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The Historical Genealogy Department has many volumes of medieval English records of various kinds. We have recently added to this collection with reprinted finding aids and indexes for documents in the Public Record Office (now The National Archives) in London. Among them are Patent Rolls for all reigns from 1216-1509 (Henry III to Henry VII), and also 1547-1572 (Edward VI-Elizabeth I). These have nothing to do with what we call patents, which concern intellectual or proprietary ownership. They are official listings of Letters Patent. Wikipedia describes Letters Patent as “...a type of legal document which is an open letter issued by a monarch or government granting a right, monopoly , title, or status to someone or some entity such as a corporation ...Letters patent can be used for the granting of coats of arms , for the creation of corporations , or by a monarch to create an office.” A great many names of individuals appear in the Patent Rolls, and all the volumes are indexed, so finding your relations will be relatively easy--if they are there. Article taken from the Genealogy Gems[1]: News from the Fort Wayne Library |
