PORTSDOWN HUNDRED 



PORTSMOUTH 



corporation and the functions of its various officers. 

 In spite of the new life inspired by Elizabeth's charter 

 of incorporation the town had fallen into great decay 

 by 1625, and the mayor and inhabitants petitioned 

 for a renewal of their privileges with a grant of cer- 

 tain trading advantages. 1 " In November, 1627, a 

 new charter of incorporation was granted to the 

 town, enlarging considerably the privileges bestowed 

 by Elizabeth, making some changes in the constitu- 

 tion of the body corporate, and giving the inhabi- 

 tants licence to weave, make, and sell all kinds of 

 kersies and broadcloths. 113 In April, 1666, the king 

 threatened to take the town into his own hands and 

 proposed giving the care of it to the Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Sir Philip Honeywood, owing to the 

 remissness of the mayor and aldermen in not provid- 

 ing for the removal of the plague-stricken soldiers 

 and inhabitants to the pest-house. 1 " In 1682 

 Charles II invited all corporate towns and boroughs 

 to show their loyalty to the crown by surrendering 

 their charters. This Portsmouth did in the same 

 year, and, though the surrender was not formally 

 enrolled, the king granted the town a new charter in 

 August, 1682. 114 It recited the surrender of the 

 charter of Charles I and re-incorporated the borough, 

 adding to it the town of Gosport. The corporation, 

 according to this charter, was similar to that organized 

 under that of Charles I, save that its jurisdiction 

 extended over Gosport. One clause alone sufficed to 

 give the crown almost absolute power over the 

 borough : mayor, aldermen, and burgesses were all to 

 be removable by the king's sign manual. By this 

 charter the town was governed till October, 1688, 

 when James II issued a proclamation revoking all 

 charters granted after the surrender of the boroughs 

 to Charles II, since in almost every case the deeds of 

 surrender had not been enrolled ; "* accordingly, the 

 men of Portsmouth applied for the return of their 

 former charter to Lord Dartmouth, among whose 

 papers it had been found. 117 They were evidently 

 successful, for the charter is still among the corpora- 

 tion records, and the town is still governed by it, 

 subject to such modifications as were provided by the 

 Municipal Reform Acts of the last century. 



The town of Portsmouth had a corporate existence 

 soon after its foundation. Richard I in his charter 

 granted definite privileges to the burgesses, and before 

 1214 they possessed lands in common, for the bur- 

 gesses of Portsmouth had alienated a messuage and 

 land in Portsmouth called Westwood to the Domus 

 Dei there. 118 



This corporate body had no definite name till the 

 sixteenth century. King John's charter was addressed 



to ' the burgesses of Portsmouth,' but the men of 

 Portsmouth paid for its enrolment. 119 The bailiffs of 

 Portsmouth acted for the town in the time of King 

 John,' 80 and a royal writ was addressed to them in 

 I224, 181 and subsequent writs were sent to the bailiffs 

 and men or to the men of Portsmouth. 182 The 

 ' customs and usages ' of the town, which may be as- 

 signed to the latter part of the thirteenth century, 

 were drawn up by the mayor, bailiff, constables, ser- 

 jeants, and jurats, 183 but it is doubtful whether the 

 word here translated ' mayor ' may not have been 

 ' prepositus ' in the original document, which, unfortu- 

 nately, is not in the possession of the corporation. 

 The office of mayor certainly existed in 1323, when a 

 writ was addressed to the mayor and bailiffs of Ports- 

 mouth ordering them to search for and arrest all 

 letters coming into the realm. 184 The bailiffs con- 

 tinued in existence long after the introduction of the 

 offices of ' prepositus ' and mayor, and in Elizabeth's 

 charter of incorporation it is stated that the town had 

 formerly been governed by a mayor, two bailiffs, two 

 constables, and other public officers, and the name of 

 the reorganized corporation is given as ' the Mayor and 

 Burgesses of the Borough of Portsmouth.' Under the 

 charter of Charles I the name of the corporation was 

 ' the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of Portsmouth,' 

 but the government of the town was practically vested 

 in the mayor and aldermen only. This charter also 

 mentions a recorder, justices of the peace, common 

 clerk, and two Serjeants at mace. Under the charter 

 of Charles II (1682), the recorder was included in the 

 governing body ; but since this grant was cancelled 

 under the proclamation of October, 1688, the cor- 

 poration of the town remained unaltered till the 

 Municipal Reform Act of 1835, under which its 

 nature was entirely changed. It now consists of forty- 

 two councillors, one-third of whom retire in rotation 

 every three years, and fourteen aldermen, from among 

 whom the mayor is chosen. 185 The councillors are 

 chosen by the burgesses, and serve for a term of three 

 years. In 1888, under the Local Government Act, 

 Portsmouth became a ' county borough ' for adminis- 

 trative purposes. 188 



The number of burgesses varied considerably from 

 time to time. The privileges granted by Richard I 

 were to be enjoyed only by those who held land or 

 property in or of the town. 187 In the earliest recorded 

 list of burgesses (c. 1575) there are fifty- four names, 

 including that of the mayor, but of these six are marked 

 as deceased ; 188 twenty-five burgesses besides the mayor 

 and twelve aldermen are named in the charter of 

 Charles I, and Charles II appointed the same number 

 in 1662 when no fewer than eighty-eight burgesses 



112 Cal. S.P. Dam. 1515-6, p. 94. 

 118 Pat. 4 Chas. I, pt. 24, m. 5. 



114 Cal. S.P. Dam. 1665-6, p. 355. It 

 seems probable that this was one more 

 step in the struggle between the garrison 

 and the town ; see infra. 



115 Pat. 34 Chas. II, pt. 5, m. 13. 

 118 Land. Gax. No. 2391, Oct. 1688. 

 n " Hist. MSB. Com. Rtp. xi, App. pt. v, 



202. 



118 Rot. Chart. (Rec. Com.), 202. 



Rat. Cancel!. 3 John (Rec. Com.), 255. 



Curia Regis R. 36, m. 2 d. 



m Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 599. 



1M Cal. of Clou, 1272-9, p. 270 j 

 1231-4, p. 377. 



133 For a transcript of these * customs ' 

 see Extracts from the Portsmouth Records, i. 



The only existing copy is evidently both 

 inaccurate and imperfect, but from the 

 names of the officers the original would 

 seem to have been drawn up late in the 

 thirteenth century. These included the 

 mayor, Harry le Pesener, bailiff John 

 Phelyp, constables Nicholas Raggi and 

 Richard Cooptor, and sergeants Robert le 

 Molender and Robert Clerk. Of these 

 Nicholas Raggi, Richard Cooptor, Robert 

 le Molender, and Robert Clerk, with 

 Peter Copas, witnessed a grant of land 

 by Stephen Justice to Southwick Priory, 

 ' with all the court of Portsmouth,' of 

 which Herbert Manniet was then Serjeant 

 (serviens), and a Stephen Justice and 

 Peter Coperas witnessed another charter 

 to the priory in n/8 (Add. MS. 8153, fol. 



177 



63 et passim}. Stephen Justice was one of 

 the two burgetsei returned by Portsmouth 

 to the Parliament of 1295. 



la < Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 138. 



1M 5 and 6 Will. IV, cap. 76, schedule A. 



lx Stat. 51 and 52 Viet. cap. 41, sche- 

 dule 3. 



1J 7 Extracts from the Portsmouth Records, 

 141. 



138 Ibid. 133. In 1835 a calculation 

 based on the returns of members to Par- 

 liament was made, showing that in the 

 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the 

 number of burgesses was never greater 

 than thirteen (Part. Accts. and Papers, 

 1835, xxiv, 799). It remains, however, 

 to be proved that all the burgesses exercised 

 the privilege of voting. 



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