Graphical version

London Metropolitan Archives

ROYAL CONTRACT ESTATES


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): CLA/044

Held at: London Metropolitan Archives

Title: ROYAL CONTRACT ESTATES

Date(s): 1297-1774

Level of description: Collection

Extent: 6.2 linear metres

Name of creator(s): Corporation of London

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Royal Contract Estates were leased by King James I to trustees for Prince Charles, who, when King, caused them to be assigned to trustees for the City in satisfaction of loans made by the City. The estates were situated in many counties including Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Carmarthenshire, Caernarvonshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Denbighshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, County Durham, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Merioneth, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Pembrokeshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire, Westmorland, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire. Nearly all the estates were sold to pay off the King's creditors, except the Conduit Mead Estate in the Bond Street area of London.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Royal Contract Estates, 1297-1774, including papers relating to the state of the estates; papers relating to the debts of King James I and King Charles I; papers relating to the sale of the various estates; indentures; financial accounts; surveys of various estates; auditors' certificates of the total rents of the manors and lands; law suits; committee papers and deeds.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

In sections according to catalogue.

Conditions governing access:

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright City of London

Physical characteristics:

Fit

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Corporation of London Records Office

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions: February 2009


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Personal debt | Debts | Financial resources | Finance
Rent | Fees | Finance
Sales of land | Land economics | Agricultural economics

Personal names
Charles I | 1600-1649 | King of Great Britain and Ireland
James I | 1566-1625 | King of Great Britain and Ireland x James VI | King of Scotland

Corporate names
Conduit Mead Estate | Corporation of London
Royal Contract Estates | Corporation of London

Places