Is there a Northern archive equivalent to the (so called) National Archives?

[jillruss]

Courtesy of their new, much easier to use, search facility, I have recently found a few legal documents to do with some of my ancestors from counties in southern England (Bucks, Berks etc) on the National Archives website.

However, I also have lots of ancestors from up here in t'North! There seems to be precious little on the NA site to do with the North. Have I just been unlucky or is there another repository for legal and financial cases to do with more Northern counties?

I thought of the Borthwick which holds the probate records for most of the north. I've looked on their website, which is a bit like wading through treacle with a blindfold, but they only seem to have probate and church matters.

Any ideas?

Jill

[jds1949]

I believe that all of the counties have their own records offices - Lancashire certainly has and very helpful they are too:

http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/?siteid=4528&pageid=30539&e=e

jds1949

[jillruss]

Well, yes, of course all counties have their own Record Offices. I was wondering if there was a northern equivalent to the National Archives where the legal documents for the area as a whole were kept.

You know, like the south was London based, where was the centre of the North? To most southerners, another country.... 

Jill

[jds1949]

Hi Jill,

have you tried this part of the NA system?

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/

I've certainly found some Lancashire material in there

jds1949

[sillgen]

You can restrict your search to the northern regions by using Advanced Search.  I have never thought that they were not as well covered as the south.

[yorkshire liz]

Hi Jill

I've been to TNA dozens of times researching my Yorkshire ancestors and have found all sorts of interesting stuff.  What exactly are you looking for? "Legal documents" is rather vague but they certainly have plenty of those!

Best wishes
Liz

[JenB]

You know, like the south was London based, where was the centre of the North?

Need you ask    Newcastle upon Tyne of course 

Ecclesiastically it was York http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dioceses_of_the_CofE.png

[jillruss]

Thanks everyone, but I'm obviously not getting my question across properly.

Not interested in ecclesiastical matters, yes I know all about A2A, and no I've not found anything about any of my northern ancestors on the NA search site.

e.g. I'm currently transcribing a dispute in Bucks to do with money owing for barrels of beer. I've just done one in Bucks about a dispute over land and interpretation of a couple of family wills.

I can't find anything like this for my ancestors in the North. Perhaps its just bad luck; perhaps they were all as poor as church mice, or perhaps jds 1949 is right and I just have to hunt through each separate county archive.

Wish me luck as I wave you goodbye (Northern, you see!!!)

Jill

[Alexander.]

There is a wealth of "legal documents" for the northern counties on this site (ecclesiastical though):
http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/causepapers/index.jsp

Alexander