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Town Courts in Early Modern England and Wales
Town Courts in Early Modern England and Wales
Robert C. Palmer
The central court records of England are a primary source for the activities of town courts. Although worthless for statistical treatment of what an
individual court handled, actions of error in king's bench and actions for perjury in either common pleas or king's bench retail the process of individual
cases over multiple sessions of a local court in complete detail. They also show the kind of regulation under which town courts operated, that is, the
degree to which, despite assertions of local customs and privileges, the courts were actually ruled by the common law overseen by the king's central
courts.
The cases are not actually numerous, but neither are they rare. This site will gather together actions retailing the activity of town courts and the
central oversight of town courts from various times. For a reasonable number of towns, cases survive at various times, some of them for towns for which
records have not otherwise survived. The aim is an assessment of town court records and operations at various times and about how those
operations changed over time, but particularly about the degree to which the town courts became integrated into the common law.
Beginning in the middle of the fourteenth century, the "courts of record" (primarily borough courts but also some manors) became part of the common law
system. They were subject to the "law of the land" through the writ of error and handled the same range and variety of cases as did the court of common pleas at Westminster.
The writ of error, despite the occasional use for other central courts, regularly handled complaints about judgments only in the court of common pleas and in these courts
of record. Local custom, regularly cited in these courts of record, normally applied to times and place of meeting and selection of officers. Otherwise, the citation of
local custom normally identified practices identical to those of the court of common pleas. The writ of error imposed central courts standards in regard to process,
enrollment (insofar as it determined the identification of discontinuances), and substantive law. Deviation from central court standards (what naturally would be regarded
as "local custom") had to be clearly identified and defended; not much of that kind of local custom appears in these records. Just as early modern governance distributed
courts of equity across the country and thus increased both access and control, the common law through the integration of the courts of record distributed the common law throughout
the realm. The effect was even greater than might at first be supposed, because the jurisdiction of these courts of record was not determined by residence, but by the
location of the making of the contract or the infliction of the injury: local courts of record could and often did handle disputes between non-residents. The records of the
various courts of record simply did not vary much, except early on in Wales and in the manor courts that were also courts of record. Most courts could have derived their
enrollment styles from a common manual, altered only to provide for the times of meeting and variety of officials.
If that conclusion is true and the central courts integrated the local courts of record into a national common law system, then the expansion of local attorneys into a common
pleas practice in the second half of the sixteenth century is all the more plausible. Local attorneys would already have been familiar with the forms and procedures of the
common law. The primary impediments to local attorneys adding central court cases would have been familiarization with the offices at Westminster, the rigors of travel, and
the interplay (which would have been optional for any given attorney) of common law and equity.
Likewise, the localization of the common law and the consequent great expansion in the number of people administering it and thus becoming familiar with its requirements provides
a nice explanation of the prominence that the "law of the land" gained in early modern English thought.
County courts (Welsh and English) appear at the bottom of this page
Links to cases of the same town at a similar date are often included at the end of the pages linked here
Bedfordshire
Bedford
1417: assize of novel disseisin
1639: debt
Berkshire
Abingdon
1607: indebitatus assumpsit
Maidenhead
1607: debt
Newbury
1641: debt
Reading
1571: indebitatus assumpsit
1640: defamation
Windsor
1467: detinue
1549: debt
1637: trespass
Bristol
Bristol
1350: fresh force
1367: covenant
1390: fresh force
1392: debt on an obligation
1397: repair
1411: debt on a conditional obligation
1417: debt on an accounting
1442: trespass
1451: debt
1463: debt
1477: debt
1494: trespass and deceit
1538: debt on an obligation (arbitration performance bond); law merchant; pie powder court; customary procedure; certiorari; correction of
defective record
1555: debt
1561: debt
1571: debt on a contract; discordance between date and day of week; divergence between the spelling of jurors' names in panel and jury listing
1607: debt; process against non-residents; treatment of goods attached
Buckinghamshire
Buckingham
1606: trespass on the case
Calais
Calais
1373: entry cui in vita
1414: novel disseisin
1547: withernam
Cambridgeshire
Cambridge
1384: trespass taking of goods, loss of service; record by accedas ad curiam
1465: debt
1541: debt on an obligation, habeas corpus
1555: trespass breach of close
1571: indebitatus assumpsit; local ordinance, proper jury process
1607: debt; leaseholds; correction of defective record
1639: assumpsit
Isle of Ely
1638: trespass breach of close
Cornwall
Connerton manor
1610: debt
Helston
1609: debt
Launceston
1551: defamation; six person jury
Liskeard
1638: trespass on the case
Padstow
1381: trespass taking of goods and chattels, loss of service
Penryn
1607: debt on a contract and on an accounting; spare record; rapid process
1638: account
Saltash
1642: debt
Tregoney Pomery manor
1570: debt
1607: trespass on the case (defamation); six-person jury
Trematon Castle manor
1557: trespass on the case
1571: debt; proper civil procedure; jury adherence to issue; bills of exception in local courts
Cumberland
Carlisle
1570: debt
Derbyshire
Derby
1561: trespass breach of close
1566: defamation
1608: debt on an obligation (performance bond for delivery of lead)
1637: trespass on the case
Devon
Barnstaple
1556: indebitatus assumpsit
1569: debt
1607: debt on a contract; re-pleading
1642: indebitatus assumspit
Bideford
1608: indebitatus assumpsit
Dartmouth
1391: writ of right in the form of formedon in the descender
1401: trespass assault
1497: debt
1538: debt on a contract; English pleading without attorneys; court-managed arbitration; discontinuance; common law standards about amercements
1550: debt
1640: debt
Exeter
1399: fresh force
1411: writ of right
1436: trespass
1493: replevin
1509: debt
1550: covenant
1551: covenant
1573: debt
1637: debt on an obligation
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
1639a: trespass on the case
1639b: indebitatus assumpsit
Lidford
1609: debt
Plymouth
1511: debt on an obligation
1572: debt
1640: debt
South Molton
1638: debt
Tavistock
1559: trespass assault
Totnes
1552: debt qui tam
1571: debt on a bill; local court paper pleading; certiorari; authority of the court; specification of presiding officers
Dorset
Bridport
1640: debt
Lyme Regis
1606: indebitatus assumpsit
Poole
1573: debt
Shaftesbury
1607: indebitatus assumpsit; allocation of damages
Weymouth Melcombe Regis
1641: indebitatus assumpsit
Essex
Colchester
1407: trespass breach of close
1432: trespass breach of close
1440: trespass on the case
1466: debt on an obligation
1475: debt
1482: debt
1560: indebitatus assumpsit
1608: conversion sur trover, habeas corpus
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
Havering atte Bower
1493: debt
1572: debt
Maldon
1560: indebitatus assumpsit
Thaxstead
1560: debt on an obligation
Glamorgan
Cardiff
1537: "covenant"; process in Wales, authority of court, six-person jury
Gloucestershire
Gloucester
1398: novel disseisin by claim of court
1454: assumpsit
1461: trespass assault and goods taken
1479: trespass assault and goods taken
1486: debt
1551: trespass on the case
1569: debt
Slaughter hundred
1636: trespass assault and false imprisonment
St. Briavel
1573: covenant
Tewksbury
1640: trespass on the case
Hampshire
Southampton
1386: right
1397: goods seized during litigation
1399: covenant
1449: cessavit per biennium by writ of right
1458: trespass
1489: debt
1508: debt on a contract
1538: debt in pie powder court; procedure for defaulting merchant, assigned errors of extreme specificity
1573: debt
Winchester
1368: debt
1404: debt
1467: debt
1478
1556: trespass on the case
1560: debt
1571: debt in the Cheyney court; central court interruption of local courts by multiple certiorari; liability of mainpernors
1640: trespass on the case in the Cheyney court
Herefordshire
Hereford
1448: trespass
1456: trespass taking of goods
1465: trespass taking of goods
1478: maintenance
1513: covenant
1537: covenant on an oral agreement to pay under local custom, pie powder court,
1554: covenant
1574: trespass assault
1607: account; whether common law or special custom determines initial process in account
Leominster
1407: assize of novel disseisin by claim of court
1426: assize of novel disseisin by claim of court
1536: debt; spare record; wager of law; authority of court
Hertfordshire
Berkhamstead
1641: indebitatus assumspit
Hertford
1608: debt
Royston
1573: debt
St. Albans
1572: trespass on the case
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdon
1573: debt on an obligation
1608: trespass on the case; appropriate initial process
Ramsey
1369: novel disseisin (by attaint)
Kent
Canterbury
1306: fresh force
1321: fresh force
1391: trespass assault
1398: trespass
1404: debt by attaint
1416: debt
1427: debt
1437: debt on a contract (by attaint)
1439: trespass by false judgment on case in Canterbury Palace
1457: trespass false imprisonment
1459: qui tam maintenance
1479
1560: debt on an obligation
1571: trespass on the case; pie powder court; pleading forms; process on Bill of Middlesex
1639 (High Court): dower; 1639: indebitatus assumpsit; 1639b: conversion sur trover; 1639c (High Court): indebitatus assumpsit
Maidstone
1606: assumpsit on marriage agreement
Rochester
1466: trespass on the case
1477: debt
1552: debt
1608: debt; loans of a minor's money by parent, special verdict
Wye manor
1405: entry cui in vita by claim of court
1608: replevin, paper pleading, usury statute
1638: indebitatus assumspit
Leicestershire
Leicester
1571: debt on a marriage negotiation, town court jurisdiction, habeas corpus cum causa; central court litigation interrupted town court litigation
1640: indebitatus assumpsit
Lincolnshire
Boston
1571: covenant; appropriate first stage of process; form of judgment
Lincoln
1370: debt
1378: trespass breach of close, taking of goods and chattels
1389: debt; 1390: fresh force
1403: covenant
1446: indebitatus assumpsit
1456: fresh force
1462: trespass taking of goods and chattels
1478: account
1496: trespass assault, taking of goods, false imprisonment
1552: indebitatus assumpsit ("debt")
1607: defamation; expedited civil procedure; sworn evidence in city court
Lincoln Cathedral
1430: trespass
London
1325: replevin
[Not cases of error
1339: execution of a will
1639 1639a]
Tower of London
1450
Middlesex
[Middlesex county court
1459: replevin by recordari facias]
St. Katherine by the Tower
1571: conversion sur trover
Monmouthshire
Abergavenny
1541: debt; six-person jury
1551: debt
1571: debt
1639, 1639a: indebitatus assumpsit for medical care
Caerleon
1570: conversion sur bailment
Chepstow
1556: debt
1572: debt
Monmouth
1549: debt
Newport
1608: debt
1640: debt
Usk
1607: trespass on the case; six-person jury; necessity for consideration to be pleaded
Norfolk
Castle Rising
1607: debt on an obligation; appropriate initial process in debt; flexibility in process
Great Yarmouth
1363: fresh force
1371: trespass
1397: account
1454: debt
1493: debt
1511: debt on an accounting
1571: trespass on the case (defamation); defamation justification
1638: debt
King's Lynn
1448: trespass assault
1460: debt
1465: debt on a contract
1478
1540: debt on a contract; authority of court
1571: debt on a qui tam statute information
1638: debt on an obligation
Norwich
1405: covenant
1437: fresh force
1447: fresh force
1456: debt on an obligation
1465: debt
1474: debt
1483: debt
1496: debt
1504: debt on an obligation
1509: trespass breach of close
1538: conversion; form for proper enrollment of procedure
1551: trespass on the case
1571: debt; writs of habeas corpus cum causa from exchequer, common pleas, and king's bench; mainpernors
1607: indebitatus assumpsit; mainpernors; multiple actions for same subject matter
1639: debt
Norwich Cathdral Piepowder court
1447: debt on an obligation
Thetford
1570: indebitatus assumpsit
1638: trespass on the case
Northamptonshire
Daventry
1607: trespass on the case
1639: debt on a contract
Higham Ferrers
1557: trespass
Northampton
1388: assize of novel disseisin on claim of court
1389: assize of novel disseisin on claim of court (by attaint)
1538: debt on a contract; supplementary record from the court for an attorney warrant
1550: covenant
1571: ejectment; adherence to central court pleading conventions
1639: defamation; 1639a: indebitatus assumpsit
Northumberland
Newcastle Upon Tyne
1367: fresh force
1444: debt on an accounting
1494: debt
1637: debt on a contract; 1638: conversion sur trover
Nottinghamshire
Honor of Peverel at Nottingham Castle
1638: indebitatus assumpsit
Nottingham
1396: trespass asssault
1548: debt on an obligation
1561: debt
Oxfordshire
Banbury
1607: trespass on the case for payment from an executor; sufficiency of consideration
Oxford
1327: writ of right; concord
1339: fresh force
1361: novel disseisin by writ of right
1369: novel disseisin (by certiorari)
1375: assize of novel disseisin by writ of right
1382: fresh force
1395: fresh force by writ of right
1406: debt (University jurisdiction)
1415: debt on an obligation
1427: assize of novel disseisin by claim of court
1539: debt on a contract; arbitration award; two interruptions by certiorari
1560: detinue
1574: defamation
Wallingford
1555: debt
New Woodstock
1571: debt on an obligation
1608: debt on an obligation; authority of the court; discontinuance; paper pleading
Shropshire
Bishops Castle
1607: defamation
1640: conversion sur trover
Clun
1640: trespass on the case
Bridgnorth
1537: debt on a contract for rent on land; fairly informal record; full schedule of costs
1549: debt on a contract
1571: debt on a contract; incomplete damage award; discontinuance
1607: debt on successive contracts; precision in dating and naming
1638: indebitatus assumpsit
Ludlow
1549: debt on an obligation
1571: replevin; role of seneschal/recorder, certiorari
1638: trespass assault
Much Wenlock
1512: trespass assault
1552: debt
1638: conversion sur trover
Oswestry
1606: debt
Shrewsbury
1382: novel disseisin by claim of court
1390: debt by justicies writ and claim of court, correction of record
1407: novel disseisin by claim of court (by attaint)
1482: trespass breach of close and abduction of female servant
1509: entry sur disseisin/common recovery
1537: trespass; careful adherence to logical pleading forms
1553: indebitatus assumpsit
1559: debt on an obligation
1571: debt; adherence to pleading forms; debts of ancestors
1608: trespass on the case; liability of serjeant at mace to plaintiff for not executing process
1639: debt
Somerset
Bath
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
Bridgwater
1344: fresh force (by certiorari)
1561: defamation
1573: debt
1641: debt
Glastonbury
1382: waste by claim of court
Pensford (Honor of Gloucester)
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
Yeovil
1571: debt; appropriate first stage of process; necessity of specialty for rent from a leasehold
1639: debt
Staffordshire
Burton on Trent
1609: debt
Lichfield
1554: debt
1558: debt on an obligation
1572: debt
Stafford
1639: debt on an obligation
Tamworth
1639: defamation
Suffolk
Bury St. Edmunds
1403: debt
1440: debt by certiorari and error
1608: debt on a lease; jurisdiction established by place of transaction not by location of land concerned
1638: trespass on the case
Dunwich
1555: debt
Eye
1536: indebitatus assumpsit; allocation of damages, application of the common law
1571: defamation
1607: trespass on the case for medical care and boarding; appropriate first stage of process
1640: trespass on the case
Hadleigh
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
Ipswich
1448: debt
1459: debt on an obligation
1464: debt
1480: debt
1539: debt; allowance of delay after joinder of issue
1551: debt
1561: indebitatus assumpsit
1574: trespass on the case
1607: debt on an obligation; testator's personal debt to executor; mainpernors; procedure against non-residents; verdict in the alternative
1638
1639
Southwold
1556: debt
1638: indebitatus assumpsit
Surrey
Guildford
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
Kingston upon Thames
1512: debt
1552: trespass on the case
1641: debt
Southwark liberty
1639: indebitatus assumpsit; 1639a: debt
Southwark manor
1639: defamation
Sussex
Battle
1354: novel disseisin by claim of court
1466: debt by claim of court
Chichester
1539: debt on an obligation; oral condition relied upon by one unlettered; law French; deficient lower court record
1552: detinue
1571: debt
Warwickshire
Coventry
1352: novel disseisin by claim of court
1354: debt on a contract
1365: debt by claim of court
1367: novel disseisin (by attaint)
1376: novel disseisin (by attaint)
1402: novel disseisin by claim of court
1431: debt
1438: novel disseisin by claim of court
1450: trespass
1463: debt
1539: "deceit on the case"; enforcement of common law categories and pleading rules
1550: conversion sur trover
1607: trespass vi et armis; difference between trespass vi et armis and
trespass on the case; civil procedure (necessity of process before the capias);
habeas corpus
Sutton Coldfield manor
1571: replevin
Stratford upon Avon
1570: debt [John Shakespeare presiding]
Tamworth (see Staffordshire)
Warwick
1571: trespass on the case
Westmorland
Kirkby Kendal
1636: debt on a contract
1637: trespass assault
1640: debt
Wiltshire
Salisbury
1385: assize of novel disseisin
1399: assize of novel disseisin by claim of court
1401: assize of novel disseisin by claim of court
1408: assize of novel disseisin by claim of court
1465: debt on an obligation
1508: debt
1540: indebitatus assumpsit; wills; "supervisor" of a will;
jury foreman; local venire facias text
1560: debt on an obligation
1508: debt
1571: debt, undefended recovery, specification of name of presiding officer
1637: debt
Wilton
1539: debt on a contract against executors; process on a demurrer; authority for the court
Worcestershire
Bewdley
1610: debt
Evesham
1607: ejectment; certiorari
Worcester
1462: trespass assault, taking of goods and chattels
1494: debt
1540: debt on a contract
1549: debt
1561: debt
1571: debt on an obligation; a performance bond for an arbitration; the writ habeas corpus cum causa; commissions from the
Council for the Marches of Wales to facilitate an arbitration
Yorkshire
Beverley
1376: fresh force (by certiorari, not error)
1571: debt, authority of the court, habeas corpus cum causa
1641: debt
Doncaster
1554: debt
1641: trespass breach of close
Kingston upon Hull
1397: fresh force
1482
1538: trespass, process for summoning a jury
1552: detinue
1560: covenant
1607: debt on an obligation (a hold-harmless performance bond); affirmation of record and judgment; mainpernors; dealing with non-residents
Pontefract
1508: fresh force
1572: debt
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
Ripon
1539: debt on an accounting; authority of the court, discontinuance
1556: debt
1634: debt
Scarborough
1462: fresh force
1641: debt
York
1345: debt
1374: trespass
1380: trespass breach of close, taking of goods and chattels (by certiorari)
1409: fresh force
1437: debt on an obligation
1455: debt on an accounting
1475: deceit
1564: debt qui tam
1607: debt on a contract
1638: debt on an obligation
1639: indebitatus assumpsit
Anglesey
Anglesey county great session
1571: writ of right
1639: ejectment
Caernarvonshire
Caernarvonshire county great session of 1531
1571: Common recovery; error brought 40 years after judgment rendered
Cardigan
Cardigan county great session of 1639
1639: formedon in the remainder
Carmarthen
Carmarthen county great session
1570: formedon in the descender
1608: ejectment; suit for a river
Flint
Flint county great session
1551: quare impedit
1640: writ of right
Glamorgan
Glamorgan county great session of 1638
1638: quare impedit
Pembrokeshire
Pembroke county great session of 1639
1639: writ of right