Pipe rolls now in the Cotton Library at the British Museum. Exactly when the Pipe rolls began to be produced is debated amongst historians. Some hold that they date from Henry I's reign, whether early or late in the reign, but others feel that they were introduced by King William I (reigned 1066–1087). The precursors of the records probably date to the Anglo-Saxon period, as the historian Pauline Stafford argues that financial records must have been kept in some form during the reigns of Cnut (reigned 1016–1035), Æthelred II (reigned 978–1016), and Edgar the Peaceable (reigned 959–975). There is a reference to
Handyside Edgar by their father), and the Osborne Estate (created around 100 years earlier by a Dr Osborne). He appears to have already had kinsfolk in Jamaica including several half-brothers and sisters fathered by Alexander Edgar with negro slaves. Handyside Edgar acted as a physician in both Trelawney and Montego Bay in Jamaica. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1786. His proposers were John Robison, John Playfair, and Andrew Dalzell. He died in Jamaica on 8 June 1806. He is buried there in St James Churchyard. A dispute over his will, between his brother Alexander Edgar