Anne TARVER
British Association for Local History
Did your ancestors appear in the bawdy courts?
Church courts have been in use since the medieval period for both the probate process and the ‘correction of manners and reformation of the soul’. Their work continued until the mid-nineteenth century and they have left voluminous records of causes dealing with disputed wills, marriages, defamation, with-holding of tithes and generally unacceptable behaviour in the parish. The papers are now being indexed and are becoming more easily available to family historians. This presentation will provide a guide to the working and location of the courts and the cause papers that they generated. We shall also consider how to find the surviving courts, their records and links to those of the courts of Chancery.