Typical document

by Allan Azzaro

If you are unfamiliar with 18th and 19th century legal documents, you may find it useful to read this example. It is a fairly typical example of a conveyance from 1873. It will give an introduction to some of the standard vocabulary and phrases, and outline the structure of these documents. The format is remarkably similar even in indentures going back to 1700.

As can be seen from the photograph on the right, the writing on such documents forms one continuous stream without spacing, paragraphs or punctuation.

However, there is a big help in that standard words at the start of the major sections are written in a bold and enlarged script. Among these, the following words and phrases may just be distinguished in the photograph : Between, Whereas (several times), Now This Indenture Witnesseth, All that, To Have and To Hold. These headings are standardised and, with practice, allow the reader to jump directly to specific pieces of information in a document.

The following is a transcript of an actual document (which I have only very slightly abbreviated). I have spaced out the main parts for clarity, with a few notes of my own added in italics.

This Indenture made the tenth day of June One thousand eight hundred and seventy three
Between			{Lists the parties to the contract}
William Tennison of Rimswell in Holderness in the East Riding of the County of York Tailor of the first part the said William Tennison John Tennison of Kilnsea in Holderness aforesaid Farmer and Thomas Gray of Brough in the East Riding of the said County of York Labourer and Ann his wife of the second part and George Gibson of Ottingham Marsh in Holderness aforesaid Farmer of the third part.
Whereas	{Each Whereas clause summarises some earlier contract or event}
William Tennison Senior late of Rimswell in the said County of York Cottager deceased being seized in fee simple in possession free from incumbrances of the hereditaments hereinafter described and expressed to be hereby granted duly made signed and published his Will dated the fourteenth day of November One thousand eight hundred and sixty nine and thereby devised that all his property in land buildings and hereditaments thereby attached situate at Ottingham Marsh aforesaid should be reserved during his Wife’s life And the said Testator bequeathed to his said wife Mary Tennison all the annual rents profits or proceeds accruing from that his property during his life And he also devised that after his Wife’s decease his property should be sold and the same realized for the same (after all the expenses were adjusted and settled) should be equally divided amongst his then children (the said William Tennison party hereto John Tennison and Ann Gray) or their assigns subject to as thereinafter mentioned that was to say that out of the portion or share of his Daughter’s Ann Gray a sum should be reserves as an equivalent to pay off and adjust for a sum previously received by her from her Aunt Mrs F Bailey And the said Testator appointed his son the said William Tennison Junior to be the Executor of that his will
And Whereas
the said Testator died on the twentieth day of March One thousand eight hundred and seventy leaving the said William Tennison party hereto his Eldest Son and heir at Law without having altered or revoked his said Will and the same was duly proved by the siad William Tennison party hereto in the District Registry of Her Majesty’s Court of Probate on the Sixteenth day of July following
And Whereas
the said Mary Tennison the Widow of the siad Testator died on the Sixteenth day of June One Thousand eight hundred and seventy two
And Whereas
The said William Tennison as such heir at Law as aforesaid and with the consent of the said John Tennison Thomas Gray and Ann Gray testified by their respectively executing these presents has agreed with the said George Gibson for the Sale to him of the fee simple in possession of the hereditaments hereinafter described free from incumbrances at the price of Four hundred and ten pounds
Now this Indenture Witnesseth					{this is the main substance of the contract}
That in pursuance of the said agreement and in consideration of the sum of Four hundred and ten pounds upon the execution of these presents paid by the said George Gibson to the said parties hereto of the second part to be apportioned and divided between and among them according to the directions contained in the said Will of the said Testator William Tennison deceased but without any liability or responsibility on the part of the said George Gibson to see or enquire into such apportionment or division the receipt for which sum of Four hundred and ten pounds accordingly they do hereby respectively acknowledge and from the same do hereby respectively release the said George Gibson his heirs executors administrators and assigns
He the said William Tennison with the privity and approbation of the said John Tennison Thomas Gray and Ann Gray testified as aforesaid Doth hereby grant and convey
And they the said John Tennison Thomas Gray and Ann Gray Do and each of them Doth by these presents intended to be forthwith duly acknowledged by the said Ann Gray grant convey dispose of and confirm Unto the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns
All those				{This describes the property in question. More commonly it occurs as All that or All and Singlular}
That close or parcel of land with the Cottage Barn and other buildings standing thereon situate in Ottingham Marsh aforesaid containing Two acres two roods and seventeen perches be the same more or less bounded by land of the said George Gibson on or towards the North East and West and by a Lane or Road leading from the Dam Lane on or towards the South
Also all that
Close piece or parcel of land called West Field situate in Ottingham Marsh aforesaid containing One rood and twenty five perches be the same more or less bounded by land of the said George Gibson called Blacksmith’s Garth on or towards the North South and West and by the said Lane or Road on or towards the East
And also all that
Close or parcel of land situate in Ottingham Marsh aforesaid containing one acre two roods and twenty perches by the same more or less bounded by the siad Lane or Road on or towards the North and by land of William Wallis on or towards the South East and West
All which said hereditaments and premises are now or late were in the occupation of Joseph Kitching
Together with all Buildings fixtures fences ways lights watercourses sewers rights priveleges easements advantages and appurtanances whatsoever to the said hereditaments or any of them appertaining or with the same or any of them now or heretofore enjoyed or reputed as part or member thereof or appurtanant thereto
And all the estate right title interest claim demand of the said parties hereto of the second part and every of them into and upon the said premises
To Have and to Hold		{An important bit which gives the terms on which the new owner/occupier holds the property. In the case of a Lease it will give the term of the lease, and for a Mortgage it will include provision for redemption of the mortgage. Where this clause describes a property conveyed to A To the Use of B this indicates an arrangement with A as trustee for B}
All the said premises bereinbefore expressed to be hereby granted unto the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns To the Use of the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns for ever
{In the case of a Lease there will be a clause shortly after this beginning Yielding and Paying which gives the anuual rent.}
{From here on we are usually into the ‘small print’ of the contract which generally appears to add little of new interest. In this example the final part is mercifully short, but in other cases can run to more than half the length of the document}
And each of them the said William Tennison party hereto John Tennison and Thomas Gray so far only as relates only to the one equal and undivided third share to which he or his wife claim to be entitled to as hereinbefore recited of the hereditaments hereinbefore expressed to be hereby granted doth hereby for himself his heirs executors and administrators Covenant with the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns that notwithstanding anything by the said William Tennison party hereto John Tennison Thomas Gray and Ann his Wife respectively or any of their ancestors testators and kindred or any of them the said parties hereto of the second part or some or one of them now have or hath power to grant all the said premises to the use of the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns free from incumbrances And that all the said premises may be quietly entered into held and enjoyed by the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns without any interruption by the said William Tennison party hereto John Tennison Thomas Gray and Ann his Wife or any of them or any person claiming through or in trust for them or any of them or their or any of their ancestors testators and kindred
And that they the said William Tennison party hereto John Tennison and Thomas Gray and Ann Gray his Wife and their respective heirs executors and administrators and every person claiming through or in trust for them or their respective ancestors testators and kindred will at all times at the cost of the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns execute and do all such assurances and things for the further or better assuring all or any of the said premises to the use of the said George Gibson his heirs and assigns as by him or them shall be reasonably required
As Witness Whereof
The said parties to these presents have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year first above written

The Material form of an Indenture

The above example is written on a single sheet of parchment about 60cm x 71cm (2ft x 2ft 4ins) which is very typical of the legal documents throughout the 19th century. The clerk has arranged that the contract exactly fills the sheet and will generally vary the size of his writing to ensure that this is always the case. Only rarely is a smaller sheet of parchment used, generally for short and simple wills. The format is very similar in the 18th century but the parchment sheets are more variable in size, often being rather smaller.

The bottom edge of the sheet is always folded up and wax seals are always attached to this fold, usually affixed to small strips of ribbon that are threaded through slots in the parchment. If the indenture requires more than one sheet of parchment, the sheets will be bound together at this bottom fold.

These large parchment indentures are normally folded into 9 for storage with a title written on the outer panel as folded. This panel and the outer folded edges are likely to become extremely grubby with age, but this will not normally affect the written side at all. If the contract requires that money change hands, then acknowledgements of the receipt of the money will normally also be written on the back.

This ‘large format’ indenture is used almost exclusively up until about 1880, after which it begins to give way to a smaller ‘book format’ which may use either paper or parchment.

The large format indentures continue in existence up until about 1914, but are then completely superseded by the book format. Parchment continues to be widely used into the 1930s but progressively gives way to paper.

Revenue Stamps

In the example (below) from 1873 the revenue stamp is an embossed stamp made on a square of blue paper. This blue paper is then glued onto the parchment and has a silver ‘escutcheon’ on both sides of the parchment. A paper stamp (the size of a postage stamp) is glued onto the back covering the escutcheon. This type of revenue stamp is used continuously through from 1700 to 1880, except that on a paper document the embossed stamp would be applied directly without any of the extras.

After 1880 a new style of stamp was introduced, embossed as before, but including red ink over most of its area. Again, it is applied directly onto a paper document but for parchment documents it is thereafter applied to a cream-coloured square of paper instead of blue.

Where there is a visible date on the revenue stamp it will often be seen that the stamp was applied long before the contract was written (it can be up to a few years earlier). This seems to imply that solicitors held a stock of parchment sheets with various denominations of stamp already applied. When an Indenture is made up of 2 or more sheets there will usually be a revenue stamp on every sheet – the clerk appears to have selected several sheets stamped in various values to make up the total duty payable.

Seals

The great majority of wax seals are of no interest. If the indenture has 5 parties, then the solicitor will prepare the document with 5 wax seals, all with the same design imprinted onto them, even if only 3 individual finish up signing the document. In the documents listed on this site it is generally only the ecclesiastical authorities and London trade guilds that have their own unique seals. The guild seals are simply large wax seals with their own unique designs, but the ecclesiastic seals are always pendant seals (where a layer of wax is sandwiched between two layers of paper and an embossed design impressed into either one or both sides).

End.