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John Rolls

High Sheriff of Monmouthshire

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 27, 2026
Entity authorityQ6255507
Source-derived summary

John Rolls (27 February 1735 – 8 September 1801) was a native of Bermondsey, Southwark, London, Surrey, England. A member of the Rolls family of The Grange in Bermondsey and The Hendre, Monmouthshire, he married heiress Sarah Coysh. That marriage was instrumental in furthering both the fortune and the social rank of the Rolls family. In addition to serving a term as High Sheriff of Monmouthshire, Rolls was a Justice of the Peace.

Biography

John Rolls, son of Aaron and Elizabeth Rolls, was born on 27 February 1735 in the parish of St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, now in the borough of Southwark. He was baptized on 10 March 1735 at St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, an Anglican church. His father Aaron Rolls was a victualler and, by 1746, was at St Thomas à Watering(s) on Kent Road, which was a small bridged-crossing on the Old Kent Road named after the pilgrimage route to the shrine of saint. on that site. John Rolls had at least three siblings. His sister Mary was born on 22 February 1737 in Bermondsey, and baptized on 21 March 1737 at St Mary Magdalen.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “John Rolls” is high Sheriff of Monmouthshire. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through John, Rolls and High, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1735, 1801, 1746, 1737—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1735-02-27. For this dossier, John, Rolls and High is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “high Sheriff of Monmouthshire” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6255507. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1735, 1801, 1746 and 1737.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “John Rolls”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow John Rolls primary sources, John Rolls archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “John Rolls”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from John Rolls” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.