Introduction

This website has been created for family and local historians who are interested in tracing their ancestors amongst the inhabitants of the Manor and Forest of Macclesfield around 1611. The Survey was, in broad terms, the first census-type survey made in the district, and is invaluable to researchers who have not been able go back to this period in history and beyond.

This website lists all those freeholders, copyholders and tenants living in the area at the time of the Survey, which was commissioned by Prince Henry, the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester, and made by 23 persons of standing in the local community.

700 persons are listed in the Name Index, which has been transcribed from a large book (reference LR 2/200) held at The National Archives, Kew, London. There is also a House Name Index containing 64 house names; and an index of Extracts from Escheators Books showing 37 entries that relate to periods much earlier than 1611, the earliest of which is 1362 - 1363. All these indexes are free-to-access.

If additional details of an index entry are required, these are available for a fee by completing the Order Form. Copies of complete images from the Survey are also available on payment of a fee. These show the detail of holdings including names and acreages of fields, meadows, closes, crofts and woodlands; annual rentals and values; and, in a number of entries, references to past surrenders, purchases, and transfers of the same land. These may be traced to the original Court records held at The National Archives.

1611 Survey of Macclesfield Manor and Forest

The survey was commissioned by Prince Henry, the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester. A Court of Survey was held by Sir William Fletewood, the King’s Surveyor-General at Macclesfield on the 3rd of September 1611 until the 7th and adjourned until the 27th September. 23 persons of standing in the local community were empanelled as Jurors and sworn to enquire of and present such changes as the Survey showed. These names are included in the index, all of them being either freeholders or tenants of land within the area surveyed.

Results

These are shown in a large book (reference LR 2/200) held at The National Archives, Kew, London. The Macclesfield Survey is from pages 157 to 363 – 206 pages of text. 700 names have been extracted from these pages and alphabetically indexed, together with a summary of land and property holdings of each person – freeholder, copyholder, customary tenant or tenant. Several of the entries include a house name and 64 house names with their locations have been alphabetically indexed separately.

Indexes

This website lists the following indexes:

Name Index – this shows the name of the householder and the location of the property, for example:

To access a particular name, click on the initial letter of the surname in the list below

A  B  C  D  E  F  G H  I, J  K, L  M  N  O  P  R  S  T  U, W, Y

Township and House Name Index –  this shows the townships covered by the Survey and lists 64 house names. Examples of these are as follows:

Escheators Extracts – this shows the names, dates and land held by tenants in chief. Examples of entries in this section are as follows: