The Origins and Early History of the Keeper of the Peace

Alan Harding

doi:10.2307/3678775

The Origins and Early History of the Keeper of the Peace

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009

Alan Harding

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The office of the justice of the peace developed during the fourteenth century from that of the keeper of the peace who held inquests and received presentments, and the process has been traced in great detail by Professor Putnam. In 1925, Professor Cam assigned some records of a keeper's inquests to 1277 and so carried the beginnings of the earlier office well back into the thirteenth century. Custodes pacis of a still earlier period Professor Cam dismissed as ‘extraordinary’ keepers, ‘whose existence is explained by the special conditions arising out of the struggle between the king and the baronial party’. But these earlier keepers are not confined to the period of civil war; a survey of them is necessary to the history of the justice of the peace, and it is this which the present paper attempts to provide. Lambard's description of these early keepers is useful as a starting-point:

The Sheriffs I call ordinary Conservators of the Peace, because their authority was then ordinary, always one, and the same well enough knowen: But the extraordinary Conservator, as he was endowed with an higher power, so was he not ordinarily appointed, but in times of great trouble only, much like as the Lieutenants of shires are now in our days. And he had charge to defend the coasts and country, both from foreign and inward enemies, and might command the sheriff and all the shire to aid and assist him.

The earliest keepers supplemented the sheriffs in the policing of the countryside, especially in times of crisis and during the threat of invasion; and these ‘great troubles’ were frequent enough to make the keeper an increasingly permanent official.

Type: Research Article
Information: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 10 , December 1960 , pp. 85 - 109

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3678775 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1960

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References

^{page 85 note 1} Putnam, Bertha H., Proceedings before the Justices of the Peace ( London, 1938 )Google Scholar; see the bibliography given there of Professor Putnam's other works.

^{page 85 note 2} ‘Keeper’ in this paper refers only to the custos pacis, ‘warden’ to other types of keeper ( e.g. of marches or coast).

^{page 85 note 3} Eng. Hist. Rev., xl ( 1925 ), pp. 411 –19CrossRef Google Scholar.

^{page 85 note 4} For information on the baronial keepers, see Treharne, R. F., The Baronial Plan of Reform, 1258–63 ( Manchester, 1932 ), pp. 316 –18Google Scholar, 330, 335–36; Beard's, C. A. The Office of Justice of the Peace in England, and its Origin and Development ( New York, 1904 )Google Scholar, and Cam's, Helen M. The Hundred and the Hundred Rolls ( London, 1930 )Google Scholar are useful for the whole century.

^{page 86 note 1} Lambard, W., Eirenarcha ( London, 1610 ), pp. 16 – 18Google Scholar.

^{page 86 note 2} P[ublic] R[ecord] O[ffice], J. I. 1/734.

^{page 86 note 3} Stewart-Brown, R., The Serjeants of the Peace in Medieval England and Wales ( Manchester, 1936 )Google Scholar.

^{page 86 note 4} Ch. 16 of the petition of the barons (1258) states the connexion between high farms and extortion.

^{page 86 note 5} Infra, p. 105, n. 4

^{page 87 note 1} Pollock, F. and Maitland, F. W., History of English Law before Edward I, 2nd ed. ( Cambridge, 1898 ), ii, p. 583Google Scholar.

^{page 87 note 2} Powicke, F. M., ‘ Per Iudicium Parium vel per Legem Terrae ’, Magna Carta Commemoration Essays ( Royal Hist. Soc., 1917 ), pp. 114 –15Google Scholar.

^{page 87 note 3} Select Charters, 9th ed. ( Oxford, 1913 ), p. 257Google Scholar.

^{page 87 note 4} Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Houedene, ed. Stubbs, W. (R[olls] S[eries], 1868 – 1871 ), iii, pp. 299 – 300Google Scholar.

^{page 87 note 5} Gervase, of Canterbury, , Historical Works, ed. Stubbs, W. (R.S., 1879 – 1880 ), ii, pp. 96 – 97Google Scholar.

^{page 87 note 6} Stubbs, W., Select Charters, p. 362Google Scholar; cf. Cam, H. M., op. cit., p. 190Google Scholar, for the sheriff's rôle in a similar measure of 1253.

^{page 87 note 7} In 1241, the sheriffs of twenty counties were each instructed to see to the election of four to eight Serjeants ( Stewart-Brown, , op. cit., p. 137 )Google Scholar.

^{page 88 note 1} Cam, , op. cit., p. 190Google Scholar.

^{page 88 note 2} For these lesser custodes pacis, see ibid., p. 193, and Putnam, , op. cit., p. xxxviiGoogle Scholar; the evidence comes mostly from the gaol delivery rolls, where a prisoner is sometimes said to be captus or indictatus per custodem pacis hundredi de …

^{page 88 note 3} Pollock, and Maitland, , op. cit., i, p. 200Google Scholar.

^{page 88 note 4} See, for instance, Rot. Litt. Pat. (Rec. Comm. ed.), i, p. 62; for details on the keeping of the coast and sea, see Nicolas, N. H., History of the Royal Navy ( London, 1847 )Google Scholar.

^{page 88 note 5} Rot. Litt. Pat., i, p. 109.

^{page 88 note 6} Ibid., p. 156.

^{page 88 note 7} P[atent] R[olls], 1216–25, p. 468: Dorset, 1224 (Gernun is both sheriff of Dorset and constable of Corfe); P.R., 1225–32, p. 183: Norfolk and Suffolk, 1228. The wardens of the shore of Devon and Cornwall, and of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1224 ( P.R., 1216–25, pp. 468–69 and 492) seem to have been neither sheriffs nor castellans.

^{page 89 note 1} P.R., 1225–32, p. 241 (1229).

^{page 89 note 2} Murray, K. M., The Constitutional History of the Cinque Ports ( Manchester, 1935 ), pp. 79 ffGoogle Scholar.; cf. P.R., 1225–32, pp. 22, 180 and 258.

^{page 89 note 3} C[alendar of] P[atent] R[olls], 1232–47, pp. 33 (1233), 268 (1241) and 292 (1242). Although, in this and subsequent notes, the only references given are to the published Calendars, the manuscript rolls have been consulted.

^{page 89 note 4} P.R., 1216–25, pp. 465–66 (1224); C.P.R., 1232–47, pp. 92 (1235) and 300 (1242).

^{page 89 note 5} Ibid., p. 287.

^{page 89 note 6} P.R., 1216–25, p. 522; infra, p. 102.

^{page 89 note 7} Rot. Litt. Pat., i, p. 109.

^{page 89 note 8} C.P.R., 1247–58, p. 580.

^{page 89 note 9} C.P.R., 1258–66, p 238; notice that the ‘preservation of the peace and tranquillity’ of Strettondale received special attention) Ibid., p. 64, and C.P.R., 1232–47, p. 18).

^{page 89 note 10} P.R., 1216–25, p. 457; C.P.R., 1232–47, p. 19; cf. p. 165.

^{page 89 note 11} C.P.R., 1232–47, p. 28.

^{page 90 note 1} C.P.R., 1232–47, pp. 21, 26–27 and 31.

^{page 90 note 2} Ibid., p. 28.

^{page 90 note 3} Ibid., pp. 182, 184, 186 (all concerning Chester, 1237); cf. commissions with almost the same terms for Wiltshire ( Ibid., p. 228: 1238) and Devon ( Ibid., p. 298: 1242).

^{page 90 note 4} Ibid., pp. 21, 26–28, 31; the commission to the sheriff mentioned, p. 89, n. II, is from the same months.

^{page 90 note 5} Ibid., pp. 21 and 26.

^{page 90 note 6} P.R., 1216–25, p. 282.

^{page 90 note 7} Ibid., pp. 282 and 293.

^{page 90 note 8} C.P.R., 1232–47, pp. 28 and 31; see also the commissions listed supra, n. 3.

^{page 90 note 9} For the steward, see C.P.R., 1232–47, pp. 26 and 165; for Henry de Trubleville and Nicholas de Molis, at various times seneschals of Gascony, see Ibid., pp. 21, 164–65.

^{page 90 note 10} Infra, p. 106.

^{page 90 note 11} C.P.R., 1232–47, pp. 139 and 217.

^{page 91 note 1} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 287; Edmund's chief task was to expedite the escape overseas of unpopular ministers and relations of the king ( Treharne, , op. cit., p. 305 )Google Scholar.

^{page 91 note 2} Powicke, F. M., The Thirteenth Century ( Oxford, 1953 ), pp. 164 –67Google Scholar.

^{page 91 note 3} C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 263–64.

^{page 91 note 4} Ibid., p. 271; the names of six of the baronial keepers of 1263 can be found in the chancery rolls: see C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 271; C[lose] R[olls], 1261–64, pp. 242, 250 and 309; Hunter, J., Rotuli Selecti ( Rec. Comm., 1834 ), pp. 153, 166Google Scholar.

^{page 91 note 5} See, for instance, C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 283, and C.R., 1261–64, pp. 243 ff.

^{page 91 note 6} See their commission.

^{page 91 note 7} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 273.

^{page 92 note 1} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 288, and C.R., 1261–64, p. 247.

^{page 92 note 2} Hunter, , Rotuli Selecti, pp. 153 –57, 166 and 194Google Scholar.

^{page 92 note 3} He stopped the sending of writs of venire facias to the keepers, summoning them to account for shire revenues ( cf. Treharne, , op. cit., pp. 316–18)Google Scholar.

^{page 92 note 4} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 357 ( cf. Abbreviatio Placitorum ( Rec. Comm., 1811), p. 265Google Scholar, and infra, p. 94). For supplementary appointments, see Ibid., pp. 314–15.

^{page 92 note 5} For a reference to the ‘bailiwicks’ of the baronial keepers, see Ibid., p. 283.

^{page 92 note 6} Of those named in the commission, FitzPeter, Clifford, Lestrange, Nevill, Gesemuth, Montalt and Eustace de Balliol were sheriffs.

^{page 92 note 7} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 360; to complete a list of the baronial keepers of 1264–65, see Ibid., pp. 327, 331, 430, 434 487.

^{page 92 note 8} See the instructions to the keepers in the growing emergency: Ibid., pp. 424, 426, 434, 475 and 487; C.R., 1261–64, p. 402.

^{page 92 note 9} Norwich Castle was given to de Burgh, John ‘because he is keeper of the peace’ ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 322 )Google Scholar.

^{page 93 note 1} See their commission.

^{page 93 note 2} Powicke, F. M., King Henry III and the Lord Edward ( Oxford, 1947 ), ii, p. 446Google Scholar.

^{page 93 note 3} See the commission to John de Plessetis ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 405): ‘Nolumus autem quod pretextu hujus mandati nostri de aliquibus que ad officium vicecomitis pertinent vos intromittatis …’; cf. Ibid., p. 331.

^{page 93 note 4} C.P.R., 1247–58, p. 649.

^{page 93 note 5} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 272.

^{page 93 note 6} Ibid., pp. 349 and 351.

^{page 93 note 7} Ibid., pp. 420 and 481.

^{page 93 note 8} Ibid., pp. 360–61, and 368; infra, p. 97.

^{page 93 note 9} During a vacancy in the shrievality, the baronial keeper held sole authority for a time in Cumberland, ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 328Google Scholar).

^{page 93 note 10} Westmorland Ibid., p. 489), Yorkshire Ibid., p. 656), Lincolnshire Ibid., p. 604), Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Ibid., p. 553; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 133), Huntingdonshire, and Cambridgeshire, (C.P.R., 1258–66), p. 671Google Scholar; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 132), Norfolk, and Suffolk, ( C.R., 1264–68, p. 236Google Scholar; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 132), Essex, and Hertfordshire, ( C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 636Google Scholar, 655–56, 657–58, 668; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 129; C.R., 1264–68, p. 297), Middlesex, and Buckinghamshire, ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 652 )Google Scholar, Warwickshire Ibid., pp. 652, 654), Oxfordshire Ibid., p. 652; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 131), Somerset, , Dorset, and Wiltshire, (C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 663 –64Google Scholar, Hampshire, ( C.P.R., 1266–72, pp. 105, 128)Google Scholar, Surrey, and Sussex, ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 661; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 128); forGoogle Scholar Kent, , see infra, p. 95Google Scholar.

^{page 94 note 1} C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 489, 553,604, 668; C.P.R., 1266–72, pp. 105, 132; C.R., 1264–68, pp. 211, 236.

^{page 94 note 2} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 661; cf Ibid., p. 655.

^{page 94 note 3} C.P.R., 1266–72, pp. 129, 133.

^{page 94 note 4} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 652.

^{page 94 note 5} Powicke, , King Henry III and the Lord Edward, ii, pp. 445 –46Google Scholar.

^{page 94 note 6} For the appointments connected with Kenilworth, , see C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 652 and 654Google Scholar; with Ely, Ibid., pp. 652–53, and C.P.R., 1266–72, pp. 132– 33, 168, 667.—Essex, which was ravaged by the rebels from Ely ( Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, ed. Stubbs, W., R.S., i, pp. 73 – 74 )Google Scholar, received no less than eight keepers.

^{page 94 note 7} P.R.O., E. 163/1/41.

^{page 95 note 1} de Muleton, Thomas, custos pacts in Cumberland, 1265Google Scholar ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 360), ‘captain and warden of the maritime parts’, 1264 ( Ibid., pp. 349 and 351), keeper in the parts of Holland, Dec. 1265 ( Ibid., pp. 652–53); John de Burgh the elder, keeper in Norfolk, 1264 ( Ibid., p. 360), Essex and Herts., 1266 ( Ibid., p. 636); John de Burgh junior, in Essex and Herts., 1266 ( Ibid., pp. 636 and 668); Richard de Tany the younger, in Essex and Herts., 1266 ( Ibid., p. 655; his father was custos pads in 1264 and was pardoned in 1267, C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 38).

^{page 95 note 2} Supra, p. 85.

^{page 95 note 3} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 652.

^{page 95 note 4} C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 130 (John de Vallibus).

^{page 95 note 5} C.R., 1264–68, p. 168; cf. C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 265.

^{page 95 note 6} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 489.

^{page 95 note 7} C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 607.

^{page 95 note 8} Ibid., p. 501 (Sandwich); p. 663 (Osbert Giffard appointed capitaneus et custos pads and defensor contra inimicos in Oxford and its surroundings).

^{page 95 note 9} C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 56: four knights are appointed wardens of the liberty of St Edmunds against disturbers of the peace, with the aid of the posse.

^{page 95 note 10} C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 652–53, and 604.

^{page 96 note 1} C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 667.

^{page 96 note 2} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 659; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 601.

^{page 96 note 3} For this rivalry in the Isle of Wight, see Ibid., pp. 67, 156, 165; for the appointment of royal keepers in Ely, see Ibid., pp. 168 and 230.

^{page 96 note 4} The sheriffs of Nottinghamshire, ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 553 )Google Scholar and Hampshire, ( C.P.R., 1266–32, p. 105 )Google Scholar were made custodes pacis.

^{page 96 note 5} Prince, R. W., ‘ The Army and Navy ’, The English Government at Work, 1323–36, i (ed. Willard, J. F. and Morris, W. A., Cambridge, Mass., 1940 ), p. 357Google Scholar.

^{page 96 note 6} Infra, p. 99.

^{page 96 note 7} Noyes, A. H., The Military Obligation in Mediaeval England ( Columbus, 1930 ), p. 23Google Scholar and n. 7; Stubbs, W., Constitutional History, 5th ed., ii, p. 298Google Scholar.

^{page 96 note 8} C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 263–64.

^{page 97 note 1} Ibid., pp. 349 and 351.

^{page 97 note 2} Ibid., pp. 663–64; C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 132.

^{page 97 note 3} Thus, in 1276, Roger Mortimer was captain against the Welsh for Shropshire, Herefordshire and Staffordshire, William de Beauchamp for Cheshire and Lincolnshire, ( C.P.R., 1232–81, p. 171 )Google Scholar.

^{page 97 note 4} Cam, H. M., The Hundred and the Hundred Rolls, p. 191Google Scholar.

^{page 97 note 5} Rymer, , Foedera ( Rec. Comm. ed.), I. i, 437Google Scholar.

^{page 97 note 6} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 368; similar assurances had to be given to men of higher rank about their feudal service ( Ibid., p. 340).

^{page 97 note 7} Ibid., pp. 360–61, and C.R., 1261–64, p. 402.

^{page 97 note 8} The quotation is from the mandate to Arundel ( C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 661); for the Winchester case, see C.P.R., 1266–32, p. 128.

^{page 98 note 1} C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 657–58.

^{page 98 note 2} Ibid., p. 132; cf. C.R., 1264–68, p. 168: the warden of the sea-shore in Kent is to raise his expenses from levies in hundredis et locis aliis, and by the amercement of those who do not serve in person.

^{page 98 note 3} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 636; C.P.R., 1266–72, pp. 168 and 230 (in the latter case the sum is allotted from the issues of an eyre).

^{page 98 note 4} See P.R.O., Exch. K.R., Memoranda Roll, E.159/42, mm. 15d and 16d.

^{page 98 note 5} See the detailed account in P.R.O., Exch. K.R., Ace. Var., E.101/3/9.

^{page 98 note 6} C.P.R., 1266–72, pp. 633–34; cf. Powicke, , Henry III and the Lord Edward, ii, p. 530Google Scholar.

^{page 98 note 7} Morris, W. A., The Welsh Wars of Edward I ( Oxford, 1901 ), p. 33Google Scholar.

^{page 98 note 8} Cam, , The Hundred and the Hundred Rolls, p. 191Google Scholar.

^{page 99 note 1} C.P.R., 1266–32, p. 596.

^{page 99 note 2} C.P.R., 1232–81, p. 10.

^{page 99 note 3} Ibid., p. 218; cf. p. 228, for a mandate to the elected keeper in Norfolk.

^{page 99 note 4} C.P.R., 1281–92, p. 66, under the same heading De malefactoribus intercipiendis et arrestandis; also Ibid., p. 215.

^{page 99 note 5} Ibid., p. 30; Calendar of Chancery Rolls, Various, pp. 217–18; at the same time the bishop of Ely was told to keep the peace at Ely.

^{page 99 note 6} C.P.R., 1281–92, pp. 264–66.

^{page 100 note 1} Few approach the local importance of Tany, one of the two known keepers of 1277 and himself one of the military custodes of 1265–67.

^{page 100 note 2} Infra, p. 108.

^{page 100 note 3} C.P.R., 1307–1313, p. 29.

^{page 100 note 4} C.P.R., 1292–1301, pp. 169 and 187. For the organization of the militia, see Exch. K.R., Ace. Var., E.101/5/29.

^{page 100 note 5} C.P.R., 1292–1301, pp. 152, 157, 169.

^{page 100 note 6} Ibid., p. 408.

^{page 100 note 7} Ibid., p. 308.

^{page 100 note 8} Cf. Ibid., p. 291.

^{page 100 note 9} Ibid., pp. 149, 165, 245.

^{page 101 note 1} See, for instance, C.P.R., 1313–17, p. 516; some such division is apparent as early as 1264 ( C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 349 and 351).

^{page 101 note 2} Putman, , op. cit., pp. xxviii and 150–51Google Scholar. By this time the ordinary commission of array had become the prerogative of professional soldiers ( Prince, , op. cit., p. 357 )Google Scholar.

^{page 101 note 3} Putnam, , op. cit., p. xxxiGoogle Scholar; the act does not seem to have been implemented.

^{page 101 note 4} Cf. Parliamentary Writs, i, p. 222; Calendar of Chancery Rolls, Various, pp. 212 and 354.

^{page 101 note 5} C.P.R., 1292–1301, p. 168.

^{page 101 note 6} Ibid., p. 301.

^{page 101 note 7} Ibid., p. 152.

^{page 101 note 8} Ibid., p. 185.

^{page 101 note 9} C.P.R., 1307–1313, pp. 3–4.

^{page 101 note 10} Ibid., p. 428; cf. p. 415.

^{page 102 note 1} Parliamentary Writs, ii, p. 432.

^{page 102 note 2} C.P.R., 1292–1301, pp. 312, 315, 387; C.P.R., 1301–1307, pp. 44 and 103.

^{page 102 note 3} Reid, R. R., The King's Council in the North ( London, 1921 ), pp. 22 ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 102 note 4} Note the similarities between ‘wardens of the shore in maritime counties’ and ‘captains of the march of Scotland in Cumberland and Westmorland’ (for the latter, see C.P.R., 1292–1301, p. 312; cf. C.P.R., 1301–1307, p. 44). Cf. Murray, K. M., op. cit., p. 80Google Scholar. Wardens of the several types were often appointed together in emergencies ( C.P.R., 1324–27, pp. 162 and 171). The keeping of the maritime parts of the border counties was often included in the commission of the warden of the Scottish marches.

^{page 103 note 1} See the commissions on the dorse of the Patent Roll (not printed in the Calendars ); cf. Pollock, and Maitland, , op. cit., i, pp. 200 – 201Google Scholar.

^{page 103 note 2} Ibid., p. 200.

^{page 103 note 3} Holdsworth, W. S., History of English Law, 7th ed., i, p. 278Google Scholar.

^{page 103 note 4} Second Statute of Westminster (1285), ch. 29; cf. Stephen, J. F., A History of the Criminal Law of England ( London, 1883 ), i, pp. 107 – 110Google Scholar.

^{page 103 note 5} See Select Cases in the Court of King's Bench, ed. Sayles, G. O., iv ( Selden Soc, vol. lxxiv ), pp. lv ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 103 note 6} Putnam, B. H., ‘ The Transformation of the Keepers of the Peace into the Justices of the Peace, 1327–1380 ’, Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc., 4th series, xii ( 1929 ), p. 47Google Scholar.

^{page 103 note 7} E.g., P.R., 1216–25, p. 293; C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 663–64.

^{page 103 note 8} Supra, p. 88.

^{page 103 note 9} C.P.R., 1232–47, p. 165.

^{page 103 note 10} Ibid., p. 298.

^{page 104 note 1} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 360; cf. p. 475 (mandate to Devon keeper: see the manuscript enrolment).

^{page 104 note 2} Ibid., p. 489.

^{page 104 note 3} C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 128; cf. C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 663–64.

^{page 104 note 4} Ibid., p. 271.

^{page 104 note 5} C.P.R., 1266–32, pp. 129 and 132.

^{page 104 note 6} C[alendar of] M[iscellaneous ] I[nguisitions], nos. 287, 326, 2114.

^{page 104 note 7} Parliamentary Writs, ii, p. 432.

^{page 104 note 8} C.P.R., 1292–1301, p. 408.

^{page 105 note 1} Putnam, , Proceedings before the Justices of the Peace; see Professor Plucknett's, T. F. T. commentary in this volume, pp. cliv ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 105 note 2} Powicke, , The Thirteenth Century, p. 143Google Scholar.

^{page 105 note 3} Milsom, S. F. C., ‘ Trespass from Henry III to Edward III, Part I: General Writs ’, Law Quarterly Review, lxxiv ( 1958 ), pp. 223 –24Google Scholar.

^{page 105 note 4} Woodbine, G. E., Yale Law Journal, xxxiv ( 1925 ), pp. 369 ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 105 note 5} Powicke, , op cit., pp. 143 –44Google Scholar.

^{page 105 note 6} Maitland, F. W., Collected Papers ( Cambridge, 1911 ), ii, p. 154Google Scholar.

^{page 105 note 7} See Jacob, E. F., Studies in the Period of Baronial Reform and Rebellion ( Oxford, 1925 ), p. 70Google Scholar.

^{page 105 note 8} Studies in the Hundred Rolls ( Oxford, 1921 ), pp. 136 –37Google Scholar.

^{page 105 note 9} P.R.O., J.I. 1/343 (Huntingdon).

^{page 106 note 1} C.P.R., 1258–66, pp. 53 and 196; cf. p. 97: the magnates had at first been permitted to correct these abuses themselves.

^{page 106 note 2} C.R., 1264–68, p. 128.

^{page 106 note 3} Supra, p. 91.

^{page 106 note 4} C.M.I., no. 2114.

^{page 106 note 5} Sometimes schedules containing such presentments were returned and survive attached to the eyre roll; see J.I. 1/237, m. 2d.

^{page 106 note 6} Thomas, A. H., Calendar of the Plea and Memoranda Rolls of the City of London, 1323–64 ( Cambridge, 1926 ), pp. xiii ffGoogle Scholar.

^{page 107 note 1} C.P.R., 1272–81, p. 218: ‘et nos in reditu nostro … te … pro laboribus … curialiter respiciemus juxta quod viriliter et strenue vos habueritis in premissis’.

^{page 107 note 2} Holdsworth, , op. cit., i, pp. 530 –32Google Scholar.

^{page 107 note 3} Murray, , op. cit., p. 70Google Scholar; cf. P.R., 1225–32, p. 22.

^{page 107 note 4} Murray, , op. cit., p. 61Google Scholar.

^{page 107 note 5} See C.P.R., 1232–47, p. 73; cf. Murray, , op. cit., p. 122Google Scholar, for an early case where the constable of Dover was the commissioner.

^{page 107 note 6} C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 482.

^{page 107 note 7} Supra, p. 93.

^{page 107 note 8} C.P.R., 1281–92, pp. 255 and 423.

^{page 107 note 9} C.P.R., 1292–1301, p. 165.

^{page 108 note 1} See Select Pleas in the Court of Admiralty, ed. Marsden, R. G., i ( Selden Soc., vol. vi ), p. xliGoogle Scholar.

^{page 108 note 2} C.P.R., 1266–72, p. 132.

^{page 108 note 3} Holdsworth, , History of English Law, i, p. 545Google Scholar.

^{page 108 note 4} Professor Putnam thinks that the strengthening of the justices of the peace was one of the first conscious aims of the commons in parliament ( Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc, 4th series, xii, p. 47).

^{page 108 note 5} Select Cases in the Court of King's Bench, ed. Sayles, G. O., i ( Selden Soc., vol. lv ), pp. 9 and 136Google Scholar; iv (Selden Soc, vol. lxxiv), p. lxxx.

^{page 108 note 6} Parliamentary Writs, i, pp. 398–400.

^{page 108 note 7} For the proceedings of 1298, see Thomson, W. S., The Lincolnshire Assize Roll of 1298 ( Lines. Rec. Soc., 1944 )Google Scholar; cf. C.P.R., 1292–1301, p. 338.

^{page 109 note 1} Thomson, , op. cit., p. cxxiGoogle Scholar.

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The Origins and Early History of the Keeper of the Peace

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