Indentures

Example of an Indenture

Indentures were an old way of selling, granting, leasing or otherwise transferring ownership of land, usually, from one person to another. Three copies of each indenture were made, the first page of each copy being cut with a wavy line - the indenture. This was done to detect fraud as the copies would fit together again exactly along the indented edge. If they didn't it was a sign that a counterfeit one had been created.

The photograph on the left shows an example of an Indenture. It is five pages in length so the wavy edge on the first page is hidden.