Unlock hidden stories in your family’s past by learning how to navigate England’s pre-1800 court systems.

Before civil registration, censuses, and modern legal records, the business of everyday life—inheritance, morality, property, taxes, trade, and personal disputes—passed through a complex network of courts. For genealogists, these historical legal archives can be a treasure-trove: revealing family relationships, occupations, origins, disputes, misdeeds, and moments of drama otherwise lost to time.

This specialist five-week course is designed to demystify the major English courts before 1800 and show you how to use their records to deepen and expand your family history research. Led by expert genealogists and legal historians, each session focuses on a different court system, explaining what records survive, how to access them, and how to interpret what you find.

Church Courts – Explore ecclesiastical courts that handled probate, marriage, moral offences, and parish life. Learn how to uncover wills, disputes, and records of everyday scandal.

The Court of the Exchequer – Understand cases involving revenue, debt, taxation, and land, and how the workings of England’s financial court can illuminate family property and business.

Conciliar Courts – Step into the world of the Court of Star Chamber and other royal prerogative courts, and discover how their rich records can reveal social tension, crime, and political conflict.

Palatinate Courts – Learn about the semi-independent jurisdictions of Durham, Lancaster, and Chester, and how their unique authority generated records often missed by researchers.

London City Courts – Focus on the capital’s busy courts, full of trade disputes, craft and guild records, freemen rolls, and the legal heartbeat of England’s greatest city.

What You Will Gain

• A clear understanding of England’s legal landscape before 1800
• Confidence in navigating court record sets for genealogical research
• Knowledge of where key records are held and how to access them
• Practical strategies for uncovering ancestors in unexpected places
• Guidance from respected experts in the field

Who Is This Course For?

This course is ideal for:

• Intermediate or advanced genealogists
• Researchers exploring pre-19th century ancestors
• Local historians and archivists
• Anyone curious about the legal world of early modern England

Take Your Research Beyond the Basics

If your research has hit a brick wall, court records may be the breakthrough you’ve been waiting for. Join us and learn how these extraordinary legal archives can bring your ancestors’ world vividly to life.

• 20% Discount for all Society of Genealogists Members
• Recordings available until 3 April for everyone who pre-books

Click here for information about our events.  Contact events@sog.org.uk if you have any questions.