STOCKTON WARD 



HARTLEPOOL 



3/. 4<^." On 15 April 1673 it was ordered at a 

 general gild : 



That whosoever he be, of any merchant trade, or house- 

 carpenter, joyner, ship-carpcntcr, draper, taylors, plumers, glaisers, 

 cordiners, butchers, glovers and skinners, whitesmiths, black- 

 smiths, wallers, wine coopers, tallow chandlers, et alias, that 

 shall presume to come in, and within the liberty of this corpora- 

 tion, to trade or occupye any such trade, without the liberty or 

 consent oft any such who are injoyned to the prejudice of the 

 free trades, and companyes within the corporation, as now is 

 ordered for the good off the free burgesses and inhabitants 

 theiroft, and for the better preservation off all the companijcs 

 and incouragement of them, to them and their successors for 

 ever licrcafter, we doe hereby order and have fully agreed upon, 

 that whatsoever he be that shall com within the corporation 

 aforesaid, shall pay to the use off the major and burgesses of this 

 townc for every such time soe offending as he or they shall 

 trade, complent being made by one or two more of the companys 

 aforesaid to the major and burgesses, for every such offence 



The companys of tradesmen shall from time to time and at 

 all times hereafter within their hall or com'on hall and meet- 

 ings, order and with the consent of their warden and major 

 partt of them at theire quarterly meetings, make such lawes and 

 orders, for the better incouragement of their trades and callings 

 hereafter, for the better suppressing of all those yt shall hereafter 

 make any brash within the corporation to the damage of all or 

 any of the said companyes aforesaid, shall upon every such offence 

 pay to the warden of the said company, over and above the fine 

 above mentioned, for every time soe offending the sum of 



On 3 October 16S1 the mayor and burgesses 

 ordered that Nicholas Corner and George Patteson, 

 tailors and freemen of the town, should at all times 

 be ready to work at any of the chief burgesses' houses, 

 under penalty of 3/. 4^/." In 1722 Robert Wheat 

 was fined first 10/., and then £1 for working as a 

 weaver in Hartlepool, though no freeman." From 

 the order of 1673 it appears that the tradesmen were 

 still in the habit of holding gild meetings for the 

 regulation of the separate trades. There do not 

 seem to have been any chartered trade companies in 

 Hartlepool, as there were in Durham and Gateshead. 

 As the population of the town was small, and the 

 principal trade was fishing, there were probably not 

 more than half a dozen masters in any one trade, and 

 the expense of forming so small a company was not 

 worth while. Probably all the masters of all the trades 

 met in their common hall, and kept records of their 

 meetings apart from the corporation records." By 

 the beginning of the 19th century no trace was left 

 of the trade companies or the gild meetings." 



A list of the town officers appointed by the mayor 

 was drawn up in 1656 as follows :^ 



One town clerk, one serjeant, two chamberlains, 

 three auditors, four constables, four bread weighers, 

 four pier masters, two ale tasters, two grassmen, one 

 herd, two sand cleaners, two viewers of weights, one 

 measurer of cloth.'' From this it seems that the two 

 Serjeants at mace granted by the charter had been 

 reduced to one. The mayor's stipend was at first 

 44;., but in 1606 it was entered as j^io ; this rise, 

 however, was not formally confirmed by the common 

 council until 1631.'° The first town clerk occurs 

 in 1604. 



On 3 December 1675 the mayor and corporation 



resolved that by Queen Elizabeth's charter they had 

 the same power as the corporation of Newcastle-upon- 

 Tyne to levy a toll on grain brought into the town, 

 and that they would levy the toll accordingly." The 

 town revenues, independent of the cesses levied by 

 the common council, arose from tolls on corn, ale, fish, 

 timber, and agricultural produce, harbour dues, stallage 

 at the markets and fairs, and hawkers' licences." As 

 the trade of the town declined the amount realized 

 from these dues diminished until, at the beginning of 

 the 19th century, it was only about £iz i year. 

 This, however, would have been sufficient for the 

 very small expenses of the town government if it had 

 not been for the law suit over the town boundaries, 

 which was brought by the corporation against the 

 lord of the manor in 1802." The cost of the suit 

 saddled the corporation with an annuity of ^^24 a 

 year. After this there was an annual deficit of some 

 £\i or j^i 3, which had to be met out of the mayor's 

 pocket, while he was also expected to provide salaries 

 for the constables.''* The result of this was that it 

 became more and more difficult to find men willing 

 to carry on the corporation. 



In 1835 the Municipal Corporation Commissioners 

 visited the town and found the corporation greatly 

 decayed. There were only twenty-six resident free- 

 men and about twelve who were non-resident. The 

 freemen had exemption from the tolls, which were 

 reported to be burdensome, and rights of pasture on 

 the Town Moor.''' Freedom was attained by birth, 

 apprenticeship, complimentary presentation, or some- 

 times by purchase. As there had not been more 

 than four instances in the preceding twenty years of 

 a person taking up his freedom by purchase, it is 

 evident that the privilege was no longer regarded 

 highly. The largest number of capital burgesses 

 at the mayor-choosing in recent years had been six, 

 while there were usually only three or four. The 

 mayor was chosen from the capital burgesses in 

 rotation ; he was frequently non-resident, and some- 

 times never attended to take the oath, but in that 

 case he appointed a deputy mayor. The number 

 of capital burgesses was then nine, and only three 

 were resident. The town officers were the recorder, 

 town clerk, and serjeant at mace, chosen by the 

 common council. There were two constables, who 

 were insufficient to keep order while the new docks 

 were being built, and the town was neither watched 

 nor lighted. The report ends in a note that after 

 the inquiry at Hartlepool the commissioners received 

 a letter stating that a fuo warranto had been issued 

 against the mayor for exercising that office, and that 

 he, being aware his election was invalid, had dis- 

 claimed." In consequence of this report, Hartlepool 

 was not included in the Municipal Corporations Act 

 of 1835. 



After the mayor's disclaimer the corporation fell 

 into abeyance. In the words of a contemporary, 

 'Now commenced a period of disorganisation and 

 misrule unequalled in any town in the kingdom of 

 similar pretensions — no resident magistrate, no con- 



^^ Hartlepool Munic. Rec. i. 



'^ Sharp, Hiii. of Hartlepool, 84 n. 



" Ibid. 86 n. 



'«Ibid. 89 n. 



" Against the entry of 15 April 1673 

 is written a reference to fol. 1 2. When 

 Sir Cuthbert Sharp was collecting mate- 



rials for hit Hittory of Hartlefool at the 

 beginning of the 19th century folio 12 

 had disappeared, and it has never been 

 recovered. 



'^ Sharp, op. cit. 



" Ibid. 82 n. 



'^ Ibid. 79 n. 



«' Ibid. 850. " Ibid. 102 n. 



«»Ibid. 98, 102. »* Ibid. 102-3. 



** Sec below. 



*® Munic. Corp, Com. 1st Rep. App. iii 

 (Pari. Accls. and Papers, 1835, xxv), 

 p. 1529 et seq., Northern Circuit, Hartle- 

 pool. 



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