| Description | The Deans' Books are a parallel series to the Chapter Act books, and contain similar information. The books prior to the nineteenth century appear to be a rough copy or draft of the Chapter Act books, although the information may be either more detailed or (as is usually the case) more sketchy than that in the Act books.The later volumes were written by the auditor, but the early books appear to have been written by a variety of people.
In the nineteenth century the books become neater and contain information that is not to be found in the Chapter Act books. The Act books still carry details of leases and appointments of officers but the administrative decisions of the Dean and Chapter are only to be found in the Deans' books. Notes in CA 13 show that the Dean's book was the one from which the minutes of the previous chapters were read, although there is no extant Dean's book for the period covered by that Chapter Act book.
Although the Deans' books did not survive after 1854 there are volumes known as 'Memorabilia of Dean's books' for the period 1854-1895. These were owned by members of the chapter and consist of a summary of the more important administrative decisions of the Chapter meetings for each year, with an index.
The nineteenth century volumes were written by the auditor, but the early books were written in a variety of hands; sometimes with several different hands on the same page. |