Website produced and maintained for the Hungerford Historical Association
by Hugh Pihlens

This section attempts to explain some of the common historical terms that you may find elsewhere in the virtual museum:

Appurtenance: Belonging, appendage, accessory.

Brick Tax: The Brick Tax was imposed in 1784 as one of a number of taxes on production designed to help fund the interest of the increased national debt due to the defeat of Britain in the War of American Independence. The Brick Tax was repealed in 1850 as it was unfair because brick was only used in the eastern part of England as the common building material; stone, used in the western part, had ceased to attract a tax some years earlier. It is generally thought that the Brick Tax had zero effect on the use of bricks for building because competition between brickyards kept the price of bricks down. See also Coal Tax, Hearth Tax, Window Tax.

Burgage tenure: The arrangement whereby property owners could own the dwelling as freehold (rather than the previous usual copyhold arrangement, i.e. dependent on the lord's manorial court). Under burgage tenure, he would be free to sell or lease the property as and when he chose, paying only a fixed nominal quit rent (q.v.) which released him from all other services to his feudal lord. Burgage tenure was a feature of the new (c.1200) "model" vill or town which ran along the line of present-day Bridge Street and High Street, and was an indication of freehold rights within the manor of Hungerford.

Carucate: an old English unit of land-area measurement, varying from 60 to 160 acres.

Chantry: A service which arose from an endowment for a priest to sing masses or obits for the souls of the dead. Often involved a cantarist or chantry priest and a place where these obits might be sung. The phrase "former Chantry property" means that, prior to the dissolution of chantries in the reign of Henry VIII, the property belonged either to the Chantry of the Holy Trinity or to the Chantry of the Blessed Virgin Mary (qv).

Chantry of the Blessed Virgin Mary (B.V.M.): Chantry of Blessed Virgin Mary (sometimes referred to as "Our Lady Chantry" and "the chantry of the burgesses"). A license for the foundation of this chantry in the parish church was granted in 1457. Dissolved 1548.

Chantry of Holy Trinity (H.T.): This chantry in the parish church of Hungerford was founded in 1325 by Sir Robert Hungerford (then owner of the [later known as] Hopgrass estate). It was essentially a private memorial to the glory of the Hungerford family, sustained by income from the estates granted to it by that family. Dissolved 1548.

Chantry of St. Mary: The earliest chantry in Hungerford, pre-dating the two chantries already noted above – for whoever set up "one wax light before the altar of St. Anne in Hungerford church". No licence now exists for this chantry, but an early reference of 1273 mentions John Blundel, chaplain of the Blessed Mary of Hungerford".

Coal Tax: One of the key taxes introduced by Charles II to help pay for the rebuilding of the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666. Coal Tax acts were passed in 1667 and in 1670. See also Brick Tax, Hearth Tax, Window Tax.

Common Fields of Hungerford (clockwise from north):

Conveyance: Communication of ideas, etc, document effecting transference of property, carriage, vehicle.

Copyhold: A type of ownership of land in England, evidenced by a copy of the manor roll establishing the title. An estate held under such ownership.

Curtilage: the enclosed area immediately surrounding a house or dwelling.

D.C.W.: Dean and Canons of Windsor (qv)

D.S.: Dean of Sarum (usually relating to wills).

Dean & Canons of Windsor: A number of properties originally belonged to the D.C.W.

Devise: To assign or transmit (property) by will. The act of disposing of property by will. A will or clause in a will disposing of property. The property so disposed of. Devisee: One to whom a devise is made.

Easements: Right of way or similar right over another's ground. Supplementary building, shed, etc.

Ecclesiastical  Visitations: Archdeacons were supposed to visit their archdeaconries once a year, and bishops their dioceses every three years. The Visitor would send out a Citation Mandate to all incumbents, who read it out in church, calling upon them and the church officials to appear before him at a date and place named. The latter would be a church either in a central position or in the most important town. At about the same time he would issue his Visitation Articles, listing the subjects into which he wished to enquire. These would include the church, the living, the clergy, hospitals, the parish, the parishioners and the ecclesiastical officers. All those people summoned would be required to obtain a copy of the Articles beforehand.

The Archdeacon arrived with his Register, bringing his Call Book and Fees Book to record attendances, absences and fees collected. The visited included the clergy, churchwardens, parish clerks, schoolmasters, surgeons and midwives, unless excused. The clergy brought their Letters of Orders proving their right to their cures (spiritual charges), with dispensations when they held more than one living. The parish clerks, schoolmasters, surgeons and midwives, brought their licences. The clergy and churchwardens had certain fees to pay.

The clergy and churchwardens then handed in their presentments, reporting on the conduct of their parishioners since the last Visitation and answering the points in the Visitation Articles. Executors and administrators of people who had lately died were also required to come and prove the wills, or take administration, a function that at other times was performed at the relevant ecclesiastical court. The presentments were discussed and some verdicts given on the spot; the Visitation ended with the Archdeacon's Charge, an address delivered during a service in the church.

After the visitation, the Archdeacon issued, through his Registrar's office, a number of Injunctions setting out in detail, in numbered paragraphs, his orders for the amendment of any faults revealed. Among these were penances imposed, together with a certificate to be signed by the incumbent and a churchwarden that the penance had been performed. After the mid sixteenth century, the penance was normally just a Declaration Penance, which was a confession to be read publicly, usually in church, reciting the offence and expressing penitence. Sometimes the incumbent or churchwardens would give a certificate that the offender was of a sufficiently good general character - or perhaps social standing - to be allowed to perform his penance privately.

Other documents kept by the Registrar for permanent reference included the "detecta" and "comperta" volumes, containing copies of all the presentments with a few brief additional notes; copies of Citation Mandates, summoning the more serious offenders to appear before the Archdeacon's Court; and the Act Book, recording the action taken against them there. This last overlaps the records of the court. Exhibitions list the licences and other documents produced in court.

Though visitations began in the tenth century, the records are only numerous from the reign of Elizabeth I. Bishops' three-yearly visitations are similar to those of Archdeacons, but less numerous. The presentments are usually written in English and the originals sometimes survive on single sheets of paper. They are full of human interest, naming and reporting on the most important parish functionaries. People who neglected or refused to receive Holy Communion (Recusants) were presented; they might be Protestant nonconformists or Roman Catholics. The state of the church might also be given in some detail, mentioning any 'popish monuments of superstition' such as candlesticks, a crucifix, handbells or banner cloths. Rogationtide perambulations of the parish are sometimes mentioned, with the boundaries described. Non-payment of tithe is always mentioned. The morals of the parishioners form the largest subject of the presentments. Not even the parson was exempt from presentment.

Edifice: Building, especially large one.

Fee simple and fee tail: an estate of inheritance in land, either absolute and without limitation to any particular class of heirs (fee simple) or limited to a particular class of heirs (fee tail).

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Feet of fine: A foot of fine is the record of an agreement, also called a final concord or fine that resolved a dispute, real or pretended, commonly about the ownership of land. One of the parties to the dispute purchased a writ to bring the dispute into the king's court, thereby becoming the plaintiff, but before the suit came to judgement the parties sought permission to reach an agreement (or concord). When the agreement had been approved by the court it was written out three times on a single sheet of parchment, the first two head to head on the upper two thirds of the sheet and the third across the lower third to form the foot of fine. The parchment was cut into three with indented lines, the fit of the three parts being a test of authenticity. The two upper parts were given to the parties to the agreement and the third, the foot, was retained by the court. The approval of the agreement by the king's court and the permanence of the record gave the final concord an authority and fixity which a private agreement could not attain, so that the procedure was increasingly used in the conveyance and settlement of land. The files of feet now preserved in the Public Record Office provide an incomparable record of landed property and its owners from the twelfth century to the nineteenth.

Feoffment: A grant of lands as a fee. The historical method of granting a freehold estate in land by actual delivery of possession originally by livery of seisin (see below).

Frankpledge: was an English institution in which units (often referred to as a tithing) of ten households were bound together and held responsible for one another's conduct. All men over 12 years of age were joined in groups of approximately ten households. This unit, under a leader known as the chief-pledge or tithing-man, was then responsible for producing any man of that tithing suspected of a crime. The system originated in Anglo-Saxon times, but continued into the Norman period. In modern times, "frankpledge" was superseded by "tithing".

Free suitor: A person who makes a petition or request. A person who sues in court; a plaintiff; a petitioner.

Freehold: An estate in land, inherited or held for life. A form of tenure by which an estate is held in fee simple, fee tail, or for life.

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Garner: Storehouse for corn, granary.

Gregorian Calendar: This was the calendar introduced in 1752, when New Year's Day changed from 25th March to 1st January. Prior to this, the calendar was the Julian calendar.

Hearth Tax: The Hearth Tax was imposed by Parliament in 1662 to support the Royal Household of King Charles II. It was repealed by William and Mary in 1689.

Follow this link for the Museum section covering the Hearth Tax. See also Brick Tax, Coal Tax, Window Tax.

Hide: A unit of land measurement used in the Domesday book – roughly equivalent to 60 to 120 old acres (15-30 modern acres, 6 to 12 hectares) or more, depending upon local usage.

Hundred: A hundred was the division of a shire for administrative, military and judicial purposes under the common law. Originally, when introduced by the Saxons between 613 and 1017, a hundred had enough land to sustain approximately one hundred households headed by a hundred-man or hundred eolder. He was responsible for administration, justice, and supplying military troops, as well as leading its forces. The office was not hereditary, but by the 10th century the office was selected from among a few outstanding families. In England, specifically, it has been suggested that 'hundred' referred to the amount of land sufficient to sustain one hundred families, defined as the land covered by one hundred "hides".

All hundreds were divided into tithings, which contained ten households. Below that, the basic unit of land was called the hide, which was enough land to support one family and varied in size from 60 to 120 old acres, or 15 to 30 modern acres (6 to 12 ha) depending on the quality and fertility of the land.

Above the hundred was the shire under the control of a shire-reeve (or sheriff). Hundred boundaries were independent of both parish and county boundaries, although often aligned, meaning that a hundred could be split between counties (usually only a fraction), or a parish could be split between hundreds.

Over time, the principal functions of the hundred became the administration of law and the keeping of the peace. By the twelfth century the hundred court was held twelve times a year. This was later increased to being held fortnightly, although an ordinance of 1234 reduced the frequency to once every three weeks. In some hundreds, courts were held at a fixed place; while in others, courts moved with each sitting to a different location. The main duties of the hundred court were the maintenance of the frankpledge system. Where the hundred was under the jurisdiction of the crown, the chief magistrate was a sheriff. However, many hundreds were in private hands, with the lordship of the hundred being attached to the principal manor of the area and becoming hereditary. Where a hundred was under a lord, a steward was appointed in place of a sheriff. The importance of the hundred courts declined from the seventeenth century.

Indenture: Indented document. Any sealed agreement or contract, especially that which binds an apprentice to his master.

Innholder normally implies ownership; as distinct from innkeeper which implies management.

Indenture: a deed or agreement executed in two or more copies with edges correspondingly indented as a means of identification.

Julian Calendar: This was the calendar in use in England prior to 1752. It was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC.

Livery of seisin: an ancient ceremony for conveyance of land by the symbolic transfer of a relevant item (as a key, twig, or turf) or by symbolic entry of the grantee called also investiture

Mantua: A woman's garment (like a loose robe) of the 17th and 18th centuries consisting of a bodice and full skirt cut from a single length of fabric, with the skirt designed to part in front to reveal a contrasting underskirt.[Alteration (influenced by Mantua in Italy), of manteau.]

Messuage: a dwelling house with its adjacent buildings and the lands appropriated to the use of the household. (1350-1400: Medieval English from Anglo-French misreading (n taken as u) of Old French mesnage (ménage – dwelling house, ultimately from Latin mansion = habitation,, dwelling)

Obit: (Obsolete) a Requiem mass (said or sung in a chantry chapel for example).

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Priory of St. John the Baptist: a priory established on the "island" in what is now known as Bridge Street in 1232. It lasted for over 300 years until it was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1548. The ex-Priory property was granted by Henry VIII to Sir John Thynne of Longleat, who later leased them to various tenants. When Sir John Thynne died, the Priory properties reverted back to the Crown, and were purchased by Anthony Hidden - Lord of the Manor of Hidden cum Eddington. In 1740 a new road incorporating two bridges was built for easier access to town from Charnham Street, replacing old road in front of the Tannery (stood to rear of Riverside house) and the ford (by Forge Cottage). Several properties in that part of Bridge Street are associated with the old Priory, e.g. Chapel barn, Great Priory House and Little Priory House. Click here for more on the Priory of St John the Baptist.

Quit rent: rent (usually a small sum) paid by a freeholder or copyholder in lieu of services that might otherwise have been required. (from Medieval English quite (=free) + rent). In Hungerford these came to be a rent paid to the Portrieve yearly for use of Common Rights etc. Most central Hungerford property owners were able to pay nominal quit rents under their burgage tenure arrangements (qv). However, we have quit rent rolls for only the manor of Hungerford properties, and not for the manor of Hungerford Engleford. Quit rents were abolished in the early 20th century.

Seisin: Legal possession of land, as a freehold estate. The act or an instance of taking legal possession of land. Property thus possessed.

Tenant: One that pays rent to use or occupy land, a building, or other property owned by another. Law. One who holds or possesses lands, tenements, or sometimes personal property by any kind of title. (Middle English, from Old French, from present participle of tenir, to hold, from Latin tenere.)

Tenure: Kind of right or title by which property is held.

Terrier: A book or document in which are described the site, boundaries, acreage, tenants etc. of certain lands. (Origin 1470-80; from Medieval French, short for register terrier – register of land)

Tithing: The English land division called the tithing was one tenth of a hundred, or equal to ten (Scandinavian: ten = ti, assembly = thing ). Allied to this concept was a local administrative unit also called a tithing, with essentially legal responsibilities, exercised by a "tithingman" or "headborough". Both meanings originated in Anglo-Saxon times, through arrangements for the management of estates, taxation and criminal law, for example in the procedure known as "view of frankpledge." They continued in use until modern times.

Window Tax: The Window Tax was introduced under the Act of Making Good the Deficiency of the Clipped Money in 1696 under King William III and was designed to impose tax relative to the prosperity of the taxpayer, but without the controversy that then surrounded the idea of income tax.

When it was introduced, it consisted of two parts: a flat-rate house tax of 2 shillings per house and a variable tax for the number of windows above ten windows. Properties with between ten and twenty windows paid a total of four shillings, and those above twenty windows paid eight shillings. The number of windows that incurred tax was changed to seven in 1766 and eight in 1825. The flat-rate tax was changed to a variable rate, dependent on the property value, in 1778. People who were ineligible for church or poor rates, for reasons of poverty, were exempt from the window tax. Window tax was relatively unintrusive and easy to assess. However, the tax was unpopular, because it was seen by some as a tax on "light and air". The tax was not repealed until 1851, when it was replaced by House Duty. See also Brick Tax, Coal Tax, Hearth Tax.

Yeoman: A member of the former class of small (lesser) freeholders, below the gentry, who cultivated his own land, early admitted in England to political rights. Often implies some form of self-employment. (Origin: 1300-1500 Medieval English yeman, yoman, probably reduced forms of yengman, yongman, yungman, with similar sense (young man).

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