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London Subsidy Rolls 1593-1600: Aliens and Strangers
I have excluded individuals identified as "aliens" and
"strangers" for various reasons:
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All entries for aliens and strangers were extracted from the Lay
Subsidy Rolls by Richard E.G. Kirk and Ernest F. Kirk (eds),
Returns of aliens dwelling in the city and suburbs of London
from the reign of Henry VIII to that of James I (Aberdeen:
The University Press, 1900-08), Parts 1-4 of Volume 10 of
The Publications of the Huguenot Society.
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This publication, which I refer to as Kirk and Kirk, is extraordinarily
useful, with a full index in part 4, and indexes of professions in parts
1-3. It is available in scholarly libraries, either in the original
or in a 1969 Kraus reprint.
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Whenever part of a Lay Subsidy roll was faded, someone - I presume
Kirk and Kirk themselves - employed a dreadful liquid wash which brought
out a faded text temporarily but damaged the same text over the long run.
(This was common practice to the end of the nineteenth century.)
As a consequence, many of the alien-and-stranger lists in
surviving Subdidy Rolls are yellowed and faded, distinctly less
legible than before the liquid wash was applied. The same liquid wash
has had the further unfortunate consequence of reducing the effectiveness
of inspection under ultra-violet light.
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As a consequence of the deeds (and misdeeds) of Kirk and Kirk, names
of aliens and strangers must today be sought in their publication.
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As further justification for omitting them from my present
website, I note that entries for aliens-and-strangers tend to
be highly complex, listing family members, servants, professions,
streets of residence, and so forth. Though such entries are richer by far
than those for native denizens, they are fiendishly difficult to index.
I am delighted to have been able to leave the indexing to Kirk and Kirk.
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I have not (yet) taken the time and effort to double-check entries in
Kirk and Kirk for accuracy. I would be delighted if a volunteer would
step forward to do so. (I can supply all the necessary materials, but the
volunteer must of necessity be able to read English handwriting of
the 1590s, including "secretary" hand.)
I would appreciate suggestions as I develop this site:
ahnelson@socrates.berkeley.edu
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