You may have stumbled across these documents in the course of your family history research, and wondered what they are, and how they may be useful to you; well, here's a basic guide!

'Freedom of the City' (or 'Borough', in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity/dignitary.

The practice originates from medieval times, when respected citizens were granted freedom from 'serfdom' (when peasants were bound to their manorial overlords, by way of debt bondage or indentured servitude - essentially a form of slavery!).

This tradition still lives on in some parts of the world, including the UK, although it really means very little nowadays - it's basically for ceremonial purposes only!

If your ancestor earned themselves Freedom of the City papers, then these would have entitled them to enjoy the right to trade freely within the town/city boundaries, as well as own property. Up until 1832, these documents also gave recipients the right to vote.

Although there are various different versions, the documents most commonly found pertain to the 'Freedom of the City of London'; these date back to around 1237. Some rights held by recipients - even to this day - include:

1. The right to drive sheep/cattle over London Bridge.

2. The right to carry a 'naked' (unsheathed) sword in public.

3. The privilege of being escorted home by the police, rather than face jail, if found being drunk and disorderly!

Recipients could also be from anywhere in the country, not only London.

So, what can these records tell us?

Well, they often include occupations, father's names, places of residence, etc. - this makes them particularly useful if tracing people who lived prior to the 19th century!

Some records in the collection also pertain to apprenticeships; the example below shows that William Hudson, son of Giles Hudson of 'Bistow' (Bicester) took up an apprenticeship with a pewterer called Richard Franklin of London, in December 1716.

Ancestry holds records dating between 1681 and 1930 in their collection - you can find the link here, although you'll need to pay for a subscription in order to view them!: https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/2052/

Top tip: if looking for local ancestors, try simply searching for surnames (including different variants) within the county of Oxfordshire, as typing in 'Bicester' did not yield the example below, due to it being transcribed literally as 'Bistow'!

More info can be found here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_the_City_of_London

Image source: Ancestry.