A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



courts were held, although apparently at irregular intervals. A mutilated 

 paper book in the Treasury tells us of courts held at Billingham from 1620 

 to 1623, at which the following proclamation was made in English : — 



Oyez, Oyez, Oyez, all manner of persons that are to make suit and service at this court 

 holden for the right worshipful the Dean and Chapter of Durham of the Cathedral Church of 

 the Blessed Virgin Mary, make your appearance and answer to your names every one of you 

 at the first call, upon pain and penalty that will ensue. 



Then follows a list of the tenants of the various vills who owed suit of court, 

 such as the eight lessees of Wallsend and the ten of Harton. There is no 

 reeve, jury, or other village official named, for probably they appeared on the 

 separate list of presentments for nuisances, which is now lost. As half this 

 paper book is left blank it is probable that the halmote died out about this 

 time. At any rate the parchment Halmote Books of the bishop cease 

 suddenly in 1619.^ 



Whether the halmote lingered in any form between 1623 and 1661 is 

 uncertain, but similar courts were held during at least part of that time at 

 Barnard Castle.^ However, at the Restoration seigniorial courts again 

 appear, but in the case of the chapter their title is various. They are called 

 'Court of the manor' in 1661, 'Court Leet ' in 1662, 'Court Leet and 

 Court Baron ' in 1670, 'Court of Frank Pledge 'in 1671. Very few of the 

 rolls are left and the latest is for Shields in 1842.'' In most cases only the 

 list of suitors has survived, but occasionally the presentments of nuisances 

 occur on a separate sheet together with the names of the village officials. 

 The contents are seldom of interest, but that is perhaps because most of the 

 village officials were sinecurists, and even the constables were fined at times for 

 not making presentations. However, we still find the tricky miller and the 

 suitors who ground away from the mill. There was still the village scold 

 and the careless neighbour who left cellars unfenced and was regardless of 

 sanitation. Towards the end the presentations are for obstructions or damage 

 to roads, and it is curious to find the leet jury presenting a railway company for 

 nuisance and alternately praising and blaming the new South Shields Improve- 

 ment Commissioners. Surely the old and the new were never more strangely 

 brought face to face ! * 



The earliest roll of the new court is dated 16 October, 1662, and the 

 heading is : — 



Certaine orders and penalties sett downe at severall Corts holden at South Sheeles for 

 the right wor" the deane and chapter of the Cathedrall Church of Durham Lords of the 

 said Mannor for the good and common wealth both of this Sheeles and of the whole mannor 

 made at one cort holden Anno Dmi. 1586 and att another Cort holden Anno d. 1597 and 

 att another Cort holden Anno d. 1609 and now last of all att this Court holden here the 

 l6th. of October Anno dmi. 1662 sett downe and allowed with some moe orders added to 

 them by the consent and assent of the whole Jury which wee desire may be putt into execu- 

 tion and remain and continue bylawes in the said towne for the good and commonwealth 

 thereof w'^'' are as foloweth. 



' The last is Dur. Curs. No. 28 (Bishops James and Neile), in the P.R.O. 



' See interesting extracts in Surtees, Hist, of Dur. iv, 74. 



' The grouping of vills which is so marked in the Halmote Rolls is still observed in the new court, but 

 each group is styled a manor, e.g. the manor of Westoe comprises all the chapters' vills north-east of a line from 

 Wallsend to Southwick ; the manor of Merrington those about Ferry on the Hill, and so on. The court met 

 in Oct. perhaps at first yearly, but too few rolls have survived to decide the point. 



* The Commissioners were appointed in 1830 under the local Act 10 Geo. IV, cap. 40, but vv-ere super- 

 seded when the town obtained a charter in 1850. 



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