County of Buckingham CALENDER to the SESSIONS RECORDS VOLUME II. 1694 to 1705 Edited by WILLIAM LE HARDY, M.C., F.S.A. GEOFFREY LI. RECKITT, M.C., M.A. AYLESBURY: PubliShed by Guy R. Crouch, LL.B., Clerk of the Peace, County Hall. 1936 COMPILED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE STANDING JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE QUARTER SESSIONS AND COUNTY COUNCIL. [All RightS ReServed] Printed by HUNT, BARNARD & CO., LTD., AYLESBURY. CONTENTS PAGE Preface . .vii Schedule of Offences and PuniShmentS . xxxiv Calendar to the SeSSions Records, 1694 to 1705 1-453 Appendix I. JusticeS of the Peace, 1694 to 1705 . 454-456 Appendix II. SHERIFFS, 1694 to 1705 . 456 Index . 457 PREFACE ThiS preSent volume, which embraceS a period from MidSummer, 1694, to Epiphany, 1704- 05, and formS Volume II of the Calendar to the SeSSionS RecordS of the County of Buckingham, iS a continuation of the firSt volume of the series, published in 1933. Although only forty-three SesSionS have been covered, as againSt Sixty-four SeSSionS in the previous volume, the three Quarter SeSSionS BookS which have been calendared—BookS 4, 5, and 6—contain more pages in the original than the first three BookS, and, Starting from Easter, 1700, fifteen bundleS of the Quarter SeSSions RollS have been incorporated. It is obvious that only a Small proportion of the original SeSSions RollS haS been preServed, and it will be seen that they have not alwayS been collected into bundleS in the correct chrono- logical order. In moSt caSeS, the Rolls only confirm or supplement the entries from the SesSionS BookS, but in certain instances they do introduce new matter. ExampleS of the former are the occupationS and reSidenceS of the jurymen, and thoSe summoned but not sworn, the full particularS of Sacrament CertificateS, and the nameS of witneSSeS to indictmentS; exampleS of the latter are writS addresSed to the Sheriff, CalendarS of the BridewellS, and certain Informations. The references to the Rolls are made in heavy type at the end of the entry concerned. We remarked in the preface to Volume I that the original SeSSions BookS were most fully and carefully kept, and the Same comment applies to the bookS from which thiS Calendar haS been compiled. However, by referring back some of the longer recurrent entries to Volume I, by a great deal of crosS-referencing, and by even more draStic standardization, it has been posSible to reduce the Size of thiS Calendar, in Spite of the extra material with which we have had to deal. ThiS reduction haS, of courSe, been effected ___________________________________ viii PREFACE without departing from the moSt neceSSary principle that some reference, however brief, muSt be made to every subject, person, or place which appearS in the original recordS. It will be noticed that the page numberS of the original bookS have been italicized in order to simplify croSS-reference and to avoid confuSion with the page numberS of the printed volume. For thiS idea we are indebted to the writer of a review of Volume I in one of the County newSpapers, whoSe scholarly and constructive criticisms were most welcome. With more Space at our diSpoSal in theSe CalendarS we Should have adopted several more of his valuable suggestions. The very completeneSS of thiS record of the proceedings of Quarter SeSSions makeS it appear moSt formidable and tediouS to read, with its long liSts of nameS and its SucceSSion of caSeS of minor importance. However, the index will direct the Student to any particular item in which he iS intereSted, and we will attempt in a short survey of the volume, to Show the ordinary reader how the Calendar, which at firSt appearS to be of merely local intereSt, connectS with contemporary EngliSh hiStory. In the firSt SeSSion we are brought up againSt the out- side world by a reference to the “warr againSt France” (page 11), and realize that the country waS Still apprehenSive of adherentS to the Stuart cauSe when Henry Munday, an innholder of AyleSbury, waS bound over to appear at the AsSizeS and answer a charge “concerning hiS drinking King JameS hiS health” (page 13). Although the reSult of thiS case would not appear in the records of Quarter Sessions, it is probable that it waS not proved against Munday, for he waS made keeper of AyleSbury Bridewell two yearS later (page 83). It may have been thiS case which upSet Charles Noy, a bodice-maker of AyleSbury, who had been a petty conStable of the pariSh at the time of Munday’S recognizance. Noy’S complaint, repeated at two Petty SeSSionS in 1696, waS that “there waS TreaSon againSt King William Sworne before two JuSticeS of the Peace and there waS no notice taken of it”; but, upon being aSked to name the two JusticeS, he would only Say, “I will not do it, for King William can have no JuStice here and I will go upp and acquaint the King and Councill with it.” He eventually did “go upp” to the King’S Bench, for he waS indicted for libelling William ___________________________________ PREFACE ix Busby and FranciS Ligo, two of the JusticeS, and hiS caSe waS removed by writ of certiorari (pageS 85, 91, 101). ThiS Same year, 1696, was marked by the diScovery of the “ASSaSSination Plot,” directed againSt William III, and by the formation of the ASSociation to protect the King’S life and the Protestant SuccesSion. The ASSociation was modelled upon one formed in 1585 to protect the life of Queen Elizabeth, and another Similar to it waS Started after the Rebellion of 1745. It began aS a reSolution of the HouSe of Commons, and waS later embodied into an Act of Parlia- ment (7 and 8 William III, c. 27), which made the Signing of it obligatory upon all office-holderS. Unfortunately, the first liSt of thoSe personS in the County who Signed the AsSociation iS not preServed, for the nameS were entered on the SeSSions RollS, which are no longer to be found for that date. The nameS of thoSe who Signed it later are given at each SesSion up to the King’S death, and include Samuel Lee of Upper Winchendon, “breadmaker to the King.” The text of the AsSociation iS given in full in the Calendar (pageS 90, 93, 174). The Clerk of the Peace was paid £5 for Sending out copieS of the AsSociation to the bailiffS of the various hundreds, and the bailiffS were paid £2 each for diStributing them amongSt “the Gentlemen and InhabitantS of thiS County.” ThomaS Read, bailiff of the AyleSbury Hundreds, waS alSo paid £1 “for hiS good Service to the Countrey in searching for Armes suspected to have bene Lodged or gotten into the CuStody of diSaffected perSons for the diS- turbance of the Government” (page 87). In 1696, Henry Lloyd, or Floyd, of Dorney, gentleman, waS fined £2 for refuSing to take the statutory oaths (page 82), and two yearS later a warrant was iSSued for hiS arrest on a charge “of haveing uttered TreaSonable wordS againSt the perSon of hiS most Sacred MajeStie King William the Third, and [being] a perSon diSaffected to the Government as now establiShed, and of wicked and dangerouS principles.” It waS Stated at the time that he “privily lurkS and hideS himSelf in diverS obscure placeS,” and nothing more waS heard of the matter except the eStreating of hiS recognizance to appear on another charge (pageS 167, 171). At the end of the war of the Grand Alliance, in 1697, the JuSticeS and the Grand Jury Sent a moSt fulSome addreSS to the King, which “waS moSt cheerfully Signed by them all.” ___________________________________ x PREFACE The addreSS began by referring to the “infinite dangerS to which your Sacred perSon So often hath been exposed” and by expreSSing the “joy for your Safety and the bleSSing of an honorable peace, which we hope your MajeStie may long enjoy with uS and never more hazard your Royall perSon abroad.” It continued with an artlesS reference to William’S perSonal unpopularity with many in the country, by suggesting that his military triumphS, coupled with hiS “wiSe conduct” in reScuing England from “Popery and Arbitrary power,” Should “melt the most ungratefull of your people to a willing obedience and render your MajeStie no leSS a Conqueror at home then you have appeared abroad.” A crescendo of flattery waS attained when the addreSS Stated “that in all future AgeS CronicleS will worthily Characterize you to be The true defender of the faith, The deliverer of oppreSSed Nations, and the Redeemer and ASSerter of the Common LibertieS of Europe” (page 157). The King himSelf, in a proclamation at Easter, 1698, referred to the end of the “long bloudy and expenSive war” and to “the ConcluSion of an Honorable peace” (page 169). ThiS peace, that of RySwyck in September, 1697, laSted only five years, for the War of the SpaniSh SuccesSion began in May, 1702, two monthS after the King’S death. In fact, England was at war with France during more than half of the years dealt with by thiS Calendar. Upon the acceSSion of Queen Anne, office-holderS were again required to take an oath, thiS time abjuring any allegiance to “the perSon . pretending to be and taking upon himSelf the stile and title of King of England, by the name of JameS the Third.” LiStS of perSonS taking the oath of abjuration contained in 1 Anne, c. 22, are given each SesSion, including thoSe of about 340 perSonS who Signed at MidSummer, 1702. ThiS SeSSion waS adjourned from AyleSbury to High Wycombe, CheSham, Newport Pagnell and Buckingham on successive days, for the sake of personS who “by reaSon of theire greate age and other infirmityeS” could not attend the Session at Aylesbury (pages 330-334, 339).