Miscellaneous Records

Not all of the records on this website fit neatly into the categories listed so far. This page lists some of those miscellaneous record collections.

Leet Fines

Whilst fines were often imposed at the Court Leets, the Court Leet held on 23rd October 1729 is notable as a clear list of the fines still exists. It takes the form of an order to the Sergeants at Mace to collect the sums listed.

A transcription of the covering letter to the Sergeants at Mace can be found .

About 80% of the records include a street address, and all of them include the amount of the fine and the reason for it. The vast majority of the fines are small ones for failing to attend the Court Leet, but there are larger ones for varying degrees of minor public nuisance.

It also seems that at this particular Leet, attendance was so poor that they were unable to form a jury, and those who failed to turn up for jury duty were given a much heavier fine.

To search the Leet Fines, click .

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Highway Surveyors’ Assessments

This collection of booklets list the inhabitants of a parish by street. The lists contain (so far as I can tell) only those who are liable to do Statute Duty - which is the duty of the occupants of a parish (since the Highways Act of 1555) to maintain and repair its highways. Every man was expected to work on the roads for four days every year (later raised to six), and those who owned horses and carts etc. were expected to donate the use of them for the same length of time.

Sometimes people were permitted to give money instead of performing statute duty, and there is some evidence of this in the records for Bridgnorth. Most of the surviving records are for the parish of S^t. Leonard’s, but there is also one for S^t. Mary Magdalene. These records are listed below:

Highways Assessment: 1700

The cover of this booklet reads:

"The Assessmt. for the Supervisors of the Parish of S^t. Leonards in Bridgnorth for the year 1700."

The entries are arranged by street with sums of money next to each name, and occasionally an extra comment on the reason for a particular sum.

Highways Assessment: 1763

The cover of this booklet reads:

"The Surveyors of the Highways for S^t. Leon^d. Parish Bridgnorth for the year 1763."

The entries are arranged by street with crosses in columns next to each name. Most names have either four crosses in the first four columns or else no crosses at all. There are accounts at the back of the book.

Highways Assessment: 1771

The cover of this booklet reads:

"Highways Schedules for 1771."

And the top of the first page reads:

"A List of the Inhabitants liable to do Statute Duty within the Parish of S^t. Leonard in B.North in the County of Salop for the Year 1771."

The entries are arranged by street with a single column of numbers next to the names. As the column is headed 'L' and there are no 's' and 'd' columns, this seems to represent quite large sums of money.

Highways Assessment: 1772

The top of the first page of this booklet reads:

"A List of the Inhabitants liable to do Duty in the High Ways within the Parish of S^t. Leonards in Bridgnorth in the County of Salop for the Year 1772."

The entries are arranged by street. A column to the left of each name is headed 'Days Duty' and is mostly empty. Three columns of numbers to the right of the names are headed 'Rents', 'S' and 'D'. There are accounts at the back of the book.

Highways Assessment: 1782

The cover of this booklet reads:

"Surveyors Book for the Highways in S^t. Marys 1782."

And the top of the first page reads:

"A List of the Inhabitants Liable to Pay to the Repairs of the Highways within the Parish of S^t. Mary Magdalene in the Town of Bridgnorth in the County of Salop for the Year of Our Lord 1782."

The entries are arranged by street. There are several columns next to the names, all unheaded. The first is of numbers of uncertain meaning, the next includes comments and explanations, and the last two are for sums of money. There are accounts at the back of the book.

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Notes

The following table shows the reference numbers of the miscellaneous records as used by this site, by Shropshire Archives, and (where known) by the Family History Library:

Record Name	Reference Number
	Shropshire Archives	Bridgnorth Lists	Family History Library
Leet Fines: 1729	BB/F/1/3/4/78	LF1729	---
Highways Assessment: 1700	BB/C/5/1/3/21	HA1700	---
Highways Assessment: 1763	BB/C/5/1/5	HA1763	---
Highways Assessment: 1771	BB/C/5/1/3/1	HA1771	---
Highways Assessment: 1772	BB/C/5/1/3/2	HA1772	---
Highways Assessment: 1782	BB/C/5/1/3/3	HA1782	---

Note: Any film numbers I have listed for the Family History Library may not be correct, as I have not seen the films myself. They are taken from the online catalogue, and appear to be referring to the same sources that I have used.

To see which Highways Asssessments have been transcribed, look at the Lists page .

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