This indenture serves as testament to a one year lease of a messauage or burgage - a dwelling on a small plot of land. The lessors are William Blakisten and Francis Corner of Sunderland in the County of Durham, and the lessee is John Fotherinham, who must pay 5 Shillings in return for the lease. Signed on August 30, 1774.

The top of the indenture is cut in a jagged ("toothed") line, as was the common practice with indentures. The legal contract was duplicated on a single sheet, and then the copies were separated by a jagged edge, so that the two pieces could be fit together again to verify authenticity. The indenture includes tax stamps and two red wax seals.

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Condition: B+

Light soiling