THE JUSTICES OF LABOURERS 33 



and of the exchequer, without interference from parlia- 

 ment, does not belong here ; but enough has been said to 

 make out a strong case for the theory that it is the 

 king's council (including as ex-officio members both the 

 treasurer and the chancellor) with whom the actual 

 choice of names usually rests, and that this body is some- 

 times guided in its choice by the commons as well as by 

 the advice of the local communities. It is worthy of 

 note that although by the next century the practice 

 began of establishing borough justices of the peace by 

 charter,' at this earlier date there is no difference in 

 method of assignment as between the county and the 

 borough justices, either of labourers or of the peace ; 

 except that in Oxford the commissions for labourers are 

 directed to the chancellor of the universit}^ and to the 

 mayor of the town, and in London, to the mayor and 

 the sheriffs.^ 



The striking irregularity in the dates of the appoint- 

 ments, the frequent issue of a commission for a district 

 that had just received one,^ the removal of a man within 

 a few weeks after he had been appointed,-* and the ex- 

 ceedingly numerous associations to the commissions, 



'Beard, op. cit., 148. 



'^P. 10, note 4 and app., 33, note i. 



^In Worcester e. ,^., commissions were appointed successively on 3 

 and 20 Dec, 1355; app., 38-39. In the course of exchequer processes for 

 the Worcester estreats, it appears that the first set of justices had held 

 a session for one day and had then been superseded; Mem. L. T. R., 

 32, Hill., Presentaciones, rot. 3 d. This must be typical of what fre- 

 quently happened. 



*E.g., Adam was appointed for Derby on 12 July and removed on 

 8 Aug., 1356; app., 44. Botetourt was appointed for Warwick and for 

 Worcester on 20 Sept., 1351; on 15 April, 1352, on the ground of his 

 commission for Warwick (issued on 20 April), he was "exonerated" from 

 service in Worcester; on 2 July, of the same year, he was re-appointed 

 for Worcester, and on 28 Aug., again "exonerated" from service there. 



