BOROUGH OF NORTHAMPTON 



town on several important occasions, helped to secure 

 the new charter in 1796, and represented the borough 

 in Parliament from 1796 till his assassination in 

 181 2. '• His statue by Chantrey, erected by public 

 subscription'" and placed in All Saints' in 1817, was 

 transferred to the council chamber of the town hall, 

 where it now stands, in 1866. 



The town clerk, common clerk or mayor's clerk 

 acted also as clerk of the recognizinccs.^' He was 

 appointed as a rule by the mayor and aldermen and in 

 practice held the otHce for life. He had a small 

 stipend, but his income was mainly derived from fees. 

 In 1652 it was put on record that he should have no 

 voice in matters discussed in the assembly ;^* his 

 importance as a permanent official is well illustrated 

 by the story told by Henry Lee, town clerk from 

 1662-1688 and from 1690-1715, of the election of the 

 mayor in 1694. Eight members of the corporation 

 in turn had been elected and refused to serve. ' It 

 being night, .^nd the Mayor and .Aldermen tired, the 

 Mayor proposed to the Aldermen to adjourn the Court 

 to the next day, .And then I informed them That it 

 was against the Express words of the Charter.' (If 

 the mayor was not elected at one sitting, the exist- 

 ing mayor had to serve another year.) ' I told the 

 present Mayor that . . . without speedy care taken 

 they would all be gon, and thereupon he starts up 

 from his Seat in the Councell Chamber and made 

 hast to the Hall dorc and lockt it and brought in 

 the Keys and laid them before him upon the Table, 

 and said : " Now I will stay here till to-morrow this 

 time, but I will choose a Mayor." ... It happened 

 to be a wett night, and after nine of the clock.' ^ 



The town steward, first mentioned in the 15th 

 century,** acted as clerk to the bailiffs at the court of 

 record, and mayor's clerk at the court leet.*^ He was 

 appointed by the mayor and alderman and paid by 

 fees only. 



The coroners, according to the charter, should have 

 been chosen by the assembly ; in practice the mayor 

 and aldermen often appointed. The election was 

 annual, and it was usual to choose aldermen for the 

 office.** 



The chamberlains, elected annually, at first b_v the 

 assembly and later by the mayor and aldermen, acted 

 as the town treasurers. They kept the town accounts 

 and had one of the keys of the common chest.*' 

 During the 17th century there were two, a senior 

 and a junior chamberlain, each holding office for 

 two years. Their accounts** are preser\ed in the 

 corporation archives from 1 5 54 onwards, with gaps, 

 and are of great value, including as they do the rental 

 of the towrn lands, receipts by fines and grazing fees, 

 payments to town officials and beneficiaries, and all 

 kinds of occasional expenditure. The increase in the 

 amounts spent on feasting is well marked. From 

 1785 to 1835 the town chamberlain wore a distinctive 



badge of ' a respectable silver key in the gothic taste, 

 double gilt.'*» By 1835 the ch.imberlain's functions 

 had become largely honorary, and the real work of 

 accounting was done by a treasurer, also elected by the 

 mayor and aldermen." 



The Serjeants of the mayor and baihfEs, known, from 

 the rods of office they carried, as mace-bearers from 

 the 14th century*! ^y^re five in number, one for each 

 ward of the town. Four were reckoned as bailifTs' 

 Serjeants and called in the 17th and l8th centuries 

 Serjeants at mace ; the fifth was known as mayor's 

 Serjeant or mace-bearer. According to the form of 

 their oaths in the town custumal** they executed 

 attachments and distresses and had custody of 

 prisoners, whilst the mayor's Serjeant also assized 

 measures and weights and levied estreats. They 

 were appointed by the mayor and aldermen. Besides 

 the fees and perquisites of their office the bailififs' 

 Serjeants received in 1833 a salary of 6 guineas each, 

 and the mace-bearer ^t^?-*^ Four small maces, one 

 going back to the reign of James I, are preserved at 

 Northampton, together with the great mace still in 

 use, made probably, like that of Leicester, by Thomas 

 Maundy of London under the Commonwealth.** 



The duties of the Serjeants had become largely 

 formal by 1835 ; their police duties were being 

 performed by the constables. The 15th century 

 custumal gives the constable's oath which defines 

 his duties, and also that of the tithing man or dozener,*^ 

 whose office, at that period, is still mainly one of 

 presenting at the leet. In the 17th century custumal 

 a later form of the sacramentum decenurionim in- 

 cludes the duty of apprehension of wandering and 

 idle persons of different kinds,** and can be taken as 

 defining the duties of the third borough or head 

 borough who in the i6th and 17th centuries assisted 

 the constable. Each ward had one constable and two 

 third boroughs, appointed from 1581 to 1690 by the 

 assembly, and after that date by the mayor and 

 aldermen.*' In 1833 there were in all 23 constables 

 and head boroughs, paid according to the work done, 

 by piece rates, out of the town rates by authority of 

 the magistrates.** Among other minor officials of 

 the corporation were the town crier, the hallkeeper, 

 and, from 1584 to 1698 at least, the town waits or 

 musicians.*' 



The government of the close corporation appears to 

 have been on the whole satisfactory down to the 

 Restoration. From that date the town records give 

 evidence of steady deterioration. Alongside of the 

 growth of political exclusiveness went the tendency 

 within the corporation of the mayor and aldermen to 

 arrogate to themselves more power, and the diminu- 

 tion in the corporation as a whole of the sense of 

 responsibility for the well-bting of all the town. 

 The borough revenues were regarded as a fund entirely 

 at their disposal, and any fresh needs of the growing 



'• Boro. Rfc. ii, 22, 206, 34g. Ht is also 

 supposed to have used his influence to 

 secure army contracts for the Northamp- 

 ton shoe makers. 



*• The corporation subscribed £10^, 

 Assembly Bk., 5 June, 18 12. 



" In the British Museum custumal the 

 town clerk's oath covers also the office of 

 * Prothonotary or clerk of the Recogniz- 

 ances of the Statute Merchant.' lie had 

 a seal in this capacity, reproduced Boro. 

 Rtc. ii, 14a, fig. 4. 



" Ibid. 6(). 



" Lee, Coll. pp. 130-1. 



'■* Boro. Rec. i, 377. The steward's 

 oath is given Add. MS. 34308, fo. 11 d, 

 printed Boro. Rrc. ii, 533 ; for ' the Mrs ' 

 read ' thy maystres.* 



'^ Boro. Rec. ii, 11 6-8; Pari. Papers, 



1835, vol. XXV, p. 1968. 



*• Ibid. p. 1968. For coroners' oath 

 see Boro. Rec. i, 392. 

 " Ibid.. 256. 

 =• Ibid, ii, 58-65. 



IS 



=• Ibid. 66. 



" Pari. Papers, 183;, vol. xxv, p. 1968. 

 " Boro. Rec. i, 244, 2?o. 

 "Add. MS. 34308, ff. 13, i;; Boro. 

 Rrc. ii, 74, 78. 

 " Ibid. 78. 

 » Ibid. 74-85. 

 »> Ibid, i, 397, 393- 

 "Add. MS. 34308, fo. 12. 

 " Boro. Rec. ii, 139-142. 

 " Pari. Papers, 1833, vol. xiii, p. 50. 

 "» Boro. Rec. ii, 85-92. 



