Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/861

* RECORDS. 761 RECORDS. by means of wooden sticks marked on one side with notches to indicate the sum for which the tally was an acknowledgment, while on the other two sides were written the amount, the name of the payer, and the date of the transaction, and then dividing the stick longitudinally, so that it could be fitted together again and read, the one half being preserved in exchequer, and the other given to the person who had paid the money. This rude contrivance was probably of Norman-French origin, the name being derived from the French taille (to cut off), and it prob- ably proved satisfactory in those simple times. This method continued until 1783, when the statute of 23 Geo. III., c. 82. abolished the office • of 'tally-cutter,' and substituted indented paper checks as receipts for payments into exchequer. Most of the accumulated tallies, being practically useless, were destroyed by burning. During the era of the Xorman kings the Par- liamentary records were in the Xomian-French language, and were written on parchment. This language continued to be used for Parliamentary records until the fifteenth century, and Latin was in common use in judicial records until the reign of George II. Various methods for pre- serving the records were employed before the art of bookbinding came into practical use. Some were crudely bound in book form ; others were attached together and wound up in rolls (q.v. ) ; and the parchments containing many records were simply folded and filed in their original form. One of the most noted ancient records is the 'Domesday Book,' which, as its name indicates, is in book form, and contains a record of land surveys and titles to land, com- piled by order of William the Conquei'or. This was probably the first attempt to make a com- plete record of the ownership or tenure of land. Such records as had been kept by the Saxons prior to the Conquest had been preserved by the clergy in monasteries and religious houses, and this practice was continued as to many impor- tant records for centuries, ilany copies of the Magiin Charta were put under the Great Seal and delivered to the archbishops for safe keep- ing. During the reign of the Conqueror and his im- mediate successors, great progress was made in the matter of keeping public records. The elab- orate system of feudal tenures introduced by W'illiani necessitated records in order to pro- tect the King in his rights to military ser-ices, taxes, etc., and also in the interests of the great lords of the realm, whose power constantly en- croached upon and abridged that of the King, and records were an effective means of preserving useful precedents, which would thereafter be considered binding on the Crown. The early court records were scattered about in the various palaces where the kings sojourned during their visits to the different parts of the kingdom. This was due to the fact that the principal court, the Curia Regis, followed the King's person, as he was the 'fountain of justice' and originally heard certain petitions, etc., himself. Upon the permanent establishment of the higher courts at Westminster, the court records were deposited in the cellars of Westminster Hall, which were damp and ill adapted for the purpose. A large number of valuable records were also deposited in the Tower. At various times since the thir- teenth century the problem of the preservation. arrangement, and indexing of the records has been agitated in England. In 1800 a Parliamentary committee accomplished a great deal in the waj' of discovering and arranging ancient public records. Various commissions supplemented this work between the latter date and 1S35, when a Parliamentary committee, appointed for the purpose, made a complete investigation of all that had been previously done in this regard, and their report was the basis of the subsequent legislation' on the subject. The statute of 1 and 2 Vict., c. 94, restores to the Master of the Rolls his ancient authority as chief custodian of the court records, giving him in addition the charge of all the records of the kingdom. Tlie act also provided for the establishment of a Public Record Office and for the erection of suitable buildings, and authorized the Master of the Rolls to appoint deputies and assistants, and to take all necessarv' steps for the careful preservation of all public records. In pursuance of this statute, the Master of the Rolls appointed a deputy keeper, who has active charge of the Record Office, and who issues yearly reports of the work of his department. Provision has been made for the reasonable inspection of records, and authenticated copies may be obtained, which will be received as evidence by the courts. The main Public Record Office building is situated in Fetter Lane, London. A committee of the House of Commons in 1837 described the public records of England as com- prised under four classes: (1) Independent series of records of territorial surveys at dif- ferent periods; (2) series of enrollments com- prising on one roll, varieties of distinct entries, classed together according to their formal char- acter; (3) records of judicial proceedings; (4) separate documents, as letters, inquisitions, and pri-y seals. The act of 23 Vict, above referred to defines what is legally a pviblic record. It provides that the term 'public records' shall in- clude "all records, rolls, writs, books, proceed- ings, decrees, bills, warrants, accounts, papers, and documents whatsoever of a public nature be- longing to her ilajesty." Some of the records collected were obtained in the library of the Vatican at Rome, being records of taxation by the Popes. One class con- sists of the various territorial surveys, beginning with the Domesday Book, and including, among others, the Rotiili Hunilredorum. Extenta mane- rii. Testa de yevill, Pope Xicholas's Taxation, Henry VIII.'s Survet/. and the Survey of the Conimomcealth. .Another extensive class belongs to the exchequer, including. the Pipe Roll, or great roll of the e.vchcquer, beginning with the second year of Henry II., containing yearly ac- counts of the revenues of the Crown: the Memoranda and Originalia rolls, records of the First Fruits and Tenths, records of the Court of Augmentations, instituted to decide ques- tions regarding possessions belonging to the Crown on the dissolution of the monasteries; and the Placita. or records of pleadings and judg- ments. The Rotuli Curitc Regis contain the record of the proceedings in the King's Court : and there are numerous classes of records of the proceedings in the various courts of common law and in the Court of Chancer>-. The record of Fines and Recoveries is an unbroken record of the transfer of lands from 2.5 Henry II. down to 1S33, when this species of conveyance was abol-