HIGH COUKT OF MADRAS, 



145 



Majesty's subjects within the territories subject to the Govern- 

 ment of Fort St. George except the Governor-General and 

 Governor of Fort St. George for the time being, and except 

 all such persons as by law and usage take place in England 

 before the Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench ; and 

 the Puisne Justices were to take rank next after the Members 

 of Council at Madras. The Chief J ustice and Puisne Justices 

 respectively were appointed to be Justices and Conservators of 

 the Peace and Coroners within and throughout the Settlement 

 of Fort St. George, and the town of Madras, and the limits 

 thereof and the factories subordinate thereto, and all the 

 territories which then were, or thereafter might be, subject to 

 or dependent upon the Government of Madras ; and to have 

 such jurisdiction and authority as the Justices of the Court of 

 King's Bench had and might lawfully exercise within that 

 part of Great Britain called England, as far as circumstances 

 would admit. 



A question as to precedence was under discussion in 1813, 

 when the Marquis of Hastings, then Lord Moira, was at 

 Madras on his way to Calcutta, and is thus referred to in 

 his Journal, under date September 12th : " Dined with the 

 Governor. A contest was then raging for precedence between 

 the daughters of peers and the wives of those who, from their 

 station in the Company's service, were held to have a superior 

 local rank. As the affair had been referred to the Governor- 

 General in Council, I had not to give any opinion upon it ; 

 and a hope which I was told had been entertained that I 

 should indirectly decide the question by my choice of the lady 

 whom I should hand out at this dinner was baffled by my 

 adverting laughingly to the dispute while I gave one arm to 

 Lady Hood 114 (Lord Seaforth's daughter) and the other to 

 Lady Strange, the wife of the Chief Justice." 



111 Wife of Admiral Sir Samuel Hood. 



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