The earliest record I have found in the catalogue is temp EdI; it
does cover some pretty early stuff. It has the same limitations as
the existing catalogues at the PRO in that many of the entries are
pretty uninformative. For example, many of the chancery proceedings
are just lists of surnames. I have high hopes of Lacon v Guest 1731
but until I can actually see the original I have no idea if it is
actually a dispute over a mining lease. Basically the more background
knowledge you have, the more likely you are to pick up stray
references. That said, I think it is going to be a big asset; I am
sure a lot of new references are going to come to light as a result
of this.
Incidentally, following on from earlier discussions I have
looked at the catalogue with Microsoft Internet Explorer and it is a
bit tedious. You can use it but you have to be patient.
David Poyner
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|