Hi, This is perhaps a bit of a longshot but does anyone know whether the area covered by the town of Matlock at the end of the 1500's through the first half of the 1600's is in any way similar to the town of Matlock today? Or did it perhaps incorporate other villages or hamlets? I ask because I am beginning to research a particular family, who, on records accessible on the Internet all say that members of the family I am interested in were born in Matlock. For example: 1: Thomas FLYNT (bn. 1585) 2: Thomas FLYNT (bn. 1603) 3: Henry FLYNT (bn. 1606) The second Thomas and his brother Henry both emigrated to America and became counted amongst the early members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Both were well-respected men, Henry eventually becoming the Minister of a church in Braintree, MA, and Thomas apparently moving to Concord, MA. I have found numerous other references to both men as well as other family members. Several references I came across describe the FLYNT family as 'landowners' back in Matlock and credited them with having some wealth, of which, it would appear, they took a substantial portion with them to America. So, I am especially interested to learn whereabouts in Matlock they actually lived and what 'land' the then family owned? As I say, a longshot, but I live in hope..... Regards, Alan

One source: Wikipedia ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matlock,_Derbyshire Edna - Ottawa

Hi Alan, manorial records might help you out. A couple of years ago, the National Archives funded a project at Derbys Record Office to update the information held on Derbyshire manorial records - the project officer was Neil Bettridge, and I was a volunteer. Between us we put together 'Manor Authority Files' which provided a summary of the info known to be extant for each Derbyshire manor. Neil did most of them and this is what he compiled for the manor of Matlock: At the time of the Domesday survey there was a manor called ' Mestesforde', which was part of the King's lands. It had outliers at Matlock, Snitterton, Wensley, Bonsall, Ible and Tansley. The manor seems to have later become known as Matlock. It would seem to have been given in the 12th century to the FERRERS family. Following the defeat of Robert de Ferrers at the Battle of Chesterfield and his attainder, the manor became part of the Earldom, later the Duchy, of Lancaster. In 1628 King Charles I granted the manor to Edward Ditchfield and others, trustees of the Corporation of London, who soon sold it in the following year to the copyholders. The manor was divided into several small shares (in 1830 there were 190 copyholders). Trustees (usually 3 in number) were appointed by the copyholders to transact the business of the manorial courts and undertake its administration well into the 20th century. Evidence for manorial status: Court rolls among the Duchy of Lancaster records at the National Archives (14th-17th cent) and Court books at the Derbysire Record Office. The manor was co-extensive with the parish of Matlock. Court leets and great court barons were held half-yearly. Sources: Derbys Archeological Journal vol 23 (1902) pp77-82 - The Lost Manor of Mettesforde by Benjamin Bryan Matlock Manor and Parish by Benjamin Bryan (1903) Magna Britannia vol 5 Derbyshire by Daniel & Samuel Lysons (1817) pp206-7 The History, Topography & Directory of Derbyshire by T Bulmer (1895) p413 If you go to the Manorial Documents Register pages on the National Archives website http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/manor-search and scroll down, you can do a search for Matlock manor. Click on the result and you'll be granted a list of 67 records, mostly held at TNA but some are at DRO. I found during WILCOCKSON research that enclosure records and tithe apportionment maps and schedules, despite dating up to 3 centuries later than the dates you are interested in, often cite the ancient field names and holdings in the parishes, so it's definitely worth checking those out to compare with manor records or property records in archives (contact DRO). It's possible to do an 'ancestry' for specific pieces of land back from Victorian to medieval times. One thing to beware of: just because a person was listed in manor records as either a freeholder or copyholder does not necessarily mean they were resident in the manor. Many people, even pretty poor people, held land or buildings in different manors to the ones where they normally lived. Celia Renshaw in Sheffield UK Blog: www.morgansite.wordpress.com On 11 June 2018 at 20:44, alan.s.flint--- via DERBYSGEN < derbysgen@rootsweb.com> wrote: > Hi, > > This is perhaps a bit of a longshot but does anyone know whether the area > covered by the town of Matlock at the end of the 1500's through the first > half of the 1600's is in any way similar to the town of Matlock today? Or > did it perhaps incorporate other villages or hamlets? > > I ask because I am beginning to research a particular family, who, on > records accessible on the Internet all say that members of the family I am > interested in were born in Matlock. For example: > > 1: Thomas FLYNT (bn. 1585) > > 2: Thomas FLYNT (bn. 1603) > > 3: Henry FLYNT (bn. 1606) > > The second Thomas and his brother Henry both emigrated to America and > became > counted amongst the early members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Both > were > well-respected men, Henry eventually becoming the Minister of a church in > Braintree, MA, and Thomas apparently moving to Concord, MA. I have found > numerous other references to both men as well as other family members. > > Several references I came across describe the FLYNT family as 'landowners' > back in Matlock and credited them with having some wealth, of which, it > would appear, they took a substantial portion with them to America. > > So, I am especially interested to learn whereabouts in Matlock they > actually > lived and what 'land' the then family owned? > > As I say, a longshot, but I live in hope..... > > Regards, > > Alan > >