A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



with six principal men of the town Simon ot 

 St. Lawrence, Robert the Controller (talliator), Denys 

 Fortin, Walter Fleming, Roger Bonheit, and Thomas 

 de Bulehus " 3 were called upon to answer for the 

 town's trespass in appropriating certain money from 

 Ireland belonging to the king. 8 " 



The bailiffs are referred to in the laws of the gild, 

 where their election is provided for by the ' twelve 

 discreets ' (see above). In the course of time their 

 duties varied and the status of their persons. They 

 were bound by oath to serve the town court, to see 

 that common right was ministered, as well to strangers 

 as to Englishmen, and generally to advance the good 

 of the town. In 1571 an alderman was chosen as 

 bailiff; in 1587 it was ordered that henceforth the 

 senior alderman should be bailiff of the court, and 

 that the junior bailiff should preside at Trinity Fair, 

 and be at the charges thereof. In the eighteenth 

 century it had become usual to choose the bailiffs from 

 the younger burgesses who had not served the office 

 before. The senior was bailiff of the court, the 

 junior, water-bailiff." 6 Until 1835 the bailiffs were, 

 jointly with the mayor, judges of the civil court of 

 Pleas ; and with the mayor were also the returning 

 officers at the election of members of Parliament. 116 



As well as the office of bailiff that of mayor 

 certainly existed early in the thirteenth century. 

 There was a ' mayor ' about 1217 ; " 7 and Benedict, 

 the son of Azo, or Ace, ruled in that capacity and 

 under that name (major) at least from January, 1235 * 1! 

 to 1249. 



At the end of this long tenure of office, for some 

 reason probably connected with the rise of the gild,* 19 

 to which the title of alderman came more naturally, 

 the burgesses obtained by royal patent (22 October, 

 1 249) the curious grant "" that neither they nor their 

 successors should at any time be governed by a 

 mayor.** 1 Futile as the grant was in the long run, 

 Matthew Gese, the next head officer whose name is 

 known (1260), was styled 'alderman,'*** and his suc- 

 cessors the same till 1323, when Hugh Sampson 

 appears in deeds both ways. But the title of alder- 

 man continued usual *** till Lawrence de Mees in 

 1334, when the older title was finally dropped and 

 * mayor ' prevailed. 



According to the charter of 1445 (see above) the 

 mayor and bailiffs were to be elected by the burgesses 

 on the Friday before St. Matthew's Day, 21 Septem- 

 ber each year, no doubt in accordance with ancient 

 precedent. 



However, a patent given *" fifteen years later 

 (1460), called forth by riotous proceedings threatening 

 bloodshed at the choice of a mayor, shows that the 

 method of election was in reality much more 

 restricted. By a custom there, reported to have been 

 immemorial, the outgoing mayor on the Friday 

 before St. Matthew's Day, in the presence of the 

 bailiffs and burgesses, in the gildhall, nominated two 

 burgesses, one of whom was to be chosen as his 

 successor by the assembly.** J However, in spite of 

 this nomination the mayor himself might be re- 

 elected. A variation on this custom, which seems 

 capable of being dated from about the middle of the 

 sixteenth century, and is mentioned in 1587, con- 

 sisted in what was called ' the private nomination.' 

 On the Friday before St. Bartholomew's Day (24 

 August) the mayor and aldermen met in the Audit 

 House and put two aldermen and two junior burgesses 

 or any four burgesses in nomination for mayor ; and 

 on the morning of the day of election, the Friday 

 before St. Matthew's Day, they struck off two names, 

 and proposed to the burgesses the decision between 

 the remaining two by ballot. It was usual, however, 

 for the outgoing mayor to suggest the name, and the 

 ballot was generally a matter of form. The ceremony 

 was attended with considerable formality, the gildhall 

 being decorated with flowers and duly strewn with 

 rushes, the aldermen attending in their scarlet gowns, 

 and the mace and oar being carried before the mayor. 

 Before the Act of 1835 it was usual to put in nomina- 

 tion the two senior aldermen who had not occupied 

 the mayoralty twice, and the two senior burgesses 

 who had served as sheriff but not as mayor. This 

 custom of private nomination was continued till the 

 passing of that Act, under which, according to a 

 uniform rule for all boroughs, and extended by the 

 Act of 1882, the mayor is elected by the council each 

 9 November from among the aldermen or councillors 

 or persons qualified to be such ; so that previously to 

 election the mayor need not have been a member of 

 the corporation. 



In the earlier centuries, as in later times, the bur- 

 den of municipal office, like that of parliamentary 

 representation, was not unfrequently avoided. In 

 November, 1414, Thomas Armorer, who had been 

 M.P. for the last two years, and had served as bailiff 

 from 1404 to 1414, appeared before the mayor, John 

 Mascall, three aldermen, his fellow bailiff and others 

 of the prodes-hommes in assembly, and produced 

 letters patent of the late king (15 February, 1412), 



218 Probably the same as the former 

 bailiff. ' Bussuse ' may be a mis-writing 

 and ' Bulehus ' more correct. Bull or 

 Bugle Hall became a locally noted place. 



314 Madox, Firma Burgi, 158. 



816 The duties of this last officer were 

 originally to attend the mayor when per- 

 forming any duty in the capacity of 

 admiral. 



216 At the municipal elections (9 Nov. 

 1904.) objection was raised on the formal 

 re-appointment, involving a solemn de- 

 claration of these and other ancient 

 offices, which had become simply titular; 

 and the matter was referred to the 

 Parliamentary committee. 



ffl 7 ' Major et omnes fidelcs homines dc 

 S. to Peter,' bishop of Winchester, and 

 Hubert de Burgh, justiciar (Letters of the 

 Time of He*. HI (Rolls Ser.), i, 8. 



118 On 14 Jan. 1235, royal confirma- 

 tion was obtained to his election ; Pat. 19 



Hen. Ill, m. 15. ' Pro majore Suht. Rex 

 eleccioni facte de Benedicto Ace in 

 Majorem Suhampton regium astensum 

 adhibuit et favorem. Et mandatum est 

 probis hominibus Suht. quod eidem Bene- 

 dicto quam diu fuerit Major ville predicte 

 in omnibus que ad officium suum spectant 

 intendentes sint et respondentes. Teste 

 Rege apud Clarendon, xiiij die Jan.' For 

 his mayoralty under 1237 see Madox, 

 Form. Angl. pp. 196, 279 ; Add. MSS. 

 15314, fol. 53 ; Anct. D. (P.R.O.), B. 

 3308, 3368, 3383. D. 121, &c. 



419 The title of mayor it only once 

 mentioned in the Gild Ordinances, namely 

 in the burgher's oath prefixed to the 

 early version of the Ordinances. 



* Pat. 33 Hen. Ill, m. 2. 'Rex 

 omnib. &c. sciatis quod concessimus Bur- 

 gensibus de Suhampton quod ipsi et eorum 

 heredes aliquo tempore non habeant 



512 



Majorem in predicta villa nostra de Su 

 hampton. In cujus, &c.' 



221 In this same year (1249) t ' le bailiffs 

 of Southampton (and parts adjacent) were 

 summoned by the king to Winchester 

 Castle in consequence of numerous rob- 

 beries committed in those parts, all the 

 king's wines sent in advance of him 

 having been stolen. As a result of 

 the inquiries about 100 people were 

 hanged ; Matt. Paris, Hist. Minor (Rolls 

 Ser.), iii, 47. 



222 Document in Arch. 1, 260. 



228 But the title 'mayor' occuri in 

 the dispute with Lymington in 1324 

 (Madox, Firma Burgi, 220), and in the 

 agreement with New Sarum in 1329 

 (Oak Bk.). 



" Pat. 39 Hen. VI, m. 13 (i Dec. 

 1460). 



226 That is ' curiam assemble vulgariter 

 nuncupatam' (1413). 



