Jesus College was founded in 1571 in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, making it the only Elizabethan College within the University of Oxford. It is officially known as 'Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation', although its first benefactor was Hugh Aprice (or Price), a churchman who had previously been educated at the University. Many of its students, particularly in the 17th and 18th Centuries, came from Wales, and many of the college's early benefactors were former members of the college or were related to them.
In addition to larger bequests, many small endowments, bequests of land, subscriptions towards building, and contributions towards the College library followed during the 17th and 18th Centuries, sometimes as the result of specific fund-raising campaigns to endow scholarships for poor students.
In 1713 the College received an important bequest. This came from a former member of the College, Edmond Meyricke, and comprised lands in North Wales and Carmarthen, with funds for the support of Bala Grammar School and for scholarships and exhibitions at Jesus for students from North Wales.
The College Archives contained a large number of estate records for properties in England and Wales which had been bequeathed to Jesus College throughout the College’s history. In the 1990s it was decided that documents for properties no longer owned by the college should be dispersed to the most appropriate local record offices, including this collection of deeds and related papers for properties in Denbighshire and Edeyrnion which were part of Edmond Meyricke's bequest, and also to other properties in Denbighshire, Flintshire and which came to the college from other sources.
The spelling of personal names and place-names in the documents has been retained in the catalogue entries.