| Description | Final concords or fines, a fictitious legal process by which the entail on land could be broken, were levied in the portmote court. Until the early sixteenth century, the feet of fine were attached to the portmote court rolls (MR); they are also to be found on a few later rolls. In the early sixteenth century, separate files began to be kept containing not only feet of fine but other related documents, for example writs of covenant (addressed to the sheriffs of Chester), writs of dedimus potestatem and pleas of covenant and summons. Fines were abolished by the Fines and Recoveries Act, 1833. As the original order of sixteenth century files has been lost, they have been grouped together as one file under regnal years (MPF/1). There are gaps in the series. |