Abbey Temporarity Charge Books

These books each summarise the net yearly Abbey income from temporalities (land rent and customary payments) and correspond to the Lord's Charge and Allowance books. They are held in under reference MS10192 and the series appears to be almost complete from 1660 onwards. For certain years they are combined with certain other sources of income (such as the Lord's Demenses). Separately some Abbey Accounts from this period are held within the Derby Papers (MS06523 Bundle 1728 onwards).

The description below is based on my examination of the charge books between 1659 and 1664 which are bound together and also of the 1740 Abbey Temporalities charge book.

Format of the records

The format is very similar to that of the Lord's Charge Books. The Abbey books are organised into six parish sections namely Malew, German, Sulby (in Lezayre), Skinscoe (in Lonan), Bradan and Rushen. Typically the first four sections each takes up a full page, and the remaining two smaller sections share a page. Each section calculates the net income for that parish.

A section begins with an account of the parish income. It lists the total receipts from land rents and also the monetary equivalent for each individual category of customary payments in kind (wheat, barley, oats, rye, lambs, geese, hens, capons, carts of turf and boon days). The parish rent for all of these categories was fixed and the monetary income recorded is therefore usually the same from year to year. (The value of crops was deemed to have changed between 1660 and 1740 and explains a difference in the recoreded income.) Most of the customary payments in kind were only applicable to a few of the parishes. The aggregate gross income is then recorded.

Below the gross parish income, a list of the corresponding Abbey expenses is given. The categories for any given parish likewise remain the same from year to year. They include a customary payment to the Sergeant (who collected the rents). Unlike the corresponding payment to the Moar in the Lord's Account this does not appear to vary according to the Sergeant's land holding. Other expenses given are payments relating to the Court Baron (to the attending officials, soldiers and also for one dinner per court), to several rents (presumably paid to the Lord). For the most part the total expenses remain the same from year to year.

The six parish sections described above are concluded with a statement of the total charge, the total allowance and the consequenct net income for which the Senschall is liable. Between 1659 and 1664 the books also include certain other (apparently unrelated) accounts for which the then Senschall Ferdinand Calcott was also responsible. These are the rent of the Grange tythes, the disbursement of Castle Rushen and the accounts of Calf Isle and the Lord's demenses.

Abbey Temporarity Charge Books before 1660

The only similar pre 1660 books which I am aware of are four volumes covering the years 1641-1644 respectively (under reference MS10192). These have a similar format to the above, but appear to be source documents (for the final accounts) and include additional information. In particular they include details of spiritual income (described separately), the names and custom corn rents of the tenants and also the dates of receipts of certain payments. The accounts which would be extracted from these earlier books appear to be closely match the post 1660 books save for the inclusion of allowances for several church offices (the vicars of Malew and Rushen and the chaplain of the Castle) in the former.