| Description | This is a parallel series to that of the Treasurers' Accounts (TA) which cover a similar period. The Receiver was mainly concerned with collecting the revenues of the various estates owned by the Dean and Chapter. The larger part of this revenue was then handed over to the Treasurer, with some being used for repairs and allowances. The first account in this series includes a complete Treasurer's account for 1540-1541.
As with the Treasurers' Accounts, most of the series is in roll form. The layout of each account is fairly uniform throughout. The receipts from each manor are listed first, with the name of the lessee and amount received. In most of the accounts the numerals are Roman, but Arabic forms are occasionally found. All the accounts run from Michaelmas to Michaelmas.
The Kent manor receipts are listed first, starting with Canterbury in the earlier accounts, but becoming alphabetical in 1614-1615 (RA 34). After Kent come the Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Sussex, Surrey and Devon properties, followed by London and Southwark. `Foreign receipts' are found after either the Kent or London manors until 1613-1614 (RA 33) when they are no longer recorded.
Fees and necessary expenses come next in the account, followed by any exonerated arrears and the money spent on repairs. The money paid to the Treasurer is then noted, followed in many of the accounts by debts owed to the receiver. By 1621 these debts were being split into three sections: good, hopeless and increasing. A separate section for corn rents is found from 1614-1615 (RA 34).
There are three accounts dating from after the Restoration, after which the series is superseded by the Receivers' Books. A note in the first of these accounts describes the way in which the Dean and Chapter regained control of its estates after the Restoration.
There are items in the Miscellaneous Accounts series which are linked with the Receivers' Accounts. There is no account for 1578 in this series but a rough account can be found in MA 42 for that year.
After the Reformation, financial affairs were regulated by two canons who were annually elected to the posts of Treasurer and Receiver. The Receiver oversaw the collection of revenues from the Cathedral's estates, while the Treasurer disbursed these revenues, usually in wages and repairs.
Thus each series of financial records has two parallel parts, the records of the Receiver and those of the Treasurer. The records themselves fall into two main categories; accounts and vouchers. Vouchers (DCc/TV and DCc/RV) are the day-to-day bills and receipts of Receiver and Treasurer while the accounts contain a summarised version of the vouchers and the officers' financial statements for the year. Some post-reformation and pre-restoration vouchers are to be found in the Rural Economy and Domestic Economy series.
The accounts series has a further subdivision, caused by a change in format and style after the Restoration, when the roll form of the earlier series was replaced by books and Latin by English. Thus accounts from 1540-1663 may be found in the Treasurers' or Receivers' Accounts (DCc/TA or DCc/RA), while the new format (1660 onwards) are in the Treasurers' or Receivers' Books series (DCc/TB or DCc/RB). |