In the library of the University of Washington is an extensive collection of English state papers from the middle ages, consisting of law cases and tax records. There are well over a hundred thick blue volumes, each many hundreds of pages. There is much Carpenter related. Today I will present a sample from three volumes entitled CALENDAR OF THE CLOSE ROLLS, from the late 1200s, the time prior to John Carpenter the Town Clerk and his father Richard. My object is to find material suggestive of their origins. A very wealthy individual discovered was a Edward le Carpenter or Charpenter and his son Robert. The pair are noted in many legal proceedings. Edward and Robert are residents of Middlesex Co. a traditional residential area for wealthy London merchants. Edward's identity as a foreign resident is immediately sugested by the Charpenter name, which is used in at least half the references to him. Son Robert is cited in a law suit with "merchants of Amiens". Edwards assets extend to holdings in London itself. In a 1289 security for a loan, his "lands and chattels in the city of London" are cited, as well as elsewhere his " lands and chattels in Co. Middlesex." Witnesses to Edward's financial dealings are seemingly very powerful individuals such as a Earl of Cornwall in one proceeding. Sincerely, Bruce E. Carpenter