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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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