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Hierarchy Browser Number8001/8/1
TitleFreemen
DescriptionFreemen are granted specific privileges in a borough by the ruling council of that borough. Criteria vary depending on place and time, but generally freedom is granted by patrimony (inheritance, such as son born to a man after he became free) or 'servitude' (serving an apprenticeship). Worcester also allows freedom to be gifted to notable people. Freeman had specific trading rights and until 1835, only freemen could vote in elections. In Worcester, arrested Freemen had the right to be held in the cells under the Guildhall rather than in the gaol. In 1835, approximately 10 percent of the 27,000 residents of the town and suburbs had been granted freedom. This section contains Registers of men who became Freemen, Freemen rolls, oaths, financial records, and other records including those relating to Honorary Freemen.

There is a transcription of the eighteenth and nineteenth century Registers of Freemen held by Worcestershire Record Office available on the main site. Transcription of the Registers is an on-going project and the current index is not yet complete.
Date1703-1920
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