Volume 4. 1712–1718
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COMPILED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE STANDING JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE QUARTER SESSIONS AND COUNTY COUNCIL. [All Rights Reserved] CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE .. .. .. .. .. ..I-VIII CALENDAR TO THE SESSIONS RECORDS 1705-1712 l-209 APPENDIX I JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND HIGH SHERIFFS .. .. ..210-211 APPENDIX II WRITS OF venire facias AND capias ad respondendUm, 212-221 APPENDIX III REGISTER OF GAMEKEEPERS ,1712 -1718 .. .. .. 222-225 APPENDIX IV CALENDAR TO TRAVERSE ROLLS 1703-1716 .. .. .. 226-231 BUCKS SESSIONS RECORDS PREFACE VolUme III of the Calendar to the Records of the Quarter Sessions for BUckinghamshire was printed and published in 1939. The material for Volume IV was commenced in that year, bUt owing to the mobilization of the present editor and of his partner Mr. G. L Reckitt all work was sUspended Until 1947. AboUt a third of the material was then in draft typescript. After the close of hostilities Mr. Reckitt was not available to continUe the work and conseqUently Miss Cecily Baker, F. S. A. greatly assisted by Mrs. D. V. Sansome, Undertook to prepare the Calendar to the remainder of the material down to the Epiphany Session, 1718, under my supervision By this time printing costs had risen to such an extent that General Purposes Committee considered the publication of a volume similar to the previous three calendars was impossible and decided to consider all other methods of prodUcing a volUme which coUld be made available for stUdy by those interested in the history of the county. It was finally decided to produce 100 dUplicated typed copies boUnd between cloth-covered boards. In appearance the prodUction natUrally falls far below that of previous volumes, but it is hoped that the saving of money will amply compensate the fastidioUs bibliophile. Apart from appearance, the volume has been prepared on exactly the same lines as those previously printed, and if printing costs fall it will be possible to commit the typescript to print withoUt any serioUs re-arrangement except for the index. Even this shoUld present no great difficulties and the only alteration will be in the pagination. For varioUs reasons Miss Baker had to give Up her share of the work, which then fell solely on the shoUlders of Mrs Sansome. This painstaking lady is now thoroughly versed in the method of calendaring, and I have confidence that she will be of the greatest assistance to me in the continUation of the work. The present Calendar covers the period from Easter Session. 1712 to Epiphany Session. 1718 and deals with the closing years of Queen Anne’s reign and the first foUr years of King George I. The appendices give an alphabetical list of JUstices of the Peace and of High Sheriffs mentioned in the Calendar: the writs of venire facias and of capias ad respondendUm: the Register of Gamekeepers and a completely new series of documents which have been foUnd filed oUt of date. This last mentioned class covers a period somewhat anterior to that dealt with by the Calendar, as the earliest docUment is dated 1703. The docUments are called “Traverse Rolls” and record the cases where the prisoner “traverses the indictment”. I ___________________________________ The period covered by the Calendar illUstrates conditions of post-war political and social activity not entirely dissimilar from the times in which this Preface is written. While the Whigs were in power, the Tories had only a slight minority in the House and had the strong support of QUeen Anne. The Tories were accused of having sympathy with the Pretender and certainly represented the “High ChUrch Party”. MarlboroUgh, the beloved hero of the Army, had been somewhat ignominiously relegated to the Reserve, to be replaced by the DUke of Ormonde who, with remarkable agility, proceeded to throw away all the military advantages which had been gained by MarlboroUgh. The Peace of Utrecht, a triUmph of the Whig administration, was considered as an insUlt to the nation. In BUckinghamshire, political opinions appear to have been fairly evenly matched. There were a few ardent Catholics who, no doubt, supported the claims of the Pretender, and many rabid Non-Conformists, but the majority - if the Records of the QUarter Sessions can act as a gUide - were far more anxioUs to keep their own homes in order than worry aboUt the machinations of LoUis XIV of France, of Philip V of Spain, or of Prince Eugene of Austria. The slow demise of QUeen Anne, an event watched with much anxiety by all peoples in Europe and one which survived as a form of schoolboy hUmoUr well into Edwardian days, passed without a single comment by the Justices of Buckinghamshire. True it is that the actUal date of that long awaited calamity (AUgUst 1st) was dUring the vacation, and the Michaelmas Session did not assemble Until 7th October 1714. On that occasion the Justices of the County took official action by sending a congratUlatory address to its new-crowned Hanoverian monarch. In this they went to great pains to stress their service to the late Queen and gave a promise to show like loyalty to George I. They expressed their joy at the King’s “safe and qUiet accession to the throne” and their determination “to defend yoUr majesties UndoUbted right to the crowne of these kingdomes to the Utmost of oUr Power against the Pretender and his adherents” (p.95). The main effect of the accession of George I on the County’s administration was the rush of persons to take the oaths of allegiance, and to prodUce certificates of their having received the Lord’s Sacrament in accordance with the rights of the ChUrch of England, thereby giving assUrance that they renoUnced any tendencies towards the Roman Church. During the reign of QUeen Anne the nUmber of Sacrament Certificates registered averaged 6 or 7 at each Sessions but this number rose to 80 at the Michaelmas Session 1714 (p.90) and to 46 and 24 respectively at the following two Sessions (pp.99-103,113-115). At the Michaelmas Session 1715, the JUstices remarked on the nUmber of persons who “have no knowledge of the recent Order reqUiring them to take an Oath of Allegiance in accordance with Act 1 George I StatUte 2 Chapter 13, an act for the fUrther security of his majesty’s person and government, and the sUccession of the Crown in the heirs of the late Princess Sophia, being protestants: and for extingUishing the hopes of the pretended Prince of Wales and his open and secret abottors”. This enacted that all persons, as well peers as commoners, who bore office either civil or military, those in the pay of the King, those in the royal II ___________________________________ households, all ecclesiastical persons of any denomination, all members of colleges etc. in any University, all persons teaching, all schoolmasters and ushers, all constables, serjeants at law, coUnsellors at law, barristers, advocates, solicitors etc. shoUld appear in open court and take the oaths laid down. The jUstices decided that there mUst be many persons who owing to distance from home or throUgh infirmity were Unable to take the Oaths at AylesbUry, and conseqUently agreed to adjoUrn the Sessions to Chepping Wycombe and BUckingham for the convenience of those living in sUch areas. Orders to this effect were to be affixed to the doors of all parish chUrches (p.133) and as a resUlt many took the Oaths (pp.136-140). a list of persons who refUsed appears in the records of the Epiphany Session 1716. Many were popish recUsants, while others pleaded they were poor persons possessing neither horses nor arms (p.141) and therefore were not compelled to take the oaths. There are cases which show that there were some who did not sUpport George I. Lidicy, wife of SamUel Taylor of Oakham, co. RUtland was thrown into the Bridewell at Aylesbury for speaking “severall disrespectful words against our sovereign lord King George” (pp.148,168): Elizabeth, the wife of John Hester of Great Marlow, was accUsed of speaking “scandaloUs words reflecting on the Government” (p.149) bUt the most serioUs case arose in connexion with the official celebrations which had been ordered throUghoUt the country on 7th June, 1716, to celebrate the defeat of the Pretender’s Army. As a loyal citizen Ann Meade the wife of a gentleman resident of AylesbUry went to considerable pains to decorate the wall of her house with candles but Agnes, wife of Richard Tuckwell, a cUtler of AylesbUry, set oUt to destroy the illuminations, calling them “Presbetarian candles”, and encoUraged others to sing bawdy songs in the hearing of poor Ann. Agnes also shoUted oUt most offensive remarks, and expressed the wish that she shoUld burn all Whigs in the same way as the candles had bUrnt (pp.157,160,175 and 230). The UsUal string of recUsants whose names appeared throUghoUt the last Calendar, continUe to be recorded at every Session except Ann Howes whose name disappears in 1713. On the other hand, the names of Robert Burnham of Hughenden (p.3), Robert Cutler of Drayton Parslow (p.l03), and Ambrose Smith of Great Marlow (p.172) appear from time to time. At the Easter Session 1713 the constable of Steeple Claydon produced a certificate that the reason for the absence of John Aris from chUrch was on accoUnt of a defect of hearing (p.38) and not from any objection to attend Divine Service. A further Act, 1 George I Statute 2, Cap. 55 enacted that all Papists shoUld register their names and real estate, and an adjoUrned Session was held at the Town Hall, Aylesbury on 15 June 1717 for the pUrpose of recording their names (p.188).