In an Ordinance of 9 June 1642 the Lords and Commons appealed for loans of money and plate. Lenders were to be repaid with interest at 8 per cent, "and for this both Houses of Parliament do engage the Public Faith". A further Ordinance of 25 April 1643 renewed the appeal for loans, and provide for the issue of receipts and certificates. This manuscript was evidently one of the principal records kept by the Parliamentarians in Northamptonshire in the raising of these loans. Parliament's financial instrument was a system of county committees; and the references to decisions of "the Committee" indicated that the manuscript was a document of the Committee for Northamptonshire.

The manuscript shows with a wealth of detail the financial support obtained by Parliament in the county. Most of the records of the County Committee are lost.