STOCKTON WARD 



a separate sheriff for Sadberge at least till 131 1/* and after that date, though 

 only a single sheriff was appointed for Durham and Sadberge, he was regarded 

 as holding two offices.^^ The escheator had similarly a double office, and 

 separate inquisitions were held at Sadberge for lands within the wapentake 

 down to the late fifteenth century. i" Places were described as * in the county 

 of Sadberge ' as late as 1435,^'' and there are references to the county court of 

 Sadberge down to 1576.^^ The bishop's justices in Eyre sat at Sadberge as 

 well as at Durham till about the same date,i^ but both the county court and the 

 assize court at Sadberge had lost their importance in the sixteenth century.^o 

 After 1 576 the separate county organization disappeared, though the whole 

 county was officially .known as 'Durham and Sadberge' till 1836, when 

 the double name was abolished oy Act of Parliament. ^i 



While Sadberge was thus in some aspects a separate county, in others 

 it was on a level with the wards. In 1344 commissioners were appointed for 

 the levying of an assessment in the wards of Darlington, Stockton, Chester 

 and Easington and the east and west wards of Sadberge.-- This division 

 of the wapentake into two wards seems to have ceased after the fourteenth 

 century. It had from the thirteenth century its own coroner, whose functions 

 corresponded in most respects to those of the coroners of the wards,-^ though 

 the financial duties of the coroner ^^ seem to have been performed by the 

 bailiff of the wapentake.^^ Separate commissions of array for Sadberge were 

 issued down to the late fifteenth century at least. ^^ In 1497 it was called a ward, 

 and its coroner acted with those of the other four wards and the bailiff of 

 Barnard Castle and Gainford in the arrangements for the passage of the king's 

 army. 2' 



The connexion of Sadberge with Stockton Ward began on the financial 

 side. As early as 1 4 1 3 the account of the bailiff of the wapentake was attached 

 to the collector's accounts for Stockton Ward,^^ and this plan was followed down 

 to I 543 ^^ at least. ^"^ For military purposes Hart and Hartlepool and probably 



" Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 46-7 ; Cal. Pat. 1272-81, p. 70; Cal. Close, 1307-13, 



P- 3+5- 



** See references to the Sheriff in Chancery Enrolments piissim. 



" Inquisitions post mortem in Dep. Keeper's Rep. xliv-v. 



" Cal. Pat. 1429-36, p. 478. 



18 Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 281 ; Dur. Rcc. cl. 3, R. 92, m. 16 d. ; cl. 20, no. 76. 



18 Ibid. cl. 3, R. 92, m. 16 d., cl. 20 ; Assize R. 224, 225 ; Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 

 557-8, iv, 88 ; Surtees, Hist, and Antiq. of Co. Palat. oj Dur. iii, 266. 



^^ They produced no revenue in the last years of their existence (Dur. Rec. cl. 20, no. 74~7)- 

 An act of 5 Eliz. regulating the levying of fines in the county provides that they should be levied 

 before the justices of assize at Durham (Stat. 5 Eliz. cap. 27). Sadberge is not mentioned though 

 fines had formerly been levied there (Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 92, m. 16 d.). 



" Stat. 6 & 7 Will. IV, cap. 19. 



22 Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 273-6 ; see also Dep. Keeper's Rep. x.\xi, 159. 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 92, m. 16 d. ; Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxvi, App. i, 22, 48 ; xxxiv, 219; Plac. 

 lie Quo If'arr. (Rec. Com.), 604. 



^* The duties of the coroner will be found in the Introduction to Chester Ward. 



^ Eccl. Com. Rec. 188799-813. 



2^ Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. i, 302 ; xxxiii, 102, 143 ; xxxiv, 182, 219 ; xxxvi, App. i, 22, 26, 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 62, m. 4 d. 



^8 Eccl. Com. Rec. 188799. Cf. the position of Sadberge in Hatfield's Survey. 



^' This is the date of the last existing collector's roll. 



so Eccl. Com. Rec. 188799-813. 



3 193 ^5 



