THE RECORD SOCIETY FOR THE PUBLICATION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. &øunril, 189S-S. Lieut.-Col. H»M Fisiiwien, F.S.A.» Tht HtnghtM, Rockdale, PMSIDMT Q. E. COKATKF., M.A., F.S.A., Clarenoeux King of Amis, Heralds t olltuje. London, K.V., WK-PKRSIDEST. CJRORGB .J. ARMYTAOK, F.S.A., I'lii't-n-Wtntdlteatt, UrUjhome. THOMAS H. IUVIKS-COIXBY, M.A., 16, Welti mjloii Umiil, Wfodteu liiiwtt, Mtinchfsti r. NVll.l.lKM K.KUKKIt, Mltrtnll I lulls,-, Shif'tnll. M VI oli I'AKKKU, /.'<.. il .N/II. hil- . I'ith, I-,. B. I). RtwufKs, M.A., F.S.A., *Hd Swan, Lim-iiuul. ¥</ Tilt Bsv. J. H. ST\NMN.I, M.A.. The Vicarntj.; I.'tuk, I.-ill, ,idiir,. ' .TAJIKS E. WOKSI.KY, F.S.A., Winveith, yevctun-le-Willnuit. \f JOHN P*tn> BruuM, P.S.A., Heatåer Lem, Olmrlesviltt, Birkmåemd, I Ins. TIIK\SI I:KI;. WM. KKKUUSSOS IRTISH, jf, ftataw /.W</, Uirkenhe<td, HON. SKOBKTÅBT. RULES. 1. —That tho Society shall lie called tlie Rucoiin SOCIUTV, and shall have for its oltjeet the transcribing and publishing of Original Documents relating to the counties of Lancaster nnd 01H-S1.IT. 2. —That the affairs of the Soeiety shall he governed hy a, Council, consisting of a President a,nd twelve Members, the former of whom shall be annually elected by the Council. ii.—That three Members of the Council shall form a quorum. •1.—That the subscription of Members of the Society shall be fl Is. por annum, which shall entitle them to the publications for the year ; but any Member whose subscription shall be two years in arrear shall thereupon he removed from the Society, and shall not he re admitted until all arrears have been paid. The nlimber of Members is limited to 8Ö0. /5.—That the subscriptions shall be due on the, 80th of June in each year, and that no work shall be issued to any Member whoso subscription is in arrear. (i.—That an Annual Meeting of the Society shall he held in the month of October, of which due notice sha.ll be sent to all the members. At this meeting a Report of the work of the Society, with a Statement of the Income and K.xpewliture, shall he presented. Those shall he annually published, together with a List of Members and the Kulos ofthe Society. 7. —That so long as the funds of the Society permit, two volumes at least shall he issued to the Members in each year. 8. —That no copies of tho publications of the Society shall be sold to non-members, except at an increased price to be fixed by the Council. 9. —That no payment shall be made to any person for editing any work for the. Society, but that the Editor of each volume shall be entitled to twenty copies of the work so edited by him. 10. —That the Treasurer's Accounts shall be audited by two Members of the Society, who shall be elected at the Annual Meeting. 11. - -No alteration shall be made in any of tho above Kules except at the Annual (ieneral Meeting. Notice of any proposed alterations must be sent to the Hon. Secretary a month before such (ieneral Meeting. 12. —That a, Meeting of the Council of the Society shall be called by the Hon. Secretary at least once in every three months. The Annual Siih.si'rij'tiun of £ I 7x., entitlinn ihe Mcmhers lo all tlie Volumes mnrd for Unit i/i-nr, mail /«• /«*|V to the linn. TrraMirer, or to the credit of the Society at their Hankers, the M"nehexter ninl Lieerpiml JHstrirt llnnldni/ ' ,'<./»//<«»;/, Limited, nt ann of their brandies. Urpoi-í for tljr Jlrar 1S97-8. t'tnl ni tin- i ,,„„, il M,; tin,/ lu 1,1 in the Amlit 1,'tnnn ni' the Lin-thnm 11,,s/fil,il, Mmii holer, ili-tnher l'/t/i, ISOS. HIN. K the last Annual Meeting, ln-l.l un tho l!)th October, 1«97, t«'« volumes havo boen issued to tho Members. These are volume ^ X X \ I., brin^, (i,,, fourth volume of tho Royalist Composition kipers for Lancashire ; and volume XXXVII., an Index to the ^ills now preserved at the Probate Registry at Chester, 1701 to HIG, letters A to M. 'he first (,f thcs,,, the Royalist Composition Papers, is in continuation of volume XXIX., and has heen edited, as was that vohiin,,, hy the Rev. .1. II. Sinn g. Their \alue and importance as bearing „po,, ,),,. [ j l<un.y ,lf Lanea-hir^ has frequently heen pointed out in the Annual Reports, and it only remains to he said that the matter contained in this volume is fully equal to any of those that have preceded it. The second volume, the Index to the Wills at Chester, was Put m hand rather late in the year, to take the place of another volume which the Council had hoped ,„ ,sslu,, |nu winch was delayed hy unforseen cause-. It was edited by the Honorary Secretary. During the past year the Council has been fortunate enough to secure the servicer- ot a gentleman thoroughly competent to copy and arrange iu alphabetical order tbe various Indexes to the iv /i<7«/rí al' t/i,' S.n iiii/. Wills at Chester to tbe year ls()o. Tlie<c are. now ready for tht; press down to IT'S!I. and th.' succeeding twenty years have' been copied and will very shortly be arranged in proper order, so that, whenever an opportunity occurs, they may be put into type. For the current year a volume of " Feet of Fines," or Final Concord relating to Lanea.shiro, from the earliest date to the end of the reign of Edward J., is being edited by Mr. Farrer, and about half is already in type. The matter contained in this volume should prove of the very greatest value to all interested in the History of Lancashire, in addition to the "Fines " themselves, tho volume will be enriched by a number of very valuable notes, which no one is better able to furnish that Mr. Farrer. In print­ ing these notes tho Council has departed from a rule which has been observed hitherto of printing documents, as far as possible, without annotation ; but it was felt that the notes which Mr. Farrer was able to supply were of such an exceptional character that the Council considered they wore fully warranted in making this departure from their usual rule. Colonel Fishwick is also editing a third volume of the Pleadings ami Depositions in tho Duchy Court of Lancaster for tho reign of Edward VI. to Queen Mary. A portion of this is printed off, and the whole is promised foi' an early date. The Council have several ink-resting and important docu­ ments in view for publication in tin: near future. One of these is the recently discovered volume of Quarter Sessions Records for the town of Manchester, a manuscript which has boon secured by tho Manchester Free Library. The Corporation has undertaken the work of having a fair copy made from the original, and tho Council is glad to bo able to announce that Mr. C. W. Sutton has kindly undertaken the work of editing this valuable local record. Hepnrt uf tln' Snrirtl/. V Major Parker is engaged on the Calendar of the Assize Polls for Lancashire to the reign of Fdward 1., and the Council hopes shortly to he nble to announce it as a. volume for early publication. Th.. second portion of the Index to the Wills at Chester to 17H0 is also in the press. Whilst, presenting this record of active work amongst the documents relating to the History of the two Counties, the Council very much deplore the want of general interest that is shown in the woi k which they have undertaken, and desire to urge once more most stronglv mi each individual member of the Society i be importance of obtaining fresh subscribers to assist them in prosecuting the excellent work which they have in hand. The following is a complete list of the Society's publications already printed up to the present time : — 1K7N -i) 1 1- Commonwealth Church Survey. 1 11. Index to the Wills at Chester, 1Ö15 to llWO. 1H70.KO. HI. I.anca lure 1 mpiisit ions. Stuart Period. Purt I. lGo:-* to n;i:i. I IV. Index to the Wills at ChesL.r, HUI to HloO. lHKOisl ' v. The ReeMer of Pnstbury, co. Chester. I 1.-,C.() to llilSC. / \T Cheshire and Lancashire Funeral (Vrli- 1*1-% eat--, loot) io 1 (17s. ' VU. l.-iiicashir.. .nc! 1 'Ie .-line Records. Part I. lKH^ HH. VIII. I.anca .M,,- and Ohc-hiro R-ord-. Part II. I IX. Preston t.inld Roils, ltlllT Hivi. lss:«l. ; X. Index lo ihe Lanca.-hire Wills proved at 1 Richmond. 1 457 to liiso. lKH-l-ST). XL Exchequer Depo-iiion-, K,:,s to 1702. XII. MiscelhiDK Lancashire ,v Cheshire. Vol. I. ( XIII Index to the Lancashire Wills proved at 1HHr< s<'>- j Richmond. HiKU to 17 IK. ^ XIV. Annales Cestrieiises. ( XV. Index to the Wills at Chester, lotlt) Iti-sO. lHK(S'H7. XVr. Lancashire Inquisitions. Stuart Period. Part 11. HU 1 to 1022. Jle/xirt of the Society. XVII. Lancashire Intiuisitions. Stuart Period. 1887-88. Part III. 1IÍ22 to 162;>. XVIII. Index to tlie Wills at Chester, 1081 to 1700. XIX. Civil War in Cheshire. 1888-89. XX. Index to the Wills at Chester, 1701 to 1720.