The Herefordshire Chantry Valuations of 1547

In the later Middle Ages it was common for persons with property to endow chantries, chiefly for prayers to be said for the donor or members of his family for the indefinite future. From these endowments churches accumulated properties around the county, sometime in other counties. In the mid 1500s the properties were seized by the Crown and sold. Lists of properties, occupiers and purchasers were kept. The present volume covers Hereford Chantries. This record is of interest to scholars of the 16th century, particularly of the post-Reformation secularisation of Church property. In addition, family historians, once they have reached the mid-16th century from which period parish registers and collections of wills are very much more sparse, must of necessity look at any lists of residents in particular places and this is one.