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Archiver > DEVON > 2008-12 > 1229891664


From: "J.E.Harris" <>
Subject: [DEV] Devon - Feet of Fines
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:02:48 -0800


At Land and Property GenukiDevon has this item:

Devon Feet of Fines (Land Conveyances) for 1369-1509

and by following the link there you get to http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/fines/devon.shtml

BUT unless you know just what those are/were I suspect that not too many of you have gone there have you?

To better understand these Feet of Fines, you need to read the intro at www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/fines/index.shtml

Meanwhile, here is a quote from an info guide that I picked up when at the LDS genealogical library in Salt Lake City many many years ago now.

"Feet of Fines are one of the most important records of early land transfers. Their first use predates the Norman Conquest, but the surviving records date from 1182, in the time of King Richard I, and cover an unbroken period of over six centuries until 1834. Their importance to the genealogist is unparalleled because they record land transfers at a time when there were very few other records available.-----"

The LDS has films for these (plus other counties too) and a check in their catalogue under the subject heading "Feet of Fines" should find them. The above web site for 1369-1509 Devon abstracts has the useful addition in that they have given (as far as is possible from old docs) the modern equivalent of place names and surnames.

Jean Harris in Toronto, Ontario


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