100 year Anniversary of the end of Copyhold in the Manor Court.

One hundred years ago, 1922 saw the passing through Parliament of the ‘Law of Property Act’ which brought to an end the last meaningful function of manorial courts through the abolition of the form of land tenure known as ‘copyhold’. If you have researched the history of a house in Wakefield or the West Riding you are likely to have come across this term. Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into the 1920s. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the manorial court roll to the tenant; not the actual land deed itself. The Manor of Wakefield covered a huge area of the West Riding, and each time ‘copyhold’ property was exchanged it would go through the Manor Court, by the seller ‘surrendering’ it to the Manor, and the buyer being ‘admitted’.

The Manor Court was based on Kirkgate in Wakefield. It met in the Moot Hall opposite the parish church and the court’s records, dating back to 1274, were stored on the site in the Rolls Office. Also here was the home of the Bailiff, the main official of the manor. As the manor’s power diminished and the court ceased to meet, the Moot Hall was no longer needed; it was demolished about 1913, and the records were stored at a solicitor’s for a time. However, since proof of title to former copyhold land could still depend upon the account of the admission and surrender contained within the books and rolls of the manor court, it was essential that these records should not be lost or destroyed. The Act therefore reserved to all persons with an interest in enfranchised land a statutory right of access to the original court rolls. Thus the Wakefield Manor Court Rolls were deposited with the Yorkshire Archaeological Society by the Lord of the Manor between 1944 and 1980 and are now held at the Brotherton Library in Leeds. The Court Rolls record many other items apart from exchange of property, including petty criminals taken to court. Many of the early rolls have been transcribed and are available online.

With the abolition of the copyhold system, property was exchanged by conveyance as freehold or leasehold, and recorded at the Registry of Deeds in Wakefield and in recent years in the national Land Registry.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/12-13/16/contents

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/manorial-documents-lordships-how-to-use-manorial-document-register/

https://www.yas.org.uk/Collections/Wakefield-Manor-Court