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Deeds & Transcripts
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Sometimes they detail previous transfers and quote dates and wording from earlier documents, and may also give names of the occupiers, as well as the owners of such properties. After 1840 a plan may accompany the document which allows us to locate the property on a modern map. Land or premises to be transferred on the occasion of a marriage, where the girl's father would endow her husband with the property, are referred to as "Marriage Settlements". "Deeds of Gift" were drawn up to pass on more personal items and may take the format of a will. Contracts between a master and an apprentice, or his or her parent or guardian, were drawn up to detail the terms and conditions of such "Apprenticeships" for both parties. "Trust Deeds" or "Covenants" gave the right to hold property until the coming to age of minors. "Abstract of Title" deeds list all the land and property owned by one person.
These documents were usually duplicated (sometimes triplicated) with a copy to each party and sometimes were written on one piece of parchment or paper. This would be cut and divided after the signing and sealing, sometimes with a wavy edge so that no other piece could ever be substituted. The oldest deeds are written on parchment and are long and drawn out, as with most legal documents. If there were several pages they were usually overlaid and the bottom edge of the outer page would be turned up in front of the others. Holes would be cut and ribbons of parchment were then threaded through all the layers and the ends sealed with sealing wax, the seal would be impressed with the parties' seals, and their signatures added, alongside the ribbon, so the document was "signed & sealed". Many deeds are now lodged in Record Offices, especially if they were land and property transfers at the Manor Court, others remain in private hands. |
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