A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



extremum C.C.' The following inscription referring 

 to the donor, Sir Benjamin Berry, is pounced round 

 the lip of the cup : ' This sweete berry from benjamin 

 did falle then goode sir benjamin berry it call.' 



(4) Silver tazza pounced with the initials I. S. A, 

 and marked with the hall-mark of 1582. 



(5) A silver-gilt covered cup surmounted by a 

 female figure. On the bowl is an inscription stating 

 the cup to be the gift of Robert Lee of London, 

 merchant-taylor, and on the cover the legend 

 ' Amieorum beneficia non peribunt.' The hall-mark 

 is of the year 1590-1. 



(6) A silver-gilt standing cup and cover bearing the 

 arms of Portsmouth and of the three donors, John 

 Watts, William Bryan, and John Riddlesden, and 

 the legend 'Tres prohibet supra rixarum metuens 

 gratia.' I60 The hall-mark is of 1 606. 



(7) Silver-gilt standing cup and cover inscribed 

 ' The gift of Thomas Bonner, 1 609.' 



(8) Silver double salt-cellar, with cover bearing the 

 hall-mark of 1615. 



(9) Two small silver wine-cups pounced with the 

 name of the donor, William Haberley, and marked 

 with the hall-mark of 1617. A third somewhat 

 similar cup has the hall-mark of 1618. A modern 

 facsimile of the last was given to the corporation in 

 1875. 



(10) A plain silver cup, having the hall-mark of 

 1619, and inscribed 'The gift of Elizabeth Ridg, 

 widow, 1629.' 



(l i) A plain silver cup, ' the gift of James Moray,' 

 marked with the hall-mark of 1625. 



( 1 2) A plain silver rose-water salver and ewer, both 

 marked with the hall-mark of 1637, and inscribed 

 'The gift of John Herman, Esq, deceased, to ye 

 mayor and aldermen of y e towne of Porstmouth.' 



(i 3) A plain silver salt-cellar marked with the hall- 

 mark of 1665. On the foot is inscribed the name of 

 Edward Silvester. 



(14) A plain tankard marked with the hall-mark 

 of 1679, an< ^ '"scribed 'The gift of Thomas Han- 

 cock, alderman, to the corporation of Portsmouth, 

 1679.' 



(15) A plain flagon, with the hall-mark of 1 68 1. 

 Engraved on the front is the inscription ' The gift of 

 Captain Thos. Allin, commander of His Majts ship ye 

 Rubie, to ye corporation of Portsmouth, Anno 

 Domini, 1682.' 



(16) A pair of silver-gilt flagons, the gift of Louise, 

 duchess of Portsmouth, in 1683. They bear her arms 

 with the motto ' Abeb. Ent. Lealdet.' 



(17) A silver-gilt loving-cup, presented to the cor- 

 poration by Robert East in 1 890. 



(18) A silver rose-water dish and ewer, the gift of 

 Alderman Ridoutt to the corporation in the same 

 year. 161 



According to the thirteenth-century custumal of 

 the town, the jurisdiction of the borough extended 

 ' from the Est side of Hambroke Ka to Hasilhorde, 163 



and ynward as far as it ebbith an Floweth into the Byrg 

 of Faram ande to Palsgrove as strong as we have hit in 

 Lond yn owre Fraunchise.' Thus the borough claimed 

 jurisdiction over the whole harbour. Proceedings 

 were taken in Chancery in 1435 by John Matthew, 

 deputy to the lord admiral, against the bailiff and 

 burgesses of Portsmouth for assaulting him and pre- 

 venting him from holding a court in the borough. 864 

 It appears that on the first attempt to hold an 

 admiralty court there in February, 1434-5, the 

 bailiff showed the deputy a copy of the town charter, 

 which did not satisfy him that the borough was with- 

 out the jurisdiction of the admiralty, whereupon the 

 bailiff pleaded the town's customs, and begged for 

 respite until the Lord Chancellor's decision as to the 

 meaning of the charter should be known. The 

 deputy agreed, but nevertheless held a court at 

 the water-side some time later, and was interrupted by 

 the bailiff, Serjeant, and constables. A struggle ensuing, 

 it was reported that the bailiff was killed, and the 

 whole town came out against the deputy, who had to 

 be escorted to his house by the bailiff's officers. He 

 pathetically complained that in the confusion the king's 

 books were cast to the ground, and that he had ' never 

 yet found a purse of black leather, in which was ^13 

 of gold .... and a seal of office.' The same 

 question arose from time to time. In the corporation 

 books of the eighteenth century is an entry recording 

 a request from the vice-admiral of Hampshire for 

 permission to hold a court of admiralty in the town. 

 In acceding to this request, the corporation added a 

 saving clause for their privileges, and asserted the 

 non-precedential nature of the occasion. 



In 1822 the question of the right of the corpora- 

 tion to the foreshore and soil of the harbour was 

 raised, 264 but the case was not proceeded with until 

 1869. In 1877 the cause was heard, but the cor- 

 poration failed to establish its right, except to that part 

 of the harbour adjacent to the old town. 866 



From a perambulation of the borough and its 

 liberties in l$66,' a it appears that its jurisdiction 

 extended as far north as a line from Tipner to the 

 Green Post on the London Road, and as far east as 

 the bounds of Copnor, Kingston, and Fratton, while 

 the sea formed the southern boundary. The borough 

 proper was co-extensive with Portsmouth parish, the 

 liberties were part of Portsea parish, the east of Port- 

 sea being known as the Gildable. 168 Under the 

 Reform Act of 1832 the Gildable was included in 

 the borough for parliamentary purposes,* 69 and three 

 years later the parliamentary boundaries were adopted 

 for municipal purposes," the town being divided at first 

 into six, and later into fourteen wards. 271 Under this 

 arrangement the borough included all the old parishes 

 of Portsmouth and Portsea. In 1895 the small 

 extra-parochial district of Great Salterns was added 

 to it.' 7 ' 



In 1295 Portsmouth returned two burgesses to 

 Parliament, viz. Richard de Reynold and Stephen 



*o Horace, Ode III, 19. 



281 A fuller description of the plate and 

 insignia is given in Jewitt and Hope's 

 Corporation Plate and Insignia, i, 274. 



* a This has been identified as the 

 morass which formerly existed to the 

 west of Southsea Common. 



268 Haslar, near Gosport. 



284 Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 45, No. 53. 

 The suit must have been brought in 1435 



since the date of the chancellorship limits 

 it to 1467-72 or 1433-43. John duke of 

 Bedford, mentioned therein as lord admiral, 

 held that office from 1426 till his death 

 in September, 1435, and the first warrant 

 made out by Matthew was dated February 

 in the thirteenth year of the then king, i.e, 



'434-5- 



266 Stuart A. Moore, Hat. of the Fore- 

 shore (ed. 1888), 450. 



I8 4 



256 Ibid. 555-6. 



^ East, Extracts from the Portsmouth 

 Rec. 720. 



968 Par/. Ann. and Papers, 1833, xiii, 

 I IO. 



269 Stat. 2 & 3 Will. IV, cap. 64. 



wo 5 & 6 Will. IV, cap. 76, tchedule A. 



V 1 Land. Gaa. IO Dec. 1835 ; 20 Dec. 

 1881. 



*' 2 Pop. Ret. (Hants,), 1901, p. 15, note c. 



