5. As for copy hold estates, they are always conveyed openly in the Lord's court, by way of surrender, and therefore need no other discovery; but, in case of leases made, or terms granted by deed of copyhold estates, by the Lord's license, or otherwise, those to be registered.

6. This registering not to be used as binding evidence of the making or execution of any deed (in regard it is done at the instance of the grant, in the granter's absence) but only to serve for a discovery of it to such as shall be concerned.

7. To the end the present generation may reap some benefit of this work, that all deeds, assurances, and real incumbrances, made or created since the year 1660, be registered within a year, at the peril of the grantees or cognisees being postponed.

8. That all other registries be made within four months after the date, and then to be effectual as from the date, at the peril of being postponed to all intervening before it is registered, but not to be forecluded of registering at any time, running the hazard of postponing. And if any will so far rely upon his security, and his granter or cognisor's integrity, without registering it, to stand good against all but creditors and purchasers.

9. That an exact alphabet be kept of all the granters and cognisors names, with their titles and additions, and the number or folio wherein their art is registered. And, in regard some persons are called by several sirnames, with alteration of title and addition, that, for better assurance, another alphabet be kept of the names of the towns and places wherein the lands granted do lie, for both these alphabets together must be infallible.

10. As for fees of the office: Every entry, not exceeding three sheets, each sheet containing twelve lines, and eight words in every line, two shillings, and for every sheet exceeding, six pence.

For the alphabeting of each entry, six pence.

For a search and sight of the entry, for every ten years, five shillings; and, if for any less number of years, eight pence for each year.

For copies of every sheet written as aforesaid, six pence.

A TREATISE

CONCERNING REGISTERS TO BE MADE OF ES. TATES, BONDS, BILLS, &c.

With Reasons against such Registers.

By the Honourable Mr. WILLIAM PIERREPOINT. MS. THE expences, concerning such registers, would be unsup portable to the subjects of this kingdom; their charges for the first year (by being compelled to register their deeds made in

times past) would be above six-hundred thousands, and above two-hundred thousand pounds, for every year for the time to

come.

And such hath been the carelessness (if not worse) of trustees, widows, their second, or other husbands, guardians of orphans, sequestrators, and other plunderers, in the late times of troubles, concerning deeds which came into their hands, as not in one estate of twenty, but some defect in law would be found therein, if every person might peruse their deeds, as all might do, if they were recorded.

Many now quietly enjoy their lands, chief rents, and other just profits out of the lands of other persons; because, it is believed, they have good deeds to shew for them, and questionless their ancestors, or those under whom they claim, had such deeds; many have intired their manors, by several purchases and exchanges from freeholders, within their said manors, and thereby made great improvements; some deeds are lost, registers would discover the wants of those decds, many hundreds of persons would thereby lose their lands, chief rents, and just profits out of the lands of other persons, and have their inclosed grounds thrown open to

commons.

Creditors lend their monies on judgments, statutes, recognisances, mortgages, bonds, or bills; judgments, statutes, and recog nisances are recorded, the nature of them, suits thereunto; the defect therein is that the records of judgments are so difficultly to be found out, for, judgments being recorded in Chancery, by rules of common law, in the King's-Bench, in the Common-Fleas, in the Exchequer, and many hundreds in every term, in time as they happen, it is scarcely possible to find them in due time, to the great damages of many persons.

These defects may be redressed by making fit alphabetical kalendars of judgments in every of those courts, and such kalendars may be easily done, and will be readily made by the clerks in those several courts, if by act of parliament some reasonable fee be allowed to such clerks for so doing; as to take two pence for search for every year, as is allowed by the statute 27 Elisabeth, chap. iv. for search for statutes merchant, and of the staple.

Mortgages are of like nature with judgments and statutes; wherein lands mortgaged are of double value to the money lent on them; and with general warranty against all persons, and the monies to be repaired at six or twelve months, so as seldom to be incumbrances on lands, longer than for the mortgager's life; therefore, it may be of greater benefit than prejudice to record mortgages. But therein will be difficulties which will require serious consideration, as, amongst others, because some mortgages are made by absolute sales with defeasances collateral, and some purchasers are concerned to keep ancient mortgages on foot, assigned to trustees for security of their purchases.

In the time of the Rump, an act of parliament, as they falsly called it, was by some men there violently prosecuted for register.

ing all deeds, pretending what they so pressed was to prevent frauds against purchasers and creditors, but they were such who had no money to lend, or wherewith to buy lands; the registering of mortgages for the time to come was not much opposed, but that did not satisfy them; their aims were their private gains to have or sell registers places, thereby to share amongst themselves above a hundred-thousand pounds yearly: The officers, in such registers, would have to themselves so much at least, over and above all charges and expences therein.

If bonds and penal bills (which are quick securities, and but for short times) should be made void, if not registered, the prejudices which might happen thereby to creditors are apparent.

Quadraginta hath been writ for Quadringenti, forty for fourhundred; then he who had truly lent two-hundred pounds on such a bond, if this mistake had been discovered, could not, in the court of common law, have recovered on that bond more than forty pounds; and so may easily be mistakes in quinquaginta for quingenti, fifty for five-hundred, nonaginta for nonagenti, ninety for nine-hundred, and so for many others; but, the mistakes not being discovered, the creditors have had their monies lent well paid, without demand to see the bonds, or hear them read, or being put to any charges or troubles in suits.

Bonds and bills are no effectual incumbrances on lands, until sued to judgments.

When kalendars are made, whereby judgments may be speedily discovered, then there can be little prejudice by not recording bonds and bills; but the recording them would destroy trade, two parts of three, in trade, being carried on upon credit.

Many tradesmen have borrowed great sums of money, and taken up wares on bonds and bills; have lived well, and paid all their creditors to their satisfactions; have enriched this kingdom, and raised good estates to themselves and their heirs, who at some times have owed to several creditors, on bonds and bills, much more than they were then worth; which if it had been then known, and which registers would have laid them open, they would have had their bonds and bills sued against them to judgments, when it would have been to their ruin; but each creditor, believing those persons did owe nothing, or but little but to themselves, did not sue or molest their debtors.

In like condition would have been many gentlemen free-holders and farmers, who were necessitated to borrow money, and take up goods on their bonds and bills, for the managements of their estates, to provide stocks, and other necessaries; which if it had been known at all times, what they owed to all creditors, would then, when they had not been able to pay, have had their bonds and bills sued to judgments, and thereon their lands and goods seized, their bodies imprisoned, or they to lie hid, or to fly into foreign parts, to the inestimable damages of this kingdom thereby bereaved of the benefits from the abilities of their minds, and labours of their bodies.

Concerning the Registering of Bargains and Sales and Settle ments of Lands of Inheritance.

GREAT mischiefs appear therein to present view, more are rationally to be feared. In these deeds are no double values, no general warranty, no time of redemption, no cause to peruse those deeds every six or twelve months (as are in mortgages) and wherein defects seldom appear till after the seller's death.

For these deeds must be registered at large, word for word, or by taking extracts out of them.

The

The wit of man cannot draw such extracts without errors. judgment of man is not capable to prevent all mistakes and misun derstandings in such extracts.

If all deeds of purchase and settlements of lands of inheritance must be registered at large, register records would be so voluminous in ten years, as no good use could be made of them.

In forty years experience, I have not known or heard (yet I have enquired of many lawyers of great practice) of above three causes in all the Courts of Judicature, which have gone against purchasers who paid valuable considerations, and those causes, not in the whole, to the value of thirty-thousand pounds; which, if so, as I doubt not but when examined, it will be found to be so, then, if these registers had been established forty years since, register-offices would have had from the subjects eighty-hundredthousand pounds, at two-hundred-thousand pounds yearly, to have saved thirty-thousand pounds defrauded, and that but in forty years. I know that several persons would have lost their lands, if some others had known their deeds. I have had some references to we, and thereon perusal of deeds, wherein were such defects, as, if their deeds had not been rivate to those they trusted, they would have lost their lands for which they paid a full value.

These registers will cause differences and discontents in families between husbands and their wives, parents and their children, and children amongst themselves. Whilst a father keeps his deeds of settleme ts of his estate private to himself, his wife and children each hoping for better than is done for them (perhaps than the estate can bear) yet they live in love and quiet; but, if they should know, which by these registers they would know, what the settlements are, wives would be unquiet, children would be undutiful, the eldest brother would think his youngest brothers and sisters had too much, and they, that they had too little. A father may have good cause to give to some younger son or daughter, more than to the other: This the others will call inequality, and want of natural affection to them; they would live in envy and hatred.

Fathers, to have household contentment, must then, although against their judgments of what is fittest to be done by them, make no deeds of settlements of their estates, but leave all to be dispo sed by their last wills and testaments, thereby subjecting their estates to wrongs and frauds by exccutors, or administrators, and

themselves to troubles and vexations in their sicknesses and weak. nesses, as neither to live quietly nor die quietly.

Many have sudden exigents to borrow money under irrecoverable damages, if not provided therewith in some short time, who have lands of clear titles and of double the value of the monies they would borrow thereupon, yet their lands lying remote, as if in Yorkshire or Devonshire, when they need the monies in London.

London is the great market of lands, there is the great stock of monies for the whole kingdom; the lender's council in law, if these registers should be established, must advise their clients, not to lend monies on lands, till the registers, in the countries where those lands are, be searched, and by able men of whose abilities. and honesties they are satisfied. These delays necessitate great expences, much time is wasted, the opportunities for those monies lost, and they who needed such monics irrecoverably damnified; it cannot be an easy or cheap business for purchasers to get due knowledge of the sellers deeds registered in remote places; it would be chargeable and dangerous to conveigh their deeds of purchase, to be registered in distant places.

Many are concerned on marriages, and other settlements, to make large deeds; many skins of parchment, wherein their lands, in many several counties, are conveighed; these deeds must be registered in every several county wherein any land lieth therein conveighed; or, if such deeds be to be registered only in one county, with references therein to the other counties, this, besides other inconveniences which would follow thereon, would send men for making searches on those references, east, west, south, and north, certainly to their great charges, probably to little purpose.

All frauds, which have hitherto been committed by cheats, may be done by clerk registers, and more than have hitherto been known.

Their temptations, to gain by bribery, would probably be greater than their honesties to resist; they would have means and opportunities to act frauds which none yet have had.

Deeds of purchase of lands to be recorded in these registers must take their force, either from their dates or caption of taking acknowledgments of them, or from the time they are entered in the registers. If from their dates or captions, as if from six months after either of them, then fraudulent purchasers have six months time to conceal such deeds, and, they and the sellers combining, the sellers may make subsequent deeds of sale of the same lands to pur chasers on full values, and defraud them; the fraudulent purchasers, registering their precedent deeds within the six months, would have the lands, those registers being records.

If deeds of purchase must take their force from the entries of them into the registers, then so many deeds would be brought to a register-office in one day, as it would be impossible to register them the same day; the preference in time, to register them, would fall to the will of clerks, registers, and the just purchasers in their

mercies.