Conventionary tenant is not a term I am familiar with but it appears to mean one of the following
1] According to the convention or custom of the Manor (ie, the usual terms of tenancy for that Manor which can mean inherited tenancies are the norm - three lives, or father to son etc)
2] A tenancy decided after a sort of committee meeting - perhaps the Court Leets proceedings (ie, the tenancy is decided after a CONVENTION or meeting of interested parties).
A Free Tenancy was one which did not owe feudal duties to the Lord of the Manor - an unusual tenancy agreement which may hint at a family connection going back centuries. Some Manors did allow Free men to become tenants but they didn't like this much, as the Manor powers did not cover free men, who only answered to the monarch.
I have come across entries for Arundell of Lanherne and Trerice on A2A It's a Rental or survey Lanhern St Columb 12th May 1460 there are loads of Free tenants listed and whilst I cannot prove it I am sure one of them is mine???? and a few conventionary ones, most of which seem to be in the Lord's hands.
Yes, that sounds about right - the conventionary tenants are subject to the Lord's authority.
A large number of free tenants suggests they are family, maybe going back centuries. Only one person could inherit a Manor of course - eldest son - but depending on how kind the eldest son was, or how daft, lol, he might have granted Free tenancies way back in the 1100s, which would be jealously held onto by those who had gained such a privilege without any responsibilities.
This is all theoretical of course, unless there are unbroken manorial records back to whenever. My manorial records DO go back in an unbroken line to the Crusades, but it seems my family was already in possession of the manor at that time, so there are possibly even earlier tenancy agreements under Danelaw which are no longer available.
But oh, isn't it fascinating stuff, lol! They jump off the page at you.
Oh how I wish I could fill the gap between 1713 and there. But I think the records I need are with the one estate in Cornwall who have not let anything go to the records office. The Parish records for Merther at that time cannot be found presumed destroyed, the variant spellings are a nightmare and it means Im stuck completely and can only keep finding odd bits of info which hopefully will come together one day.
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