I am a volunteer researcher with a village history group in Barnsley, Yorkshire, and am currently researching the Dodworth/Dodsworth/Dodworthe family of Gawber Hall, Manor of Shepley, & Lascelles Hall in the 14th, 15th & 16th centuries. I have traced family members mainly through their witnessing of documents and have formed the opinion that they are legal people. Another document - an appointment of Attorney - has further convinced me that I'm on the right lines. However, as I'm still in my infancy as a medieval researcher I'd welcome the list's thoughts on this. June M Sent from my iPad

From: JuneM via [gen-medieval@rootsweb.com] Sent: 19 June 2016 13:19 > > I am a volunteer researcher with a village history group in Barnsley, Yorkshire, and am currently researching the Dodworth/Dodsworth/Dodworthe family of Gawber Hall, Manor of Shepley, & Lascelles Hall in the 14th, 15th & 16th centuries. I have traced family members mainly through their witnessing of documents and have formed the opinion that they are legal people. Another document - an appointment of Attorney - has further convinced me that I'm on the right lines. However, as I'm still in my infancy as a medieval researcher I'd welcome the list's thoughts on this. > > June M > ------------------------------- That sounds very interesting, June. It is now recognised that there were many levels of provincial and local lawyers below the elite London attorneys, apprentices-at-law and sergeants, and there is a small literature on the problems of identifying them in the records. The footnotes to pages 83-85 of this article will guide you to some of them: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8Vq_-ZFRtnkC&pg=PA73&dq=%22employ+lawyers+when%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibjb7t67jNAhXMVhoKHZ5AAf8Q6AEINjAA#v=onepage&q=%22employ%20lawyers%20when%22&f=false Unfortunately it's only a Preview, so at least one of those pages will probably be unavailable. If you'd like to see it all, I can send you the text as an attachment. Witnessing charters and other documents would not in itself normally be evidence that an individual was acting as a lawyer - anyone could be a witness. Appointment as an attorney could sometimes be a pointer to a lawyer, but it depends very much on the circumstances - could you describe the document you have found more fully? Matt Tompkins