By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.8.A. 187 



for in the register of Bradenstoke Abbey there is an entry that one 

 "William Cosyn gave to that monastery twelve shillings a year out 

 of the rent of his house called The Guildhall. I may mention, in 

 passing, that the name of Curzon, now given to one of the streets, 

 is altogether a mistake, and ought to be corrected to Cosyn. The 

 Curzon family never had anything to do with Calne. The real 

 name is Cosyn, being that of a family who were here and at Beck- 

 hampton in the reign of Edward III. 



The authorities at Calne in past times seem to have been very 

 indifferent to the preservation of their title-deeds, for in the Muni- 

 cipal Corporation Report for the year 1835 when the present order 

 of things was established, it is stated that no trace could be found 

 of any ancient charter or record : and that in 1673, in the reign of 

 James II., when a new charter of incorporation was on foot; the 

 older one was considered to have been lost or destroyed. In 1687 a 

 new one was granted, which is in the Rolls Chapel. In 1812, by 

 an Act passed for inclosing lands in Calne, Calstone, and Blackland, 

 twelve acres in Calne Marsh were granted to the Civic Body in lieu 

 of certain rights over the open and common fields. Their total 

 income then was £95 10s. a year, of which the Report states that 

 £81 10*. was spent chiefly in entertainments. 



For some extracts from the Council book see Appendix, No. V. 



Members of Parliament, 



There were burgesses at Calne in the time of William I. : but 

 the return of Members to Parliament dates only from the year 1295 

 (23 Edw. I.). That so small a place should have had the privilege 

 may, perhaps, be accounted for in this way. Calne was a Royal 

 manor, and the early kings, anxious to secure their own power as 

 much as possible, collected legislators from places under their im- 

 mediate control. The two first members were William le Escryveyn 

 (Scriptor, or " The Writer" most likely a lawyer) and William de 

 Chelfurste, of Studley, whose name (as well as that of one of the 

 vicars above-mentioned,) is still preserved in Chilvester Hill. A 

 complete list of the Members in Parliament, from the beginning, is to 

 be found in the Return printed by order of the House of Commons 



