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The Justices of the Peace and the Administration of Local THE JUSTICES OF THE PEACE AND THE ADMINISTRATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE EAST AND WEST RIDINGS OF YORKSHIRE BETWEEN 1680 AND 1750. Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The School of History, Michael Eric Watts Maddison. The University of Leeds. April 1986. ABSTRACT. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the criminal, civil and administrative work of the county magistrates of the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire between 1680 and 1750. There is a distinct lack of regional studies for this period, though much has been written about the county community during the era of the English Revolution of the mid seventeenth century and about the effect upon local society of the industrialisation of the late eighteenth century. This is a serious omission for late Stuart and early Georgian times comprise a vital period in the development of local government. It was a time when the country gentlemen who acted as Justices of the Peace were most autonomous. Yet it was also a period which witnessed some fundamental and permanent changes in the organisation and administration of local government. The thesis is divided into two. The first section contains four chapters and deals with the structure of local government. The general organisation at county level is explained, and the backgrounds, interests and attitudes of the actual individuals who served as magistrates are closely examined. An analysis is also undertaken of the relationship between the Justices and central government, and special emphasis is placed on the attitudes of the Crown and Privy Council towards the membership of the commission of the peace and on the role of the Lords Lieutenant and the Assize Judges. The second section, which contains five chapters, is devoted entirely to the work of the county magistracy. A thorough examination is made of the business of the Justices both in and out of sessions and the chapters concentrate on the preservation of law and order, the enforcement of regulations affecting manners, morals and religious beliefs, the supervision of the poor, the economic responsibilities of the magistrates, and the maintenance of an adequate system of transport and communications. A concluding chapter assesses the effectiveness of the Justices in both counties in coping with the demands placed upon them, indicates how these demands changed, examines how the procedures followed were adapted to meet new requirements, and emphasises the importance of this period as an era of innovation in local government. CONTENTS. Abbreviations. i Preface. i i Note on References and Dates. i i i Introduction. iv Section I: The Structure of Local Government. 1. The Justices and the Organisation of Local Government. 2 I. The place of the Justices in local government. 3 II. The Court of Quarter Sessions. 12 III. The Justices out of sessions. 21 IV. Developments in organisation and the growth of professionalism. 24 2. The Personnel of the Bench of Magistrates. 37 I. The composition of the commission of the peace. 38 II. The eighteenth century expansion of the commission. 43 III. The magistracy: the families and their responsibilities. 47 IV. The competence of the Justices. 55 V. Conclusion. 65 3. The Justices of the Peace and Central Government, Part I - The Political Relationship and the Commission of the Peace. 68 I. The autonomy of the Justices and the response of the government. 69 II. The manipulation of the commission of the peace. 71 III. Conclusion: the commission of the peace and local government. 96 4. The Justices of the Peace and Central Government, Part 2 - The Working Relationship with the Assize Judges and the Lords Lieutenant. 100 I. The work of the Assize Judges. 101 II. The work of the Lords Lieutenant. no III. Conclusion: the response of the Justices. 117 Section II: The Work of the Justices. 5. The Justices and the Maintenance of Law and Order. 121 I. The decline of gratuitous service. 122 II. The criminal process. 130 III. The pattern of crime. 137 IV. Punishments. 151 V. Prisons. 155 VI Conclusion. 166 6. The Justices and the Supervision of Beliefs and Behaviour. 172 I. The decline of ecclesiastical jurisdiction. 173 II. The problem of religion: Roman Catholicism . 176 III. The problem of religion: Protestant Nonconformity. 185 IV. Manners and morals. 191 V. Alcohol and alehouses. 195 VI. Conclusion. 200 7. The Social Responsibilities of the Justices. 204 I. The enforcement of parochial obligations. 205 II. Assessments and rates. 211 III. The provision of relief by the Justices. 215 IV. Private charity. 220 V. Employment of the poor. 223 VI. Bastardy. 229 VII. Removal and settlement. 233 VIII. Vagrancy. 242 IX. Conclusion. 251 8. The Economic Responsibilities of the Justices. 255 I. Problems with agriculture. 257 II. Developments in industry. 269 III. Labour relations. 280 IV. The supervision of marketing, trading and consumer interests. 292 V. Conclusion. 300 9. The Justices and the Supervision of Transport and Communications . 304 I. Highway maintenance. 307 II. Bridge maintenance. 323 III. Conclusion. 338 Conclusion. 342 Appendices. I. A Survey of the leading Justices to attend Quarter Sessions for the East and West Ridings, with brief biographical details. 357 II. The Commission of the Peace for the East and West Ridings: a statistical analysis of its composition for the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 373 References. 376 List of Sources and Bibliography. 417 ABBREVIATIONS. Add. Mss. Additional Manuscripts B.I.H.R.Y. Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, York B.J.L. Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull B.L. British Library B.L.L. Brotherton Library, University of Leeds C.J. Journals of the House of Commons C.S.P.D. Calendar of State Papers Domestic C.T.P. Calendar of Treasury Papers D.N.B. Dictionary of National Biography E.Y.L.H.S. East Yorkshire Local History Society H.M.C. Historical Manuscripts Commission H.C.R.O. Humberside County Record Office L.J. Journals of the House of Lords M.L. The Minster Library, York P.C. Privy Council P.R.O. Public Record Office S.P. State Papers V.C.H. Victoria County History W.Y.C.R.O. West Riding County Record Office Y.A.S.R.S. Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series ii. PREFACE. During my researches I have visited numerous libraries and archive offices and I should like to thank the staff of all these institutions for their assistance and forbearance. I am particularly grateful to Mrs. Berry, Mr. Holt and their respective assistants at the West Yorkshire and Humberside County Record Offices for the kind way in which they have endured my presence, answered my inquiries, and produced voluminous manuscripts for my perusal. I must also mention several people who have been generous enough to share with me at various times the benefit of their own researches, namely Dr. K.J. Allison, Mr. G.P. Brown and Dr. J.Childs. I should also like to take this opportunity to record my debt to Mr. P.J. Hills, Head of the History Department of the College of Ripon and York, St. John, who encouraged me to take up the challenge of research in the first place. Without doubt, however, my deepest thanks are extended to Mr. G.C.F. Forster, my supervisor, who has made extensive comments and valuable criticisms of the earlier drafts of the various chapters, who has shared his knowledge with great willingness, and who has guided my work throughout with considerable patience. NOTE ON REFERENCES AND DATES. Unless otherwise stated dates are given in the New Style, according to the Gregorian Calendar, and the year is taken to begin on 1 January. In quotations from contemporary sources the original spelling has been retained, but to help clarify the sense the punctuation has been modernised and the abbreviations expanded. iv. INTRODUCTION. The principal concern of this thesis is the criminal, civil and administrative work of the county magistrates in the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire between 1680 and 1750. This was a period of relative stability and followed the political and religious upheavals of the Civil War and Interregnum and preceded the rapid social and economic changes of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Yet this was not an insignificant age, for it was a time of transition during which there were several developments in the organisation and administration of local government. Perhaps most important of all were the moves towards a more professional approach and the adoption of new administrative procedures, in particular towards salaried officials, bridge maintenance and the passage of vagrants. It is to the credit of the West Riding Justices that they were amongst the first county magistrates to be involved in such changes. The thesis is divided into two. The first section deals with the structure of local government and concentrates on general organisation, on the actual membership of the commissions of the peace in the East and West Ridings, and on the relationship between central and local government. The second section, on the other hand, is entirely devoted to the work of the county Justices. The business of town government, of the borough and liberty Justices, and of the church and manorial courts has only been considered in those circumstances when it has overlapped, or come into conflict, with that of the county magistrates. So as not to detract from the analysis of any general developments or from the explanation of important arguments, examples from the records consulted have been kept to a minimum, and much of the evidence for the points made has been incorporated into the extensive references for each chapter. This approach has enabled the highlighting of certain important aspects of the magistrates' work, as in the case of the regulation of the cloth trade throughout the early eighteenth century, the control of vagrancy, the maintenance of bridges, the alleviation of the cattle plague in the seventeen-forties and the developments in administration.
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