SUSSEX RECORD SOCIETY DIGITAL EDITIONS SUSSEX RECORD SOCIETY VOL ADD4: WINCHELSEA COURT RECORDS 1765-1866 Edited by Malcolm Pratt This edition was first published on the Society’s website in 2020 and is copyright © Sussex Record Society and Malcolm Pratt. Copies of this edition may be downloaded free of charge for personal use. Extracts may be copied and reproduced provided appropriate acknowledgement is given WINCHELSEA COURT RECORDS 1765-1866 PROCEEDINGS OF THE COURTS OF THE ANCIENT TOWN OF WINCHELSEA IN SUSSEX 1765-1866 EDITED BY MALCOLM PRATT SUSSEX RECORD SOCIETY VOLUME ADD4 Digital Edition published 2020 by Sussex Record Society Barbican House, High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1YE. © Sussex Record Society, Malcolm Pratt Contents v CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................................... vii Editorial Notes ......................................................................................................... xxi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ xxv Proccedings of the Winchelsea Courts 1765-1815 .................................................. 1 Proceedings of the Winchelsea Courts 1816-1866 ............................................. 133 Appendix 1: Oaths taken on their appointment by the Mayor and other Officers etc .......................................................................................................... 305 Appendix 2: Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy and Abjuration etc .................... 311 Appendix 3: Instructions received requiring the holding of a Parliamentary Election in Winchelsea ...................................................................................... 313 Appendix 4: 1835: Report of Commissioners investigating the circumstances of Winchelsea Corporation ................................................................................... 315 Indexes ...................................................................................................................... 323 vi Winchelsea Court Records 1765-1866 Introduction vii INTRODUCTION The documents transcribed here cover most of the final years of the legal jurisdiction exercised from medieval times by the Winchelsea Corporation. During the century they cover, the Mayor, Jurats and Commonalty of the Ancient Town of Winchelsea continued to exercise the local government and judicial responsibilities required of the town since medieval times as a Head Port of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports. These responsibilities extended not only within the Ancient Town itself but also throughout its Liberty. The Liberty was an adjoining area, roughly triangular in shape, with the town at its apex, stretching from the Kent border to a point a little inside the Parish of Pett. This included a sea boundary of between six and seven miles. Winchelsea had elected two members to the House of Commons since the time of Edward III. To these seats were originally returned leading town residents. Later they came under the influence of the Treasury, which promoted the election of those who would support the government of the day. Eventually Winchelsea’s seats were purchased by patrons who alone nominated the candidates who were then dutifully voted in by the very small electorate of freemen. It was not until Reform in 1832, by which time control had passed to the Duke of Cleveland, that Winchelsea lost its two members when the duke, a committed supporter of the Whig government, instructed them to vote for the abolition of their own seats. ‘Winchelsea Causes’ Many of the early documents here [1.2 – 1.10] describe contested votes for the appointment and removal of freemen and the election of Winchelsea’s Mayor. From this it is clear that in the 1760s two factions were vying for control of the corporation’s affairs. In essence these disputes involved who was and who was not on appointment legally entitled to the freedom of the Town and thus have the right to vote in parliamentary elections. In medieval times a man could claim the freedom by living in Winchelsea, paying the required taxes and engaging in an approved occupation for twelve months. Such claims were no longer permitted and appointments were usually made at the whim of those in control. However, it was still generally accepted that freemen had to be resident when elected. The first of the patrons was Arnold Nesbitt. He had in fact earlier been Winchelsea’s agent for the treasury, with responsibility for ensuring that Winchelsea’s members would support the government in power, but he acquired so much property tenanted by voting freemen that he was able to viii Winchelsea Court Records 1765-1866 wrest that control from the treasury and use it in his own interests. Nesbitt’s control was eventually sold to Richard Barwell. As the documents show, both these men ensured that their requirements were followed by taking an active part in the corporation’s proceedings. As a result of Arnold Nesbitt’s actions, disputes over the right to freedom of the Town were eventually submitted for a ruling to the Court of King’s Bench. There, hearing a case which became known as the Winchelsea Causes, Mr Justice Mansfield ruled that no such complaint could be justified where the complainant had long been a corporation member alongside the person of whom he complained. Unfortunately, Lord Mansfield then went on to make some inconsistent decisions about individuals so resentment festered and nothing was really sorted out. The relevance of all this to the records edited here is that the court books from which the records are taken were sent to London to be used in evidence. Following Lord Mansfield’s generally unsatisfactory and indecisive findings the books were put away in a London solicitors’ attic and only rediscovered there in 1952. Unfortunately, one which had covered the years 1734 to 1768, the key period in the case, was found to be missing. It has been possible, through the use of other sources in Winchelsea’s archive, to reach back as far as 1765 but basically this edition begins at the point where the gap in the records ends. Four courts The courts through which the Corporation’s responsibilities were exercised, all presided over by the Mayor who was ex-officio senior justice of the peace, and all sitting in Winchelsea’s Court Hall, were four in number. The Hundred met annually on Easter Monday for the appointment of the Mayor, the jurats, the Town Clerk, the chamberlain who was the treasurer, and all the more junior officials. The records of its sittings became standardised by 1770 [1.25] and, with minor variations and additions, appear each year thereafter. Crucially the Hundred was also the court which met for the election of members of parliament. The first example here is [1.23] where a deceased member was replaced. As in virtually all such cases, this was by unanimous vote of a limited electorate given their instructions by the patron. The Assembly met more regularly for occasional elections; for the appointment of freemen; for the auditing and approval of accounts submitted by the chamberlain; to administer the corporation’s land Introduction ix holdings and rental income; and to resolve problems associated with general administrative affairs. The Quarter Sessions dealt routinely with the appointment of the Grand Jury, comprised of those who were contemporarily described as ‘the upper class of tradespeople and such householders as are thought fit’ (see Appendix 4). This body reported to the magistrates matters which in its opinion needed to be put right. The nature and variety of these problems is made clear in the subject index. Most commonly these reports concerned the condition of roads and their obstruction, but many other complaints feature. On one occasion [1.246] the Grand Jury even had the effrontery to accuse the Justices of not taking sufficient action in response to their complaints. With effect from 1823 [2.40] the Quarter Sessions also regularly set the town rate, which was levied within the town and the liberty. The Quarter Sessions, of course, also heard criminal cases. The Court of Record fell out of use during the period covered here. It dealt with the sale and tenancy of land, disputes between individuals and with all aspects of property, particularly ownership. A number of cases in Part I, [for example 1.96-1.99], give details of allegations regarding unpaid debts. The very few property cases heard within the period of this study have not been included because the way in which they were recorded gives no indication of the identity of the property concerned. All four courts received professional guidance from the Town Clerk who was usually a Rye solicitor. His service was common to the four and so, at his appointment and sometimes elsewhere, he is referred to as the common clerk. The considerable complexity of Winchelsea Corporation’s circumstances meant that a large amount of work was required from the many people, both salaried and unpaid, who served Winchelsea Corporation. Officials and officers Numerous officials were required and, as already mentioned, the Easter Monday Hundred Court was the occasion on which most were appointed or elected. The word ‘elected’ might be considered misleading. After the disputes of the 1760s [1.2-12], mentioned above, there was little or no competition for such posts. x Winchelsea Court Records 1765-1866 The Mayor was either selected by his fellow senior freemen or, more often