Post-Medieval colonisation in the forests of Bowland, Knaresborough and Pickering
Taken from PrefaceIt is the intention of this thesis to examine late settlement on the wastes of former royal hunting forests in Yorkshire. Three forests only were selected for study in detail; those of Bowland, Knaresborough, and Pickering, but they were well spaced across the former county of Yorkshire with their extremities extending virtually from coast to coast. Although their origins were diverse, and they show considerable differences, they were chosen largely on account of their unifying characteristic - the fact that all became part eventually of the Duchy of Lancaster.This is of some importance since it conveys uniformity to a principal source of information - the lists of those fined at the forest courts for illegal encroachment on the forest wastes. It was, in fact, the principal means of colonisation ' in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the existence of many such lists at the Public Record Office - most particularly for the Forest of Knaresborough - constitutes a hitherto untapped source, for this Forest at least. It is clear that lists of names are of little use unless they can be related to particular places, and this information is never given explicitly. A large part of the research was therefore
Turner, Maurice
History ; Demography
Post-Medieval colonisation in the forests of Bowland, Knaresborough and Pickering. Taken from PrefaceIt is the intention of this thesis to examine late settlement on the wastes of former royal hunting forests in Yorkshire. Three forests only were selected for study in detail; those of Bowland, Knaresborough, and Pickering, but they were well spaced across the former county of Yorkshire with their extremities extending virtually from coast to coast. Although their origins were diverse, and they show considerable differences, they were chosen largely on account of their unifying characteristic - the fact that all became part eventually of the Duchy of Lancaster.This is of some importance since it conveys uniformity to a principal source of information - the lists of those fined at the forest courts for illegal encroachment on the forest wastes. It was, in fact, the principal means of colonisation ' in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the existence of many such lists at the Public Record Office - most particularly for the Forest of Knaresborough - constitutes a hitherto untapped source, for this Forest at least. It is clear that lists of names are of little use unless they can be related to particular places, and this information is never given explicitly. A large part of the research was therefore
post_medieval colonisation forest taken intention_examine late settlement waste former royal hunt forest yorkshire forest select study_detail well space across former county yorkshire extend virtually coast coast although origin diverse show_considerable difference choose largely account unifying characteristic fact become_part eventually duchy importance since conveys uniformity principal_source information list fin forest court illegal forest waste fact principal mean colonisation century existence many list public_record_office particularly forest constitutes hitherto untapped source forest least clear list names little use unless related particular place information never give explicitly large_part therefore