Background
In the Church of England, an archdeaconry is a tier of ecclesiastical administration below the level of a diocese. Archdeacons support the Bishop of the diocese, especially with regard to administrative, practical and legal matters concerning church property and finance. They also engage in preaching, pastoral and mission work, and have a responsibility of care towards the clergy and the church community. Additionally, they are charged with inducting new clergy into parishes in their archdeaconries.
Historically, archdeacons also had a prominent judicial role, presiding over their own archdeaconry courts. During their most active period, from the 16th to the end of the 18th centuries, ordinary people were subject to the control and influence of archdeaconry courts in a number of ways. People were brought before the courts for a wide variety of offences, including religious dissent, non-payment of church dues, sexual misconduct, clandestine marriages, disorderly behaviour in church precincts, and superstitious practices. By the mid-18th century, archdeaconry courts were most focused on the problem of illegitimate births.
Archdeaconry courts could also be used to settle grievances including allegations of defamation, non-payment of tithes, and disputes over probate and matrimonial matters. In addition, archdeaconries could be responsible for issuing marriage licences and proving wills. However, the extent of each archdeaconry's power varied, depending on its geographical and historical relationship with its diocese.
The archive of the historic Archdeaconry of Nottingham
The Archdeaconry of Nottingham had its own Registry and was responsible for its own record-keeping over a number of centuries. It was situated a long way from the diocesan centre at York and for this reason may have developed rather more independence than some other ancient archdeaconries. The volume of business handled by the Archdeaconry court in the 17th and 18th centuries led to the accumulation of a large number of archival records. By the late 19th century, however, the Registrar was responsible for creating only a small number of administrative documents. When the Archdeaconry was split in two in 1913, the Registrar of the new Archdeaconry of Nottingham continued to maintain the archive, and added to it when necessary; so, for instance, the archive contains a full run of printed Declarations by incoming churchwardens dating from 1849 to 1938, but those from 1913 onwards are for the southern half of the county only.
The records have been housed in the Library of the University of Nottingham since 1943. Prior to this time they were in the custody of the Registrar of the Archdeaconry. The history of their earlier custody is not precisely known, and it is difficult to speculate on the possible survival elsewhere of material missing from this archive. The archive constitutes an enormously rich historical resource, its evidence relevant not only within the primary context of ecclesiastical court history but touching also on many issues of local church estates and property, parish and community concerns, family structure and individual lives.
The Presentment Bills project, 2002-2004
Between 2002 and 2004 the Heritage Lottery Fund supported a major project to deliver online access to descriptions of the 16th- and 17th-century Presentment Bills, with extensive indexes enabling researchers to trace particular people, places and subjects. The Presentment Bills Project was the catalyst for a number of improvements to the information about the Archdeaconry of Nottingham offered to researchers by Manuscripts and Special Collections, including the creation of this series of 'Archdeaconry Resources' web pages.
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