So we've had this parchment document for a while. My father purchased an old letter writing chest a while back and this parchment was inside with a whole bunch of letter and cheques also dating back a couple of centuries . He seems to think the parchment is m an old deed. It has a date pointing back to the 1600's. Does anyone know what this is and what it says? My dad would love to know! Thanks in advance!
So it's an indenture, rather than a deed, so more along the lines of a legal contract.
My Paleography has several years worth of rust on it, and I'm more experienced with stuff a hundred years prior to this from Scotland, so I've not made much progress, but from the preamble, it looks like it's an agreement between three men Thomas [Eft?], Thurgood Upwood, (both of Cambridgeshire) and Ralph Baldwyn of Ashwell in Hertfordshire.
Interestingly, a quick Google of those names revealed an Economist article on Grave Inscriptions that refers to a Ralph Baldwyn buried Ashwell churchyard in 1689.
I'd definitely say that you should get in touch with someone official (maybe the British Library?) for digitisation and for someone with more experience with the period to look at more closely.
Link to imgur album: http://imgur.com/gallery/dp4s8MP