The Manorial system lasted from 1066 to 1926 in England and Wales and provides one of the great repositories of family history information. The records can be difficult to access but this may change over time. Henry Chandler wrote in 1885 that manorial records enable us to drop down suddenly on an obscure English village five hundred years ago, and almost to see with our own eyes what the inhabitants are doing”. Geoff will give an overview of this broad subject and encourage you to investigate what might be available in areas where your English ancestors lived. The talk will be based on the work Geoff did for his book “Manorial Records for Family Historians” published by Unlock The Past in 2017.

Presenter:
Geoff Barber

Geoffrey Barber (Western Australia) has been researching his English family history since about 1983. He maintains his family history web site www.nynne.org as a means of making his own research more widely available. In 2015 he published his own family history “Barber alias Nynne: 500 Years of Family History in Rotherfield, Tonbridge and Brighton” and in 2017 his “Manorial Records for Family Historians” was published by Unlock the Past. Geoff has also written many articles for journals and has given talks on topics such as manorial records, wills, tithe maps, DNA and 17th century merchant tokens. Geoff is a long-time member of the Sussex Family History Group and a strong supporter of their Wills Depository project which has over 16,000 Sussex wills transcribed and indexed. He has published several e-books based on wills and his interest in particlualr surnames in East Sussex. Wills are so important for developing family trees, particularly in the earlier 16th and 17th centuries. Geoff graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in physics and a Graduate Diploma in Computing. Publications: Unlock the Past: Manorial Records for Family Historians (2017); Sussex Archaeological Society: Harriet Gladman’s Embroidery (2017); Token Corresponding Society: Margaret Reynolds (1625-1688), Merchant & Early Quaker of Chichester, Sussex (2022); Token Corresponding Society: A Token of Two Counties – John STRETFEILD of Rotherfield (Sussex) and Tonbridge (Kent) (2023); Henfield Museum (West Sussex): The Two 17th Century Merchant Tokens Issued at Henfield, West Sussex: Elizabeth Trunnell (1657) and Thomas Pilfold (1668) (2023);Various articles in the Sussex Family Historian and Western Ancestor (FamilyHistoryWA); Publications – Self-Published (freely available at www.nynne.org or the Internet Archive);History of the Old House (Originally Marden’s Farm) in Hildenborough, Kent (2014);Barber alias Nynne: 500 Years of Family History in Rotherfield, Tonbridge and Brighton (2015);George Meek’s Grandfather (2016);Benjamin Jeffery (1844-1912) – Life and Letters of an Otago Settler (2020);The AKEHURST Wills of East Sussex (1541-1858);The ALCE/ALSE Wills of East Sussex (1552-1858);The ASHDOWN Wills of East Sussex (1579-1858);The BREACH Wills of East Sussex (1548-1858);The LATTER Wills of East Sussex (1639-1858); The FREMOR/FARMER Wills of Rotherfield, East Sussex (1529-1700)

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