TNA podcast: An impenetrable tangle or an under-used mine of information?’ The Court of Common Pleas and its records, c.1200-1875

According to this presentation by James Ross, recorded at The (UK) National Archives in June, the Court of Common Pleas was the busiest court in England for almost all of the medieval and early modern period, dealing with tens of thousands of civil cases a year at its height, and continued to be an important arena for litigants until the reorganization of the legal system in 1875.

Ross suggests these records contain more names of ordinary folks, except perhaps for the Hearth Tax records, than any other.

James Ross provides an introduction to the history of Common Pleas, its jurisdiction, and discusses ways into the numerous records of the court.

http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/