NORTHAMPTONSHIRE KING'S BENCH INDICTMENTS: INTRODUCTION

Copyright Stephen Swailes.

King's Bench records are extensive and are organized according to the four law terms that occurred each year. From 1485-1675 the records are grouped in KB 9. In general, they remain unindexed although images of KB9 can be seen on the AALT website. On many but not all membranes the county is written in the margin which helps identification. Where this is not given or is obscure it is often possible to identify the county from the text. Sometimes, however, establishing the relevant county is difficult. The indexes provided here relate only to Northamptonshire and are intended to complement indexes of the JUST 2 series of coroners' rolls. While every effort was made to identify material relating to Northants it is possible that some material may have been overlooked.

KB records contain coroners' inquests, accusations (true bills), criminal cases and occasionally inventories of the property of persons. They are thus useful to family historians and local historians as an early source that locates people in towns and villages.