be converted to a modern format. Those starting with E are Exchequer inquisitions, and convert into a reference such as E 149/49. References starting C are Chancery inquisitions, and differ for each reign. The example given converts from C. Edw. III 40 (2) to C 135/40. Only the first two numbers (C 135/40, E 149/49) are required to order the document, but you need the last number to find the item within a file of inquisitions.

You may also see the entry E. Enrolments & c. of Inq.: these are estreats, or extracts of Chancery inquisitions sent to the Exchequer for information and enrolled there, in E 152. They can supply information for damaged or missing inquisitions.

Date range	Monarch	Catalogue reference
1236-1272	Henry III	C 132, E 149
1272-1307	Edward I	C 133, E 149
1307-1327	Edward II	C 134, E 149
1327-1377	Edward III	C 135, E 149
1377-1399	Richard II	C 136, E 149
1399-1413	Henry IV	C 137, E 149
1413-1422	Henry V	C 138, E 149
1422-1461	Henry VI	C 139, E 149

 

1447-1485: original documents only

These are searchable on our catalogue by name, title and county. There is also a paper list for 1413-1485 covering series C 138-141 in the standard series lists of the Chancery inquisitions under C 138. These give name, relationship, county and type of inquisition (for example, post mortem, dower, proof of age), as well as the item number to be looked for in the file, once ordered, and the regnal year. Note that they do not give any details of land.

For lists of the lands mentioned in an inquisition, look at the Calendarium inquisitionum post mortem sive escaetarum, IV (1828). This is shelved with the calendars and arranged by regnal year and item number. It does not include the many documents found and added to the series after 1828; not all of these went to the Chancery, so if you also want to check the Exchequer inquisitions, in E 149, try the four manuscript volumes, arranged by the names of the person being investigated. These volumes also contain the details of series E 152and E 153.

Date range	Monarch	Catalogue reference
1422-1461	Henry VI	C 139, E 149
1461-1483	Edward IV	C 140, E 149
1483-1485	Richard III	C 141, E 149

 

1485-1509: published in English

These series are searchable using our catalogue, by name and by the county where the inquisition took place. Restrict the search to record series C 142 and E 150.

Alternatively they are calendared in detail in the Calendar of inquisitions post mortem for the reign of Henry VII, which is available in our reading rooms. The calendar refers to C 142 as C. Series II and E 150  as E. Series II.

1509-c1640: original documents only

From 1540 duplicates of inquisitions were also sent to the newly-established Court of Wards and Liveries. These can be searched by name and by the county where the inquisition took place using our catalogue. Restrict the search to the record series C 142, E 150 and WARD 7 (for 1540-c1640 only).

There is also a series of composite indexes to these record series available in our reading rooms, which give the name, date and county, with references to the three possible copies of the inquisition. These indexes were published as the Index of inquisitions post mortem. Check the front of each volume for the format needed to locate the original documents.

Cheshire, Durham and Lancashire, and the Duchy of Lancaster

The palatine counties of Cheshire, Durham and Lancashire and the Duchy of Lancaster also had inquisitions post mortem. For Henry VIII -– Charles I, they have been included as appendices in the Index of inquisitions post mortem, Charles I and later. The relevant series are:

• CHES 3
• DURH 3
• PL 4
• DL 7

Because the finding aids for the earlier period are complicated, it’s best to read the introductory notes to each of these series. These are filed in the standard list set.

8. Records of what happened after inquisitions post mortem

If an heir was of age, or once an heir’s age had been proved and dower assigned, land was delivered to the heir, often after a period of wardship if this was deemed necessary. Records of the livery of lands, sale of wardship etc. can be found in the Patent Rolls (C 66).

For more details of how to locate relevant information in this series see the research guide to Royal grants in Letters Patent and Charters from 1199. From c 1540 onwards, it may be worth looking in the records of the Court of Wards (see Land inheritance in the Court of Wards and Liveries 1540-1645). The introductory notes to all these series, filed in the standard series lists, give more information.

9. Further reading

Published inquisitions post mortem

Many local record societies have published translations of inquisitions post mortem for their counties. Ask in our reading rooms for help in identifying what is available using Texts and Calendars.

Useful publications

• Carpenter, ‘Introduction’, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem Preserved in the Public Record Office XXII: 1422-1427 (1-5 Henry VI), ed. Kate Parkin (Woodbridge, 2003), pp. 1-42
• ‘The Fifteenth-Century Inquisitions Post Mortem: a Companion’, ed. Michael Hicks (Woodbridge, 2012)
• ‘The Later Medieval Inquisitions Post Mortem: Mapping the Medieval Countryside and Rural Society’, ed. Michael Hicks (Woodbridge, 2016).

 

1. Why use this guide?

This guide provides advice on how to find historical records of lawyers, primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries. If you are interested in where, when and with which court a particular lawyer practiced, or you want to find some biographical background on a lawyer, the advice in this guide will point you in the right direction.

The National Archives has some historical records relating to solicitors and attorneys but for records of barristers we hold relatively few records.

To access almost any of these records you will either need to visit us, pay for research (£) or, where you can identify a specific record reference, order a copy (£). The few records that are available online are covered in section 5 and section 6.

2. Types of lawyers

In England and Wales an attorney was a lawyer who practised in the superior courts of common law. They dealt with the procedural steps of litigation but, unlike barristers, did not plead for their clients in court.

Solicitors performed a similar procedural role in courts of equity. Solicitors and attorneys both represented private parties involved in litigation.

In 1873 all solicitors and attorneys became Solicitors of the Supreme Court.

3. Types of records

Until 1838 solicitors and attorneys had to be admitted to each of the courts in which they wished to practise. Each court kept its own records of admissions. From 1838 attorneys were unable to practice in a court other than the one in which they were enrolled unless they first signed a roll of the court concerned.

At The National Archives we hold the records of attorneys and solicitors admitted to the Central Courts and records of some provincial attorneys who practiced at satellite courts of the Central Courts, in the Palatinates of Chester, Durham and Lancaster.

The following are the main types of records you can expect to find:

3.1 Oath rolls/books of attorneys

The Attorneys and Solicitors Act of 1728 (2 Geo 2, c23) provided that attorneys and solicitors should serve five years as clerks under articles, that they should take the oath prescribed and that their names should be entered on a roll. These rolls or books of attorneys are usually arranged alphabetically and in chronological order of admission.

3.2 Registers and affidavits of due execution of articles of clerkship

An article of clerkship was the agreement binding a person studying to become a lawyer to a practicing attorney or solicitor, allowing that person, after five years, to enter the profession in his own right. These student or apprentice lawyers are known as articled clerks.

From 1749 a further Act (22 Geo 2, c46) required that an affidavit attesting due execution of articles should be filed with the court within three months of admission. The registers of these affidavits will show to whom the attorney or solicitor was articled. These registers are mostly indexed. The affidavits themselves, or the articles, if they survive will also show the name of the parent or guardian, if any, who arranged the articles.

3.3 Certificate books

From 1785 an annual certificate of admission was required before an attorney or solicitor could practise. Books of such certificates occur among court records. From 1790 the printed Law Lists were based on these certificate books.

3.4 Records kept by the Law Society

The Law Society has records of the Registrar of Attorneys and Solicitors, set up in 1843. These include lists of admissions from 1845 with additional lists of admissions from about 1790 for most courts and some Registers of Articles of Clerkship from about 1860. The Law Society Library can carry out a search into the records for a fee. For a list of the records held at the library, see The Law Society website.

4. How to search

It is best to start with the printed Law Lists, a directory of lawyers published annually between 1775 and 1976, bearing in mind the following caveats:

• lists between 1775 and 1789 are known to contain names of persons never actually admitted to a court
• until 1861 lists do not give the date of admission
• for each year from 1790 lists only give the names of those attorneys and solicitors who had taken out their annual certificates to practise and omits those not practising that year

Lists of attorneys and solicitors admitted in 1729 and 1730 were printed for Parliament. The Law Society has a complete run of Law lists.

The next step, and for more detailed records of an attorney or solicitor, you should consult the records of the court to which the lawyer was admitted. These records are broken down, court by court, in the remaining sections of this guide.

For lawyers admitted before 1750, you should start with the admissions to the Court of Common Pleas since admissions to that court exceeded those to any other during the first half of the 18th century. After 1750, on the other hand, it is best to look first at admissions to the court of the King’s Bench.

5. Court of Common Pleas

For attorneys admitted to the Court of Common Pleas the following records exist:

5.1 Registers of articles of clerkship and affidavits of due execution

These registers and affidavits are in record series CP 71. You can search for them online at Ancestry.co.uk (£).

The registers are arranged in chronological order of filing with the court and no complete alphabetical index exists. In addition to the names of the clerks, the masters, and the persons proving the execution of the articles there are marginal notes which indicate the courts to which admission was finally made. This information is gained from the following index volumes:

• CP 71/1 1758-1784
• CP 71/2 1785-1867

5.2 Articles of clerkship

Search articles of clerkship using the name of the qualified solicitor or the person they were training. Click on CP 5 to search for records.

There is a personal name index with the printed version of the CP 5 series list, available in the reading rooms at The National Archives in Kew.

5.3 Admission papers 1729-1838

Admission Papers, 1729-1838 are also in CP 5. These may include articles of clerkship, affidavits of due execution of articles, affidavits of payment of stamp duty and fiats for admission. In case of persons admitted in other courts who were seeking further admission to the Common Pleas, only affidavits of due payment of stamp duty or evidence of admissions in other courts may be found. These records contain papers of attorneys who did not complete their service under articles. Furthermore, not everyone admitted to the Common Pleas is recorded. The admission books described below are a more satisfactory record.

5.4 Admission books 1724-1853

These are arranged alphabetically in two series running from 1729 to 1853. The first series contains the addresses and exact dates of admission of attorneys enrolled. The second series contains the same lists of admissions but gives only the county and year.

Series 1	CP 70/1	1729-1751
	CP 70/2	1752-1775
	CP 70/3	1776-1814
	CP 70/4	1815-1848
Series 2	CP 72/1	1740-1819
	CP 72/2	1820-1853
	CP 72/4	1838-1843
	CP 72/5	1843-1862
	CP 72/6	1863-1875
Supplementary admission registers	CP 69/1	1656-1761 (incomplete)
	CP 72/3	1830-1844 (contains names of Welsh attorneys)

5.5 Admission rolls 1838-1860

These include the signatures of attorneys already entered in the volumes above, arranged alphabetically. Search in CP 8.

5.6 Rolls of attorneys 1730-1750

These are lists of various dates between 1730 and 1750 showing, alphabetically, the names and addresses of attorneys practising in the Common Pleas. The earlier lists in particular contain names not available elsewhere. Search for them in CP 11.

5.7 Oath rolls 1779-1847

There are 31 rolls comprising a general series, 1789 to 1843; Roman Catholics, 1790 to 1836; Quakers, 1835 to 1842 and ‘Qualifications’ (subscriptions to the Test Act and the Act of Settlement in addition to the usual oaths, 1779 to 1847). The rolls record signatures, arranged by legal term and year. Search for them in CP 10.

6. Court of King’s Bench

For attorneys admitted to the Court of King’s Bench the admission papers between 1838 and 1875 including articles of clerkship have not survived (for specimens of these records, see section 17 on other sources).

The following records do exist:

6.1 Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles

These are the main source of information for attorneys admitted to the Court of King’s Bench. On completion or execution of articles for the King’s Bench, an affidavit was filed with the Court and given a serial number. There are eight successive series of these affidavits. The first started in 1749, a second in 1817 and a third in 1834. Further series began in 1846, 1856, 1862, 1871, 1874 and 1875. Up to about 1840 they can be obtained by reference to the appropriate Indexes and Registers. Search for them in KB 105, KB 106, and KB 107. These records can also be searched online at Ancestry.co.uk (£).

The Indexes are arranged alphabetically by the year of execution and give the name of the clerk, the attorney to whom he was articled and a serial number. The registers are arranged chronologically in serial number order. Next consult the series lists for KB 105, KB 106, and KB 107 as appropriate, using the serial number. The registers give sufficient details to identify the clerk.

Between 1840 and 1849 the affidavits are filed not according to the date of execution but according to the date of admission and are usually accompanied by affidavits attesting payment of stamp duty and by the judge’s fiat for admission.

From 1849 there is a further change in the method of filing. From then until 1873 affidavits are filed according to the date of execution. Affidavits of persons admitted between those dates have not survived.

6.2 Indexes to registers of affidavits of due execution of articles

The references in this table are for indexes to the registers listed in section 6.3.

KB 170/14	1749-1784
KB 170/15	1787 – 1806
KB 170/16	1806 – 1818
KB 170/17	1818 – 1824
KB 170/18	1824 – 1831
KB 170/19	1831 – 1845
(missing)	1845 – 1860
KB 170/20	1860 – 1866
KB 170/21	1867 – 1873
KB 170/22	1874 – 1876 (July)

6.3 Register of affidavits of due execution of articles

For indexes to these registers see section 6.2.

KB 170/1	1749 – 1784
KB 170/2	1785 – 1802
KB 170/3	1802 – 1814
KB 170/4	1814 – 1822
KB 170/5	1822 – 1829
KB 170/6	1829 – 1837
KB 170/7	1837 – 1845
KB 170/8	1846 – 1854
KB 170/9	1854 – 1862
KB 170/10	1862 – 1868
KB 170/11	1868 – 1871
KB 170/12	1871 – 1874
KB 170/13	1874 – 1877

6.4 Affidavits of due execution articles

Series 1	Nos 1-3000, filed 1749 to 1775 are missing. Nos 3001-20,000, filed 1775 to 1817 are in KB 105
Series 2	Nos 1-15,000, filed 1817 to 1834 see KB 106. Note that some affidavits from this series have been placed with other admission papers in KB 107
Series 3	Nos 1-7079 and subsequent series filed from 1837 up to 1875 are, in so far as they survive, in KB 107. There are indexes to KB 107 for 1835 to 1875

6.5 Indexes to attorneys articles of clerkship

KB 171/1	1838 Hil – 1855 Mich.
KB 171/2	1856 Hil – 1870 Mich
KB 171/3	1871 Hil – 1875 Mich

6.6 Rolls of Attorney

The rolls of attorneys are divided into what are termed ‘Private’ ‘Public’, and ‘Abstract’ rolls. The ‘private’ rolls contain the names of admitted attorneys arranged in order of date of admission under the first letter of their surnames, the addresses of the attorneys are also given and the name of the examiner. ‘Public’ and ‘Abstract’ rolls are similar to each other and do not contain the full addresses. In addition a ‘Wales Roll’ lists attorneys practising in the Court of Sessions and Great Sessions in Chester or Wales who were also enrolled at Westminster.

Private rolls:

KB 172/1	1729 – 1788
KB 172/2	1789 – 1803
KB 172/3	1803 – 1821
KB 172/4	1821 – 1832
KB 172/5	1832 – 1842
KB 172/6	1843 – 1851
KB 172/7	1851 – 1861
KB 172/8	1862 – 1869
KB 172/9	1870 – 1875

Public rolls:

KB 172/10	1790 – 1810
KB 172/11	1810 – 1838, Trin
KB 172/12	1838 Mich – 1849, Hilary
KB 172/13	1849 Easter – 1862, Easter
KB 172/14	1862 Trin – 1873, Mich
KB 172/15	1874 Hil – 1875, Trin

There are also abstract rolls in KB 172/16 (1729 – 1814) and Wales roll in KB 172/18 (1).

7. Court of Exchequer: Exchequer of Pleas

The Exchequer of Pleas was the common law side of the Court of Exchequer. Until 1832 only the officers of the court itself were permitted to practise as its attorneys. Surviving admission records do not start until this monopoly was broken.

Records for attorneys admitted to the Exchequer of Pleas are normally in series E 4 and you should consult the series list for E 4 first of all. However they must be ordered as index volumes in the following way:

7.1 Registers of affidavits of due execution of articles

E 4/3 (1833-1855)

7.2 Rolls of attorneys (arranged alphabetically in date of admission order)

E 4/1	1830-1836
E 4/4	1836-1846
E 4/5	1846-1861
E 4/6	1861-1875
E 4/2	1830-1837 and 1844

7.3 Oath rolls

Search in E 3/1 (1830-1842).

For attorneys admitted into other courts who sought to practise in the Exchequer consult the following rolls, which are in order of signing:

E 3/6	1838-1839
E 3/7	1840-1843
E 3/8	1843-1849
E 3/9	1853-1858
E 3/10	1858-1872

8. Court of Exchequer: Equity

The equity side of the court exercised a jurisdiction similar to that of the Chancery Court.

8.1 Entry book of annual licences

This is a book of entries of annual licences taken out by clerks of the court and solicitors practising in the Court of Exchequer as a result of the 1729 Act. It is held in E 108/1 (1785-1843).

Oath Rolls:	E 200/1 (1772-1843)	Names of solicitors admitted.
	E 200/2	Records signatures of Roman Catholic solicitors.
Attorneys’ Certificate Books	E 109/1 (1729-1730)
	E 109/2 (1794-1841)

8.2 Certificates of admission

Certificates of admission to the Court of Exchequer are all in E 109/3.

9. Court of Chancery/Supreme Court of Judicature

With the formation of the Supreme Court of Judicature in 1875, under whose umbrella the King’s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer of Pleas and Chancery now gathered, the Petty Bag Office series of solicitors rolls became the main admission record for solicitors (the title of attorney was abolished).

9.1 Admission rolls

The table below lists references for Petty Bag Office volumes on microfilm. There are also two volumes in another series of admission registers which give only the year and not the exact date of admission: IND 1/4613 (1800-1842), and IND 1/4614 (1842-1851), both of which are alphabetical.

C 216/21	1859-1875
C 216/22	1729-1791
C 216/23	1791-1823
C 216/24	1824-1836
C 216/25	1836-1858

Search also in series C 216 for various surviving affidavits of due execution of articles of clerkship, certificates of admission and other minor admission papers.

9.2 Index to Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles

KB 170/13	1874 Nov-1877 Nov
IND 1/29729	1877 Nov-1878 Dec
IND 1/29730	1879 Jan-1881 Feb
IND 1/29731	1881 Mar-1883 July
IND 1/29732	1883 Aug-1886 Apr
IND 1/29733	1886 May-1889 Jan

9.3 Index to Registers

KB 170/22 (1874-1876 July)

9.4 Indexes to Articles of Clerkship

IND 1/29712	1875 Nov-1885
IND 1/29713	1885-1889

The admission papers to which all the indexes above refer no longer survive.

9.5 Oath Rolls of Roman Catholic Solicitors

C 217/180/5	1791-1813
C 214/23/1	1838-1867

10. Court of Bankruptcy

Admission Roll	B 2/8	1832-1883	Chronological
Alphabetical registers of attorneys and solicitors: Town (i.e. London)	B 2/9	1832-1883
Alphabetical registers of attorneys and solicitors: County (i.e. excluding London)	B 2/10	1832-1883
	B 2/11	1859-1883

11. Records of attorneys previously admitted in other courts

	IND 1/4592 (3)	1843-1867
Oath Rolls	KB 113	1750-1874
Residence Books	KB 169/1	1790-1815
	KB 169/2	1815-1829
Applications for Certificates	J 89/6/1-4 (formerly in J 10)	1875-1889
Certificate Books	J 89/23/1-39 (formerly in CP 9)	1786-1843

12. Palatinate of Lancaster

In the 14th century the Palatinate of Lancaster was granted the right to hold pleas of the Crown locally, effectively allowing a regional branch of the Court of Common Pleas. The following table lists records of the attorneys admitted to the court.

Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles	PL 23/1	1749-1785
	PL 23/4	1785-1814
Registers of Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles	PL 23/3	1749-1781
	PL 23/4	1781-1823
Rolls of Attorneys (alphabetical listing of attorneys and place of residence)	PL 23/6	1730-1785
Oath Roll	PL 23/7/1	1730-1793
Register of Certificate to Practise	PL 23/5	1785-1871
Minutes of Attorneys’ Assize Dinners	PL 23/7/2	1790-1805

From 1843 the Solicitors Act (6 and 7 Vic., c73 s45) allowed attorneys and solicitors working in the Courts of the Duchy or Palatinate of Lancaster to enrol at the Central Courts.

13. Palatinate of Durham

From the medieval period the Palatinate of Durham had exercised its own common-law jurisdiction, and local justices effectively represented local arms of the Court of King’s Bench and Common Pleas. The following table lists records of the attorneys admitted to the court in the palatinate.

Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship	DURH 9/1	1750-1769
	DURH 9/2	1768-1794
	DURH 9/3	1794-1834
Admission Rolls	DURH 3/218	1660-1723
	DURH 3/217	1730-1843
Register of Certificates to Practise	IND 1/10152	1785-1842

From 1843 the Solicitors Act (6 and 7 Vic., c73 s45) allowed attorneys and solicitors working in the Courts of the Palatinate of Durham to enrol at the Central Courts.

14. Palatinate of Chester

The table shows records of attorneys practicing in the courts of the Palatinate of Chester up to 1830. After 1830 attorneys practising in the Courts of Sessions and the Great Sessions in Chester and Wales were allowed to enrol in the Central Courts.

Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship	CHES 36/1	1728-1830
Registers of Affidavits of Due Execution	CHES 36/2	1749-1792
Admission Roll of Attorneys	CHES 36/3/1	1697-1728
	CHES 36/3/7	1777-1806 (Chester court of Exchequer)
Oath Rolls	CHES 36/3/2	1729-1754
	CHES 36/3/3	1787-1793
	CHES 36/3/4	1794-1800
	CHES 36/3/5	1783-1821
	CHES 36/3/6	1821-1830
	CHES 36/3/8	1750-1787 (Chester court of Exchequer
	CHES 36/3/9	1787-1806 (Chester court of Exchequer)
	CHES 36/3/10	(not dated)

15. High Court of Admiralty

Search for papers relating to the admission of proctors (attorneys/solicitors) in the High Court of Admiralty among the Admiralty Miscellanea in HCA 30.

The Admiralty Muniment Books in HCA 50 include warrants relating to the appointment of proctors.

16. Prerogative Court of Canterbury

Search in the earlier volumes of the correspondence and papers of officials of the court, 1659-1857, in PROB 29, for records of the appointments of proctors (attorneys/solicitors).

At The National Archives building in Kew is a biographical index of proctors. It is located with the printed version of the catalogue, next to the PROB 39 folder.

17. Other sources

17.1 Solicitors Registers of Admission donated by the Law Society 1790-1884

Rolls of Admissions for solicitors and attorneys 1790-1884 are in RW 3. They fill in the gaps in solicitors admission rolls in other record series referred to above.

17.2 Records of stamp duty 1710-1811

Articles of clerkship were subject to a stamp duty. The payment of the duty is commonly recorded with the payment of the duty on indentures in the Apprenticeship Books (IR 1). The books and their indexes (on microfiche) run from 1710 to 1811 and include masters’ names and addresses, clerks’ names, the date of the articles and, up to 1752, the names of parents or guardians.

17.3 Specimen/sample records

On the recommendation of the Report of the Committee on Modern Legal Records published in 1966 some documents were preserved as specimens only. They include:

Admission Papers: Articles of Clerkship	J 89/4/1-65 (formerly in KB 104 and J 8)	(1838-1904)
Affidavits of Due Execution of Clerkship	J 89/5/1-12 (formerly in J 9)	(1875-1903)
Attorney’s Certificate Books of Residence	J 89/7/1-47 (formerly in KB 112)	(1785-1843)

18. Records of barristers

Find Barristers Rolls (1868–1986) in KB 4. There are earlier oath rolls in KB 24.

You might be able to find out more about a barrister by contacting the relevant Inns of Court:

• Lincoln’s Inn
• Gray’s Inn
• Middle Temple
• Inner Temple

19. Records in other archives and organisations

19.1 Records of the Registrar of Attorneys and Solicitors

Find out to which court the attorney was admitted to practise – they are likely to hold the records. The Law Society has records of the Registrar of Attorneys and Solicitors, set up in 1843, which might help you find the relevant court.

19.2 Records and resources of the Institute of Legal Studies

Search for records relating to a number of organisations concerned with legal education at the Institute of Legal Studies and consult the institute’s directories of lawyers at Senate House Libraries.