DELVING into the day-to-day lives of ancestors is set to become much easier thanks to a partnership project led by Lancaster University.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £46,000 to a project to help people to access underused historical records known as manorial records.

The joint initiative between the university, National Archives and Cumbria County Council archive service will see a new easy access database set up on-line.

And there will also be a series of events aimed at encouraging people to use it.

Hundreds of years ago manorial courts acted as local parliaments, small claims courts and land registry.

Records from the courts in Cumbria contain a wealth of information about the past, from family history to land use.

But until now they have been difficult to access as they are scattered between national and local record offices, in libraries and in private hands.

The only comprehensive register is a card index in National Archives at Kew.

Now, all that is about to change, says Dr Angus Win-chester, head of the university's history department.

He explains: "Manorial Court records shed light on the lives of ordinary men and women, particularly in the 15th to 18th centuries.

"They can be a vital source of evidence including family history, the history of properties and of land use, common rights and rights of way.

"The fruits of this project will enable people with interests in local and family history to locate manorial records and to understand and interpret them."

Lottery fund regional man-ager Tony Jones says: "There is often the misconception that heritage is just about old buildings and museums when, in reality, we have a very broad view of heritage. Family histories and traditions are just as important to us."

Sarah Tyacke, of The National Archives, says the online database will make it easier for people all around the world, not just in Cumbria, to find out what records they might want to see.

She told the Citizen: "Manorial documents contain wonderful insights into local life in the past and I am delighted to be working in partnership with the university and Cumbria on this project."

It will involve: A new website explaining how Cumbria's manorial records can be used.

Construction of a searchable manorial documents register for the historic counties of Cumberland and Westmorland to replace the card index.

A series of events including displays, study days and workshop sessions in Cumbria to encourage people to use the records.