A HISTORY OF SURREY 



The appointment of ' one skilled in the laws of the 

 realm" as recorder was directed in 1628 and was 

 made by the Court of Assembly for life, the salary 

 being eighteen sugar-loaves and 26 5/. a year. 2 * 4 

 His duties in 1835 were to attend the election of the 

 municipal officers on the charter day, to preside at the 

 sessions and court of record, and to act as steward of 

 the court leet and as legal adviser to the corporation. 



There is no evidence to show at what date a town- 

 clerk was first employed, but the trades companies in 

 1609 had a clerk who later invariably fulfilled both 

 duties. 1 " He is first mentioned in the charter of 

 1628 as 'a common clerk and clerk of the peace, 

 who is called prothonotary of the court of the town.' ** 7 

 He was elected for life by the Court of Assembly and 

 was himself generally a freeman. 1 " It was a disputed 

 election of this officer that led in 1655 to a tumul- 

 tuous assembly at the Gildhall, when certain freemen 

 sat as a court, censured the bailiffs for their choice of 

 a clerk, and discharged them from bearing office.' 39 

 The town-clerk in 1835 acted as senior coroner, clerk 

 of the court baron and court leet and as clerk-solicitor 

 and attorney of the corporation. 140 



There were other officials of less importance. After 

 the restoration of the grammar school two school- 

 wardens were chosen from among the freemen by the 

 Court of Assembly, to which they were responsible for 

 their expenditure."' Paving wardens are also men- 

 tioned in 1684.*** Inferior to these in status were the 

 two serjeants-at-mace authorized by the charter of 

 1481,*** who, under the grant of 1556, could execute 

 writs and be sent by the bailiffs on business before 

 justices of the peace, coroners, and other royal officers. 244 

 Their numbers were increased to four in 1628,"* but 

 there is no evidence that more than two were ever 

 appointed. Their duty was to execute the process of 

 the court of record ; in 1835 one of the Serjeants was 

 gaoler, and probably the office of keeper of the toll- 

 booth mentioned in 1683-4 was ^' e d by his fellow.' 46 

 In 1682 the Court of Assembly ordered that in the 

 future the bailiffs at the first hall after their election 

 should deliver $os. apiece for gowns for the Serjeants.* 47 

 In 1835 there were also two mace- bearers to carry 

 the maces before the mayor on occasions of ceremony,' 48 

 as well as a hall-keeper or general attendant on the 

 Court of Assembly. 149 



According to Stuart practice the charter of incor- 

 poration was expanded and defined in 1603, when a 

 few additional rights were granted, but no very 

 material difference made. Henceforth the bailiff, 

 steward, and recorder were to be justices of the peace 

 for the town, its liberties, and the hamlets of Surbiton, 

 Ham, and Hatch, with power to make amerciaments 

 and deliver malefactors to gaol. 150 A further charter 

 in 1628 defined the constitution more closely by 

 authorizing the ancient methods of election and by 

 stipulating that the Attorney-General should be the 



steward of the borough-court.' 51 With the exception 

 of the period covered by the charter of James II this 

 remained the governing charter until 1835. 



Although not then a Parliamentary borough, Kings- 

 ton was among the corporations which Charles II 

 attempted to remodel. The first indication of the 

 purpose of the Government appears to have been 

 received in June 1682, when lew. was paid for making 

 a copy of the governing charter for the use of the 

 recorder, 15 ' but nothing further was done until the 

 autumn of 1684, when the recorder resigned, probably 

 as a protest, Francis Brown being elected in his 

 stead.' 51 In September of that year the bailiff and 

 all the gownsmen waited on the high and the learned 

 steward to learn the royal pleasure concerning the 

 surrender, 854 and two months later the Attorney- 

 General gave formal notice that a writ of fue 

 warranto would be brought against the charter. 854 

 The corporation was evidently severely frightened, 

 and also puzzled as to their wisest course of action. 

 Their high steward, Lord Arlington, was ill, but they 

 secured the goodwill of his secretary by the gift of a 

 guinea and obtained his promise to ' let them know 

 if he heard anything against them at any time.' >M 

 The surrender was authorized,' 57 sealed,' 58 and delivered 

 to the king on 20 January i685. 159 Charles II died 

 on 6 February, and the surrender not having been 

 enrolled was rendered void. 



A second quo warranto was brought against the 

 corporation in May, 160 and the bailiffs now applied 

 direct to Jeffreys, who ' was so kind to the corporation 

 as to take the business upon him,' * 61 and ' directed that 

 the Attorney-General should prepare a new surrender 

 which should contain an absolute surrender of every 

 person in the corporation, their respective offices, and 

 places therein.' 16 ' The corporation though unwilling 

 and terrified,' 61 made an absolute surrender in June of 

 all liberties, charters, lands, and manors.' 64 They were 

 forced to borrow 40 from the bridgewardens and 

 smaller sums from the trades companies towards the 

 expenses of the new charter, which was granted in 

 August 1685 and remodelled the constitution under a 

 a mayor, twelve aldermen, a recorder, high steward, 

 steward of the court, sixteen common councilmen, and 

 fourteen headboroughs,' 65 the minor offices remaining 

 unchanged. 166 All officers were amovable by the king in 

 council, and the right was exercised in 1688 against 

 the recorder, Sir Francis Wythens, and the corporation 

 required to choose Robert Power in his stead. 167 The 

 new charter was recalled at Michaelmas 1688, and the 

 old form of government resumed, Francis Brown, who 

 had been removed in favour of Wythens in 1685, 

 returning to the office of recorder.* 68 



The constitution of the borough, though charac- 

 terized by the commissioners of 1835 as 'harmless if 

 not useful to the town,' was remodelled in the same 

 year by an Act of Parliament.* 69 The style of the 



** Manic. Ctrf. Com. Ref. iv, 1896. 



** Doc, of Corp. Bk. of Trades Com- 

 panies. 



*" Roots, Cbarten, 167. 



538 Manic. Ctrf. Ctm. Rtf. iv, 2897. 



" Cat. S.P. Dom. 1655, p. 149 ; Mere- 

 wether and Stephens, op cit. 1685-6. 



** Munic. Ctrf. Ctm. Rtf. iv, 2897. 



841 Ct. of Assembly Bks. fassim. 



148 Ibid. 3 July 1684. 



843 Roots, Chartcrt, 59. 



844 Ibid. 74. * Ibid. 171. 



*" Ct. of Assembly Bk. 7 Feb. 1683-4. 



W Ibid. 1680-1714, foL ^b. 



148 Munic. Corf. Com. Ref. iv, 2897. 



849 Ibid. 2898. 



450 Roots, Cbartert, 139. 



" Ibid. 161. 



*' Ct. of Assembly Bk. 22 June 1682. 



Ibid. 5 Nov. 1684. 



" Ibid. 4 Sept. 



156 Ibid. 27 Nov. 



M Ibid. 27 Nov. *? Ibid. 



>sa Ibid, to Jan. 1684-5. 



49 8 



**' Ibid. 29 Jan. 

 MO Ibid. 4 May 1685. 

 861 Ibid. 12 May. 

 * Ibid. 28 May. 



848 Ibid. 16 June, 18 June, 25 July. 

 M< Doc. of Corp. 

 868 Roots, Ckarttrt, 119. 

 848 Manning and Bray, Surr. i, 341. 

 "7 Ibid, i, 342. Wythens had been 

 removed from the King's Bench in 1687. 

 868 Doc. of Corp. 

 " Public Act, 5 & 6 Will. IV, cap. 76. 



