Finances and Government of Canterbury: Eighteenth-to mid nineteenth-century Canterbury Courts of Justice

FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY EIGHTEENTH- TO MID NINETEENTH-CENTURY CANTERBURY COURTS OF JUSTICE F.H. PANTON INTRODUCTION The extant royal chapters, particularly that of James I (1609), from which the government of the City and the County of the City of Canterbury derived its authority, and which operated throughout the eighteenth century and up to 1835, gave Canterbury County its own Commission of the Peace, separate from the County of Kent. Magistrates for Canterbury were specified by charter as the Mayor for the time being and those Aldermen who had fulfilled the office of the Mayor. They were assisted in all legal matters by a Recorder, a man learned in law, appointed by the Burghmote. Not all the twelve Aldermen would necessarily at any one time have held the office of Mayor, so that for most of the time justice in Canterbury was in the hands of the Mayor, the Recorder and about half a dozen Magistrates. The senior court in Canterbury was the court of Quarter Sessions, under the Chairmanship of the Mayor, with at least two other Magistrates plus the Recorder sitting with him. In addition to various matters concerned with the administration of local affairs, Quarter Sessions had powers of jurisdiction which included judging murder cases and those offences of felony which could receive the death penalty. Between sessions, Magistrates met monthly under the Mayor's chairmanship, in Petty Sessions, to deal mainly with administrative matters and with some misdemeanours. The Mayor also held a fortnightly Court of Record, in which pleas of Trespass were heard from Citizens. Then, from 1752 onwards, a Court of recovery of Small Debts was appointed yearly, with the Mayor as chairman and the Recorder as a permanent member, and other members drawn from Aldermen, Councillors and citizens. 291 F.H. PANTON Some account of the operation of each of these Courts is given below. QUARTER SESSIONS Composition Canterbury Sessions were supported by a Clerk of the Peace, who generally also held the office of Town Clerk for the City, and that of Coroner for the County of the City. He might also at the same time be Clerk to the Court of Guardians. A Grand Jury of between 12 and 23 citizens (mostly about 15) was appointed and sworn in for each session, and in attendance were the Constables and Borsholders for each of Canterbury's six wards and of St. Martin's Parish. Also present were the City Sheriff, the Keeper of the Goal, the Master of the Bridewell (or House of Correction, who would also be the Master of the Workhouse) and four Sergeants at Mace. Altogether, Canterbury sessions assembled between 40 and 50 people with official roles of one type or another, in addition to prosecutors and those indicted. Each year, the Chairman of the session changed as the Mayor changed. The constant and guiding force year by year was the Recorder, whose appointment could last until retirement or death.1 FREQUENCY AND SCOPE For most of the eighteenth century from 1727 onwards, sessions were held only three times a year, generally in December, March/April, and August/September, though, when necessary, sessions were adjourned to resume a week or two later. In the early years of the nineteenth century, they were down to two a year, but, from 1826 onwards, by recorded decision of the Court, they were held regularly four times a year, in January, April, July and October. After the replacement in 1836 of the old Burghmote by a newly elected Council under the reforms of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, the 1 For instance, J. Knovvler was Recorder for 30 years from September 1733 to 7 July 1763 when he died aged 66. Alderman were of course elected for life, and after becoming JP's would, through long service, have gained considerable experience in dispensing justice. Alderman Gray, for example, was Mayor in 1748 and continued as Alderman and Magistrate until 1783. He would not, however have necessarily attended every' session as was the Recorder's duty. 292 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY Chairman of the Sessions of 4th January and 7th April, 1836 was the newly elected Mayor, supported by three Aldermen ex-mayors and the Recorder. For the session of 27th June, 1836, the Recorder sat unsupported by magistrates, but with a Grand Jury. Records of sessions from then until at least 1842 show that the Recorder continued to sit alone. By Charter of William IV of 1836, Canterbury had been regranted the privilege of its own Quarter Sessions, which the Corporations Act had swept away.2 The purview of the Sessions covered the complete range of misdemeanours and crimes, such as felony, burglary, robbery, stealing on the King's Highway, assault, sex crimes, murder and manslaughter, forgery and false pretences, disturbances of the peace. In addition, a whole range of administrative matters concerned with local government were dealt with. The operation of the Poor Laws, including Bastardy and Settlement, was of major concern. Before the establishment of the Pavement Commissioners in 1787, the Magistrates authorized the imposition and collection of rates for the upkeep of highways, and for the provision of lamps, in the City. They imposed fines for nuisances and misdemeanours presented to them principally by Constables and Borsholders of the wards, and they were not averse to imposing fines on minor officials of the City for dereliction of duty. They dealt with rating disputes, offences connected with weights and measures, they were the authority with the power to dissolve indentures of apprentices, and they licensed theatre performances and religious premises (other than C. of E.). They also had a concern for the regulation of corn prices and for the control of livestock epidemics. POOR LAW CASES A considerable amount, perhaps the major part, of each Session's business consisted of bastardy and settlement cases, reported in the records fully and in stylized form. Bastardy cases were generally brought by churchwardens and overseers of the parish concerned, supported by the Canterbury Guardians of the Poor, to establish parentage and compel the father to reimburse the Guardians for the cost of lying-in and to obtain weekly payments for the support of the 2 A complete run of notebooks of Canterbury Sessions from 1726 to 1842 is available in Canterbury Cathedral Library, under reference CC JQO 18,19,20,21 and 22 and the information in these paragraphs is drawn from those records. 293 F.H. PANTON child. Settlement cases mainly consisted of appeals by alien parishes against actions by Canterbury parishes to transfer paupers out of Canterbury. Appeals were mainly, therefore, attempts to quash in the Canterbury Sessions orders for removal of paupers out of Canterbury made originally by Canterbury justices. More often than not, the sessions produced judgements setting aside orders by two of their own justices, awarding costs, which could amount of several pounds, against Canterbury parishes. Appeals against Poor Law rate valuations were quite rare, presumably made only when recourse to the Guardians or Petty Sessions had failed. They generally resulted in the upholding of the Guardians valuations. A notable appeal was made in 1767, by the Parish Clergymen of Canterbury, acting separately, but at the same time. In these cases the combined influence of the incumbents of Canterbury obtained significant decreases. Consideration of the appeals, however, extended over two adjournments, with a month between the first discussion and the verdict, no doubt allowing for private discussion to produce an acceptable result.3 CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Crime, its Incidence and Consequences Canterbury was one of those County Boroughs whose Royal Charters gave its Magistrates in Quarter Session the authority to try and punish all manner of offences, including murder and those felonies for which the death penalty could be inflicted. Until 1836,4 Canterbury Sessions fully exercised such authority, and in addition to the death penalty had at their discretion a full range of sanctions, including fining, detention in the House of Correction (Bridewell), branding (burning on the hand), goal with or without hard labour, whipping in varying 3 CC JQO 19.24 Sept., 25 Sept., and 30 Oct., 1767. Rev Dr. Duncombe of St. Andrew's and St Mary Bredin had his valuations reduced from £32 to £25, and from £88 to £75; Rev. Mr Hearne of St Alphage and St Mary Northgate, reduced from £46 to £37 10s. and from £30 to £29 5s.; Rev. Mr Decaufor of St Mildred and All Saints from £67 to £55 10s. and from £30 to £27; Rev. Mr Ayerst of St Peter's and Holy Cross from £40 to £26 5s. and from £10 to £6 5s.; Rev. Mr Leigh of St Margaret's and St Mary Bredin from £60 to £45 and from £10 to £5 5s.; Rev. Mr Gregory of St George the Martyr and St Mary Magdelene from £62 to £55 10s. and from £40 to £35 15s.; Rev Mr Anson of St Paul's and St Martin's from £17 to £8 15s. 4 In 1836 Canterbury's Royal Charters were set aside by the Municipal Corporation Act of 1835, and a new Council was elected to replace the Burghmote. 294 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY degrees of severity, transportation for 7 to 14s years and putting in the stocks or pillory. From a study of the notebooks of the Canterbury Sessions from 1727 to 1846, information relating to the number of criminal cases tried and convicted in the sessions year by year has been extracted. From this, it is clear that the number of cases tried yearly in the years 1726 to 1790 reached double figures only once (in 1785), and that for most years during that period the number was less than half a dozen - in some years, apparently, zero. Few cases brought to trial in those years were found not guilty or dismissed. Beyond a broad description of the crime, such, as 'Felony', 'Petit Larceny', 'Grand Larceny', its nature is seldom detailed in the note books. Nor is information such as age or standing (employment) of the accused normally noted. From his work on crime and the Courts in England and particularly in Surrey County, J.M.Beattie6 has demonstrated some correlation in the eighteenth century between the number of indictments of crimes against property, and the years of poor harvest and of war and peace. Fluctuations within the small numbers tried in Canterbury in the years 1727-1790, and the paucity of information about the nature of the crime and the age and standing of the accused, do not allow such a correlation to be attempted. All that can be noted for these years in Canterbury is that a modest overall increase in crime took place. The years from 1790 to 1810, however, show a distinct increase in crimes tried, sometimes approaching 20 cases a year. From 1810 to 1818, there is a trough, but in years from 1818 to 1846 the rate increases considerably, reaching peaks of 38 in 1824, 44 in 1837, and 54 in 1844. At the same time, it must be observed that the number of cases found 'Not Guilty' or dismissed for other reasons, were high in those years, amounting in some years to over 50 per cent of those brought to trial. The rise in the number of convictions in the years 1818-1846 compared with the years 1720-1790 is, therefore, not as great as the comparison between cases tried, but the increase is still striking. In 1718, the Transportation Act established Transportation to American colonies as a punishment. 6 J.M.Beattie, 'Crime and the Courts in England 1660-1800', Clarendon Press 1986; 'Crime and the Courts in Surrey 1736 - 1753', In (Ed.) J.S. Cockburn, Crime in England 1550-1800, Methuen 1977. The general thesis was that with the full employment of war years a downturn in crime might be expected, with increase in the years immediately after the war, or in times of bad harvest. Beattie finds troughs in the years 1739-48, 1756-62, 1776-82, and 1795-1815. 295 F.H. PANTON Information on the average yearly prices of a quarter of wheat against time for the years 1720 to 1850- is available in Stratton and Houghton Brown's book of 1978.7 From this it can be seen that between the years 1727 to 1790 the price of wheat rises and falls within narrow limits around an average of 40-45 shillings but the years 1790 to 1810 show significant rises up to 120 shillings, the incidence broadly matching the rise in crime for these years, though the peak years for wheat prices do not tally exactly with the peak years for crime. Events in Canterbury during the near famine and high price years of 1795/6 and 1800/1 are worthy of closer study. The years 1795/6 were particularly severe for food prices in the Canterbury area, as evidenced by contemporary sources.8 Early in 1795, a severe frost and a great snow were experienced, with temperatures of two degrees below zero in January. There was a great dearth of provisions and wheat sold in Maidstone at £5 5s. to £6 10s. a quarter (higher than the average of £4 16s. given by Stratton for that year.) The severe frost and heavy snow deprived many of outside employment, and that, combined with a rise in the price of basic foodstuffs, caused suffering among the industrious poor. Nevertheless, indicted crimes at Sessions in Canterbury apparently were no higher than 12 that year and considerably less than 12 for the years 1794 and 1796. But the City Authorities, the Dean and Chapter, and the better off citizens made attempts to alleviate the hardships of the poor. A subscription fund was raised by the Mayor and Corporation, with the Dean and Chapter, and the £500 raised was sufficient to relieve 2500 men, women and children with tickets, for bread and flour for four weeks. A further fund of £191 was raised in July, and used to distribute standard wheaten loaf at a price substantially below the high prices determined at the assize of bread.9 Additionally, the Magistrates, following the lead of His Majesty's Privy Council decided that they and their families would set an example to the general populace by eating only standard wheaten bread, made from flour containing the whole produce of the grain (excluding bran or hull). They urged citizens to do likewise, and they also requested bakers only to produce standard wheaten loaves, all this in an effort to make the supply of flour go further and to decrease 7 Agriculture Records A.D. 220-1977. J.M.Stratten and Jack Houghton Brown, edited by Ralph Whitlock, pub. John Baker, 2nd edn., 1978. 8 J. Vidian, Kentish Chronologer and Index, Maidstone 1807,98. 9 Simmons, Kirkby and Jones, Kentish Register, vol. Ill, 274, Canterbury 1795. 296 FINANCES AND GOVERNMENT OF CANTERBURY the price of bread. By the end of August, the new harvest was in, and the price of flour and bread decreased and the Magistrates accordingly felt able to revoke their previous orders. The crisis appears then to have been over, and without rioting or undue disturbance of the civilian populace. One potentially serious incident, of soldiers forcing retailers to sell provisions below the going rate was contained by the Mayor, his fellow Justices, and a contingent of City Volunteers, with the assistance of the Army Commander in Chief of Kent District. Similar actions were taken to assist the poor in the food and price crisis in 1800-1801. Again, a soup committee, headed by the Dean and Chapter with the Mayor and Corporation raised over £500 to supply soup daily to 1000 persons a day for 9 weeks (March to May); a total of 70,000 pints was distributed. When at the end of the year the price of flour and bread rose again sharply, the soup establishment was reconstituted with further donations totalling nearly £600. Soup and cheap potatoes were supplied to the poor daily from January to March 1801 when a second round of donations of £270 extended the effort for a further few weeks. In addition, Alderman Simmons, through his Abbotts Mill, sold flour by the gallon for cash prices at Is. 6