b
,-,L+
THE
COUNCIL IN THE MARCHES
OF WALES
A STUDY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
DURING THE SIXTEENTH AND
SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
CAROLINE A. J. SKEEL, D.LiT., F.R.HlST.S.
FORMER STUDENT OF GIRTON COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE ; LECTURER IN HISTORY,
WESTFIELD COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ; AUTHOR OF " TRAVEL IN
THE FIRST CENTURY A.D." (CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS)
THESIS APPROVED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR
OF LITERATURE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
6irton Colleoe Studies II
LONDON
HUGH REES, Ltd., 124, Pall Mall, S.W.
1904
PREFACE
o
rn
^ The following essay is an attempt to bring together in
a connected form the scattered material that exists for
the history of the Council in the Marches of Wales. The
fullest account of the Council has hitherto been that by
Judge Lewis in Y Cymmrodor, Vol. XII., which is sup-
co plemented by Mr. Lleufer Thomas's article in Vol. XIII.
'Z But Judge Lewis's account extends only to the year
c> 1575, and since its publication much additional infor-
1— mation has become available, partly through the further
•■"^ calendaring of the Domestic State Papers, and the
publication of the Acts of the Privy Council (down
to 1597) and of the Historical MSS. Commission
Reports.
I acknowledge with gratitude the help I have received
from many, especially the permission accorded me by
33 the Earl of Ellesmere to transcribe the documents pre-
'^ served at the Bridgewater Trust Office, Walkden, near
^ Manchester. To the Muniment Keeper, Strachan Holme,
Esq., and to the officials at Walkden I am indebted for
much personal kindness. I have also to thank the Town
Clerk of Shrewsbury, H. C. Clarke, Esq., and the Borough
Clerk of Ludlow, J. H. Williams, Esq., for permission to
transcribe the MSS. under their care, and for their
courteous and ready help. To J. R. Phillips, Esq., of
Shrewsbury, I owe the loan of a valuable transcript of
270307'
iv PREFACE
an important sixteenth-century case. I have also
to thank F. Madan, Esq., of the Bodleian Library,
H. R. H. Southam, Esq., F.S.A., late Mayor of Shrewsbury
Miss Auden, of Condover, and A. W. Weyman, Esq.,
of Ludlow, for much kindly interest. To Professor Tout
and to J. E. Morris, Esq., I am indebted for several
helpful suggestions.
I also welcome this opportunity of thanking those
especially who have helped me both by direct teaching
and by the example of their work — Hubert Hall, Esq.,
of the Public Record Office, and Passmore Edwards
Lecturer at the School of Economics, and I. S. Leadam,
Esq., Creighton Lecturer in Historical Sources.
In conclusion I desire to express my grateful ac-
knowledgments to the Publication Committee of Girton
College for the grant it has made towards the printing
of this thesis. It was first written in candidature for
the Degree of Doctor of Literature in the University
of London, and is now included in the Series of Girton
College Studies.
C. A. J. SKEEL.
Westfield College, Hampstead.
October^ 1904.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PAGE
THE LORDSHIPS MARCHER I-17
CHAPTER I
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES UP TO 1 5 25 . . 1 8-48
CHAPTER II
THE princess's COUNCIL. THE PRESIDENCY OF BISHOP
ROWLAND LEE ....... 49-80
CHAPTER III
lee's SUCCESSORS, 1543-59. THE PRESIDENCY OF
SIR HENRY SYDNEY, 1559-86 .... 81-II3
CHAPTER IV
THE PRESIDENCY OF THE EARL OF PEMBROKE, 1586-1601 II4-128
CHAPTER V
THE DECLINE OF THE COUNCIL. CONFLICTS OVER
JURISDICTION. THE PRESIDENCY OF THE EARL
OF BRIDGEWATER, 163I-42 . . . 129-165
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
PAGE
THE REVIVAL OF THE COUNCIL AT THE RESTORATION.
ITS ABOLITION IN 1689 166-179
CHAPTER Vn
MEETING-PLACES OF THE COUNCIL : LUDLOW, BEWDLEY,
SHREWSBURY, HEREFORD, BRIDGENORTH . . 180-216
CHAPTER Vni
THE PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL .... 2 1 7-234
CHAPTER IX
FINANCES OF THE COUNCIL. THE MANAGEMENT OF
THE HOUSEHOLD AT LUDLOW CASTLE . . . 235-251
CHAPTER X
THE ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL . . 252-268
CONCLUSION 269-283
APPENDIX I
THE TITLE OF THE COUNCIL 285-286
APPENDIX II
LIST OF LORDS PRESIDENT 287
APPENDIX III
OFFICIALS OF THE COUNCIL IN THE MARCHES . . 288-289
APPENDIX IV
OWNERSHIP OF THE MARCHER LORDSHIPS IN THE
REIGNS OF HENRY VII. AND HENRY VIII. . . 290-293
INDEX 295
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
AUTHORITIES FOR THE HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF
THE MARCHES
The documents relating to the Council may be classified as follows :
I. State Papers, including : {a) Instructions and the preparatory drafts
and comments, correspondence between the Privy Council and the
Lord President, warrants for payment of fees, papers relating to
the Council's jurisdiction, etc., etc. ; {b) records of fines paid into the
Exchequer.
Under the former head {a) a considerable mass of material is pre-
served, partly in the British Museum, partly among the State Papers
Domestic in the Public Record Office, and partly in the Privy Council
Office. Of the Exchequer records only a few papers are preserved
(list given below).
In all probability the separate collection of papers relating to Wales
(which undoubtedly existed before the Act of Union) ' was continued
down to the seventeenth century. It was probably kept with the State
Papers, the Council Office Records, and the Signet Office Records,
under the Old Banquetting House at Whitehall. Loss was doubtless
occasioned by the moving of the State Papers in 1614 and again in
1618; still more by the Whitehall fire of 1619, when the old Council
chests were broken up and the surviving papers placed in presses
with the State Papers Domestic. A trace of this central collection
occurs in a list written by Sir Ralph Sadler in 155 1, "L'resand Matiers
touching the M'ches of Wales." ^
II. The actual records of the proceedings of the Council at Ludlow
and elsewhere. — These have, with few exceptions, perished. At one
' Exchequer Records. Treasury of Receipt Department, Liber A., Nos. 3
(Papal Bulls), 15, 16 (Welsh Wars).
- State Paper Office Documents, Vol. I., 1546-1666, f. 20. For this and the
preceding reference I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Hubert Hall.
viii LIST OF AUTHORITIES
time they must have been numerous, to judge by the large number of
cases (often two hundred to three hundred a term) brought before the
Court. In the earlier days of the Council its Acts and decrees were
registered "in faire paper bookes of great volumes fully and at large
like as in the Chancery." Safe keeping of the records is urged again
and again in the instructions, though with little effect, in spite of
Sir Henry Sydney's provision of rooms under the court-house for the
express purpose. But though carelessness may account for the loss
of some of the Council records, it is certain that large numbers survived
down to 1642. They are not mentioned in the list of goods at Ludlow
Castle inventoried and sold by order of the Council of State in
October, 1650. Of course, some may have been destroyed when the
castle was taken by Brereton in 1646 ; but had this been the case
with all, we should have expected some reference to it after the
Restoration. Dineley, the author of the Beaufort Progress, though
quick to notice tokens of the ravages committed in the late war, says
nothing of the records. It would seem, therefore, that the bulk at any
rate survived till 1689, when the Court was abolished.
Judge Lewis, in his History of the Council in the Marches down
to 1575, writes that a few years back it became important, for the
purposes of an action tried |in one of the Welsh Courts, to find, if
possible, the records ot the Court for the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
A firm of eminent record agents was engaged to make search at the
Record Office, the British Museum, Ludlow, Bewdley, and elsewhere,
but with no result. He adds, "it is pretty certain that the records
of the Court have for the most part, if not altogether, been destroyed.
If any still exist, they will probably be found in old libraries, belonging
to persons whose ancestors or the ancestors of whose predecessors in
title were officials connected with the Court."
Since the above words were written the Historical MSS. Com-
mission has brought to light some documents which are undoubtedly
contemporary records of the Court — viz. the MSS. preserved at the
Bridgewater Trust Office, Walkden, Lancashire. These documents,
which are fully described in Chapter V., have been used for the first
time in the present essay, and are of service in supplementing the
material afforded by the Dovaston MS., on which Clive largely based
his History of Ludlow.
III. Ofdcrs and letters fro7?i the Council preserved in the jnunicipal
and other collections of MSS. — The chief of these are the collections
of Shrewsbury, Ludlow, and Hereford ; some references also occur
in those of Chester and Bridgenorth.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES ix
In the compilation of the following list much help has been derived
from Mr. Owen's Catalogue of MSS. in the British Museum, relating
to Wales, and from the Bibliography prefixed to Miss Cora Scofield's
Dissertation on the Star Chamber.
MANUSCRIPTS
British Museum
1. Cotfonian MSS.
Vitellius, C. i., f. 2 (Ordinances at Shrewsbury, i8 Edw. IV.).
,, ,, ff. 3-5 (Cromwell's Remembrances).
,, ,, f. 6 (List of Assistants to the King's Commissioners).
,, ,, ff. 7-20 (Instructions for the Princess's Council).
,, ,, ff. 134-5 (Four Counties Case; the King's Speech).
„ ,, f. 191 (List of Lords President).
,, ,, ff. 197, 204 (Abstract of Lord Eure's Instructions and
of Instructions for the Council of the North).
„ „ f. 205 (Letter to Sir Herbert Croft : Four Counties
Case).
,, ,, f. 206 (Letter from Lord Eure).
,, ,, f. 207 (Letter from Queen Mary to Bishop Bourne).
,, ,, ff. 208-9 (Exemption of Cheshire).
Titus, A. xxvi., f. 229 (Description of the Council of the Marches ;
Comparison with the French Parlements).
„ B. i., f. 321 (Letter from Dr. Sampson to Wolsey describing
the Princess Mary),
M f. 150 ]
,, „ f. 461 H Cromwell's Remembrances).
Cleopatra, E. VI., f.3i2j
,, ,, f. 328 (Household of the Princess Mary).
2. Lansdowne MSS.
12, ff. 163-4 (Fees of Officers).
22, ff. 166-70 (Abuses in Council).
28, ff. 124-5 (Fees ; List of Debts).
32, ff. 126^-7 (Fines, 1581).
38, f. 95 (Letter from Sir James Croft).
38, f. 97 (List of Fees and Fines, 25 Eliz.).
38, f. 99 (List of Fines, 19-25 Eliz.).
45, ff. 8-ix (Brief of the Instructions for Wales, September, 1585).
X LIST OF AUTHORITIES
49, f. 82 (Instructions to Sir Henry Sydney. Printed by Clive,
PP- 309-34)-
49, ff. 173-86 {I'e Instructions).
49, f. 188 (Provision of Grain).
49, f. 189 (^c Instructions).
49, ff. 1 90- 1 {7-e Instructions).
49, ff. 195-6 (Notes of Instructions).
49, ff. 197-207 (Instructions to the Earl of Pembroke, 1586).
51, ff. 103-14 (Brief Collections of the Present State of the Court.
See pp. 219-25).
53, f. 138 (Letter from the Earl of Pembroke to Lord Burghley).
60, ff. 103-12 {re Instructions).
63, ff. S8-98 (List of Possible Members of the Council, etc.).
63, f. 179 (Forces to be sent to Milford Haven and the Isle of
Wight).
63, f. 187 (Charges against the Earl of Pembroke).
63, f. 193 (Need of Fit Councillors).
67, f. 242 (Abuses in the Court).
67, f. 243 (Reforms begun by the Earl of Pembroke).
76, f. \\\b-<^ (Reforms needed).
79) f- 33 (Reforms needed and not accomplished).
84, flf. 84-5 (Charges of Extortion against Certain Persons before the
Court of the Marches).
87, f. 24-6 (Case of Simon Cotherington).
87, f. 124 (List of Servants in the Ludlow Household).
Ill, ff. 1-5 (The Office of the Queen's Solicitor in Wales).
Ill, ff. 6-7 (Charges of Extortion against William Thomas and
Others).
Ill, f. 12 (Ecclesiastical Commission).
Ill, f. 20 (Repairs done by Sir Henry Sydney at Tickenhill).
Ill, ff. 21-4 (Debts owing and Fines due).
Ill, ff. 25, 29, 31-7 (Remembrances concerning the Court).
155, ff. 222(^-49^ (Instructions to Sir Henry Sydney).
156, f. 394 (Caesar Papers ; Payment of Diet Money).
159, f. 50 (Religious Condition of Wales).
165, f. 264 {re Instructions).
216, ff. 34-9 (Treatise on the Government of Wales).
216, ff. 46-501^ (State of the Cause concerning the Lord President and
Council in the Marches of Wales).
LIST OF AUTHORITIES xi
3. Har grave MSS.
418, ff. 2-66 (Instructions to the Earl of Bridgewater, 1633).
489 (The Estate of the Prince of Wales).
4. Harleian AISS.
141, ff. 2S-85 (Description of the Dominion of Wales).
368, ff. 177-9 (Petitions to the Council).
4898 (Inventory of Goods at Ludlow Castle and Bewdley House).
5353 (Manninghara's Diary).
6807, ff. 3-6 (Household of the Princess Mary).
5^ Additio7ial MSS.
Eg. 2345, Liber Pacis (giving the Commissions of the Peace for
Wales and the Four Border Counties, with Cheshire and
Warwickshire, the Sheriffs for Wales, and the Councillors
in the Principality and the Marches of Wales).
Eg. 2642, f. 2^26 (Names of the Council and Lords President of the
Marches).
Eg. 2642, f. 273<^ (List of Founders and Owners of Ludlow Castle).
Eg. 2790, f. 12 (Instructions of 1574).
Eg. 2790, f. 23 (Orders for the Council of the Marches of Wales).
Eg. 2790, ff. 30 ei seqq. (Instructions for the Council of the North :
Reference to Wales in §§ 11 and 44).
14,905 (Commission for the Eisteddfod of October, 1567).
14,907, f. 126 (Lists of Lords President).
14,936, f. 52^ „ „ „
14,945, f. 10
25,244 (Papers relating to the Jurisdiction of the Council of the
Marches, 1 569-1612.)
32,091, f. 107 (Malet Collection: Letter from Henry VIII. to the
Duke of Buckingham).
Royal MSS., 18, B. VII., f. 277 (Copy of Entry Book for the Trinity
Term of 1617).
Public Record Office.
The following documents, in addition to the State Papers Domestic^
contain matter bearing on the Council of the Marches :
Accounts, etc.. Exchequer Q. R. Rolls.
Bundle 119, Nos. 5, 11, 12.
,, 120, Nos. 8, 20.
„ 533, Nos. 22, 24-6.
xii LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Privy Council Office.
The Council Register (MS. Volumes up to 1689).
The Bodleian Library.
Ashmolean MSS. 824, XXII. (Description of Various Courts of
Record).
Clarendon MSS., Nos. 1475, 1485, 1535, 1538 (Committee for con-
sidering the Jurisdiction of the Councils of Wales and the North).
Tanner MSS., 91, 9, f. 137 (Objections to Instructions).
,, ,, 91, 9, f. 138 (Criticism of the Bill of March, 1606, for
the Better Explaining of 34 H. VIII., c. 26).
The Bridgewater Trust Office, Walkden.
Ludlow Castle Papers, passim.
Welsh Council Papers, /aw?>«.
Welsh Shrievalty Papers, Bundle 6.
Books of Hearing for Hilary Term, 1632 (Nos. 35 and 36 in Welsh
Council Papers).
Books of Hearing for 1633 to 1640.
Instructions to Lord Zouch and to the Earl of Bridgewater.
Royal Papers, No. 88 (Forests).
The Guildhall, Shrewsbury.
The MSS. numbered as follows in the Calendar of the Borough
Records :
Box IX. 559; Box LXVIII. 2621, 2624, 2630; Box LXXVI. 2698,
2700, 2702; Box LXXVII. 2761, 2762.
The Record Room, Ludlow.
Miscellaneous MSS. (Uncalendared) relating to the Council (Orders
for Stay of Action in the Bailiffs' Court, etc.).
LIST OF AUTHORITIES xiii
PRINTED BOOKS
(a) State Papers, Historical Collections, etc.
Statutes at Large.
Rolls of Parliament.
Journals of the House of Lords.
Journals of the House of Commons.
Calendars of State Papers, Domestic Series, Henry VHI. to
William HI.
Calendars of Patent Rolls, Edward IV. to Richard HI.
Issues of the Exchequer, by Frederick Devon. London, 1837.
Rymer's Fcedera.
Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, edited
by Sir Harris Nicolas, 1834-7.
Acts of the Privy Council of England. New Series (for the years
1542-97).
The Paston Letters, 1422- 1509, edited by James Gairdner. London,
1896.
Hall's Chronicle, ed. 1809 (reprint).
Grafton's Chronicle, ed. 1809 (reprint from the 1569 edition).
Holinshed's Chronicle, ed. 1586.
Camden : Britannia, ed. 1772.
Strype : The Life and Acts of John Whitgift, D.D. Oxford, 1822.
Letters written by John Chamberlain during the Reign of Queen
Elizabeth. Camden Society, 1861.
John Manningham's Diary. Camden Society, 1868.
Rushworth's Historical Collections, 1659.
(/^) Other Works.
Arguments proving the Jurisdiction used by the President and Counsell
in the Marches of Wales over the Four English Counties to be
Illegal, 1 64 1.
Baxter : Reliquiae Baxterianae, 1696.
Bentham : History of Ely, 1817.
Biographia Britannica, 1778.
Blount : Law Dictionary, ed. 17 17.
Burton : History of Bewdley, 1883
Cambria Triumphans, 1661.
Cambrian Plutarch, by J. H. Parry, 1824.
Cambrian Register, 1796-1818.
xiv LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Churchyard : The Worthines of Wales, ed. 1776 (reprint of the edition
of 1587).
Churton : Lives of William Smyth and Sir Robert Sutton, 1800.
Clarendon: History of the Great Rebellion. Oxford, 1888.
Clarendon: Life of, ed. 1759.
Clark: Land of Morgan, 1880.
Clark: Cartae et alia Munimenta de Glamorgan, 1885-93.
Clark: Mediaeval and Military Architecture in England, 1884.
Clive : Documents connected with the History of Ludlow, 1822.
Coke : The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England
concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts, Fourth edition, 1669.
Coke : Book of Entries, 1614.
Collins: Letters and Memorials of State (Sydney Papers), 1746.
Cooper: AthenEe Cantabrigienses, 1858, etc.
Cowell : The Interpreter or Booke containing the Signification of
Words. Cambridge, 1607.
Croke : Reports, ed. 1790-2.
Crompton : L'Authoritie et Jurisdiction des Courts de la Majestie de
la Roygne. London, 1594.
Dictionary of National Biography.
Dineley : Beaufort Progress, ed. 1888.
Diurnall Occurrences or Dayly Proceedings of both Houses in this
Great and Happy Parliament from November 3rd, 1640, to
November 3rd, 1641.
Doddridge (Sir John) : An Historical Account of the Ancient and
Modern State of Wales, etc., ed. 17 14.
Duncumb: History of the County of Hereford, 1804.
Dyer: Reports, 1794.
Edwards (Owen) : Wales, 1901.
Eyton : Antiquities of Shropshire, 1854-60.
Fuller : Worthies of England, 181 1.
Lord Herbert of Cherbury: Autobiography, ed. 1886.
Jones : History of Brecknockshire, ed. 1898.
Leadam : Select Cases in the Court of Requests. Selden Society, 1898.
Leland : Itinerary, ed. 1770.
Lloyd (J. Y. W.) : History of the Princes, the Lords Marchers, etc.,
1881-7.
Lyson : Gloucestershire Antiquities, 1803.
Madden : Privy Purse E.\penses of the Princess Mary, 1831.
Madox : Baronia Anglica, 1741.
Masson : Milton's Works, 1890.
Morris (J. E.) : Welsh Wars of Edward I., 1901.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES xv
Ormerod : History of Cheshire, ed. 1882,
Owen and Blakevvay : History of Shrewsbury, 1825.
Parliamentary Proceedings of the Long Parhament, 1651.
Pennant : Tour in Wales, ed. 1883.
Penry : Exhortation to the Governors and People of Wales, 1588.
Phillips : Memoirs of the Civil War in Wales and the Marches, 1878.
Powel: Historie of Cambria, 1584.
Price (Sir John): Description of Wales, ed. 181 2.
Prothero : Select Statutes and Other Constitutional Documents illus-
trative of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I., 1894.
Reeves and Finlason : History of English Law to the Reign of
Elizabeth, 1869.
Rhys and Brynmor Jones: The Welsh People, 1900.
Rudder: History of Gloucestershire, 1799.
Scofield : A Study of the Court of Star Chamber. Chicago, 1900.
Seyer : Charters and Letters Patent of Bristol, 181 2,
Speeches and Passages of this Great and Happy Parliament, 1641.
Spedding and Ellis: Bacon's Works, Vol. VH., 1872,
Tanner: Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, 1748.
Verney : Notes of Proceedings in the Long Parliament. Camden
Society, 1845.
Vergil (Polydore) : Historia Anglica, ed. 1603.
Warrington : History of Wales, 1823.
Woodward : History of Wales, 1853.
Wright (Thomas) : History of Ludlow, 1841-52.
Wright (Thomas) : Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Ludlow Castle
and Church, i86g.
Wynn : History of the Gwydir Family, ed. 1776.
Wynne : History of Wales, ed. 1812.
Calendars, Periodical Publications, etc.
Historical MSS. Commission Reports.
Third Report, Appendix. MSS. of Lord de I'lsle and Dudley.
MSS. of Whitehall Dod, Esq.
Fourth Report, Appendix. Lord Bagot's MSS.
,, ,, Lord Mostyn's MSS.
Eighth Report, Appendix. Chester MSS.
Tenth Report, Parts HI. and IV. Bridgenorth MSS.
„ „ Mr. Lloyd Gatacre's MSS.
„ „ Mr. Zachary Lloyd's MSS
Eleventh Report, App. VII. Bridgewater MSS.
xvi LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Thirteenth Report, App. IV. Dovaston MS.
Hereford MSS.
Fifteenth Report, App. X. Shrewsbury MSS.
Report on MSS. in the Welsh Language, Vol. I., 1898. Mostyn
MSS., No. 158.
Catalogue of MSS. relating to Wales in the British Museum, by
Edward Owen, 1900.
Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, 1893.
Calendar of the Shrewsbury Borough Records, 1896.
Worcestershire County Records. Quarter Sessions Rolls, Part II.
Archaeologia, XXXVII. (Article by H. S. Milman on the Political
Geography of Wales).
Archaeologia Cambrensis, Vol. II., pp. 149, et seqq., and p. 335, et seqq,,
Vol. III., pp. 66-8 (Proceedings of the Great Court of the Lordships
of Bromfield and Yale in 1467).
Cymmrodorion Society Publications.
Y Cymmrodor, Vol. IX. [(Article on the Welsh Shires by
Professor Tout).
Y Cymmrodor, Vol. XII. (Article on the Court of the Marches,
by Judge Lewis).
Y Cymmrodor, Vol. XIII. (Further Notes on the Court of the
Marches, by D. Lleufer Thomas),
Cymmrodorion Record Series (George Owen's Description of
Pembrokeshire, edited by H. Owen).
Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XCIII. (George Owen's Description of
Wales).
Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Transactions,
Second Series, Vols. I., II. (The Trained Soldiers of Shropshire
in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth).
Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society Transactions,
Second Series, Vols. I., II., IV. (Ludlow Churchwardens' Ac-
counts).
Society of Antiquaries, Collection of Ordinances for the Government
of the Royal Household, 1790,
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA
P. 2, line 21, for ' Burleigh,' read ' Burghley.'
P. 65, line 3, for ' or Place,' read 'o'r Plas,' i.e. of the Place or House.
P. 76, line 2. This was written before I had the opportunity of reading the
article by Mr. Llewellyn Williams in Y Cymiurodor, vol. xvi., on
* A Welsh Conspiracy,' in which the story of Rhys ap Griffith is
for the first time fully told.
P. 78, line 8, for ' information given.' read ' information laid.'
P. 86, line 6, for ' P'arl.' read ' Duke.'
P. 96, line 3 from foot of page, for ' Sidney,' read ' Sydney.'
P. 172, line 3, for ' Langharne,' read ' Laugharne.'
P. 176, line 9, for 'July 4th, 1689,' read 'July 14th, 1684.'
P. 183. Since this was written, some important excavations have been made
at Ludlow Castle, which have thrown light on the original purpose
of some of the existing buildings.
P. 186, line 7 from foot of page, for ' wardrode,' read 'wardrobe.'
P. 193, last line, ' Inckell ' is some kind of tape or braid.
P. 214, line 25, insert ' and ' between ' lodging ' and ' utensils,'
P. 256, line 13: for ' viligance,' read ' vigilance.'
THE
Council in the Marches
of Wales
INTRODUCTION
Among the extraordinary Courts of the Tudor and Stuart
periods special interest attaches to the " Court of the Council
in the Dominion and Principality of Wales, and the Marches
of the same." ^ Its history, extending over more than two
centuries, throws much light on methods of government, and
also on the social condition of the people within its jurisdiction.
The Court was a means of ensuring order in districts long
vexed by war, faction, and unpunished crime. It did something
to render the union of England and Wales advantageous to
both countries ; and in spite of many faults, it may be regarded
as a fairly successful attempt to grapple with difficulties, the origin
of which lay far back in the past. From a purely constitutional
point of view it deserves closer study than it has hitherto
received. Its relations w'ith the Privy Council, the Star Chamber,
and the various local authorities, illustrate that development of
both central and local government which especially characterizes
the England of the Tudors. In the constitutional struggle
of the seventeenth century the Court occupied some place,
' For the various titles of the Court and Council, see Appendix I.
I
2 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
owing to its conflicts with the Common Law Courts respecting
jurisdiction, and its use as an instrument of personal govern-
ment. Even after its partial abolition by the Long Parliament
in 1 64 1, it continued to some extent up to the outbreak of
the Civil War ; it was revived at the Restoration, and was
not finally abolished till the first year of the reign of William
and Mary.
Much of what has just been said would apply with equal — in-
deed, with greater — force to other extraordinary Courts, especially
to the Star Chamber. But in one respect the Council of the
Marches has an advantage over even that great tribunal — namely,
in its associations with some of the most famous names of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Of those who actually
presided over the Council the most distinguished are Bishop
Rowland Lee and Sir Henry Sydney ; but many other notable
persons were in some way or other connected with its work.
Several of these were of royal blood, as Prince Edward, afterwards
Edward V. ; Prince Arthur, Henry VII. 's eldest and short-lived
son; and the Princess Mary, who passed the happiest years,
doubtless, of her life on the Welsh Border. Others were states-
men, such as Lord Burleigh, whose extant memoranda show
the minute care with which he supervised the Council's work.
Others, again, were lawyers, such as Sir Thomas Englefield in
Lee's time, William Gerard a generation later, and Bacon
himself, who argued strongly in favour of the Council's juris-
diction over the four Border counties. Lastly, with the Council
are linked the names of Milton, Butler, and Baxter. Milton's
Comus was acted in the Great Hall of Ludlow Castle, to
celebrate the Earl of Bridgewater's entry on his office as Lord
President. Butler wrote his Hudibras while steward of the
castle and secretary to the Earl of Carbery, and Richard
Baxter, in his autobiography, gives a vivid description of Ludlow
town as he knew it, full of needy suitors and grasping clerks.
To understand the conditions under which the Council existed,
it is necessary to go back four centuries earlier than the date of
its institution — to the time when the Norman barons found in
the piecemeal conquest of Wales an outlet for the independence
INTRODUCTION 3
sternly denied them in England. Collision between the Welsh
and Normans was inevitable ; the latter were simply following
out the policy which the English Harold had begun. Four years
after Senlac, Chester fell, and the completion of the conquest
of England was the beginning of the conquest of Wales. This
was not undertaken by the Norman kings ; they had neither
time nor inclination for warfare in the rugged mountainous
country, where success was doubtful and plunder scarce. The
Conqueror was content to plant along the Welsh Border a
line of castles for protection against invasion. In them were
placed men who, with their Norman instinct for fighting and
plunder, might be trusted to conquer Wales for their own profit.
The task would be hard enough, he thought, to prevent them
from growing over-powerful as against himself.^
The conquest of Wales naturally began from three distinct
bases. Chester points to the region north of the Berwyn
Mountains and west of Snowdon ; Shrew^sbury opens the way
to Powys and the Upper Severn ; Hereford commands the
entrance to the moorlands and valleys between Plinlimmon and
the Black Mountains. At these three gates, therefore, William
placed three of his ablest and most trusted followers : Hugh
of Avranches, his own nephew, in Chester ; Roger of Mont-
gomery, once regent of Normandy, in Shrewsbury ; William
FitzOsbern, the best soldier at Senlac, in Hereford. Chester
and Shrewsbury were counties palatine, and their rulers were
to all intents and purposes independent. An outwork dependent
on Chester was Rhuddlan, held by Hugh's man Robert. For
a time the conquest went on apace under the earls and their
followers. Castles were built, and near them in many cases
grew up bourgs, where " Francigenae burgenses " {t'.e. Norman
adventurers) lived in enjoyment of certain privileges as tenants
of some great lord. These burgess rights, it would seem, were
introduced by FitzOsbern from Breteuil in Normandy to Hereford,
Shrewsbury, Ludlow, and elsewhere, whence in time they were
passed on to Rhuddlan and Montgomery, Cardiff and Haverford-
' For the earlier pages of this Introduction I am much indebted to Mr.
Morris's Welsh Wars of Edward I.
4 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
west.^ Then came a check. First the Welsh, by Viking aid,
slew Hugh of Montgomery, Roger's second son, and regained
Anglesey. His death left his elder brother, Robert of Belleme,
the holder of immense possessions — the county palatine of
Shrewsbury, the Earldom of Arundel, and broad lands in
Normandy and Ponthieu. In the opening years of Henry I.'s
reign Robert aimed at securing practical independence of the
Crown. He was crushed ; his brother Arnulf, who had settled
in Cardigan, fared no better, and the palatine Earldom of Shrews-
bury ceased to exist. Henry had destroyed a dangerous rival,
but at the same time he had checked Norman expansion to
the west, except in so far as the Mortimers conquered along
the Upper Severn. Meanwhile, the Earls of Chester had plenty
of fighting against the Welsh ; castles were built, such as Mold
and Hawarden ; sometimes Rhuddlan and Diganwy were
occupied, but the Four Cantreds lying between the Dee and
the Conway were not conquered. The reason for this seems
to be partly geographical ; the strip along the northern coast
between the mountains and the sea was so narrow that invaders
had no cover from the Welsh, who held the mountain sides in
force. Hence they could not advance up-stream along the
Clwyd or the Conway, while their transport resources were
inadequate for conquest by land.^ Another reason may be
found in the jealousy with which the barons of the North Welsh
Border were watched by the Crown after the fall of Robert
of Belleme. If power was not to be gained by war, there was
no incentive for them to fight against a troublesome foe. Doubt-
less royal expeditions, such as those of Henry 11. and John,
penetrated at times as far as Snowdon ; but they achieved
nothing. The heavy feudal cavalry were lured into the mountains
by the retreating Welsh, only to find themselves driven to with-
draw through bad weather and lack of supplies. The result
was that, owing to the geographical conditions and the lack of
preparation for royal conquest by the independent action of
' Articles by Miss Bateson in Eng. Hist. Review, 1900, especially pp. 76,
302, 306, 307, 520 ; cf. Morris, pp. 4, 5.
- Morris, p. 8.
INTRODUCTION 5
Lords Marchers, the Princes of Gwynedd were able to retain
their independence, and the fortress of Snowdon came to be
regarded as the centre of Welsh unity.
In South Wales a different state of things prevailed. The
Norman lords had in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire bases
far superior to Chester, also a good route along the coast whence
they could work up the valleys of the Wye, the Usk, the Taff,
and the Towy. From the time of Rufus onwards the conquest
of South Wales steadily progressed. The Lower Usk and the
land of Morgan were secured by Robert Fitzhamon, Brecknock
by Bernard of Newmarch, the Carmarthen coast by William
de Londres, Pembroke by Arnulf of Montgomery. The last-
named was crushed by the fall of his brother Robert of Belleme,
but his place was taken by Henry L's friend, Gilbert de Clare,
who built castles in Pembroke and Cardigan. His younger
brother Walter settled on the Wye in Monmouth, where he
founded Tintern Abbey. From the elder brother descended
two branches, the Earls of Hereford and the Earls of Pembroke ;
the marriage of his great-grandson, Richard de Clare, Earl of
Hertford, with Amicia, heiress of Gloucester and Glamorgan,
made him the most powerful of all the Marcher Lords. The
younger branch, the Earls of Pembroke, held not only Pembroke
itself, but the lands along the Wye and westwards towards the
Usk. Other powerful families acquired Marcher Lordships, as
that of Braose in Gower, and also (through marriage with the
heiress of Bernard of Newmarch) in Brecknock and northern
Monmouth. In the middle of the thirteenth century the Clare
and Braose lands were divided. Those belonging to the younger
branch of the Clares had passed to William the Marshal, husband
of Strongbow's daughter Isabel, and thence to his three heiresses.
In this way new families gained lands in the Marches — Valence,
Norfolk, Cantilupe, Hastings, Bohun ; while the Mortimers
of Wigmore, by acquiring Builth on the Wye, and St. Clears,
west of Carmarthen, became powerful not only in Central, but
also in South-West Wales. About the same time as the division
of the Braose inheritance the March of Ewyas between Breck-
nock and Herefordshire, held by the Lacy family, was also
6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
divided. Of the two heiresses, one married Geoffrey de Genevile
(who obtained the lordship of Ludlow) ; the other, Theobald,
de Verdun. On the southern coast, to the west of Gower
(still held by a branch of the Braose family), was the March
of Kidwelly, belonging to the Chaworths; further west was
the March of Llanstephan, held by the Camvilles. To the
north the Border was held by the Mortimers, along the Upper
Severn ; the Fitzalans in Clun and Oswestry,^ the Corbets at
Cawes, the I'Estranges in Ellesmere and Knockin. After 1237,
by the extinction of the line of earls, Chester had reverted to
the Crown.
Between the days of William Rufus and those of Edward L
grew up, slowly, indeed, but all the more surely, the famous
" custom of the March." The position of the Lords Marchers
was thoroughly anomalous as compared with that of the ordinary
English baron. Their analogues must be sought, not in
England, but in France, or, better still, in Germany, where the
margraves held somewhat the same position against the Slavs
as they did against the Welsh. For several reasons they re-
ceived at the time of their conquests no charters defining their
privileges. When the king granted to any noble such lands in
Wales as he might win, it was impossible to fix any definite limits
within which privileges might be exercised. Again, even after a
lord had conquered Welsh territory, he had always to fear expul-
sion, and would not be inclined to sue for a charter. Lastly, the
powers exercised with a Lordship Marcher were " of soe high a
nature, soe royall and soe united to y® Crowne, yt by the lawes
of this land yt lay not in y® power of y® King to seuer y® same
from his imperiall crowne." It seemed better, therefore, to allow
the lords to exercise these powers on their own authority than to
make a grant which would be of no effect. Within the lordships
the king's writ did not run, but the lords had their own Courts
and officers. A powerful lordship such as Glamorgan contained
its own sheriffs, chancery, and chancellor. Great Seal, civil and
criminal Court, where sentence of death could be passed. The
' They, however, held by feudal tenure, not as Lords Marchers (Morris,
p. 22).
INTRODUCTION 7
lords further enjoyed iura regalia, including rights to waifs,
strays, infangthef and outfangthef, treasure-trove, deodands, goods
of felons, wreck, wharfage, custom of strangers, and so forth.
They also had a right to the goods of tenants dying intestate
within their lordships, unless a special exemption had been
granted. Further, they were permitted of their own absolute
power to incorporate towns and boroughs without seeking leave
or licence from the king. Feuds between Lords Marchers
were decided in practice by private war, in theory by the
king.^
If the above privileges were considerable, so also were the
duties incumbent on a Lord Marcher. He was expected to keep
his castle safe against Welsh attacks, and to be ready to serve
the king in person with his vassals when called upon. Further,
the conquests he made were carried on at his own expense. The
contemporary records of the wars waged by Edward I. and
Edward II. show what an important part was played by the
Lords Marchers. They had far more military experience than
the ordinary English baron, and their Welsh followers, especially
the archers, proved of the utmost value. ^
Each Lord Marcher was a tenant-in-chief of the Crown ; at
the same time he granted out manors to sub-tenants, who paid
him the usual feudal dues. Some of his tenants held per
baroniam ; others by grand or petty serjeanty, socage, or villein-
age. Interference within a Marcher Lordship was only possible
when a lord became so oppressive as to force his tenants in
a body to appeal to the king for redress.^ The Lord of
' George Owen's Treatise on the Government of Wales, Lansdovvne
MSS. 216: cf. Madox, Baronia Anglica, pp. 154-6; Clark, Cartae et alia
Munimenta de Glamorgan, Vol. IV., p. 253, and Land of Morgan, p, 15 ;
Eyton's Shropshire, Vol. VII., p. 257. The usual description of a Lordship^
Marcher is " ubi breve regis non currit," or " ubi rex non apponit manum
suam " (Eyton, Shropshire, Vol. XI., p. 247).
* For the quotas recognised as due from the Lords Marchers in 1277,.
see Morris, p. 62.
^ E.g. the complaint of the tenants of Gower against Richard de Peshale
and Alina his wife, heiress of William de Braose (Clark, Cartae, etc.
Vol. I., pp. 279-82, Nos. CCLIX., CCLX.).
8 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Glamorgan at one time held, sede vacante, the temporalities of
the Bishopric of Llandaff, and he was always patron of the
principal abbeys and of the boroughs within his jurisdiction.
When a Marcher Lordship was, by escheat or during a minority,
vested in the Crown, the personal service due from the military
tenants to the lord Avas not transferred to the Crown, but could
be compounded for in money. Another noteworthy point in
the relations of Marcher Lords to the Crown is this : In their
case inquisitiones post mortem were held by the escheator of
the next English shire adjoining their lordships, in virtue of
a writ under the Great Seal issuing from the Chancery at
Westminster.^ The Lords Marchers were not backward in asserting
their privileges even against the king. In 1199 the Sheriff of
Hereford, when ordered by the king's Court to take possession
of Bradwardine Castle, protested his inability, it being outside
his bailiwick. William de Braose, in whose land it lay, declared
that neither king, sheriff, nor justice had any right to enter
his liberty. 2
The baronial war of the thirteenth century brings out clearly
the position of the Lords Marchers; they held the balance of
power between Llewelyn and the Crown, and sided with the
one or the other according to their own interests. The accession
of Edward I., which boded ill to the independence of Wales
under Llewelyn, threatened equally the independence of the
marcher lords. Even as Earl of Chester he had instituted at
Carmarthen a County Court, to which the neighbouring lords
were compelled to do suit and service. After his accession,
he set himself to put the Marchers on the same legal footing
as the Crown tenants in England. It was no easy task,
for their help against the Welsh was indispensable, and even
Edward had to walk warily. The strength of March privilege
' E.g. the inqnisitio post mortem of Thos. Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,
directed to the escheators of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and the Marches
of Wales, 20 Nov., 43 E, III., 1369 (Clark, Cartae, etc., Vol. IV., No.
MCXCIII.).
- Eyton's Shropshire, Vol. I., p. 235 (from Rot. Pip., 8 and 9 Ric. I.,
Salop).
INTRODUCTION 9
is seen in the oft-told story of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey,
who replied to the quo warranto writ which questioned his right
to the lordships of Bromfield and Yale, by unsheathing an old
rusty sword and crying, " Behold my title ! By this sword my
forefathers, who came in with William the Bastard, obtained
their lands, and by it will I hold and defend them against any
who shall endeavour to dispossess me." Equally significant is
the fact that in the Welsh wars the Lords Marchers hardly
ever took the king's pay, and rarely went abroad or to
Scotland.^
The completion of the conquest of Wales in 1283 brought
the question of March privilege to the front. Henceforth there
was no independent Welsh territory left to conquer, for the royal
power extended over the five shires of Anglesey, Carnarvon,
Merioneth, Cardigan, and Carmarthen, as well as over Chester
and Flint. The custom of private war, which had hitherto
prevailed in the Marches, seemed to a law-loving king such
as Edward an intolerable anachronism. He insisted on replacing
it by legal process in the dispute between John GiiTard and
the Earl of Hereford, and some years later in that between the
Earls of Hereford and Gloucester. In both cases Edward gained
his point, but he had a heavy price to pay in after years, when,
in the fierce struggle over the confirmation of the charters,
the proudest of the baronage were ranged against him. To
the very end of his reign he was hampered in his attempt to
conquer Scotland by baronial opposition dating from the
Welsh wars.^
Although Edward was only partially successful in his attack
on March privilege, yet his conquest of Wales meant that in
the long run it would disappear. The Statute of Rhuddlan
in 1284 gave English law and organization to the old Principality
of Wales and its dependencies of the south. The three northern
shires of Anglesey, Carnarvon, and Merioneth were placed under
' Morris, p. 6i.
^ For details, see Morris, pp. 202, 22o, et seqq. Cf. tlie process in Parliament
between the Crown and William de Braose concerning the liberties of
Gowersland, 28 E. I. (Clark, Cartae, etc., Vol. IV., No. MLXXIV., pp. 10-18).
10 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the Justice of Snowdon ; Flint was to be under the Justice of
Chester, and Cardigan and Carmarthen under the Justice of South
Wales. Sheriffs, coroners, and bailiffs were to be appointed
for each shire. The conquered Welsh were to be kept down
by castles such as Conway, Carnarvon, Criccieth, and Harlech
in the north-west ; Kidwelly and Caerphilly in the south.
Beneath them towns were built or restored, and received charters
modelled on that of Hereford ; they were allowed to create a
gild-merchant which monopolised the trade of the district. In
some towns {e.g. Carnarvon and Conway) Welsh burgesses were
excluded ; in others {e.g. Denbigh) they were admitted from the
first. Between the newly conquered districts and the western
shires of England lay the crescent-shaped March, extending
from the Clwyd to the Dee, thence to the Severn, and thence
round to the western sea.^
For the next two centuries no king had both strength and
leisure to resume the campaign against March privilege which
Edward I. had begun. The apprehension with which the Crown
regarded the Marcher Lords may be inferred from the statute
of 1354, enacting that they "shall be perpetually attending and
annexed to the Crown of England, as they and their Ancestors
have been in all times past, and not to the Principality of Wales,
in whose hands soever the same Principality be or hereafter
shall come." It was evidently felt that in case Wales ever came
under an entirely separate government, the Lords Marchers
might, without some such proviso, prefer to throw in their lot
with Wales rather than England. That they were regarded with
dislike by the neighbouring local authorities appears from a
' The Statute of Rhuddlan (cl. 4) throws much light on the condition
of Wales at the time ; the sheriff is to inquire, e.g., " of Mascherers that
sell and buy stolen Meat knowingly ; of Whittawers, that is, those that
whiten Hides of Oxen and Horses, knowing the same to have been
stolen, that they may not be known again ; of Redubbers of stolen Cloths,
that turn them into a new Shape and change the old one, as making
a Coat or Surcoat of a Cloak and the like ; of them that shear Sheep
bj- Night in the Folds, and that flay them and any other Beasts ; and
of them that take and collect by Night the Ears of Corn in Autumn and
carry them away."
INTRODUCTION ti
protest made by several of their number in the ninth year of
Edward III. They complain that their tenants had been out-
lawed to their impoverishment and the prejudice of their lords'
franchises, and request that if such tenants can certify by record
of Domesday or otherwise that offences committed by them
were committed " outside the body of the county," a writ may
be directed to the sheriffs and Justices for surcease of proceedings
and reversal of outlawry. The lords, it is added, are ready
to do justice to all suitors in their Courts. The king's answer,
as might be expected, is not encouraging : " Let any who
feels himself aggrieved, come to the Chancery and show his
grievance, and he shall thereon have his remedy and right." ^ The
chief holders of these privileges, the Mortimers, came to be
themselves heirs to the crown of England. The heiress of
another great Marcher family, Mary de Bohun, became the wife
of Henry Bolingbroke and ultimately Queen.
Henry's chief difficulties lay in Wales, where he had to face the
national leader, Glendower, and Glendower's-son-in-law, Edmund
Mortimer. But this peasant revolt was short-lived, and in
Henry V.'s reign the social discontent which had been its cause
was lessened by the departure of hundreds of Welsh mercenaries
to serve in France. During the Wars of the Roses the power
of the rival claimants to the throne lay in Wales and the
Marches. From the great Mortimer estates, whose centre was
Ludlow, the Duke of York drew his armies, while the west
of Wales, from Pembroke to Anglesey, was strongly Lancastrian.
For a generation the dreary dynastic struggle continued, reducing
divided Wales to utter misery, till at last the Welshman, Henry
Tudor, defeated the heir of the Mortimers on Bosworth Field.
The condition of Wales and the Marches during these two
centuries may to some extent be gathered from the Rolls of
Parliament and the Statute Book. In the former are numerous
complaints by the inhabitants of the Border counties against the
people of Cheshire and the Welsh, especially those dwelling in
the lordships marchers. Among the offences mentioned are kid-
napping, felonies, trespasses, and unlawful distresses. The strong
' Rolls II., p. 91 (9 E. III.).
12 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
language of the petitions and the drastic measures proposed
reveal clearly the hostility existing at that date between English
and Welsh. The cautious replies by the king, and his refusal in
some cases to adopt the remedies proposed, show that March
privilege could not be lightly set aside.'
A typical petition is that sent up in the thirteenth year of
Richard II. by the counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford,
and Salop against the Welsh practice of kidnapping. They
pray that the Justices of the Peace, sheriffs, and coroners, on
hearing of such outrages, may send letters under their seals to the
seneschals of the lordships where the offenders dwell, requiring
due punishment and satisfaction, and that if this is not accorded,
the seneschal may be held answerable to the king. The reply
given was that the king would discuss the matter with the Lords
Marchers and devise a fitting remedy.^ Similar petitions occur in
every reign, especially those of Henry IV. and Henry VI. More
striking than the recitals of general grievances are the petitions
from individuals, especially in the first half of the fifteenth century.
As an instance may be quoted the complaint of Robert Whitington
and his son Guy, who were attacked on their way home from
Hereford by about thirty men " armed and arrayed in manner
of war," carried off to a mountain, robbed, and threatened with
transportation into Wales, unless they gave sureties to cease and
let fall all manner of personal actions against their captors " from
the beginning of the world to the Feast of All Saints following."
Guy Whitington was sent in search of the necessary securities, and,
on providing them, was, together with his father, released.^
' Rolls II. sS^b, 397« ; III. Sib, 139, 201, 280, 295Z1, 3086, 391, 4746, 612a,
and 6156; IV. 526, 69a, 3296; V. 15, 17, 53, 151^, 155«. Allowance must be
made for exaggeration in these petitions ; we hear much of the outrages
committed by the Welsh, and little or nothing of the oppression by which
they were doubtless often caused.
- Ibid., III. 2'j2b, 273rt.
^ Ibid., IV. 99: cf. v., pp. 15, 17, and Wright's Ludlow, pp. 267, et seqq.
A flagrant instance of Border turbulence is the conduct of Adam de Orleton
(Bishop of Hereford), a partisan of Roger de Mortimer in 1321-2 — see Wright,
ad loc. ; cf. Rymer (Record Edition), Vol. III., p. 126 (Commission in 1347 for
inquiry respecting certain outlaws in Gloucestershire).
INTRODUCTION 13
The Statute Book contains a long list of laws against turbulence
in Wales and the Border, based largely on the petitions referred
to above. From the Statute of Gloucester in 1378, for more than
a century, complaints occur of " routs and unlawful confederacies,"
forcible entry, rape, siege of houses, and overbearing of justices.
The legislation of Henry IV. is marked by peculiar severity against
the Welsh, forbidding them to become citizens or burgesses, or
to purchase lands and tenements in any city, borough, or market
town, or to hold any civic office. No Englishman was to be
convicted by a Welshman ; an English burgess marrying a
Welshwoman was to lose his franchise ; and no Welshman was
to hold office under the king or be of the Council of any
English lord. Other Acts recite how the Welsh retaliated on
their English masters. "Sometimes by day and sometimes by
night" they came within the counties adjoining the Marches
of Wales, and took distresses of horses, sheep, and cattle, driving
them away to the seigniories where they dwelt, and retaining
them "till gree be made at their will." Traders coming out
of the Border counties were arrested and sued " with intent
to grieve them with divers outrageous amerciaments and costs."
No better remedy could be devised at the moment than to
allow the English to arrest persons and property coming out
of Wales. The blame for the prevalent disorder was cast largely
on the lords of the Marches, who were bidden to set " sufficient
Stuffing and Ward in their Castles and Seigniories of Wales "
to guard against its repetition. Later it was ordained that
persons belonging to any seigniory of South Wales, and committing
felonies or robberies, were to be taken to the gaol of the
county where they were caught, or else charged to make satis-
faction to the injured parties as ordered by the lord of the
seigniory. The common practice of " disclaiming " was for-
bidden — i.e, no felon was to evade the jurisdiction of the lord
in whose territory he committed a crime on the plea that he
was a native of another lordship.^
' Statutes of the Realm: i H. IV., c. i8; 2 H. IV., cc. 12, i6, 17, 18
19, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34; 9 H. IV., cc. 3, 4. Special
exemptions from the statute debarring Welshmen from offices and
14 . THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Throughout Henry V.'s and Henry VI. 's reign statutes of
the same character were passed to very Uttle effect. In 1449
it is said that " riots, maims and murders " went unpunished,
so that " the people of the said Parts daily abound and increase
in evil Governance." The next year saw the outbreak of Cade's
Rebellion, the prelude to the Civil War. Bad as the state of
the Marches had been in time of nominal peace, it must hence-
forth have been infinitely worse.^ This is certainly the impression
given by the proceedings of the great Court of the lordships
of Bromfield and Yale, held in 1467 at Castle Leon or Holt
Castle before Commissioners appointed by the Duke of Norfolk
and Sir Edward Nevill, Lord of Abergavenny. The purpose
was to issue ordinances for the punishment of certain grave
crimes committed with impunity within the lordship. The
ordinances enjoined that livery was to be granted to menial
servants only, that vagabonds were to quit the lordship by
Hallowmas next, that no one was to carry weapons in any town,
village, fair, or market unless he were waiting on an officer of
the Court, and that assistance was to be given to such officers
in the execution of their duty. Other ordinances dealt with
the capture of thieves, the taxation of fines, and the duties of
stewards and bailiffs, negligence and extortion being especially
prohibited. The presentments that follow deal with murder,
theft, assault, abduction, receiving of stolen goods, and similar
offences.^
Some idea of the strife and bloodshed that prevailed in Wales
franchises were often granted as matters of special favour — e.g. Cal. Pat.
Rolls, 8 E. IV., Pt, II., m. 26, p. 107. The ordinances of the Privy
Council show the anxiety felt as to the condition of Wales and the
Border in the fifteenth century — e.g. Sir Harris Nicolas, Vol. V., pp. 82
92, 210-12. In 33 H. VI. the " Domini Marchearum " appear at the head
of the committee /';-o Wallia (Rolls V. 280).
' Ibid., 1 H. v., c. 6 ; 2 H. v., c. 5 ; 20 H. VI., c. 3 ; 25 H. VI. ; 28 H. VI.,
c. 4.
^ Printed in Archaologia Canibycnsis, Vol. II., p. 147, et scqq., and p. 335,
et scqq. and Vol. III., pp. 66-8; also in J. Y. W. Lloyd, History of the
Princes, the Lords Marchers, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog,
Vol. II., pp. 74-90.
INTRODUCTION 15
towards the end of the fifteenth century may be gathered from
the History of the Gwydir Family, compiled by Sir John
Wynn. We read in his graphic pages how the Earl of Pembroke
consumed Llanrwst and all the Vale of Conway " to cold coals,
whereof the print is yet extant, the very stones of the ruins of
manie habitations, in and along my demaynes, carrying yet the
colour of the fire." It is not surprising to read a little later
on that "in those dayes in that wild worlde every man stood
upon his guard and went not abroad but in sort and soe armed,
as if he went to the field to encountre with his enemies."
There was ample need, as shown by the story of the feud between
Jevan ap Robert and Howell ap Rhys ap Howell Vaughan, one
episode of which was Howell's attack on Jevan's house during
the latter's absence at Carnarvon assizes. The house contained
a large number of llawrudds, or outlaws, who, Wynn remarks,
were kept by their friends as "very precious jewels," safe from
the vengeance of the law. The attack was delivered early in
the morning ; and as soon as the outlaws awoke they " betooke
themselves to their weapons and bestirred themselves hand-
somely." The leader in the defence was Jevan's wife, who
" stood at the fireside lookeing on her mayd boyling of worte
to make metheglyn, which seething worte was bestowed liberally
among the assailants, and did helpe the defendants to thrust
back them that were entered and afterward to defend the house."
The attack continued all day and all night, till the following
morning Howell's people retired discomfited, and he himself
was advised by a kinsman, David ap Jenkin, to take Jevan as his
brother-in-law, neighbour, and friend, " for," quoth David, " I
will not be one with you to assault his house when he is at home,
seeing I find such hot resistance in his absence."
Equally troubled was the Ufe of Jevan's son Meredith, who,
after living till he was twenty with his foster-father near Car-
narvon, and marrying the daughter of the county sheriff, bought
a lease of the Castle of Dolwyddelan, and there took up his
abode. It was a wild place, once the home of an outlaw, who,
after a year's exile in Ireland, had returned in the summer-time
with a number of followers all clad in green. In true Robin
i6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Hood fashion they lurked by day and walked by night, for fear
of adversaries ; the country folk who chanced to see them ran
away, taking them for fairies. In Meredith's time the Conway
Valley was troubled by a veritable "wasp's nest, a lordship
belonging to St. John of Jerusalem called Spytty Jevan, which
had privilege of sanctuary." Here the king's laws were of no
force, thieves and murderers flocked thither, and for twenty miles
round no spot was safe from their incursions. Meredith's friends
might well ask why he was leaving his old home to dwell among
the thieves and bondmen of Nantconway. His answer is char-
acteristic of the times : " He should find elbow-room," he said,
" in that vast country among the bondmen, and he had rather fight
with outlawes and thieves than with his owne blood and kindred ;
for if I live in mine own house in Evioneth (S.W. of Carnarvon-
shire), I must either kill mine owne kinsmen, or be killed by
them." Meredith did good service in extirpating outlaws and
bandits, and died in peace and honour at Gwydir in 1525. But
when he went to church on Sunday he always left his house
at Penanmen (in Dolwyddelan) bolted and barred, and a watch-
man stationed on a rock, whence both house and church were
visible. Though guarded by twenty stout archers, he durst
never go and return the same way to church or any other place
through the woods, lest ambush should be laid for him.^
The slightest sketch of the condition of the Welsh Border
in the Middle Ages is enough to show how urgent was the
need of strong government. Many causes contributed to the
wretched state of things existing in the fifteenth century. First
and foremost was the age-long hatred between conqueror and
conquered — a hatred which had grown fiercer than ever through
the oppression that had undoubtedly marked English rule since
the days of Edward I. Then there were the privileges of the
Marcher Lords, which, however inevitable they had once been,
were now regarded by all except the possessors as useless
anachronisms. As far as the administration of justice went,
Wales was a congeries of petty states in which no extradition
treaties existed. Closely connected with these privileges was.
' History of the Gwydir Family, />«ss«;«.
INTRODUCTION 17
the practice of livery, which continued to flourish in Wales
long after it had died out in other parts of the kingdom. What
was needed was some authority which should ensure the due
punishment of crimes, and impartial justice even between men
of differing race. Centuries before an attempt had been made
to improve the condition of the Marches. Richard de Belmeis,
Bishop of London, after the fall of Roger de Montgomery (once
his patron), had been sent to Shropshire as the royal agent
in the forfeited palatinate. The exact nature of his office is
not clear : though called a sheriff, he was not one of the ordinary
type, for he had a sheriff under him. It may be said, perhaps,
that "he stood to Shropshire in the same relation in which
the Justiciar stood to the whole of England in the absence of
the King." His judicial decisions had equal authority with
those of the king, and were recorded in regal style in letters
patent. His jurisdiction extended beyond Shropshire into
Staffordshire and possibly Herefordshire.^ An office similar in
some respects to his was the Wardenship of the Marches, held,
for example, by Fulk Fitzwarine at the time of Richard I.'s
departure for the Holy Land,- and by Henry, Prince of Wales,
during Glendower's rebellion. But this office, like that of the
Wardenship of the Northern Marches, was military rather than
judicial in character. No permanent improvement could be
made until the powers of the Marcher Lords passed to the
Crown, as to a large extent they had by the reign of Henry VII.,
who, through the death of Richard III., gained all the estates
of the Earldom of March. He was able to carry out the
repressive measures begun by Edward IV., who in this, as in
many other respects, anticipated the policy of the Tudors.
' Eyton's Shropshire, Vol. I., p. 245, and Diet. Nat. Biog., Vol. IV., pp.
198-200.
2 Wright's Ludlow, p. 61.
CHAPTER I
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
UP TO 1525
The early history of the Council of the Marches is obscure,
owing to the disappearance of most of its records earlier than
the reign of Henry VIII. No account of its origin has come
down to us of an earlier date than the presidency of Sir Henry
Sydney. Among the documents copied by Collins from the
Sydney papers^ at Penshurst is one 1 bearing the following title :
" Collections made by Sir Henry Sydney, Knight of the Garter,
Lord President of the Marches of Wales. Touchinge the
Antiquitie, Aucthoritie and Jurisdiction of the Lord President
and Councell of the Marches of Wales and touching the authority
of the Lord President when he hath not been in Place with
the Councell." From the concluding words it may be con-
jectured that the document was drawn up about the year 1565,
when Sydney was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland. The
institution of the Council of the Marches is described in the
following terms : " The Lorde President and Counsail of the
Domynion and Pryncipallitie of Wales and the Marches of
the same, were established in the Tyme of Kinge Edward Illlth.
and ever sythens, untill the Making of the Statutes of An. 27,
30j 33j 34 of Hen. VIII had Contynuance. Who before that
Time, by Commissions and Instruccions from the King harde
and determyned Causes arrising within that Pryncipallitie, as also
in the County of Worcester, and other English shires adjoining.
And have since the making of those Statutes, by Commission
and Instruccion, likewise hard and determyned Causes ; taking
' Collins, Letters and Memorials of State, p. i .
18
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 19
the Benefit of that Statute in further Strengthnyng of their
Aucthoritie. And thereby the hole Countrey of Wales have
been, by the Government of the same Lord President and
Counsaill, sythens the establishment of the same, brought from
their disobedient, barbarous, and (as may be termed) lawless
Incivihtie, to the civil and obedient Estate they now remayne.
And all the English Counties, bordering thereon, brought to
be affrayed from such spoyles and Felonyes as the Welsh before
that Tyme, usually by invading their Borders, annoyed them
with."
Some further details may be gathered from Bowel's History
of Wales, published in 1584.^ It is here stated that " Edward
the Fourth, in his wars against Henry the Sixth, was very much
assisted by the Welsh ; in recompence of which service, he
designed to reform matters so in Wales as that intolerable
oppression, which they had hitherto endured, should be regulated
and taken off. And to that end, he meant to establish a court
within the said principality, and constituted John, Bishop of
Worcester, president of the prince's council in the marches ;
who, together with Anthony, Earl of Rivers, sat in the town-hall
of Shrewsbury, and constituted certain ordinances for the public
good and tranquillity of that place. But the matter proceeded
no farther ; for the troubles and disquietness of his kingdom,
coming heavy upon him, and the shortness of his reign after
his establishment not permitting, he was forced to leave that
to others which himself thought once to bring about." Much
the same account is given by William Gerard (a prominent
member of the Council during Sydney's Presidency), who sketched
its origin in certain discourses addressed to Walsingham in 1575.^
From these notices we may gather that a Council in the
Marches originated during the reign of Edward IV., but was not
' Wynne's edition, i8i2, p. 324.
- State Papers Domestic, Elizabeth, Vol. CVII., Nos. 4-15 (calendared in
the volume for 1547-80). Large parts of these discourses are printed in
the valuable article on the Court of the President and Council of Wales
and the Marches from 1478 to 1575, by Judge Lewis, in Vol. XIL of
Y Cymmrodor (1897).
20 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
made a permanent institution till the reign of Henry VII. ^ It
was clearly a development of the Council attached to the Prince
of Wales. A document of Henry VIII. 's reign,^ entitled a
"Table of the councillors of the princes of Wales," gives the
following list of princes who had a Council assigned them :
Edward, the eldest son of Edward I. ; Edward the Black Prince ;
Henry, the eldest son of Henry IV. ; Edward, the eldest son of
Henry VI. ; Edward, the eldest son of Edward IV. ; Prince Arthur
and Prince Henry, the sons of Henry VII. ; and, lastly, the Lady
Mary. Of these, the first who had a Council to govern in the
Marches is stated to be Edward, the eldest son of Edward IV.
The entry relating to him runs thus :
" Edw. eldest son of Edw. IV.
" I. The Queen. 2. Archbishop of Canterbury. 3. Duke of
Clarence. 4. Duke of Gloucester. 5. Bishop of Bath and Wells.
6. Bishop of Durham. 7. Lord Ryvers. 8. The Abbot of
Westminster, Chancelor to ye Prince. 9. Sir William Hastings.
Lord Chamberlain to ye King. 10. Richard Fynes, Lord Dacre's
steward, ii. Sir John Fog, Knight. 12. Sir John Scott. 13.
Tho. Vaughan, chamberlain to ye Prince. 14. John Alcott
[i.e. Alcock]. 15. Rich. Fowler. Theis Councelors were as-
signed unto him untill 14 yeers of age to assist him in dis-
posing and guyding of his estate. And he had allso a Councell
to gouern in the Marches of Wales, whereof the Bishop of
Worcester [i.e. the John Alcock above mentioned] was Precedent."
This list was evidently copied from the letters patent of
July 8th, II E. IV., which is quoted by Doddridge in his
Historical Account of the Ancient and Modern State of the
Principality of Wales, etc. (2nd edition, London, 1714, p. 24).
Early in the seventeenth century, when the Council's jurisdic-
tion over the Border counties was being called in question,
several lists of Lords President were drawn up, with a view
to show that the Council had existed long before the Act of
' See Gerard's statement, summarised by Judge Lewis in the above-
mentioned article, p. 18.
^ Gairdner, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIIL, Vol. XIV.,
Pt. L, 518.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 21
Union passed in 1536. Such a list occurs in Cottonian MSS.,
Vitellius, C. i., f. 191 ^; it is headed by the names, "The Earle
Riuers " and " lohannes Ep'us Wigorn," both under date 18 E. IV.
Little reliance can be placed on matters of detail in a list
compiled about a century and a quarter after the institution of
the Council.^ Other lists drawn up about thirty years later
(during the Presidency of the Earl of Bridgewater in Charles L's
reign) are obviously incorrect, for John, Bishop of Worcester,
appears as beginning office in 1485 (i H. VII.), and Anthony
Wenfoile (sic), Lord Rivers, is put down for 17 H. VII., 1492.
This last startling statement has evoked from some reader of the
MS. an indignant pencil comment, "Impossible, he was dead
long before."^
On the authority of the first-mentioned list, the date 18
E. IV. or thereabouts has usually been given by those modern
writers who have dealt with the origin of the Council of
the Marches.^ The ultimate authority would appear to be a
document among the Shrewsbury MSS., bearing date April loth,
1478 (18 E. IV.). A copy occurs among the Cottonian MSS.,
Vitellius, C. i., f. 2. It recites that on April loth, in the
eighteenth year of King Edward IV., the Lord Bishop of
Worcester, President, and Lord Antony, Earl Rivers, governor
to the lord prince, and others of the prince's Council, being
in the town hall of Shrewsbury,^ ordained certain ordinances to
be made and observed within the said town from henceforth.
The bailiffs were to execute their office " truly and endifferently."
' Judge Lewis (Y Cymmrodor, XII., p. 23, footnote) points out that
Clive, in his History of Ludlow, p. 150, quotes this document wrongly
as f. 2556, which is a mistake for 2556, the old numbering of f. 1 91, and
further confuses it with Lansdowne MSS. 255, f. 422a,
^ Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 14907, f. 126 ; 14936, f. 52* ; 14945, f. 10. Of
these, the third gives the dates for the Presidencies of the Earl of Pembroke,
Gilbert Bourne, and Sir Henry Sydney, omitted in the other two lists.
With this exception the lists correspond.
^ He was executed on June 25th, 1483.
■* E.g. Judge Lewis in the article referred to above.
* Judge Lewis points out Clive's error in inserting " Ludlow " after the
words "in the Town Hall aforesaid" on p. 151 of his History of
I^udlow,
22 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
If they saw any person come into the town and abide two days
suspiciously without any lawful errand or occupation, they were
on the third day to put him in prison, " there to remayne till he
have found surety of his good abearinge, or else to avoid the
town." A negligent bailiff was to be fined ;^ioo, half of which
was to go to the king and half to the town. The wardens
and "four men " of the various crafts were empowered to commit
men to prison, and the bailiffs were not to release such prisoners
without their consent. The wardens and four men were to
make regulations for the craftsmen, and those refusing to obey
were to be put out of the craft and banished the town.
Negligence on the part of the wardens was to be punished by
a fine of ;^2o, half of which was to go to the king and half
to the town. It should be noted that the document contains
absolutely nothing to prove that the Council, over which Bishop
Alcock presided, originated in 1478 ; the letters patent of
July 8th, II E. IV., are conclusive evidence that it was appointed
in 147 1. We may conjecture that those in the seventeenth
century who upheld the authority of the Council of the Marches
were eager to seize on any dated record of its work, and jumped
to the quite unwarranted conclusion that it began in 1478.
When, however, we turn to the biographies of Bishop Alcock,
we find in most cases, not 1478, but 1476, given as the date
of his appointment to the Presidency of the prince's Council.
The latter date is given by Tanner in the Bibliotheca Britannico-
Hibernica, and repeated on his authority in the Biographia
Britannica.^ Cooper, in the Athense Cantabrigienses, writes :
"In 1476 he [Alcock] was translated to Worcester, and became
Lord President of Wales, being apparently the first occupant of
that office." He adds later, however, a correction to the effect
that the appointment as Lord President was made in 1478.^
How much reliance need be placed on Tanner's statement is
shown by his insertion, without a word of comment or correction,
' Tanner, Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, ed. 1748, pp. 23, 24; Bio-
graphia Britannica, ed. 1778, Vol. I., pp. 119, I20. The date 1476 is also
given in the article on Alcock in Diet. Nat. Biog.
* Cooper, Athenae Cantabrigienses, Vol. I., pp. 3, 519.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 23
of the following quotation from Antony Wood, MS. Glyn :
"et tandem A. MCCCCLXXXVI (i486) Eliensis episcopus et
prseses consilii regis Edwardi IV." The detailed notice of
Alcock in Bentham's History of Ely gives the date of his Welsh
appointment as 1478.^ It would seem that the date 1476 is
just as conjectural as 1478, being based apparently on the
date of Alcock's translation to the See of Worcester in the
former year. No doubt Alcock may have been more active
in the affairs of the Principality and the Marches after 1476,
but the Patent Rolls and other evidence show that even before
that date they must have occupied a considerable share of
his attention.
The biographers of Alcock are all loud in his praise. Fuller
writes that " his prudence appeared in that he was preferred Lord
Chancellor of England by King Henry the Seventh, a prince of
excellent palate to taste men's abilities, and a Dunce was no dish
for his diet." Even Bale's bitter pen " drops nothing but honey
on his memory, commending him for a most mortified man,
given to learning and Piety from his Childhood, growing from
grace to grace so that in his age none in England was higher for
holiness." ^ He was successively Bishop of Rochester, Worcester,
and Ely, but is best remembered as the founder of Jesus College,
Cambridge. He also endowed Peterhouse and restored Great
St. Mary's, Cambridge. The cathedral and episcopal palace of
Ely, and the church of Little Malvern, owed much to his lavish
generosity. Another work of his connected with the Marches
was the foundation, in 1484, of a chantry in the parish church of
St. Lawrence, Ludlow, in conjunction with Agnes, Edward, and
John Beaupie.^ On Edward IV.'s death, the Protector Richard
removed him from the office of preceptor to the young King
Edward V. In i486 he was translated from Worcester to Ely,
and in the same year he christened Prince Arthur. In 1500 he
died at Wisbech, and was buried in Ely Cathedral. Barclay, in
' Bentham, History of Ely, Vol. I., p. 182.
- Fuller, Worthies of England, ed. 1811, Vol. II., p. 521.
3 Pat. Rolls, 2 Ric. III., Pt. I., m. 16 (Cal., p. 473); cf. Churchyard,
Worthines of Wales, ed. 1776 (reprint), p. 78.
24 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
his Eclogues, has a quaint elegy on the dead prelate, con-
cluding with these lines :
"The mightie walls of Ely monastery
The stones, rocks and towres semblably
The marble pillours and images eche one
Swete all for sorrow, when this Cocke was gone." '
The most trustworthy information on the origin and work
of the prince's Council is contained in the Patent Rolls of
Edward IV. from the year 147 1 onwards. In that year the fifteen
persons enumerated above were appointed as administrators of
the Principality of Wales, the Duchy of Cornwall, and the county
of Chester for the Prince of Wales, till he should reach the age
of fourteen years. A proviso was added that they should grant
no office for life or for a term of years, but only during the
pleasure of the prince.^ The prince was then aged nine months,
having been born on November 2nd or 3rd, 1470 ; he had already
been created Prince of Wales on June 26th, 147 1. A year and
a half later, in February, 1473, ^ larger Council was appointed
(twenty-five in number), with the following extensive powers : " to
administer his possessions within the principality of Wales, the
duchy of Cornwall, the counties of Chester and Flint and else-
where, to grant licences for ecclesiastical elections, to receive
fealties, to present to churches and other benefices, to dispose
of custodies of lands and marriages of heirs, to grant pardons, to
appoint and remove stewards, sheriffs, bailiffs, reeves, chamber-
lains, escheators and other ministers and officers, and to grant
letters patent, providing that no office shall be granted for life
' Quoted from Clive's History of Ludlow, 152; cf. Bentham's History of
Ely, Vol. II., pp. 98, 99, quoting also from Barclay:
" He all was a Cock, he wakened us from slepe,
And while we slumbered, he did our folds kepe."
Cf. Ibid., Vol. I., p. 183 : "His device was a Cock, of which allusion to his
Name he was extremely fond ; as appears by his placing the figure of that
Bird with moral Sentences upon Scrolls in almost every part of the pnblick
buildings which he erected."
- Pat. Rolls, II E. IV., Pt. I., m. I, July Sth, 1471 (Cal., p. 283).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 25
or for a term of years, but during the pleasure of the said
prince only." ^
By 1473 the prince had already been sent down to the Border
with his mother, for on April 2nd of that year Sir John Paston
wrote to his brother : " Men sey the Qwyen with the prince shall
come owt off Walys and Kepe thys Esterne with the Kyng at
Leycetr, and some seye nowther off them shall com then" ^ In
the September following, Alcock was given a position of special
prominence among the councillors of the prince. Ordinances
were then published for the " virtuous guiding of the young child
and the good rule of his household," and the task of supervision
was confided to Alcock and Rivers.^ Rivers was especially
entrusted with the care of the prince's person, and minute indeed
are the regulations deaUng with worship, study, meals, and play.
At mealtimes were to be read to him "such noble storyes as
behoveth to a Prince to understande," and the persons appointed
to attend him all night were " to inforce themselves to make
him joyoux and merry towardes his bedde." That Alcock
was regarded as the earl's colleague in the care of the prince
may be seen from the following ordinance : " Item, we will that
the generall receavor of the Dutchie of Cornewall, the chamber-
layne of Chester and Flynte, the chamberlayne of North Wales,
the chamberlayne of South Wales, at dayes and tymes due and
accustomed bringe in all such sommes of money as then shal be
due unto our said sonne, and to deliver yt unto his Counsayle
attendinge upon him ; and the sayde money to be put into a
cheste unto three Keyes, our dearest wife the Queene to have one,
the bishopp of Rochester and the Earle Ryvers to have the
' Pat. Rolls, 12 E. IV., Pt. II., 111. 21, February 20th, 1473 (Cal., p. 366).
The names added are: "The Bishop of Carlisle, John Earl of Shrewsbury,
Walter Devereux of Ferrers, Knt., John Nedeham, Knt., Richard Chokke,
Knt., Master John Martyn, clerk, William Alyngton, Richard Haute, John
Sulyard and Geoffrey Coytemore." Alcock appears in each list : in the second
as J. Bishop of Rochester; in the former as " Master John Alcock."
2 Paston Letters, ed. Gairdner, Vol. III., p. 83, No. 721, April 2nd, 1473.
^ Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the government of the
royal household, made in divers reigns from King Edward III. to King
William and Queen Mary. Published by the Society of Antiquaries, 1790.
26 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
other twoe, and alwaye the receyte of the same money to be
entred in a booke, and in Hkewise the paymente of all such
charges as of necessytie muste needes be borne for our sayde
Sonne, and that our sayde sonnes signette be put into the sayde
cofifre, and not to be occupyed but by the advise of his Counsayle."
A later entry in the Patent Rolls for 1473 fixes the date of
Alcock's appointment as president. On November loth is the
entry of his appointment as teacher of the king's son the prince,
that he may be brought up in "virtue and cunning, and as
president of his council." ^
Some notices extant in the Patent Rolls may serve to show
the kind of work done by the prince's Council as a body or by
individual members. In 1474 a Commission was issued to Earl
Rivers and ten other persons (including Walter Devereux of
Ferrers, Knt., and the Sheriff of Hereford) to array the king's
lieges of the county of Hereford against five persons who did
not appear before the king and Council when summoned to
answer for divers offences committed by them in Wales and the
Marches, but withdrew to Wales, and there stirred up insurrection.
The persons commissioned were to arrest them, their aiders and
abettors, put them in safe custody, and give assistance against
them to the prince when required by him or his Council. ^
Important entries occur in the year 1476, showing the efforts
made by the king towards the better government of the Marches.
In January a general Commission of oyer and terminer was
granted to the Prince of Wales within the counties of Salop,
Hereford, Gloucester, and Worcester, and the Marches of Wales
adjacent, and Wales, with power to array men-at-arms, archers,
and others if necessary, and with authority to substitute other
persons for himself, provided that one of the Justices of either
bench should be one of those thus substituted in the said
counties.^ This was followed in February by a Commission to
' Pat. Rolls, 13 E. IV., Pt. I., m. 3, 1473, November loth (Cal., p. 401).
■^ Ibid., 13 E. IV., Pt. II., m. \0d, 1474, February 26th (Cal, p. 429). A
Commission similar to the above was issued to Earl Rivers and five persons,
including the Sheriff of Gloucester, and another to the earl and eleven
persons, including the Sheriff of Shropshire.
3 Ibid., E. IV., 1476, January 2nd (Cal., p. 574).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 27
the prince and his Council to be at Ludlow on March 24th, to
discuss with the Lords of the Marches (to whom the king had
written separately) the ways and means for the punishment of
many homicides, murders, robberies, spoliations, and oppressions
in Wales and the Marches of the same, for which the king was
going in person to those parts after Easter.^ Closely connected
with this Commission was the appointment, on March i6th, of the
prince and such persons as by the advice of his Council he might
substitute, to inquire about all liberties, privileges, and franchises
in the counties of Salop, Hereford, and Gloucester, and the
Marches of Wales adjacent, which should be taken into the
king's hands, and all escapes of robbers and felons in the same
counties and Marches.^ Lastly, in December, the power was
granted to the prince of appointing Justices of oyer and terminer
in the counties of Salop, Hereford, Gloucester, and the Marches
of Wales adjacent, provided that one of the king's Justices of one
or other bench were one, and saving to the king the amercements
belonging to him ; he was also empowered to array the men of
those parts, if necessary, for the punishment of malefactors, and
to hear and determine inquiries into the exercise of offices in
those parts. ^
' Pat. Rolls, 1476, February 23rd (Cal., p. 574).
- Ibid., li.ld, March i6th (Cal., p. 605).
^ Ibid., 16 E. IV., Pt. II., m. 22 (Cal., p. 5).
It is of some interest, in connection with Henry VIII. 's legislation, to
note how grants of Marcher Lordships were worded at this time. In 1462
Edward IV. granted to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the lordship of Chirk,
"with knights' fees, fealties, advowsons, franchises, liberties, customs, wards,
marriages, reliefs, suits, escheats, year, day, and waste, stray, soc and sac,
tholl and them, infangtheff and outfangtheft", sheriff's turns, wreck of sea,"
etc., etc. (Pat. Rolls, 2 E. IV., Pt. II., .September 9th, 1462, Cal., p. 228). A
more detailed grant is that made in 1465 to the stout Yorkist partisan. Sir
William Herbert, for his services against the Welsh Lancastrians : " And
the said William and his heirs and assigns shall have within the said limits
all royal rights, prerogatives and customs belonging to royal lordships and
all royal courts and other jurisdictions, powers, and authorities, as in any
other royal lordship in Wales or the marches of Wales, with all fines,
amercements, issues and profits from the same before their stewards at
Raglan, with power of oyer and terminer, an authentic seal for commissions
writs and warrants, and power of appointing justices to hold sessions in
28 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
There is but little more that can be said as to Alcock's work
in the Marches, save that his name appears frequently on Com-
missions of the peace in the Border counties,^ and that in 1483
he was on the Commission for assessment of a subsidy in the
counties of Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester.^ In 1487 he
and Earl Rivers were granted custody of "all castles, lordships,
towns, manors, lands, rents, services, possessions, and heredita-
ments, with advowsons of churches, chapels and chantries ex-
ceeding the tax of twenty marks, knights' fees, franchises, liberties,
warrens, courts, leets, cantreds, commotes, and other commodities
late of Edward Charlton, knt., late lord of Powys, tenant-in-
chief." 3
From the scanty evidence extant, the following inferences may
fairly be drawn: First, that the Council, appointed in 147 1 to
administer the Prince of Wales's possessions, received by com-
mission from the king considerable judicial and military powers
in Wales and the Marches. Secondly, that Edward IV. fully
realised the necessity of curtailing the privileges of the Marcher
Lords, so as to secure the due punishment of offenders.^ Thirdly,
eyre and other sessions and courts, and they shall have chattel of felons,
fugitives and outlaws, deodands, escheats and forfeitures, as the King has
in the said lordships of Usk and Monnemouth or as Richard Earl of
Warwick and Anne his wife have in her right in the manor and lordship
of Bergevenny, or the lord of any other royal lordship in Wales, and no
justices, stewards, escheators, coroners, ringilds, or other officers or ministers
of the King shall interfere." All the lands comprised in the above grant
were to form one royal lordship of Raglan, held in chief by the service of
one knight's fee. The tenants and residents within its limits were ex-
onerated from suits and attendance at the king's courts within the lordship
of Usk and Monmouth (Pat. Rolls, 5 E. IV., Pt. I., m. 22, 1465. March 9th,
Cal., p. 425).
' He is mentioned in the Commission for Gloucestershire seven times, for
Herefordshire six times, for Shropshire seven times, for Warwickshire five
times, and for Worcestershire seven times: the earliest Commission con-
taining his name is that of 1473, the latest that of 1485 (Cal. Pat. Rolls,
E. IV,, E. v., and Ric. III.).
" Pat. Rolls, E. v., m. ^d, 1483, April 27th, Cal., pp. 354-5.
3 Ibid., 18 E. IV., Pt. II., m. 17 (Cal., p. 130).
* Hall in his Chronicle says that Prince Edward was sent by his father
" for justice to be doeen in the Marches of Wales, to the end that by the
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 29
that there is no contemporary evidence for the appointment of
Bishop Alcock as Lord President of the Council in the Marches ;
his appointment in 1473 was as President of the prince's Council.
Lastly, it does not appear that anything more than a beginning
was made in the work of reducing the Marches to order ; nor is
this surprising when we consider the troubled course of Edward's
reign. The definite establishment of the Council in the Marches,
properly so called, was the work not of Edward IV., but of
Henry VII.
On the accession of Edward V. and his departure from Ludlow
in 1483, it may be doubted whether the Council of the Marches
did not for a while fall into abeyance. No record of it occurs
till the reign of Henry VII., who, as a Welshman and as owing
his crown largely to AVelsh help, was naturally anxious to improve
the condition of Wales and the Marches. In the early years
of his reign various Commissions were issued — e.g. to Sir William
Stanley, Justice of North Wales, and Jasper, Duke of Bedford,
Justice of South Wales, to hear and determine causes in Wales
and the Marches thereof.^ In 1491 Sir Reginald Pole, Constable
of Harlech Castle and sheriff for life of Merioneth, was sent
into the Principahty and Marches of Wales with offers of the
king's grace and pardon to all persons guilty or suspected of
treason.
In the ninth year of Henry VII. 's reign, the prince's Council
is once more mentioned. The occasion was a quarrel
between the towns of Bewdley and Kidderminster, and the
order given on January 31st, 9 H. VII., was that the feud should
cease, and that all future differences should be brought before
the prince and his Council, whose award was to be final. ^
Among the signatures appended to the award is that of John
Alcock, now Bishop of Ely. Prince Arthur, who was born in
authoritie of hys presence the wilde Welshemenne and evill disposed
personnes should refrain from their accustomed murthers and outrages "
(cf. Grafton, Vol. II., p. 83, ed. 1809).
' Cottonian MSS., Cleopatra, c. iii., f. 380, and Pat. Rolls, i H. VII.,
February 28th (quoted by Churton, Life of Bishop Smyth, pp. 57, ct. seqq.^.
- History of Bewdley, by J. R. Burton, p. 33 (quoted from Blakeway
MSS.).
30 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
i486, had already at the age of six been made Guardian of the
Kingdom.^ Soon afterwards he was included, with Archbishop
Morton, Bishop Smyth, and others, in the Commission of the
Peace for the county of Warwick. On March 20th, 1492-3, he was
constituted his majesty's Justice in the counties of Salop, Hereford,
and Gloucester and the Marches of Wales adjoining, to inquire
of all liberties, privileges, and franchises possessed or claimed
by any person, which were to be seized into the king's hands,
and of all escapes and felons. These inquisitions, taken from time
to time, were to be certified into the Chancery. The same
Commission gave him power to substitute proper persons under
him for the better fulfilment of his trust. It is probable that
at this time a Council was appointed for Prince Arthur, but
no definite proof can be adduced.^
Some information as to the Council's proceedings at this time
is to be found in the Shrewsbury MSS., which show that Prince
Arthur and his Council often visited the town from 1494 onwards,
and were entertained at the expense of the burgesses.^ A letter
from the Council to the bailiffs of Shrewsbury probably belongs
to this period. It is headed " By the Prince," and concludes
with the formula used by the Council in its letters : " Yeven
under o" Signet at the Castell of Ludlow the Vth day of
Deccmbr." The Council ask the bailiffs to redress a nuisance
affecting the Dominican priory at Shrewsbury.
In 1 501 the prince was married at St. Paul's to Catherine of
Aragon, and, according to Powel, went soon after his wedding
into Wales with Doctor William Smyth, as President of his
Council.^ The members of the Council numbered ten.^ Smyth,
> Rymer, Foedera, ed. 171 1, Vol. XII., pp. 487-8.
^ So Churton, Life of Bishop Smyth, p. 60.
^ Shrewsbury MSS., Box LXXVI., No. 2761 ; and Owen and Blakeway,
History of Shrewsbury, Vol. II., p. 449.
■• Clive, History of Ludlow, p. 153.
^ They were : Sir Henry Vernon, Sir Richard Crofts Sir David Philips,
Sir William Udall, Sir Thomas Englefield, Sir Peter I^ewton, Sir Richard
Pole, John Wilson, Henry Marian, Charles Bothe (Churton, Life of Bishop
Smyth, p. 63). The same names, though in a different order and with
differences of spelling, are given in Gairdner, Letters and Papers of the
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 31
Bishop of Lincoln, is chiefly remembered as the founder of
Brasenose College, where a portrait of him is preserved bearing
the inscription " Primus Walliae prseses." He has usually been
regarded as the first regularly appointed Lord President, but it is
not easy to see in what his position differed from that of Alcock.
So far as our scanty information goes, it would seem that the
work done by the two was much the same. Great preparations
were made for the prince's return to the Marches. Tickenhill
House, near Bewdley (where he had been married by proxy), had
been enlarged and made into a palace ; but within five months
of his wedding the young prince died.
For the next few years little is known of the Council. In 15 12
Smyth was succeeded as Lord President by Geoffrey Blythe,
Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, who held office till 1524.
After Prince Arthur's death may be placed the transition from
the " Prince's Council " to the " Council in the Marches of
Wales." Blythe had been made Bishop of Coventry and Lich-
field in 1502, on his return from a special embassy to Ladislaus II.,
King of Hungary and Bohemia.^ Soon after this he was accused
of treason, but honourably acquitted himself of the charge, and
letters patent for his pardon were issued on February i8th,
1508-9.2 He was a benefactor of both Eton and King's College,
bequeathing to the latter a great standing cup given him by
Ladislaus : another of his gifts was " a pair of great organs,"
valued at ;^40, Among the Welsh Council Papers in the Bridge-
water MSS. is a letter addressed from Hereford, A° 12 H. VIII.
to " the righte reuerend father in God our righte trustie and
welbeloued the Bushopp.of Chester, president of our Counsell in
the Marches of Wales and to our trustie and righte welbeeloued
Reign of Henry VIII., Vol. XIV., Pt. I., 518; also by Polydore Vergil, who
Latinizes some of them almost out of recognition (Historia Anglica, ed.
1603, Lib. XXVI., p. 1546). Polydore Vergil writes that the prince was sent
into Wales to gain experience in government, and was honoured cum pro-
batissimoruni honiuinm fainilia.
' Diet. Nat. Biog., Vol. V., pp. 276-7.
'■^ Rymer, Focdera, cd. 1712, Vol. XIII., 246, from Pat. Rolls, 24 H. VII.
p. I, m, 21. The pardon is comprehensive of all mannerj of offences
beginning with "murdra" and ending with " imbraciarias."
32 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
all other of our said Counsaill, our Commissioners in the said
Marches."
" Henry R. By the Kinge.
" Right reuerend father in God, righte trustie and righte wel-
beloued and trustie and righte welbeloued, wee greete yow well,
and send unto you hereinclosed a bill of Complaint to us pre-
sented on the behalf of our welbeloued subiecte Johane Brace
against Sir Henry Martin preist, and other specified in the said
bill. Wee intending Justice to bee equally mynistered unto every
of our subiectes and considering your aucthorytie under us, for the
due mynistracon of the same to our said subiectes in those partes
doe groundlye and substanciallye examine the Contentes of the
said bill, and thereuppon sett and Conclude such fynall end and
determinacon in the same, as shall accord with righte and good
Conscience. So as in your defaultes for lack of due administracon
of Justice in this behalf, wee bee now further molested with anie
pursuite to bee made unto us in this matter. As wee trust yow.
Geeven under our Signett at our Manner of Greenwich the xxjth
day of ffebruarye.
"Joh'es Stokeley
'^ ex mandato Regis."^
This letter is of much interest, as showing that the Council
of the Marches had come to be regarded as a means of relieving
the Privy Council of some portion of its judicial work. The
same conclusion may be drawn from the frequent Commissions
issued in the early years of Henry VHI.'s reign. In 1510, while
Bishop Smyth was still Lord President, he and five associates
were empowered, as Justices of North and South Wales and the
counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Worcester-
shire, Cheshire, and Flint, to punish rebellions, insurrections,
murders, etc., and to muster and array the fencible men in the
above-mentioned places. ^ In 15 12 George, Bishop of Coventry
' Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, No. 60. The words " direct
you to," or something to that effect, appear to have fallen out between "in
those partes doe" and "groundlye and substanciallye."
^ Brewer, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., I. 956. The
Commission was repeated in March, 1512, with the addition of one name.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 33
and Lichfield {i.e. Bishop Blythe), and the five associates mentioned
in 15 10, were commissioned to inquire into insurrections, re-
belUons, Lollards, etc., in South Wales, in the same six Border
counties, and in the lordships of South and North Wales. This
last clause is significant as presaging stricter control over the
Marcher Lords.^ In succeeding years similar Commissions were
issued — in 1513, 1515, 1518, and 1522.2
The jurisdiction of the Council of the Marches is mentioned in-
cidentally in a letter to the Chamberlain of North Wales (Charles
Brandon) for a proclamation to be issued against disturbances on
the king's departure for France in 1513.^ Persons aggrieved
might, it is said, seek redress from the Council of the Marches.
The Chamberlain, it is worth noting, not the Lord President, was
entrusted with the duty of seeing order kept in the Marches
during the king's absence over sea. Thus in 1523 Charles
Brandon, now Duke of Suffolk, Justice of North Wales and
steward of various lordships, was commissioned to assemble the
king's tenants in Anglesey, Carnarvon, and Merioneth in the
said lordships and wherever else he was steward, and to muster
them for the war. Some fear seems to have been felt that
Richard de la Pole might land in Wales. Surrey, writing to
Wolsey on October 23rd, 1523, advised that Sir Rice ap Thomas
be warned.^ In 1520 Welsh horsemen had been ordered over
to Ireland to serve under Sir Rice, and in 1522 a commission
had been issued to some persons in the hundred and lordships
of Elsmer, Hamton, etc., against the French.^ These notices
are of interest as showing the high value set upon the Welsh
for military service. Among minor entries are some relating to
the appointing of officials — e.g. a letter to the Archbishop of
' Brewer, I. 3289.
- Ibid., I. 4198; II., Pt. I. 726, 815; II., Pt. II. 4141. 4528; III., Pt. II.
2145 (7).
* Ibid., I. 4060, 695.
* Ibid., III., Pt. I. 860. This is, of course, the famous Sir Rhys ap
Thomas (1451-1527), supporter of Henry VII. and Justiciary and Chief
Governor in South Wales (The Cambrian Plutarch, pp 273, et seqq. The
Cambrian Register, Vol. I., pp. 49-144).
" Ibid., III., Pt. II. 2685 (iv).
3
34 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Canterbury (the chancellor) for letters patent to Lord Ferres
(Ferrers), appointing him one of the king's Commissioners and
one of the king's Council in the Marches of Wales. The letter
is dated " at the field on the north-east side of Tiroan [Terouenne]
17 Aug. 1513."^ A patent dated 3 H. VIII. appoints Henry
Knight as clerk of the signet to the king's Council in the
Principality of North and South Wales, in the counties of Salop,
Hereford, Gloucester, Worcester, Chester, and Flint, and in the
Marches of Wales. The patent states that the office was held
by Peter Newton in the reign of Henry VII. ^
The condition of the Marcher Lordships receives some light
from the full details extant as to the possessions of the Duke of
Buckingham. He was Lord of Brecknock and many other lord-
ships in Wales and the Border, and may not unfitly be regarded as
the last of the great Lords Marchers. His wealth and influence, not
to speak of his royal blood, made him a dangerous rival. Among
the charges brought against him at his indictment (May 8th,
1521) was that on May loth, in the ninth year of Henry VIII.,
and at other times he sent Gilbert, his chancellor, from Thornbury,
his Gloucestershire seat, to the king and Council at London and
East Greenwich ; his purpose was to obtain a licence for re-
taining certain subjects of the king dweUing in the counties of
Hereford, Gloucester, and Somerset, and for carrying arms and
habiliments of war at his pleasure into Wales, with the view of
fortifying himself against the king.^
The king was doubtless jealous of Buckingham's wealth ; his
yearly income is stated to have been over;^6,ooo, and Thornbury
alone was worth ^£22,^ iis. $^d. per annum. Among the Bagot
MSS. is his household book from November 5th, 23 H. VIII.,
to March 22nd following : it is there stated that the Feast of
Epiphany was kept (evidently at Thornbury Castle) by a party
numbering 459, of whom 134 were gentry.^ Many entries of
' Brewer, I. 4404.
2 Idzd., I. 1513, 1839.
' Ibid., III., Pt. I. 1284 (i). Particulars of Buckingham's possessions
are given later on in the same document.
* Hist. MSS. Commission, Fourth Report, App. Lord Bagot's MSS.,
p. 3276.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 35
interest relating to Wales and the Border occur in the lists of his
possessions and his private accounts. Brecknock is described as
" a very proper walled town, well builded and as well paved, with
many honest inhabitants in the same, enclosed on the west side
thereof with the castle which is a good and strong hold with
all houses of office and lodgings builded after the old fashion,
except there is a goodly hall set on height only with lights in
either end and none upon the sides. And as unto the roof of the
said hall, it is newly and costly made with pendants after a goodly
fashion ; and into the castle water is conveyed by conduit." The
castle at Caurs is " in great ruins." There are many bondmen
on the lordship, both rich and poor. So at Thornbury there
was " a good number of bondmen, as appears by the Court Rolls."
Some of the entries in the accounts deserve mention — e.g.
" offering to John Broune steward of the guild of St. John
Evangelist, Ludlow, my Lady's grace being made a sister there,
75. 4^."; "to a Welsh harper at St. Anne's, i^. ; to Master
Millet, clerk of the signet, for -writing three letters to be sent
from the King into Wales concerning the Duke's causes, 20s"
A copy of a valuable letter is extant among the British Museum
Additional MSS., in which the king informs the duke that the
accustomed measures for keeping the peace in his lordships have
not been taken. ^
" Bra Henr. Regis diici Buck.
" Henry Rex. By the King.
" Right trustie and right entierlie^welbeloued Cousyn we greet
you well. And whereas for the more assured conseruacon of
our peax and for the good rest and tranquillitie of our subiectes
in our marches of Wales It hath bene alwaies heretofore used
as well within our Lordshippes as within the Lordshippes of
Lordes Marchers of Wales and of all other Inheritors within
the same marches That euery man beinge betwene the ages
of eightene and three score tenne yeres haue bene bounden
with suertyes some for theire apparance and good abearinge
and some for theire apparance onlie before the cheife and hed
' Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 32091, f. 107 (Malet Collection).
36 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
officers of the saide Lordshippes as at a certen daie by them
lymited. By reason of which bondes and apparaunces good
Rule and order hath bene used and kepte in those partes. We
are now crediblie informed that in the Lordshippes to you
belonginge within our saide marches fewe or no persons be
put under anie such bondes but remaine clerely at libertie
contrarie to the usage accustomed which thinge is in your
default and negligence. And by meane thereof many and diuerse
murders, Rapes, Roberies, Riottes, and other misdemeanors
have bene of late and dailie be committed and left clerelie un-
punished within the same to the high displeasure of God, the
disorder and transgression of our lawes, the great hurte, damage
and inquietnes of our subiectes, and to our no litle displeasure
and myscontentacon. Wherefore we entendinge to have these
enormyties spedilie reformed, and our Subiectes there to lye in
rest, welthe and tranquihtie as apperteynethe, wel and straightlie
chardge and commaunde you that with all convenient diligence
upon the sight hereof ye all doubtes and dilacions put aparte
do take of euery man betweene the said ages and inhabited within
any of your Lordes (sic) of Brecknock, Huntynton, Hay, Kynton,
Newport, Cantercelly, Penkethley and Caurse, sufficient bondes
and suerties for th' apparance and good aberinge of them in
such manner and forme as heretofore hath bene accustomed.
That is to sale, suche of them for theire apparaunce and good
aberinge bothe, and such other of them for their apparance onely,
as it hath bene in the tyme of our deerest fader of famous
memory and other our noble progenitors used and none other-
wise. And thereupon ye by your letteres do make unto us
plaine and true Certyficate of that which ye shall haue done
in the premisses on this side the last daie of the monethe of
August next ensewinge without any failinge. As we trust you.
Yeven under our signett at our Mannor of Woodstocke the
sixt daie of June."
The letter is followed by a note :
" I haue seen and reddithis L're. W. Burghley."
A Latin note follows to the effect that the letter was inrolled
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 37
in the Chancery at the request of Edward, Lord Stafford,
A° 36 Eliz.i
The history of the Council of the Marches during the first two
Tudor reigns must naturally be considered in relation to the
legislation dealing with Wales and the Border. The enormous
possessions of the Earldom of March were by the death of
Richard III. forfeited to the Crown, and in the Act 4 H. VII.,
cc. 14 and 15, it was enacted that owing to the " vexacion trouble
and disceite of the subgettis of the King our Sovereign Lord,"
through the use of the seal of the Marches, all feoffments, gifts,
grants, etc., of lands, tenements, etc., pertaining to the earldom
were in future to be made under the Great Seal.- A later Act,
II H. VIII., c. 33, made void divers leases and offices within " the
Principality of Wales, in the counties Palatine of Chester and
Flint and in divers other Castles, Manors, Lordships, Lands and
tenements in the Marches of Wales, and in the Counties of Here-
ford and Salop, parcels of the Earldom of March." The reason
given is that the existing rents are less than might reasonably
be demanded. Provisos, however, are made in favour of certain
persons — viz. the Bailiff of Bewdley, the Constable of Ludlow
Castle and Sir Rice ap Thomas (Chamberlain of South Wales and
Captain of Aberystwith Castle). The succeeding Act, 1 1 H. VII.,
c. 34, annulled an Act of 22 E. IV., which arranged an ex-
change of lands between the then Prince of Wales and the
Earl of Huntingdon. A list of lordships is given, which is useful
for comparison with the Act 27 H. VIII., c. 26, by which the
Marcher Lordships were turned into shire ground. Noteworthy
phrases are the "March" of Wales and the earldom of "the
March." The possession by the Crown of the great Mortimer
inheritance much facilitated the measures taken by Henry VIII.
to reduce the privileges of the few remaining Marcher Lords.
' Buckingham was on bad terms with his Brecknock tenants, and their
complaints against him came before the Star Chamber (Brewer, Vol. IV.,
Pt. II. 5098, esp. ff. 9, 18).
* This seal of the Marches is mentioned in a charter for the manumission
of a villein in Orleton, Herefordshire, quoted by Clive, History of Ludlow,
p. 15.
2791507
38 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Between 1535 and 1544 numerous Acts were passed affecting
Wales and the Marches ; they were in the main, doubtless, the
work of Cromwell, in whose Remembrances the condition of
Wales is often mentioned. The first Act, 26 H. VIII., c. 4, dealt
with the punishment of perjury committed by jurors in the
Lordships Marchers. Owing to lack of supervision, the jurors
sworn for trial of murders, felons, and their accessories had been
worked upon to secure their acquittal, " openly and notoriously
knowen contrarie to equyte and justice." An officer was to be
sworn to keep the jury withoiiit bread, drink, meat, fire or light,
or speech with any person save himself, during the interval
between the charge and the verdict. In case of untrue acquittals
by jurors in Wales, the Lord President and the Council of the
Marches were to inflict punishment by fine or imprisonment. The
succeeding Act, 26 H. VIIL, c. 5, deals with the facilities for
escape into South Wales or the Forest of Dean given to robbers,
etc., in the counties of Gloucester and Somerset by keepers of
ferries over the Severn. Ferrymen were forbidden to carry any
passengers between sunset and sunrise ; they were to have " good
knowledge " of their passengers, and to give information about
them when demanded; also they were to give sureties, when
called on by Justices of the Peace, not to carry over any suspected
persons. The Act 26 H. VIIL, c. 6, shows the prevalence
of murder and felony within the Lordships Marchers. The
preamble speaks of the " theftes, murders, rebellions, wilfull
burninge of Houses and other scelerous Dedes and abhomynable
malifactes to the highe dyspleasure of God, inquyetacion of the
Kynges well disposed subjectes, and disturbance of the publike
weale ; which malefactis and scelerous dedes be so rooted and
fyxed yn the same people, that they be not like to sease onlesse
some sharpe correccion and punyshmente for redresse and
amputacion of the premysses be provyded accordinge to the
demerites of the offendours." The chief provisions of this
lengthy Act are as follows :
i. All persons dwelling within Wales or in the Lordships
Marchers of the same were, when summoned, to appear
at the Sessions Court before the Justice, steward, or other
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 39
officer in the appointed place, on penalty of fines, which
were to be taxed by the officers to the king's use, if it
were within any of the king's Lordships Marchers and to
the use of the lord for the time being if it were within any
other Lordship Marcher.
2. The king's Commissioners and the Council of the Marches
were empowered to punish (by damages, fine, etc.) un-
lawful exactions and imprisonment by officers within
Marcher Lordships.
3. No weapons were to be brought to Courts, churches, fairs,
or other places.
4. No " comorthas " ^ were to be allowed on any pretext.
5. No "arthel"^ was to be cast for the discontinuing of any
Court in Wales ; sessions and Courts were to be kept in
the surest and most peaceable places within the Marcher
Lordships.
6. For punishment of offences committed within the Marches
of Wales the trial was to be in the next English county.
Acquittal in any Marcher Lordship was to be no bar
against indictment within two years after the commission
of the offence.
7. Justices in England might award process into the Marches
against offenders, and certify outlawries and attainders
to the officers of the Marches, who were thereupon to
apprehend and convey offenders from one lordship to
another into England.
' See Judge Lewis, Y Cymmrodor, XII., pp. 42-7. The word, he
explains, is a verb derived from cymhorth = help, and means, to contribute
in money, kind, or labour to some one who has met with misfortune.
Pennant, writing in 1773 (Tours in Wales, ed. 1883, Vol. III., pp. 355-6)?
says that they were frequent in his time for spinning, works of husbandry,
coal carriage, etc.
- Judge Lewis (Y Cymmrodor, XII., p. 34) explains the word thus:
" Exiles who to avoid punishment fled from the jurisdiction where they
had committed a crime and placed themselves under the protection of the
Lord of the commote, who undertook to defend them, were called gwyr
arddelw (men of avowal), arthelmen, or advocarii." Apparently many
criminals got off scot-free by producing some person or persons to avouch,
their innocence.
40 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
8. The Justices of gaol delivery, with the assent of the Lord
President and two of the king's Commissioners or two of
the Council of the Marches, might discharge offenders
who paid a fine or gave surety for good behaviour.
9. The liberties of the Lords Marchers were to be respected.
10. Offences committed in Merionethshire were to be tried
in Carnarvon and Anglesey.
11. If an offender had escaped from one lordship to another,
he was to be delivered up by the officers of the place
where he had taken refuge to the officers of the lordship
where his offence had been committed, or else to the
officer of the Commissioners or the Council. This was an
attempt to remedy the abuse that " the Lords Marchers
have and do pretend a custom and privilege that none of
the King's ministers or subjects may enter to pursue,
apprehend and attach any offender escaping from another
lordship." The result was that offenders went unpunished,
" to the anymacyon and encouragynge of other yll-dysposed
people."
In the same year was passed an Act (26 H. VIII., c. 1 1) for the
punishment of Welshmen attempting any assaults or affrays upon
the inhabitants of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Shropshire.
It is stated that when lawful process had been attempted against
the friends of dwellers in Wales or the Marches, the inhabitants
of the above counties had been beaten, maimed, grievously
wounded, and sometimes murdered for attempting to pursue such
felons. The penalty imposed was one year's imprisonment over
and above the punishment inflicted in the ordinary course of law.
The last Welsh Act of the year is entitled " An Acte for purgacion
of Convictes in Wales" (26 H. VIII., c. 12). Welsh clerks con-
victed of petty treason, murder, robbery, etc., were to give surety
before two Justices of the shire where the ordinary's prison was
situated, or else of the shire adjoining.
The chief result of the year's legislation was to remove the
trial of serious offences from the Lordships Marchers to the
adjoining counties. Next year's Act (27 H. VIII., c. 5) aimed at
improving the administration of justice in the counties of Chester
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 41
and Flint, Anglesey, Carnarvon, Merioneth, Cardigan, Carmarthen,
Pembroke, and Glamorgan. Justices of the peace, of the quorum,
and of gaol delivery were to be appointed for them under the
Great Seal. The Act next but one on the Statute Book
(27 H. VIII., c. 7) deals with certain abuses in the forests of
Wales : the keepers and walkers were accustomed to exact pay-
ments from those who passed through the forests of Wales or the
Marches, unless they carried " tokens " or were " yearly tributers
or chensers." A detestable custom, recalling the days of the
Normans or Angevins, was that travellers found twenty-four feet
out of the highway lost a joint of their hands, or else had to pay
a fine to the foresters.^ Stray beasts were captured and marked
with the forest mark, so that the owners could not get them back
except by purchase. The Act abolished all such odious customs ;
all the king's subjects were to be allowed to pass through the
forests without paying toll, and stray cattle were to be restored
to their owners upon payment for their keep during detention.
All the above-mentioned Acts were merely preparatory to the
great Act of Union passed in 1536 (27 H. VIII., c. 26), " An Acte
for Lawes and Justice to be ministred in Wales in like fourme
as it is in this Realme." By this was effected the incorporation
of Wales with England, with like liberties to subjects born there
as in England. The disorders in the Marcher Lordships are
recited in much the same terms as in preceding Acts, and, with a
view to prevent them in future, it is enacted that the lordships
are to be annexed to sundry shires in England and Wales, or
to be grouped into entirely new counties.
The five new counties were :
1. Monmouth, to include twenty -four specified lordships, town-
ships, etc.
2. Brecknock, to include sixteen specified lordships, townships,
etc.
3. Radnor, to include sixteen specified lordships, townships, etc.
4. Montgomery, to include twelve specified lordships, townships,
etc.
5. Denbigh, to include ten specified lordships, townships, etc.
' Cf. Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Life of Henry VIIL, London, 1706, p. 189.
42 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
The following old Welsh counties received additions of certain
lordships :
1. Glamorgan, 9.
2. Pembroke, 13.
3. Cardigan, 3.
4 Merioneth, i.
Certain lordships were also annexed to three of the English
Border counties — viz. :
1. Herefordshire, 10.
2. Shropshire, 6.
3. Gloucestershire, 3.^
Further provisions of the Act were :
1. All Courts were to be kept in the English tongue.
2. Temporal Lords Marchers were to have half the forfeitures
on recognisances.
3. The division of the new shires into hundreds was to be
carried out by Commissioners.
4. An inquiry was to be made into the laws and customs of
Wales, and such as might be fit were to be preserved.
5. Wales was to send knights and burgesses to Parliament.^
6. Temporal Lords Marchers were to keep their hberties, in-
cluding all such mises ^ and profits of tenants as in times
past, and were to hold all Courts baron. Courts leet and
lawdays, etc., as heretofore. Within the precincts of their
lordships they were to have all waifs, strays, infangthef,
outfangthef, treasure-trove, deodands, goods and chattels
of felons and persons condemned of felony and murder
' For full details as to this " shiring " of Wales, see Professor Tout's article
in Y Cymmrodor, Vol. IX., Pt. II. (1888).
- Two knights for co. Monmouth and two burgesses for the borough ;
one knight for each of cos. Brecknock, Radnor, Montgomery, and Denbigh,
and one burgess for each of their shire towns ; one kpight and one burgess
for the remaining counties and shire towns except the shire town of
Merioneth, which had no representation.
' A mise was a payment by the people to the Prince of Wales or to their
lord (in the case of Lordships Marchers) for his allowance of their laws and
ancient customs and for a general pardon of offences (cf. Hargrave
MSS. 489).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 43
or put in exigent for murder, also wreck " de mere,"
wharfage, and customs of strangers as in times past, and
as though such privileges were granted them by a royal
charter.
7. Lands in Wales were to remain partible among heirs male.
8. The king was empowered to suspend or revoke the Act or
any part of it within the next three years, and also to
erect Courts in Wales within five years after the end of
the Parliament then sitting.
Next year the Act 28 H. VIII., c. 3, gave the king authority to
allot the townships of Wales afresh at any time within the next
three years, and to appoint the shire towns. Three years later
the statute 31 H. VIII., c. 11, states that, owing to more urgent
business, the king had had no time to accomplish the allotment ;
the same power was therefore continued to him for the next three
years. This new " shiring " took some time to accompUsh, as may
be seen from the Act 32 H. VIII., c. 4, which provides that
" treasons or misprisions of treason committed within the Princi-
pality and dominion of Wales and the Marches of the same, or
elsewhere within any the King's dominions, where his Grace's
original writs in his chancery commonly runneth not, shall be
tried by the oaths of twelve men inhabiting within any such
shires and before such Commissioners as the King shall from
time to time appoint."
After the Act of 1536 Marcher Lordships ceased to differ for
all practical purposes from any others. A few references to the
rights appertaining to them are, however, to be found in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The saving of a moiety of
forfeitures and fees to Lords Marchers, with the continuance of
certain other privileges mentioned in the Act of 1536, was the
subject of the Statute i & 2 Ph. and M., c. 15. It is also
mentioned in a case described at length in Coke's Book of
Entries, pp. 549-51. Thomas Cornewall appealed to the two
above-mentioned statutes in defence of his claim to the goods
and chattels of felons within the lordships of Stapleton and
Lugharneys, which at the date of the suit (42 Eliz.) were included
in CO. Hereford, but had, before 27 H. VIII., c. 26, been Lordships
44 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Marchers. The tenacity of Marcher privilege is shown by the
insertion of the following clause in two Acts passed in 1533 —
three years, that is, before the Union. In an Act concerning
the rearing of calves is the proviso " that every Lorde Marcher
have the forfaites, profittes, and advauntages only of every suche
offender and offenders against the purveyeng of this Acte within
their Seignories, Liberties, and Fraunchesies Roiall." The same
clause occurs in the Act 24 H. VIII., c. 9, against killing of
weanlings. As late as 1632 the rights of Marcher Lords came
up in a petition addressed to the Privy Council by John Green
and others of the parish of Chirk, against Sir Thomas Middleton
and his tenants for refusing to contribute towards the repair of
the church. Sir Thomas alleged that "the Lordship of Chirck
is a Lordship Marcher and hath enjoyed many immunities and
Privileges tyme out of minde and amongst others that it had a
free Chapell endowed with the Tythe of all the ancient Demesne
Lands of the Castle there, for the maintenance thereof and of
a Chaplaine. And the said Demeasnes haue bin euer free from
anie ceasment for the reparacion of the Parish Church and were
neuer rated, nor questioned to be rated in the memorie of
man." ^ The Privy Council, after hearing the allegations on both
sides, ordered that Sir Thomas should, of his own free gift (and
according to his own offer), contribute toward the repair of
the church.
The Act which completed the union of England and Wales
was not passed till the Parliament of 34 & 35 H. VIII. The
statute entitled " An Acte for certaine Ordinaunces in the Kinges
Majesties Domynion and Principalitie of Wales " is the most
important statute affecting the Council in the Marches, for its
jurisdiction is recognised and continued, and its relations to the
new Great Sessions Courts clearly laid down (34 & 35 H. VIIL,
c. 26). The third clause runs thus : " Item, that there shalbe
and remaine a President and Counsaill in the saide Dominion
and Principalitie of Wales and the Marches of the same, with all
Officers, Clerkes and Incidentes to the same, in maner and forme
■as hath heretofore been used and accustomed ; whiche President
' Privy Council Register, Charles I., May i6th, 1632.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 45
and Counsaill shall have power and auctorytie to here and
determyne by there wisdoomes and discreacions such causes
and matiers as be or hereafter shalbe assigned to them by the
Kings Ma'tie, as heretofore hath been accustomed and used." ^
The fourth and following clauses deal with the Great Sessions
for Wales. The Justice of Chester was to hold sessions twice a
year in the counties of Denbigh, Flint, Montgomery ; the Justice
of North Wales in the counties of Carnarvon, Merioneth, and
Anglesey ; another Justice was appointed for the shires of
Radnor, Brecknock, and Glamorgan, and a fourth for Carmarthen-
shire, Pembrokeshire, and Cardiganshire. The Justice of
Chester's fee was to be ;;^ioo per annum ; the three other
Justices were to be paid ;^5o per annum. Each session was to
last six days. Stewards of manors might continue to hold Courts
and hold pleas by plaint under the sum of forty shillings, but
they were not to inquire of felony, and no fresh manorial Court
was to be erected. Officers of corporate towns might determine
actions (by juries of six men according to English law), and
within the next seven years the king might dissolve corporations
erected by Lords Marchers, and erect others by patent. Several
clauses deal in detail with the working of the great sessions.
An important clause, showing the connection of the Council of
the Marches with local officials, is the 21st, which provides that
Justices of the Peace (not more than eight in each county) were
to be appointed by the Chancellor of England, by Commission
under the Great Seal, on the advice of the Lord President and
Council and the Justices, or three of them. The Justices of the
peace were to take their oaths before the Chancellor, or before
the Lord President or one of the Justices, by virtue of the king's
' This is not the first mention of the Council in an Act of Parliament. In
the Subsidy Act of 1540 (32 H. VIII., c. 50, not inrolled in Chancery) the
Council in the Marches is mentioned, with the Councils of the North and
West, as a source of expense to the king. The following words are of
interest: "By reason wherof his true subjectes poor and riche without
tracte of tyme or any greate charges or expenses, have undelayed Just\'ce
daylye admi'stred unto them." This Act is not mentioned in the jurisdiction
controversy of the seventeenth century (Bacon's Works, Spedding & Ellis,,
Vol. VII., pp. 609, etc.).
46 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
writ of Dedimus potestatem. Quarter-sessions were to be held
as in England. The clause respecting Welsh sheriffs is also
important for the present purpose. They were to be nominated
yearly by the Lord President, the Council, and the Justices of
Wales, or by three of them, the Lord President being one. A
list of three substantial persons in each of the twelve shires was
to be drawn up and certified to the lords of the Council every
year, crastino Animarum. Out of the three nominated for each
shire, the king was to appoint one who would take his oath
before the President and Justices or one of them. The sheriffs'
duties are thus described : " Item, that everye of the said
Shiriefes shall have full power and auctorytie within the lymites
of theyre Shiriefwick, to do and use theyre offices, as Shiriefes in
Englande, and shall accomplish and execute without any favour,
drede or corrupcion all maner of Writtes, Proces, Judgementes
and Execucions and all maner common Justice apperteyning
to theyre offices of Shiriefs, and all lawfull comaundementes and
preceptes of the saide President, Counsaill and Justices of Wales
and allso of the Justices of the Peax, Eschetoures, and Crowners,
and everie of them, in all things apperteyning to theyre
officers and auctoryties" (clause 22). This clause of the Act is
frequently referred to in the declining days of the Marches Court.
After further defining the duties of sheriffs in Wales, the Act con-
cludes with the following ordinances : that legal fees were to be
fixed by the President, Council, and Justices, and that no fines
were to be allowed for murder and felony. Permission, however,
was given for reprieves till the king's pleasures should be known.
Such were the measures by which the incorporation of Wales
with England was effected. A natural question to ask is, How
were they regarded by the Welsh ? Some answer may be got
from Lord Herbert of Cherbury's Life of Henry VHI., in which
is a lengthy oration purporting to have been delivered to the
king by a Welsh gentleman in favour of Wales. It may perhaps
be taken as representing the feeling of at any rate the more
enlightened Welshmen towards the union which they saw to be
inevitable.^ The speaker petitions that the Welsh may be received
' P. 190 (ed. 1706).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 47
and adopted into the same laws and privileges as those enjoyed
by the king's other subjects. He recounts the gallant resistance
in defence of their liberty made against Romans, Saxons, and
Danes. " Kings of England," he proudly adds, " weary of their
attempts in person against us did formerly give not only our
Country to those who could conquer it, but also permitted them
Jura Regalia within their several precincts ; so it was impossible
to come to an agreement, while so many that undertook this
work, usurp'd Martial and absolute power and jurisdiction in all
they acquired, without establishing any equal Justice. And that
all offenders for the rest, flying from one Lordship Marcher (for
so they were term'd) to another, did both avoid the punishment
of Law and easily commit those Robberies which have formerly
tainted the honour of our parts. So that until the vigorous Laws
not only of several Conquerors of England, but the attempters
on our parts, were brought to an equal moderation, no Union,
how much soever affected by us, could ensue." The Welsh had
submitted to Edward I., " a Prince who made both many and
equaller laws than any before him." They had defended the
ill-fated Edward of Carnarvon " when not only the English forsook
him, but ourselves might have recover'd our former liberty, had
we desir'd it." To Edward III. and Richard II. they had been
strictly loyal ; if they had resisted Henry IV., the attitude of
foreigners toward him was surely excuse enough. Welshmen
had shed their blood ungrudgingly for England on the fields
of France, and they had not taken advantage of the Civil Wars
to regain their independence. To Henry VII., " bearing his Name
and Blood " from them, their devotion, they plead, has never failed.
They beg, therefore, for defence against their detractors, who mock
the ruggedness alike of their mountains and their speech. Their
mountains at least supply not only Wales but England, with good
beef and mutton, while Welshmen speak their language in the
throat, " as believing that words which sound so deep, pro-
ceed from the heart." The survival of Welsh will mean that
" your Highness will have but the more Tongues to serve you :
it shall not hinder us to study English, when it were but to
learn how we might better serve and obey your Highness : To
48 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
whose Laws we most humbly desire again to be adopted and
doubt not, but if in all Countries Mountains have afforded as
eminent Wits and Spirits as any other part, ours also by your
Highness's good favour and imployment may receive that esteem."
The Welshman spoke truly. In spite of much oppression and
neglect, his countrymen of the sixteenth century were passionate
in their loyalty to the Tudor line. In the days of the Civil War
Harlech was the last castle to hold out for the beaten king,
and it was a Welshman, Judge Jenkins, who defied the House
of Commons from its own bar as a den of thieves, responding
to its threat to hang him by saying that he would hang with
the Bible under one arm and Magna Carta under the other. ^
' Owen Edwards, Wales, p. 373.
CHAPTER II
THE PRINCESS'S COUNCIL. THE PRESIDENCY OF
BISHOP ROWLAND LEE
The condition of Wales and the Marches seemed to Wolsey in
1525 to need drastic measures. The separate jurisdictions of
the various lordships continued to encourage criminals, and the
time had clearly come for reducing the Border to complete
submission to the royal authority. Accordingly, in 1525, follow-
ing the precedent of Henry VII. in the case of Prince Arthur,
the king appointed a household for his daughter the Princess
Mary. A certain number of persons were selected as councillors
attendant on her person and as Commissioners in Wales and the
Marches for the instructions given them.^ The new President
of the Council was John Veysey, or Voysey {alias Harman),
who in 15 19 had been appointed Bishop of Exeter. Two years
before he had served as a Commissioner in the inclosures inquisi-
tion (1517), and in 1520 he accompanied the king to the Field
of the Cloth of Gold. He was accounted the best courtier among
the bishops, and had quickly risen into royal favour. He seems
to have paid but little attention to his duties as Lord President, to
judge from the state of things found by his successor, Rowland
Lee. His name, however, appears in several documents relating
to the Council business.^
The duties of the Commissioners are set forth at length in the
' The councillors numbered fifteen (see the list in Madden, Privy Purse
Expenses of the Princess Mary, Introduction).
* Brewer, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., IV., Pt. L
157 (7), and Pt. II. 4470; Gairdner, VI. 83, 169.
49 4
50 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Cottonian MSS., Vitellius, c. i., ff. 7-18.^ The preamble to the
instructions recites that the long absence of a prince from Wales
or the Marches has " altered and subverted the Good Order,
Quiet and Tranquillitie of the Country," and caused " due
Administracion of Justice by Meanes of sondry Contrarieties to
be hetherunto hindred and neglected." The object of sending
the commissioners is, first, that "the King's loving Subiects in
the said Principalitie and Marches may be relieved from the
necessity of repairing to the Council or to the King's ordinary
Courts at Westminster " ; secondly, that " the said Countreyes
may hereafter be reduced unto the pristine and sound Good
Estate and Order, due Justice administered, poor Men's causes
rightfully redressed, Offendours and Malefactours to be punished,
good Men condignly cherished and rewarded, and also the
Parties there about, by Meane of good HospitaUitie, refreshed."
The Commissioners were amply furnished with authority " as well
for Thadministracion of Justice, | as for all other things requisite
and expedient to be done concerninge the Premisses " — viz.
(i) a Commission of oyer and determiner; (2) a Commission for
the administration of justice and decision of causes, griefs, and
complaints to be made between party and party.
The clauses that follow deal with the regulations for the
princess's household, and are printed for the most part in
Madden's Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary. Then
come the clauses (fif. 10-18) that deal with the duties of the
Commissioners : a summary of them will be found in the chapter
on the Council's procedure. Supplementary instructions to the
princess's Council are dated July 20, 18 H. VIII., and deal with
the following matters : forfeitures, keeping of the harness at
Cardiff, prohibition of comorthas, fines, proclamations, etc., etc.*
Two clauses are especially noteworthy — viz.
(t) "Item, for the good ordering of such Lordships as be
called Lordships Royall and the inhabitantes of the same, and to
th' intent Th' offences which contrary to Justice be daylie comitted
* The preamble to the instructions (with a summary of their main
points) is printed in Collins, Letters and Memorials of State, pp. 4-6.
2 Cottonian MSS., Vitellius, C. i., f. 20.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 51
within the same might be dulye repressed and punished. It is
the Kinges pleasure that the said Lord President and Com-
missioners shall call afore them at tymes and places to them
thought convenient all and singular such persons both spirituall
and temporall as pretendeth to have any lordshipps Royall,
bindeinge them by Indentures after such forme and manner
as diuvers Lordes and persons haveinge such Lordships were
bounden in the Kinges dayes of blessed memory that dead is."
(2) " Item, forasmuch as by pretence of libertyes and sanctu-
aryes, many haynous offenders remaine unpunished and that
it is thought to the Kinge and his Counsayle that such as pretend
to have such sanctuaries and liberties have not sufficient grauntes
thereof, and if they have, they extend them further than they
purport. It is therefore the King's pleasure that quo ■warra?ito
shalbe put in execucion in all manner places within the limittes
of their Commission from tyme to tyme as they shall think
convenient and as the case shall require."
The princess's household was arranged on an elaborate scale,
as shown by the lists of officials and servants and by the house-
hold accounts. Damask, velvet, and cloth were delivered out
of the wardrobe for her attendants, and chapel furniture was sent
down from London, consisting of copes, altar vestments, cushions,
and mass books.^ She was sent to the Marches in September,
1525, being then under ten years of age. Her appearance is
described in a letter from Dr. Sampson to Wolsey, dated
September 3rd, 1525, on the occasion of her visit to her father
at King's Langley, probably to bid him farewell before her de-
parture : " My lady princesse com hither on satirday, suyrly sir
off hyr age os goodly a childe os evyr I have seyn, and off os good
gesture and countenance. . . . Hyr grace was not oonly welle
accompanyed with a goodly nombre ; but allso with dyvers persons
of granite, venerandam habendam canitiein. I saw not the courte,
sir, better furnished with sage personages many days then now." ^
' Brewer, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., Vol. IV., Pt. I.,
•577) ^-9' See also Madden, Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess
Mary, Introduction, and Harl. MSS. 6S07, ff. 3-6.
- Madden, p. xlii., and Cottonian MSS., 'Tit. B. i., f. 321 (formerly 314).
52 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Little is known of Mary's life during this period. She must
have divided her time between Thornbury, her first residence,
Ludlow, and Tickenhill, near Bewdley (which, according to
Leland,^ was built by Henry VII. for Prince Arthur and re-
paired for the princess). A letter, dated November, 1525 or
1526, from Tewkesbury, addressed by six of the princess's
Council to Wolsey, speaks of the great repair of strangers to
the Lady Mary expected at the coming Christmastide, and asks
his Grace's pleasure respecting " a ship of silver for the almes
disshe," Christmas entertainments, " Lorde of Misrule," " enter-
ludes, disgysynges," and the like, and also about New Year's
gifts for the king and queen, his Grace {i.e. Wolsey himself),
and the French queen.
The princess seems to have stayed in the Marches throughout
1526, the year in which Wolsey was labouring to bring about
her marriage to Francis I. or his second son Henry, Duke of
Orleans. But in April, 1527, she was summoned from Ludlow
to meet the French Commissioners and take part in the enter-
tainments provided for them at Greenwich. After long negotiation,
it had been decided that Mary should marry either Francis or
his son : the former, should he remain a widower till she arrived
at marriageable age ; the latter if he {i.e. Francis) should marry
Eleonora, sister of the emperor. Soon after the French am-
bassador left England, the first rumours of the divorce scheme
began.
Up to the conclusion of the case the princess seems to
have been with her mother, but was afterwards separated from
her entirely. Her establishment in the Marches was soon
reduced, as appears from a letter addressed by the princess's
Council to Wolsey on March 25th, 1528. They write that,
according to instructions, the princess's household had been
discharged, and trust that Wolsey will grant the attendants their
wages till they can be provided for. To stop complaints, the
writers had " devised letters for the King to send to certain
abbots within the limits of the Council's commission," according
to the bill enclosed. The enclosure is a circular letter to be
' Leland, Itin., Vol. IV., f. 1836.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 53
addressed to thirty-four abbots in the Marches, stating that for
her own better education and for the consolation of the king
and queen it has been ordered that the princess should reside
near the king's person. As the Council of the Marches would
be encumbered by having to move a great household from place
to place in her absence, her officers and servants have been
allowed to go home. But as several of them are destitute of
houses or friends to resort to, the abbot is requested to take so
many (a blank is left here) of them in the meantime " unto his
convenient finding." The writers add that if Wolsey would
bestow sixty-nine of the poorest of the princess's servants among
these houses, it would be "a full gracious deed." ^ This vicarious
form of benevolence was doubtless carried out. The accounts
of the Treasurer of the Chamber for March 21, H. VIII., give
further proof of the breaking-up of the Ludlow household.
"To Wm. Cholmeley, for conveying from Ludlow to London
of sundry chapel stuff, plate, &c., delivered at the setting up of
the Princess's household, ;^2o." ^
Meanwhile, the Commissioners remained in the Marches,
well provided with work, to judge from the incidental notices
of disturbances both there and in Wales. On January 9th, 1526,
Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers, wrote to the Lord President that,
contrary to a previous understanding (confirmed by proclamation
in Westminster Hall and within the precincts of the Commission),
subpoenas to appear at Westminster had been served in
Carmarthen and Cardigan. The inhabitants of both shires
" saith plainly that they will not pay one groat at this present
Candlemas next coming, nor never after, if any man do appear
' Brewer, IV., Pt. II. 4096 ; cf. 3874.
- Gairdner, V., p. 318. Up to October 1st, 1533, Mary still had an
establishment numbering one hundred and sixty-two persons ; but soon after
the birth of Elizabeth (September, 1533) she was ordered to lay aside the
name and style of princess, and bestow them on her half-sister. Her
refusal to comply with this command brought her into disgrace with the
king. In December, 1533) Commissioners (four in number) were appointed
"for the diminishing the house and ordering of the Lady Mary," but no
details of their proceedings are extant.
Harl. MSS. 6807, ff. 7-9, and Cottonian MSS. Cleop. E. vi,, f. 328 (formerly
316).
54 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
otherwise than they have been accumed [sic], but they had hever
run into the woods." Lord Ferrers, writing to his nephew
Thomas Arundel on January 13th, explains that the inhabitants
have been accustomed to pay the king one thousand four hundred
marks at his entering and seven hundred marks a year ever after,
at Candlemas ; but both shires refuse to pay next Candlemas,
if denied their old liberties. This, he adds, is the most serious
thing that has occurred since he first knew Wales. ^
Two years later, October i6th, 1528, a petition was sent up
to the Council by the bailiff of Brecknock and other burgesses
stating that justice was not kept, that the king's tenants were
impoverished and his revenues decayed. In reply, a lengthy
document was issued under the title of " Decrees and Direccions
made by oure soueraigne lord King Henry the eyght by the
advyse and assent of his most (ho)norable counsayle consideryng
the peticion put unto his highnes by his hole tenants and
subgettes of his towne and lordship of Breknok in Southwales."
After the recital of the various complaints come details as to
the future management of the revenue accruing from the lordship,
and the necessity of preventing the growth of arrears. An in-
dication that, however unsatisfactory the condition of things in
Brecknock, it was an improvement on what had prevailed there
in the past, is given in the following passage : " For as muche
as the generalitie of the poer people ther do apply themselfe
diligently in husbondry labores, tyllage and plowynge more then
hath byn seen sithe the tyme of eny man's memory levyng. And
also that ther be not soo many universalle misdoers and offenders
as in tymes passed owre seid souereign^ lord is pleased and also
it is decreed for the comfort of his good people, tenantes and
resiantes soo endevorynge themselfe in and abowte tillage,
that the severall somes of and for good abearynge and
apparaunces of and for every person fyndyng convenient suerties
therfore to be but myld, that is to say xls. for apparaunces and
xls. for the good abearynge, provided alway that eny suche
person or persons that be or shalbe notoryously offenders and
' Brewer, IV., Pt. I., 1872, 1887, 2201.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 55
mysdoers to be bounden at convenyent suerties for their appar-
ances and good abearynges in as grete somes as shalbe thought
requisite by the discrecion of the officers ther for the tyme beyng
havyng the Auctorite to take such bandes by recognisaunces or
other wyse." ^
In some parts there were said to be even open insurrections,
as in Carmarthen in the summer of 1529. Lord Ferrers, Chamber-
lain of South Wales, informed Wolsey that at the instigation of
Rece Griffith and Lady Haward {i.e. Sir Rhys ap Griffith and his
wife, a daughter of the Duke of Norfolk), the greatest insurrection
in Wales within the memory of any one had broken out. Procla-
mations, however, were issued in the king's name, divers of his
servants and true subjects had come to the rescue, and the
captains and ringleaders had returned home.^ It must be re-
membered, however, that Lord Ferrers and the young Sir
Rhys ap Griffith were deadly enemies, and that the information
given above was much exaggerated. An account of the matter
is given by Ellis Griffith in his MS. history among the Mostyn
Papers.^ He says that when Sir Rhys went down to Wales
the whole country turned out to welcome him, whereupon Lord
Ferrers grew jealous. The two rivals happened to come to
Carmarthen at the same time, and an open quarrel resulted from
a fight between their retainers. They were promptly summoned
before the Star Chamber, where in Wolsey's presence they
hurled at each other accusations of violence, oppression, and
bribery. At last both parties were censured for their misdoings,
Lord Ferrers especially for his bad temper and want of sense in
quarrelling with one young enough to be his son, whose youth
must be his excuse. They were finally dismissed with the com-
mand that they were to make peace with their respective followers,
and to depart thence by land and water arm in arm to the palace
and the Fleet.
Next year (1530) a warrant was addressed to Walter Lord
' Brewer, IV., Pt. II., 5098.
- Ibid., IV., Pt. III. 5682, 5693.
' Hist. MSS. Commission, Reports on MSS. in the Welsh language, Vol. I.,
1898. Mostyn MSS., No. 158, Preface, p. 9 (translation).
56 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Ferrers, as Justice in South Wales, to apprehend James ap Griffith
ap Howell, who had fortified himself in the Castle of Emlyn,
South Wales.i A little later, one Thomas Philips, writing to
Cromwell, speaks of the great decay in Wales especially as to the
breed of cattle, and insists that the evil cannot be amended till
these four articles are enforced :
1. That officers in Wales be restrained from taking fines for
felony and murder.
2. That they be compelled to restore tracks.
3. That the retinue of officers in commission with the princess
in Council do not, as now, delay justice.
4. That yearling calves be not sold.
He desires that such a Council be established in the Marches
that the best officer in Wales shall quake if found in default.^
By 1533 the condition of Wales was exciting much uneasiness.
Sir E. Croft, writing to Cromwell and Paulet, excuses himself by
lack of time for not carrying out the survey of woods within his
office. The Lord President of the Council was away, and only
four Commissioners were available to determine matters. Wales
was " far out of order," and many murders in Oswestry and
Powys had gone unpunished, because the chief of the Council
were spiritual men without power to inflict the death penalty for
felony or murder. He wishes " some man to be sent down to
us to use the sword of justice where he shall see cause through-
out the principality ; otherwise the Welsh will v/ax so wild it will
not be easy to bring them into order again." ^ Throughout the
year the words, " The necessity of looking into the state of
Wales," or words to that effect, constantly occur in Cromwell's
Remembrances.* The chief changes planned by Cromwell
were : that according to the old laws no Welshman was to hold
office in Wales ; that murders committed in Wales and the
Marches might be tried in the Star Chamber ; that no one should
hold two offices in Wales ; that the Justice of Chester should not
' Brewer, IV., Pt. III. 6709 (7).
- Gairdner, V. 991. ' Ibtd, VI. 2IO.
" Ibid., VI. 386, 727. Cottonian MSS., Tit. B. I. 150, 461. Cleop.
E. VI. -xiz.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 57
hold his office by deputy ; and lastly, that the payment of fines
and forfeitures should be rigorously enforced on Welshmen con-
victed in the Star Chamber or before the king's Commissioners
in the Marches.
Complaints against laxity of administration were increasing ;
^^ 1533 John Salysbury writes from Denbigh to Cromwell :
" Unless you write to the President of the Marches that the
indictments (of the Bishop of St. Asaph and Robert ap Rice for
prsemunire) should be tried in the country where the offence was
done, in consideration of the royal prerogative, no obedience
here will be paid to the laws." Thomas Crofte writes in the
same year : " More than a hundred have been slain in the
Marches of Wales since the Bishop of Exeter was President
there, and not one of them punished." ^
Still, some amount of work was done, as can be gathered from
incidental notices. We read of men imprisoned in Ludlow
Castle for seditious words;- of an examination into the murder
of four men of the lordship of Elvell (adjoining Hereford) ; ^ and
of a Commission to inquire into certain extortions by officers in
the Marches of Wales.'* That the latter offence was common
enough is proved by the succeeding entry to the effect that the
deputy steward and Heutenant of Elvell had been proved guilty
of embezzling ^150 on fines, forfeits, and heriots.^ Among other
charges mentioned are breach of the peace by a certain Walter
Herbert, and the withholding of a pension due to the Vicar of
1 Gairdner, VI, 946. 2 Brewer, IV., Pt. II. 4140.
' Gairdner, V. 199. " Ibid., VI. 83.
^ Ibid., VI. 84. With this may be compared the Articles against
certain Officers in Glamorgan, printed in Mr. Clark's Cartae et alia
Munimenta de Glamorgan, Vol. II., p. 277, No. ccccxxix., from P.R.O.
Wallia Miscell. Bag, No. 23. Morgan Matthews, coroner of the shire, and
a certain Nicholas Williams had between them embezzled fines due to the
king to the amount of ;^82. Lawrence, the deputy recorder and Court
clerk of the shire and its members, who was bound to show the king's
auditors a list of fines and forfeitures, had for twelve years kept a double
set of books to the king's great loss. He had also taken 20s. from a
claimant to the Manor of Castelton as a reward for stealing a fine of record
out of the king's exchequer at Cardiff.
58 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Bradwey by the Abbot of Pershore.^ A case that was before
the Commissioners for four years was that between the Prior of
Worcester and certain tenants, who affirmed that their old customs
in the lordship of Lyndrige were infringed. The prior stoutly
upheld the rights of his house and denied the truth of the
charge.^ An interesting petition to the " Pryncesse Counsaill "
occurs among the Hereford MSS. Sir William Hunt, priest,
petitions against the occupation of two shops (belonging to his
vicarage) by Ph. Baskervile, Esq., without paying any rent.
Baskervile, it is alleged, has added them to his own house,
making one of them a porch, and " manysshing your orator yf
he will medle therwith or selle any distresse that he will kyll and
sle, and also he is a strong gent, there that your poor orator is
not able to opteyne remedye agaynst hym." The petitioner begs
for letters from the Council directing the mayor to inquire into
the matter.^ With this petition may be mentioned a letter from
the Council to the Mayor of Hereford concerning an affray,
asking for information concerning Thomas Baskervile, one of
the parties concerned.^
In addition to its judicial duties, the Council performed a
certain amount of administrative work. In August, 1525, the Lord
President and seven other members wrote to Sir A. Windsor
and two others about ordnance and artillery to be delivered for
the princess into the Marches of Wales.^ The members of the
Commission who appear to have been most active are Lord
Ferrers, Chief Justice of South Wales and Steward of the
Household ; ^ Sir E. Croft, the Vice-Chamberlain ; Sir Ralph
Egerton, the Treasurer ; Richard Sydnour, the Surveyor ; and
George Bromley, one of the Councillors learned in the law. The
Lord President, writing to Wolsey in 1528, begs for some prefer-
ment for some of the princess's servants. Bromley, he says,
' Gairdner, VI. 298.
2 Ibid., VI. 747.
3 Hist. MSS. Commission, Hereford MSS., p. 310,
* Ibid., p. 314.
^ Brewer, IV., Pt. I. 1577 (4), p. 709.
" He was also Chamberlain of South Wales and of the counties of
Carmarthen and Cardigan.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 59
has done long service, and his fee is ^50 ; Croft is a man of
inflexible justice, and will do well in Worcestershire ; Russell,
the Secretary, does well, and had in the Duke of Buckingham's,
time the keepership of the park of Maxtoke, now vacant. Salter
says his ofifices in North Wales do not sustain his costs in riding
thither.^ The Lord President himself was of much the same
opinion as Salter, for in 1533 he wrote to Cromwell, "I beg to
have convenient days of payment for my convicts lately escaped,.
for though I am in the Marches partly at the king's charges, I
spare of my revenue little at the year's end." ^
Under Bishop Voysey the condition of the Marches had
become intolerable. A strong hand was needed to repress the
lawlessness and discontent which almost inevitably marked the
transition stage in the history of Wales. A suitable instrument
was found in the person of Rowland Lee, one of the many whom
Wolsey's patronage had raised to power. Between the years
1528 and 1534 he had been one of the king's chief agents in his
dealings with the monks and the clergy and also in the divorce
proceedings. The man who had plied Fisher with questions
during his imprisonment in the Tower, had sought to shake the
resolution of Queen Catherine, and had attempted, though in
vain, to " drive reason into the obstinate heads of the Friars
Observant," was not likely to flinch from the duties awaiting him
in Wales. By a curious coincidence he had in earlier life been
connected with two former Lords President. Bishop Smyth had
in 15 12 ordained him priest, and invested him with a prebend;
Bishop Blythe had in 1527 made him his chancellor. In June
1534, he was elected bishop of the great East Midland see of
Coventry and Lichfield (colloquially called Chester), and in May
he was appointed Lord President of the king's Council in the
Marches of Wales. ^
Of all those who presided over this Council, Lee undoubtedly
stands out most clearly, and has left a most lasting impression on
the country subject to his jurisdiction. How strong this im-
pression was a generation after he had passed away may be seen
' Brewer, IV., Pt. II. 4470. - Gairdner, VI. 169.
•* Diet. Nat. Biog.
60 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
from the discourse by William Gerard, to which reference has
already been made. Writing to Walsingham in 1575, he speaks
of Lee as " stowte of nature, readie-witted, roughe in speeche, not
affable to any of the walshrie, an extreme severe ponisher of
offendors, desirous to gayne [as he did indeed] credit with the
Kinge and comendacon for his service. Suche one as hadd no
neede of the office for any wante of lyvinge, for besides the
Kinges allowaunce he spente the Revenue of his Bishoprick in
that service." Gerard goes on to speak of Lee's worthy helper,
Justice Englefield, " for lerninge and discrete modest behavoor
comparable with anie in the Realme," and of Bromley, Holt, and
others, who shared his task. These in the beginning, he adds,
" spent their holle tyme in travellinge yeerlie eythr throughe
Wales or a great parte of the same in causes towchinge Civill
governement, and by that travell knewe the people and founde
theire disposicon, favored and preferred to auctoritie and office in
theire Contreys suche howe meane of lyvinge soever theye were,
as theye founde diligente and willinge to serve in discoveringe
and tryinge owte of off'ences and offendors. Theye likewise
deforced and discountenanced others of howe greate callinge and
possessions soever theye were, beinge of contrarie disposicon.
This stoute bushoppes dealinge and the terror that the vertue of
learninge workethe in the subiecte when he perceiveth that he is
governed under a lerned magistrate, within iij or iiij °' yeres
generallie soe terrified theyme, as the verie feare of ponishment
rather then the desire or love that the people hadd to chaunge
theire walshrie wroughte firste in theym the obedience theye
nowe bee growen into. Then," he concludes, " was this Counsell
and theire proceedinges as moche feared, reverenced and hadd in
€?timacion of the walshe as at this daye the Starre chamber of th'
english." ^
We are fortunate in possessing specially detailed information
as to the work done by the Council in the Marches at this time,
for Lee kept up a regular correspondence with his second patron,
Cromwell. His letters give ample proof of his unwearied activity
' State Papers, Domestic, Elizabeth, Vol. CVII., No. 10.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 6i
in spite of much discouragement. The task immediately before
him was the punishment of felonies, especially manslaughter and
thievery. The lax administration of Bishop Voysey, and more
particularly his incapacity, as a spiritual person, to inflict capital
punishment, had resulted in a state of things that disgraced a
civilised country. Lee, however, was specially empowered to
inflict the death-penalty, and never hesitated to do so, particularly
in cases where the offender was a person of importance. Other
serious evils were the difficulty of obtaining verdicts against
notorious offenders, the misdeeds of officers both royal and
manorial, the abuse of the privilege of sanctuary, and the
frequency of riots and "affrays." So disturbed was the country
that Chapuys, in his correspondence with Charles V., often
speaks of it as ripe for insurrection.
During his tenure of office Lee enjoyed several advantages ; the
Act of 1535 (26 H. VIII., c. 5) ordered felonies committed in
Wales to be tried in the next English county, and the Council
had a more summary jurisdiction than heretofore. He had also
a zealous and efficient subordinate in Sir Thomas Englefield, Chief
Justice of Chester. From 1534 to his death in 1543 Lee laboured
to reduce Wales to order. Very soon his exertions bore fruit, and
he could write to Cromwell triumphantly : " I hope you under-
stand the good order begun in Wales so that thieves are afraid ! " ^
By the autumn of 1534 he had devised a new book of instructions
and sent it to Cromwell for approval.^ He was busy planning
next year's work, for in the winter of 1534-5 he writes : "I intend
after Easter to stop a month at Presteigne among the thickest of
the thieves, and shall do the king such service as the strongest
of them shall be afraid to do." The difficulty of enforcing order
is seen in a letter from Sir E. Croft to Cromwell, saying that
the king's Commissioners had proclaimed in the Marches of Wales
that no one should carry weapons in fairs or markets, but that, in
spite of this, on Friday, July 3rd, 1534, a great affray had taken
place in the market of Bishop's Castle, in which many were
maimed.
'.Gairdner, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VII., Vol. VII. 1 151.
•-' Ibid., VII. 1393.
■62 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
In 1535 Lee secured the submission of several who were guilty
of felony, manslaughter, and other grave crimes. The murderers
made a desperate effort to save their lives by offering to take
other offenders for their pardon and for eight years " to be of
good disposition." ^ A notorious robber of no fewer than
eighteen churches was brought to trial, and Lee could say hope-
fully : "If Wales be applyed a little while, all will be quiet." ^
In another letter he writes : " Wales is very well amended and in
comparison there is very little thieving of cattle, chiefly because
no one will buy them if they are suspected of being stolen." ^
Yet he knew well enough that the improvement was merely
temporary. His plan for the summer was to stay for short
periods at Gloucester, Worcester, and Bewdley, and then at
Shrewsbury to be nearer Wales ; " for though they are well re-
formed for the time, they will be sure to return to their unhappy
demeanour except for fear." ■*
A number of outlaws had during the year submitted them-
selves voluntarily without a safe-conduct, which was an unheard-
of thing before.^ Three of the most " arrant thieves " in all
Wales had been executed. An instructive picture of the
career of such an evildoer is given in the various letters
mentioning Robert Stradling, a ne'er-do-weel connected with
the great South Welsh family of that name.^ His confession,
taken at Bewdley on September 28th, 1535, is summarised thus ;
" About two years ago took part with his father-in-law, Watkyn
Lougher, who disputed certain lands with Chr. Turbill. Confesses
to having kept one Lewes of North Wales and one Griffith of Caer-
marthenshire, who robbed and murdered Piers Dere, for five or
six weeks in his house, and they gave him one royal of Dere's.
Killed Gitto Jenkyn, who quarrelled with him while coursing at
the White Crosse, on the said lands in variance. Was outlawed,
and to escape the search, boarded with six persons a balinger of
Pastowe in the haven near the Abbey of Neath, and made the
' Gairdner, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VII., Vol. VIII. 923.
2 Ibid., VIII. 584. = Ibid., VIII. 947.
^ Ibid., VIII. 1058. ' Ibid., VIII. 861.
« Ibid., IX. 67, 354, 465.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 63
mariners put to sea for three weeks. Did no harm to any one.
Landed at Milford Haven and went to Waterford in the latter
end of April. Hearing that proclamations were made in Wales
against him, returned." ^ In the end Stradling was recommended
by Lee for the king's pardon, because he was " a proper man
and a good archer and willing to pay a reasonable fine."^
In the summer of 1535, during his stay at Bewdley, Lee suffered
from an attack of fever, brought on, we may suspect, by over-
work.^ Earlier in the year he had written a doleful letter to
Cromwell, complaining that he would like a fortnight's holiday,
but was single-handed. Dr. Butts, the king's physician, was sent
to visit him, with good results. "I thank the king upon my
knees," he writes, " for allowing his physician to visit me, the
sight of whom revived me."*
The year 1536 was no less full of work. "Good rule,"
writes the indefatigable President, " prevails here, for one cow
keeps another, which was never before . . . the thieves have
hanged me in imagination,! I trust to be even with them
shortly." ^
In spite of the measure of success gained, Lee would relax no
effort, nor did he desire to be absent from Wales even to attend
Parliament, " considering the frailty of the inhabitants and their
love of novelty." This year he had to deal with the difficult
matter of sanctuaries. He and Englefield wrote to Cromwell
that a certain John ap David Griffith, while serving the Council's
letters upon John ap Morice Lloyd, now in sanctuary at West-
minster, was wilfully murdered by him.^ Lloyd's friends intended
to move the king for a pardon, which the writers think should be
withheld. Lee mentions the " Club Sanctuaries " of Wigmore and
Bewdley as receiving not a few thieves, and urges that an Act
of Parliament should declare in what shire the town and franchise
of Bewdley stand ; ^ for if any be indicted in Worcestershire,
' Gairdner, IX. 465. - Ibid., IX. 126, 510.
^ Ibid. IX. 302. Mr. Gairdner notes that this letter is signed very
feebly.
* Ibid., IX. 166. « Ibid., X. 129
« Ibid., X. 354. ' Ibid., X. 258, 259.
64 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
they say their town and franchise be in Shropshire and
vice versa.
Thieves were still Lee's bugbear. He writes with much
indignation that at a certain cattle-sale Richard Lloyd, of
Welshpool, "a gentleman and a thief and a receiver of thieves,"
had on a doublet of crimson velvet or satin, " which does not
become a thief; the hanging of one such would cause forty to
beware." ^ Another, Lloyd, had stolen, " burned and killed
without mercy." 2 Lee was driven to try what terror would effect.
On a market-day he had a dead thief hanged on the gallows for a
warning, and records with grim satisfaction that three hundred
people followed to see the carriage of the thief in the sack, " the
manner whereof had not been before." "All thieves in Wales
quake for fear, and there is but one thief, of name Hugh Duraunt,
whom we trust to have shortly. Wales is brought to that state
that one thief taketh another and one cow keepeth another, as
Lewis my servant shall inform you."^ He still found difficulty
in ensuring the punishment of offenders : often proceedings were
stopped on the bare assertion of the friends of the accused ; often
the officers of the Marcher Lordships took no trouble because the
tenants made compensation to the parties robbed.'* Lee urged
that offenders should be discharged by fine or otherwise in open
Court, though he admits that " my Lord Worcester and Lord
Ferrers will greatly stick at it." Lee attributes the disorderly
condition of the country mainly to the lack of impartiality in
dealing with offenders.^ Thus he asks Cromwell that John
Scudamore may be put out of the commission here, on the
ground that he is "a gentleman dwelling nigh the Welshery and
kynned and alyed in the same ; through the bearing and bolstering
of such gentlemen Wales was brought to that point that I found
it in."G
An instance of the cases with which the Council had to
deal is as follows : John Trevor, of Oswestry, gentleman, was
summoned to the Council for assisting to burn a man's house
' Gairdner, X. 204. - Ibid., X. 31.
3 Ibid., X. 130. * Ibid., X. 31.
' Ibid., X, 330. '■ Ibid., XI, 1255.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 65
in Chirkland, and through negligence contrived to escape. He
promptly " went to the wood " with Robert ap Morice, con-
demned for "resetting" David Lloyd or Place. ^ Lee writes
particulars to Cromwell begging him to stop any attempt at
procuring their pardon. An offence connected with this " bearing
and bolstering" was the practice of taking comorthas. By statute
it had been strictly forbidden except in certain specified cases
(e.g. loss of property by fire) ; but in the summer of 1536 Lee
assures Cromwell that a certain George Mathew, gentleman, of
South Wales, had obtained a placard to the contrary, though
without cause expressed. " He is so befriended," is Lee's
comment, "that it will run through all Wales to his advantage
to the amount of roo marks." Among other offences of which
notices occur in 1534-6 are riot (X. 310), robbery of churches
(Vni. 839), and coining (VH. 1225).
The next year (1537) was marked by the death of Lee's most
valued assistant, Justice Englefield. Writing to Cromwell on
September 28th, Lee says: "Mr. Justice Englefield died at eight
o'clock this morning at Bridgnorth on his way hither. Having
here many great and urgent causes I beg you to move the King
that I may have help of someone of learning and experience. I
shall do my part while my rude carcass shall endure. Remember
the commonwealth of these parts, which if I have not help will
decay again. I have over twenty felons, and none to help me."^
Lee seems to have missed Englefield much, and to have
found the cares of his office more burdensome than ever. His
reports to Cromwell throughout the year on the state of
Wales are curiously varied. At one time he is hopeful, at
another utterly depressed. Still, on the whole, it is clear
that his firmness was making itself felt. " All in good order
here (sc. Shrewsbury)," he writes, " saving now and then
a little conveying amongst themselves for a fat sheep or a
bullock in Kery, Kedewen, Arustley, and Kevylyocke, which is
impossible to be amended ; for thieves I found them, and
thieves I shall leave them." ^
' Gairdner, X. 453. - Ibid., XII., Pt. II. 770.
» Ibid., XII., Pt. II. 1237.
s
66 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
The birth of Prince Edward was the signal for a great
outburst of Welsh loyalty, "the gladdest tidings and merriest
people in these parts that ever was." But Lee is more con-
cerned to remark that " a little the thieves begin to steal,
trusting to white books by the birth of a Prince." ^ Cromwell
was assured by both Lee and Sir John Pakington that Wales
and the Marches were never in better order.^ On the other
hand, much annoyance was given by a troublesome dispute
as to the stewardship of Arustley and Keviliock, between
Lord Ferrers and the Earl of Worcester. Till it was ended
no Courts were kept, and good order was in danger of being
destroyed. The " great sort of gentleman " at Arustley met
in unlawful assemblies to prevent Lord Ferrers from keeping
the Court, but were promptly " put in hold " with the
porter. Ultimately it was decided that Lord Ferrers should
hold the stewardship during the Earl of Worcester's pleasure.^
Similar disturbances took place in Denbigh and Glamorgan.
At Denbigh John Salisbury said that the Council did not well
to take the weapons from the inhabitants or to molest them,
for he could rule them, and he drew his dagger at the messenger
who rebuked him.'' There was a feud, too, between the country
folk round Denbigh and the townsfolk. The former on a
market-day came in arms and proclaimed at the market-cross
that Welshmen were as free as Englishmen, and that they should
pay no stallage there.^ Sir Richard Bulkeley, writing in reference
to a riot in Bangor Cathedral, wished for king's letters forbidding
the wearing of armour by Welshmen, except the king's officers.
''Without speedy remedy the King will have as much to do in
Wales as ever he had in Ireland.^
In this rather monotonous Hst of Welsh offenders it is a
Trdief to come across those of another race, "the lewd people
calling themselves Gipcyans," who had been pardoned in the
(previous year for a shameful murder, on condition that they
> Gairdner, XII., Pt. II. 985. " Ibid., XII., Pt. II. 1199 (ii).
3 Ibid., XII., Pt. II. 896, and Pt. I. 1271— 1272.
" Ibid., XII., Pt. I. 1 148. * Ibid., XII., Pt. I. 1 183.
■" Ibid., XII., Pt. I. 507.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 6y
quitted the realm. Cromwell wrote to Lee to inquire their
whereabouts if they had not already departed, and to compel
them to hasten to the nearest seaport and take ship with the
first wind. If this command should be broken again, they
were to be executed.^
The year 1538 opened well. "Wales was never in better
order, all old factions forgotten." "Your subjects in Wales be in
such order that since Christmas I hear of neither stealing, riots,
murders nor manslaughters." " In the marches and in Wales in
the wild parts where I have been, is order and quiet such as is
now in England."^
A good example of Lee's strong measures is seen in his
description of the Gloucester assizes, when Roger Morgan of
Wales was, in spite of strong evidence, acquitted of forcibly
carrying off a widow from a church. "This," says Lee, "is a
vice common in Wales, and for its reformation we had ordered
trial to be made, but all the honest persons we had appointed to
the inquest absented themselves." The jury were bound over to
appear at the next assize, and meantime to appear before the
Council in the Star Chamber upon ten days' warning. Lee urges
that the matter may be considered, " else farewell to good rule." ^
At these assizes six men were condemned for felony and two for
treason. " Their heads and quarters," Lee callously remarks,
"shall be sent to eight of the best towns of the shire." In
Shropshire equally severe measures were taken, and four gentle-
men of the best blood of the county were executed.'*
Lee found, as in previous years, that the partiality of juries was a
great hindrance to justice. In a letter to Cromwell he gives full
details of a suit where the verdict of acquittal was given against
the strongest evidence, and the mischief of " bearing " was very
clearly displayed.-^ Another case was that of the Cheshire
inquest, which found murders to be manslaughters and riots to
be misbehaviour. These verdicts were promptly punished by the
' Gairdner, XII., Pt. II. 1173.
- Ibid., XIII., Pt. I. 53, 222, and Pt. II. 276.
' Ibid., XIII., Pt. I. 371. < Ibid., XIII., Pt. I. 152.
* Ibid., XIII., Pt. I. 519.
68 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
imprisonment of those who returned them. Lee, to protect
himself beforehand from complaints of his hard dealing, wrote to
Cromwell, urging that, if the country was to be kept in order,
punishment must be inflicted, for by the common law things so
far out of order could never be redressed.^
The records of the remaining years of Lee's Presidency show
a decided improvement in the condition of the country under his
charge. In 1539 he wrote from Wigmore that he had no news
to send, for all was quiet, and again, " All is quiet here, and
never better " ; and yet another time, " No news, the county of
Chester we, at our late being there, have set in good stay."^
One of the special duties of the Council this year was to take
measures for the defence of the coast and the construction of
harbour works in Pembrokeshire. Lord Ferrers, writing to the
Lord President and Mr. Justice Sulyard, says : " We never saw
subjects more willing to serve the king, if they may have
ordnance, horses and harness for their money.^ The entries
concerning crime are comparatively few : e.g. John Thomas ap
Rice of Kedewen, belonging to Lord Ferrers, committed felony
and manslaughter, and fled. Lee urged Cromwell to stop any suit
to the king for his pardon, on the ground that to hang such a
gentleman in his county for such an off'ence would save twenty
men's lives and do more good than to hang a hundred petty
wretches.^ Sundry notices as to murders, seditious words, and
riot occur, but it is clear that the country was now comparatively
orderly.^ One beneficial change was that Staff'ord was made a
sanctuary town instead of Chester, which, through its neigh-
bourhood to AVales and the sea, had given malefactors many
opportunities of escape.^
In the year 1539 Lee lost an energetic helper, Sir Richard
Herbert, " the best of his name that I know. I have as great
loss of him as though I had lost one of my arms, in governing
Powes, Kery, Kedewen, and Cloones land." Next year came
' Gairdner XIII., Pt. I. 1411. - Ibid., XIV., Pt. I. 97S, 49, 1289.
' Ibid., XIV., Pt. I. 696. ^ Ibid., XIV., Pt. II. 384.
" Ibid., XV. 557 ; XVI. 546; XVII. 53, 802.
« Ibid.,YM\\. 357.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 69
two more serious losses through the deaths of Sir William
Sulyard and Justice Porte. Lee sends the tidings to Cromwell,
urging that he may have learned men in their places, for none
other are any help. He complains of the intolerable burden
of hearing causes every holy day and week day for three parts
of the year with but one colleague, and adds that this toil
has " brought many honest men to their death." ^
Lee's own labours were nearly over. His name occurs in the
Commission of the Peace for Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in
15.'! 2, and letters were addressed to him by the Privy Council
in March, June, and September of the same year.^ Towards
the end of January, 1543, he died in the College of St. Chad's,
Shrewsbury, of which his brother was dean, and was buried
in St. Chad's Church. An early seventeenth century chronicle
of Shrewsbury says that he " had brought Wales into civility
before he died, and had said he would made the white sheep
keep the black." ^
An interesting contemporary reference to Lee is found
in the history of Ellis Griffith among the Mostyn MSS.*
He writes, "In the course of the year 1534 there was
much disorder within the districts of Powys, Kynlleth and
Mochnant. And at this time the King appointed (Rowland
Lee) Bishop of Chester as President of his council in that part
of Wales and give him and his people full authority to administer
punishment to those who merited it according to their deserts,
and it is said that over five thousand men were hanged within
the space of six years, among whom were certain men of the
guard with the King's liveries on their backs."
Bishop Lee is best remembered for his stern suppression of
crime ; but there are other sides to his work that call for notice.
Amid all his multifarious duties the repairing of castles held a
prominent place. The year after his appointment he took in
' Gairdner, XV. 308, 398.
- Ibid., XVII. 172, 410, 802.
' Diet. Nat. Biog. (art., Lee).
^ Hist. MSS. Commission. Reports on MSS., in the Welsh Language,
Vol. I. 1898. Mostyn MSS., No. 158, Preface, p. ix. (translation).
70 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
hand the repair of Ludlow Castle, and made it fit for his winter
stay in 1534— 1535. He writes with much satisfaction that he
has bought eight " fother " of lead and bestowed it on the castle,
contriving to do as much for ;;^ioo as would have cost the
King ;!^5oo. His repairs, he says proudly, are such as had
not been done for a hundred years past.^ Wigmore and Radnor
needed attention just as much, for the former was "utterly
decayed in lodging for the want of timely repair," and the latter
was so ruinous that eight thieves had escaped from it during the
year.^ " What shall it be for us," asks the zealous President,
" to take thieves and have no place to keep them ? All cannot
be brought to Ludlow." He noted with irritation the lack
of armour and the mismanagement which left castle guns
without either powder or stones. A confirmation of his opinion
is given in a letter to Cromwell on the state of Ireland, which
says : " The bows from Ludlow Castle were naught." ^ By
1536 Lee had had time to investigate the state of the armour
at Ludlow and elsewhere, and he drew up a list of remembrances
for his servant Lewes Johns to take to Cromwell. Lord Ferrers
had fifty pairs of " Almain rivetts"^ out of the Castle of Ludlow,
the Earl of Worcester had two hundred pairs at Chepstow.
There was some harness at Thornbury, but at Ludlow neither
gun nor powder, only "100 sheaf of arrows and 40 bows little
worth. Not one string nor axe whereby I could do the King
service ; 250 Almain rivetts, but neither gorget nor apron of
mail." "Thank God," he concludes, "the country is quiet."*
Other castles repaired by Lee were Brecknock, Monmouth, and
Montgomery.^
Lee's building zeal led him to commit many acts of vandalism.
Thus he and Sulyard received a commission to suppress Wigmore
' Gairdner, VII. I151; VII. 1393, 1409; VIII. 861,947; IX. 841.
" Ibid., Vn. 1 57 1.
3 Ibid., VIII. 226.
■* Moveable rivets first made in Germany, whence the bodj- armour to
which they were applied was so called (Mej-rick, Antient Armour, 1824,
Vol. II., p. 292).
* Gairdner, X. 259.
= Ibid., X. 754, 1 178; XII., Pt. II. 896; XIII., Pt. I. 1287.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 71
Abbey, and had a warrant for stones, iron, lead, and glass for
the repair of the king's castles.^ Money was hard to come by,
and Lee eagerly seized on any stone or lead that came in his
way, lamenting the number of places where it was needed.^
" There is a piece of Breknoke Castle fallen, and another piece
at Chyrke, and all must be done : God send money." Some-
times he scrapes together a few pounds out of forfeitures ; e.g.
he asks Cromwell if he may have the goods of a certain murderer
for the repair of Ludlow. Their value is only about -£/\o or
_;^5o. and something must be deducted for the relief of the
widow and children ; but Lee is eager to get what he can.^
The old friary at Ludlow yielded some material, too, for Thomas
Vernon, descended from the founders, had discovered hidden
in a ditch at the back of the house sundry articles wrapped
up in an old stocking. The contents of the stocking (what
were they, one wonders ?) were used for the rebuilding of
Montgomery Castle, one of the keys of Wales.*
The year 1539 was one of great activity in building and
defence.^ Among Cromwell's Remembrances that year occurs
the writing of a letter to the Lord President and Council of
Wales for the fortifying and viewing of Milford Haven. The
Council on the Tuesday after Palm Sunday was upon the
mountains of Wales on the borders of Meleneth (co. Radnor),
where Lee saw " many tall men and good hearts, but little
armour." ^ Lord Ferrers was active in setting in order the
ordnance towns of Pembrokeshire, and making the people repair
the gates and " garnish " the walls with stones for lack of
ordnance. He also set up beacons, saw to the repair of the
bulwarks, and surveyed Milford Haven to the mouth of the sea.^
Sir Richard Bulkeley, writing to Cromwell about the same time,
says that in the execution of his commission under the Great
Seal for the survey of the sea-coasts, he has found the king's
castles in North Wales wholly unfurnished with the means of
' Gairdner, XIII., Pt. II. 736; cf. XIV., Pt. I. 86.
■' Ibid., XIV., Pt. I. 155. 3 ji,icl,^ XV. 562 (2).
' Ibid., XIII., Pt. I. 1287. ^ Ibid., XIV., Pt. I. 655.
" Ibid., XIV. ,Pt. I. 722. ' Ibid., XIV. Pt. I. 696.
72 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
defence. Conway, Carnarvon, and Harlech Castles could not
be held for an hour against an enemy, and Anglesey was utterly
defenceless, owing to its exposed situation and the difficulty of
sending help. A letter from the city authorities of Chester to the
Commissioners in the Marches gives much the same account :
there was no ordnance, and the neighbouring ports were open.
These notices of the activity of the Council in building and
fortification show how much administrative as well as judicial
work devolved upon it.
During the years of Lee's Presidency the new arrangements
for the government of Wales under the statute 27 H. VIII., c. 26
(1536), were being carried out.^ Incidental notices occur of the
loss occasioned to the Lords Marchers by this Act. Henry,
Lord Stafford, writing to Cromwell, states that it will lessen his
income by ;!^2o, and pleads for the farm of the abbey of Rantone
(near Stafford) if it be dissolved. Even the king had said " it
was alms to help me, having so many children on my hands." ^
Lord Powys had suffered by the loss of his liberties in Powysland,
and though he had been partly recompensed by the gift of
certain monasteries, yet Lee begs Cromwell for his further
advancement.^
The carrying out of the Shiring Act seems to have been
a matter of some uncertainty. John Salysbury, steward of
Denbighland, writes wistfully to Cromwell his hope that his
fees as steward are not diminished by the Act.^ John
Scudamore, Sheriff of Hereford in 1536, wants to know if he is
to consider as shire ground certain Marches of Wales annexed
to his shire, adding that the people are not well furnished, but
seem willing to serve the king if need be.^ Lee was against the
change entirely. " There are," he tells Cromwell, " very few
Welsh in Wales above Brecknock who have ;£io in land, and
their discretion is less than their land." He draws a dismal
picture of the "bearing of thieves" which will ensue if the
statute goes forward, and recalls that Merionethshire and
' Gairdner, VII. 1377. " Ibid., X. 741.
=> Ibid., XII., Pt. II. 965. " Ibid., X. 778.
* Ibid., XI. 1338.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 73
Cardiganshire are as disorderly as the worst parts of Wales,
although they are shire ground.^ To the same effect is a docu-
ment entitled, "Articles proving that it shall be hurtful to the
commonwealth of the three shires in North Wales, viz. Anglesey,
Carnarvon and Merioneth, to have Justices of the Peace there."
The Justices, it is said, will be dangerous, and partiality will
increase, for the inhabitants are poor and quarrelsome, and
most of the gentlemen are " bearers of thieves and misruled
persons." ^ Sir Richard Bulkeley was of the same opinion, for he
begs Cromwell to stop the Lord Chancellor from appointing any
Justices of the Peace within the three shires of North Wales, on
the ground that Dr. Glyn and Edward Gruff would give large
sums for the office.^
Next year (1537) the President and Council were bidden to
publish the proclamation for enforcing the Act 27, H. VIII., c. 26,
made for Wales. At the beginning of the year Lee had com-
plained of the delay in the arrival of this proclamation, for many
small felonies had in the meantime to remain undespatched.^ The
execution of the Act seems to have lain with the Lord President.
Among the business to be laid before the Privy Council is the
following item : " (9) To despatch Mr. Sulyerd to Wales with an
instruction to the Lord President and him to put in execution the
new shiring." ^ By 1539 it seems to have been still incomplete,
for Lee and Sulyard reminded Cromwell that the time was
approaching for the king's pleasure to be known as to the shire
grounds of Wales, and mentioned certain petitions presented to
the Council by the inhabitants of the said countries.^ A matter
requirmg some time was the allotment of the towns in the new
shires.'' In 1540 Denbighland was still not "translated" into
shire ground. Cromwell wrote to Lee bidding him command
the Commissioners to proceed in the matter and give his opinion
as to the expediency of the change. Lee replies with some
warmth that he was never privy of any such Commission, and
' Gairdner, X. 453. - Ibid., X. 245.
^ Ibid., XI. 525. * Ibid., XII., Pt. I., 93, 472.
5 Ibid., XII., Pt. I. 1091. " Ibid., XIV., Pt. I. 492.
' Ibid., XIV., Pt. I. S67, c. II.
74 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
trusts his opinion will not be required, " for I am not of that
perfectness to know what shall chance in time coming." ^ But
in spite of Lee's disapproval, the changes proceeded, and his
gloomy forebodings were not fulfilled.
Lee's term of office cannot be described without some
reference to the attitude of Wales towards the great religious
upheaval which followed Wolsey's fall. From incidental notices
it is clear that there was much discontent and resistance to
religious innovations. The "light Welshman" who in 1535
spoke words of the king ^ is by no means an isolated instance.
We hear of " seditious words and unsitting demeanour " on
the part of two monks in Worcester Priory; of a "wretch"
(born in Portugal, however) who spoke seditious words against
the king and queen ; and of the parson of Llanlledan who
asserted that "the King's grace hath robbed us and now he
robbeth the saints," adding that " the King is a fiend and
hath mighty councillors."^ Various letters to Charles V. speak
of Welsh disaffection: Martin de Cornoga, in 1534, says that
the whole of Wales is devoted to the house of Reginald Pole ;
that on account of their love for the Princess (Mary) and the
death of don Ris (Rhys ap Griffith ap Rhys ap Thomas), who
was beheaded three years ago (1531), the whole province is
alienated from the king.* Chapuys, at about the same time,
wrote that Kildare had received help from Wales, as well as
from Scotland, in his rebellion.^ A little later he writes to the
same effect as Cornoga — viz. that the Welsh are angry at the
ill-treatment of the queen and princess, and also at what is
done against the faith, for they have always been good Christians.
It is said, he concludes, that the people only wait for a chief
to take the field. Yet again he tells his master, " The distress
of the people is incredible, especially the Welsh, from whom,
by Act of Parliament, the king has just taken away their native
laws, customs, and privileges, which is the very thing they can
' Gairdner, XV. 494. - Ibtd.^ VIII. 509.
= Ibid., IX. 108; XII., Pt. II. 1057, and Pt. I. 1202 (2); and cf. Pt. I.
969 ; XIII., Pt. I. 358.
^ Ibid., VII. 1040. 5 Ibid., VII. 1368.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 75
endure least patiently. I wonder how the King dared do it
during these troubles in Ireland, except that God wishes so
to blind him."
The possible junction of Wales and Ireland is mentioned in
an account of a conversation between two Charterhouse monks.
" And what think ye of Wales ? Their noble and gentle ap
Ryce so cruelly put to death and he innocent, as they say, in
the cause. I think not contrary but they will join and take
part with the Irish and so invade our realm." ^ Chapuys
declares that on the frontiers of Wales and of the North they
were making great efforts to muster the men demanded by
the Earl of Ossory; but there was scarcely anyone who would
go, and many were imprisoned for refusal.^ Some slight con-
firmation of this opinion may be found in the instructions for
Edward a Beck (1534), which forbid the appointment of a Welsh-
man as marshal in the Irish army, and speak of the suspicion
of Welshmen in that war and the kindred which some of the
captains had there. ^ But there is no doubt that Chapuys was-
exaggerating to an absurd extent ; Henry's Welsh descent, his
irresistible personal ascendancy, and Lee's vigorous government
checked any serious outbreak such as occurred in 1536 in
Lincolnshire and the North. Chapuys writes to Charles in 1535,
with an evident desire to make the most of his case, " The
King is still on the confines of Wales, hunting and traversing
the country to gain the people. It is said many of the peasants
where he has passed, hearing the preachers who follow the
Court, are so much abused as to believe that God has inspired
the king to separate himself from the wife of his brother :
but these are mere ' idiotes,' who will return to the truth when
there is any appearance of remedy."
As to the execution in 153 1 of Sir Rhys ap Griflith (grandson and
heir of Sir Rhys ap Thomas) on the charge of treason, it is highly-
probable that he was unjustly condemned. In the Cambrian-
Register, Vol. II., pp. 270, et seqq., is a list of the accusations
brought against him ; they are flimsy enough, and the comments
• Gairdner, VIII. 609 (iv). = Ibid., VII. 1141.
3 Ibid., VII. 1574.
^6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
given are ample disproof of criminal intentions. The writer — a
descendant of Sir Rhys — adds that Queen Elizabeth was " so
satisfied of the extreme and hard measure offered to Rice Griffith
that she never looked upon any of his children but as upon
spectacles of infinite sufferance : insomuch that she would often
say she was indebted both to justice and her father's honour,
till she had repaired them. But my grandfather and father after
him met with hereditarie enemies at court and thus stands our
case." But whatever the injustice of the sentence, in Wales it
was clearly not regarded with the resentment intimated by
Chapuys. On the contrary, Ellis Griffith ^ writes that it was
looked upon as the visitation of God for the many deeds of
injustice and spoliation done by his father, grandfather, and great-
grandfather. "For I heard many people from that part of the
country (lying between the Tawe and the Towy) say that within
twenty miles around the place where old Sir Rhys ap Thomas
dwelt there was not in the possession of the poor yeomen any
land which, if he fancied it, he did not obtain, either as a
gratuity or by purchase, without consulting the owners, who
without doubt heaved oft against him, his children, and his grand-
children heavy sighs which in the opinion of the many, fell on
his grandson. Thus do we see the truth of the proverb
exempHfied, ' The children of the unjust are uprooted,' ' After
haughtiness a long death.' "
Some notices as to the religious and intellectual condition of
Wales appear in the letters of Barlow, Bishop of St. David's, to
Cromwell. He writes that " superstitious practices " were hard
to eradicate, especially in remote corners of Wales, and was
anxious that the See of St. David's might be transferred to
Carmarthen, where a free grammar-school could be maintained,
together with a " daily lecture of Holy Scripture, which would
civilise the Welsh rudeness." ^ The need of schools is emphasised
in a later letter, in which Cromwell is assured that the king's
' Hist. MSS. Commission. Reports on MSS. in the Welsh Language,
Vol. I. 1S9S. Mostyn MSS., No. 158, Preface, p. ix. (translation of
f. 492 b).
2 Gairdner, XIII., Pt. I. 634.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 77
attempts for the reformation of his subjects will never succeed in
Wales unless " schools of erudition " are provided in divers
places of his diocese. He had the effrontery to add that there
is now scarcely a learned man in Wales except those his
" poverty " has provided for.^ Bishop Barlow was scarcely the
man to commend any religious change, whether to the learned
or to the ignorant. His " poverty " rapidly became wealth — at
the expense of the see he maligned. The roof of St. David's
Palace went to provide his daughters with dowries, and the rich
manor of Lamphey was alienated for the benefit of his godson.
It is small wonder that the Reformation found a cold welcome
in Wales, when advocated by a time-serving hypocrite.
Lee's interest in the Reformation movement was, as might be
expected, of a lukewarm character. He took things as he found
them, and submissively carried out the king's very variable will.
The bishop, who could write without any apparent compunction
that he " had never heretofore been in a pulpit," but would
execute in his own person and by others the declaration for
preaching against the usurped power of the Bishop of Rome, is
perhaps the most striking example, even under the Tudors, of
the secularised prelate. In this same letter ^ Lee shows clearly
enough what was his first desire — the enforcement of order in
Wales. He passes with all speed from the evidently uncongenial
task of preaching to the account of justice done on the robbers
of churches. Still, he carried out the king's injunctions with his
usual business-like thoroughness, in spite of delay, due to his
' Gairdner,XIII., Pt. II., in, 1072; cf. XVI. 503(30). Barlowwas Bishop
of St. David's from 1536 to I549. He quarrelled with his Chapter, who sent
up a series of articles addressed to the President of the Council of the
Marches denouncing him as a heretic (Diet. Nat. Biog.).
- This letter is so characteristic of Lee that it deserves to be quoted in
full : " Yesternight I received the king's letter for preaching against the
usurped power of the bishop of Rome. That no dissimulation might appear
in me, nor anything contrary to my promise, I will send for my horses and
repair to my diocese ; and in my own person, though I was never hereto-
fore in pulpit and by others, will execute the declaration. Let me know
your mind by the bearer in certain points. I shall leave Mr. Englefield sole.
You will perceive what justice has been done upon robbers of churches, &c.
Gloucester, 7 June " (Gairdner, VIII. 839).
78 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
being engaged in enforcing order and quietness. His clergy were
bidden to support the royal supremacy, to provide a Bible in
Latin and English in every parish church, to preach diligently,
to publish the Paternoster, Ave^ and Creed in English in the
pulpit every Sunday, and to enforce the regulations against
gaming and against confessing to friars.^
An instance of the manner in which the royal injunctions were
received in Wales is given in the information given before the
Council in the Marches against R. Hale, of the parish of
Llangeveny, Anglesey, for repining against the king's injunctions
as " sinister and clear gone out of the faith." ^
Some further light on the working of the Council is thrown
by incidental notices of the civil cases with which it dealt. We
■find that the Lord President and Council had to examine such
matters as the pension of the Abbot of Pershore, the title of
lands in the lordship of Romney, South Wales, and the validity
of a patent granted to the ganger in the city of Chester.^ The
causes that came before the king's Commissioners were sometimes
trifling in the extreme — e.g. a certain Richard of Leytewich writes
that his wife has been accustomed time out of mind to kneel
on the north side of the church of D(avenham ?) in Cheshire, till
Saturday, June 13th, 1534, when sundry persons, by the procure-
ment of Dr. Bekynshaw, entered the church, cut up the said seat,
and carried it away. The Commissioners are petitioned to send
the king's letters to the doctor, that he may meddle no further.*
Some interest attaches to a letter from Thomas Lord La Warr to
Cromwell, asking for his favour in a claim against Sir Richard
Harberd (Herbert) for land in the honour of Brecknock. Herbert
is one of the King's Council in those parts, and the writer is sure
that he would have but little favour.® Later evidence shows that
partiality was a charge often brought against the members of the
Welsh Council.
Something must also be said of the petitions addressed to the
Council during Lee's term of office. Of special importance is
1 Gairdner, XIII., Pt. I. 1197. ^ /^,^_ xill., Pt. II. 1037.
3 Ibid., VII. 808, 1646; XII., Pt. II. S17
< Ibid., VII. 835. ' Ibid., VII. 482.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 79
that from the " inhabitants of the Marches in the Welshery,"
praying (i) that lands, etc., may not descend by gavelkind, but
to the eldest son or heir male, and, in default, may be divided
among the issue female ; (2) that there may be a chancery at
Ludlow or Wigmore; (3) that there may be a general pardon
for all offences done, and arrearages due before the Act 26
H. VIIL, c. ii.i
With this may be compared a petition from " certain persons
in the counties and lordships lately appointed to be the shire
of Montgomery." - The main points touched on are the abolition
of gavelkind, the duties of sheriffs, pleas, the oppression exer-
•cised by the Lords Marchers, their greed of fines and escheats,
the hearing of suits between the King's Council in the
Marches, and complaints of subpoenas. Instances also occur of
petitions addressed to the Council by city authorities — e.g. Chester
addresses the " President of the Council in the Marches of Wales
and the other commissioners thereof " in reference to the blocking
of access to the city by sand-bars, and to the suspension till next
Parliament of a statute touching a new custom.^ So, too, the
city of Coventry petitioned the Lord President to use his influence
in averting the rumoured destruction of the Cathedral Church,
" to the great defacing of the town and inconvenience to the
inhabitants in time of plague." Lee wrote strongly, urging as
pleas for its preservation his own honour as bishop and the
benefit to the town ; but in vain.^
Under Lee's stern government Wales undoubtedly became
more orderly. Besides the indications given in his own letters,
there may be instanced the fact that Welshmen could be safely
employed in suppressing the Lincolnshire rising of 1536, while
it was proposed to send letters to the King's Council in the
Marches, to take measures against the great Northern Rebellion
of the same year.^ The success of the Welsh Council seemed
' Gairdner, VII. 1456.
2 Ibid., X. 1244; cf. X. 251, and Harl. MS. 368, S. 178, 179.
' Ibid., XI. 1453 ; cf. Harl. MSS., f. 177.
* Ibid., XIV., Pt. I. 34. ' Ibid., XI. 849, 580.
8o THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
so great that after the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace the
Council of the North was established with very similar powers.
The condition of Wales presented a great contrast to that of
Ireland, where problems in government existed that were similar
in kind, though very different in degree. In a paper headed
"for the reformation of Ireland" (1542) it is stated that " Wales
is true to the Crown, because not under one ruler, but several
in each shire ; so would Ireland be under seneschals and
justices." ^ The rule of Lee and Englefield was, in fact, regarded
as a model for later Lords President in the days when the
Council's administration grew slack. Lee's work, needless to
say, was roughly done : Welsh names found no more favour with
him than Welsh thieves, and the cutting off of the long string of
ap's in legal proceedings is as well remembered in Wales as the
tradition of " Bishop Rowland's justice." ^
' Gairdner, XVII. 68.
' Cf. Pennant, Tour in Wales, 8vo edit. I., p. 17: "Before I quit the
House (Tremostyn) I must take notice that Thomas ap Richard ap Howel
ap Jevan Vychan, lord of Mostyn, and his brother Piers, founder of the
famil}' of Trelaere, were the first to abridge their name and that on the
following occasion. Rowland Lee, Bishop of Lichfield and President of
the Marches of Wales, in the reign of Henry VIII. sat at one of the Courts
on a Welsh cause, and wearied with the quantity of Ap's in the jury,
directed that the panel should assume their last name or that of their
residence ; and that Thomas ap Richard ap Howel ap Jevan Vychan
should for the future be reduced to the poor dissyllable Mostyn, no doubt
to the great mortification of many an ancient line."
CHAPTER III
LEE'S' SUCCESSORS, 1543— 1559. THE PRESIDENCY
OF SIR HENRY SYDNEY, 1559-86
Comparatively little is known of the history of the Council
in the Marches for several years after the death of Bishop Lee.
He Avas succeeded in both his bishopric and ofiEice as Lord
President by Richard Sampson, who in 1548 was followed by
the Duke of Northumberland. Next came Sir William Herbert
(1550-3), who in 155 1 became Earl of Pembroke, and then
Nicholas Heath, Bishop of Worcester (1553-5). The Earl of
Pembroke held office a second time between 1555 and 1558,
and was followed by Gilbert Bourne, Bishop of Bath and Wells,
in 1558, and by Lord Williams of Thame in 1558-9. The last-
named died at Ludlow on October 14th, 1559. None of these
Lords President, with the exception of the Earl of Pembroke,
seem to have left any definite mark in Wales ; many of them
held office for a very short time, and in all probability rarely
visited the districts over which the Council's jurisdiction extended.
Such information as is extant is mainly drawn from the Acts of
the Privy Council, which serve to show that the supervision
exercised by that body over Wales and the Marches was minute
and constant.^
The Lord President, as in Lee's time, was much occupied in
defending the coast. Under the year 1545 is an order respecting
beacons and preparations against invasions in the Welsh Marches.^
' Among the special duties of the Secretary of State was the supervision
of the Welsh Council, sqq. State Papers (Domestic), Eliz., CCLXXIV., p. 1 18.
- Acts of the Privy Council (abbreviated henceforth as A.P.C.), Vol. Ij,
P- 195 (1545)-
81 6
82 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
In 1546 Bishop Sampson was requested to see to the guns for
bulwarks lately made at Milford Haven.^ Piracy, too, had to be
repressed,^ and murderers who fled from neighbouring counties
into Wales had to be apprehended.^ A few references occur
to the decision of disputes respecting tithes, etc.* On the
accession of Edward VI. the instructions for the proceedings
of the President and Council of the Marches were renewed, and
sundry changes were made in the Council's composition.^ In
the same year a complaint was made that Bishop Sampson was
" partially aff'ected " in a certain case which was therefore revoked
to London.^ In April, 1549, the Presidents of the Councils of
York and Wales were ordered to apprehend all those who had
received coat-and-conduct money and then stolen away privately
without leave.''
Sir William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, had a closer connec-
tion with Wales and the Marches than most of the Lords
President. His father was Sir Richard Herbert, of Ewyas,
Herefordshire, and his mother was the daughter of Sir Matthew
Cradock, of Swansea. His grandfather, Sir William Herbert, had
been a strong Yorkist, and was executed after Edgecote in 1469.
The high place he occupied in the royal favour gave him not
only the rich estates at Wilton, but also Cardiff Castle and large
lands in Wales. His Welsh followers were employed to suppress
disturbances in the West in 1549, and their help was soon after-
wards sought by Somerset in his quarrel with Warwick. His
appointment as Lord President was therefore very natural, and
he seems to have served his sovereign as well in this as in his
other offices. In one respect he was a curious contrast to the
clerics, who had hitherto held the office of Lord President, for
he could neither read nor yet write beyond signing his name in
capital letters. It is said, too, that the only language he knew
well was Welsh, and that in the Calais negotiations of 1555 he
1 A.P.C., Vol I., p. 385 (1546). - Ibid., p. 415 (1546).
3 Ibid., p. 520 (1546). ■* Ibid., pp. 531, 547 C1546).
5 Ibid., Vol. II., p. 44 (1547)- * Ibid., Vol. II., p. 487 (1547).
' S.P.D., Ed. VI., Vol. III., Ap., 1549 (p. 397, No. 28, Calendar of Addi-
tional Papers, 1547-65, and Elizabeth, 1601-3).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 83
was nearly useless. But the strong-set, bony, reddish-favoured
Welshman, with his sharp eye and stern look, was clearly the
man to continue the work that Lee had begun. In 155 1, the
year after his appointment, he was directed by the Privy Council
to see the proclamation for the " furniture " of the markets
observed, and to make proclamation for the reformation of
felonies committed in Wales. ^ In 1552 and 1553 he was
appointed Commissioner for Lieutenantship — a matter of some
interest, as showing that the new office of Lord Lieutenant was
to be linked with the older office of Lord President.^ In the
same year Pembroke was replaced in the last-named capacity
by Nicholas Heath, Bishop of Worcester, who held office from
1553 to 1555, years when the Earl of Pembroke was busily
engaged in great affairs of State, and indeed was reported
by the Venetian Ambassador to be the chief personage in
England.^
In 1555 Pembroke resumed office, 'but he does not seem to
have visited Wales and the Marches often, if at all. He was
represented by a Vice-President, William Symonds, with satis-
factory results, to judge from a letter written by the Council
thanking Symonds and two of his colleagues for their diligence
in the maintenance of good rule and order within the Marches
and the twelve shires of Wales.* During these years an evil
began which later on proved somewhat serious — viz. that un-
authorised persons acted as attorneys to the encouragement,
doubtless, of the litigiousness which then, as now, was a marked
Welsh characteristic.^ Among matters coming before the
Council of the Marches were a riot in Glamorgan committed
by Sir George Herbert, and sundry cases of murder and escape
of prisoners.*^ In August, 1558, the Earl of Pembroke wrote to
the queen, acknowledging her letter to the effect that the Marches
' A.P.C., Vol. III., p. 427 (1551).
== Ibid., Vol. IV., pp. 50, 278 (1552-3).
^ Diet. Nat. Biog. (art., Sir William Herbert).
* A.P.C., Vol. VI., pp. 49, 155, 172, 175, 277.
" Ibid., Vol. VI., p. 49.
« Ibid., Vol. VI., pp. 183, 236, 350.
84 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
of Wales were in disorder for want of a President residing there.^
He was quite willing to resign, but declined to nominate his
successor. In October, 1558, the following letter was addressed
to Gilbert Bourne, Bishop of Bath and Wells, appointing him to
the otrice vacated by Pembroke.
"28 Oa. 1558.
"By the Queene [i.e. Mary].
" Right reuerend father in God. Right trustie and welbeloved
wee greet you well. And whearas our Countrey and Marches of
Wales is presentely without a lord president, the lacke wherof in
the due administracion of Justice and the good orderinge of that
Cuntry may be a great hinderance to our seruice and the quiet
of our Lovinge subiectes ther : we lett you witt that knowinge your
wisdome, discretion and uprightnes, fidelitie and redy good will
to serue us, we haue especially appointed and authorized you like
as by I'res p'ntes we doe appoint and authorize you to be our
president of our sayd Councell in our sayd Marches. And therfor
will and require you forthwith to put your selfe in order and
redines to repaire with all the conuenient speed you may to our
said Marches for the sayd purpose, and ther to use and order all
thinges for the aduancement of Justice and of our seruice as
appertaineth to the office and duty of our president, accordinge
to the speciall trust we haue repossed in you." ^
At the same time Bourne was licensed to absent himself from
the Parliament which was to be holden by prorogation on
November 5th, and to send a proxy. His term of office was
very brief, as might be expected from his refusal to fall in with
Elizabeth's changes as regards religion. He was succeeded in
February (?), 1559, by Lord Williams of Thame, the office of Vice-
President being held by Sir Hugh Paulet.^ The exact date of
the document giving this information is uncertain, but it cannot
' S.P.D., 1547-80, Vol. XIII. (Mary), p. io6, August, 1558, No. 63.
" Cottonian MSS., Vitellius, C. i., f. 207. This letter shows the incorrect-
ness of the statement in Diet. Nat. Biog., Vol. VI., p. 28, that Bourne was
made Lord President of the Welsh Marches in 1554.
' S.P.D., 1547-80, Vol. I. (Eliz.), p. 123, February (?), 1559.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 85
be later than February, 1559, for on March 5th a warrant was
issued for payment of the diets, etc., of Lord Williams of Thame
and the Council of the Marches. On March 17th, 1559, Lord
Williams was seriously ill, for Lord Paget wrote to Sir William
Cecil that he was very sick and not likely to recover ; he added
a request that the office might be bestowed on himself.^ In
April the Queen wrote to the Bailiff and Jurats of Jersey (where
Paulet then was) that his services were needed for a while in
the Marches of Wales, and that his son Amias had been appointed
as lieutenant in Jersey in his absence.^ On June 25th Sir Hugh
Paulet wrote to Cecil that he had received letters from the Lord
President of Wales to meet him at Worcester. He gladly
resigned his charge in the Marches, as he was anxious to go
back to Jersey. He enclosed a letter from Lord Williams (dated
June 1 8th) stating that he had received his commission and
instructions as Lord President, and would meet Paulet and the
Council at Worcester.^ Lord Williams had clearly recovered,
at least partially, but in October, 1559, he died at Ludlow, and
was succeeded, not, fortunately, by the grasping Paget, but by
Sir Henry Sydney.
The Presidency of Sir Henry Sydney lasted for more than
a quarter of a century — from 1559 to 1586. Bishop Lee had
made himself feared by his rigorous suppression of crime ;
Sydney made himself loved by his justice and mercy. The
spirit in which he executed his office is seen in his words, written
when its term was drawing to a close : " Great it is that in
some sort I govern the third part of this realm under her most
excellent Majesty ; high it is for by that I have precedence of
great personages and by far my betters ; happy it is for the
goodness of the people whom I govern ; and most happy it is for
the commodity I have, by the authority of that place, to do good
every day." He was the son of Sir William Sydney of Pen-
shurst, who had held many important offices under Henry VHI.,
' S.P.D., Cal. 1547-80, p. 126, Vol. III. (Eliz.), March 17th, 1558-9.
- Ibid., Eliz., Vol. IX., April 25th, 1559 (p. 490, No. 20, Calendar of
Additional Papers, 1547-65, and Elizabeth, 1601-3).
^ Ibid., Cal. 1547-80, p. 132, June 25th, 1559.
86 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
including those of Chamberlain and Steward to Prince Edward.
As a boy Henry was the Prince's constant companion, and
it was in his arms that the young king died. In 1550 he was
knighted on the same day as William Cecil ; soon afterwards
he was sent to France as ambassador, and on his return he
married the Lady Mary Dudley, daughter of the Earl of
Northumberland and sister of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
During Mary's reign he enjoyed less favour than under his friend
Edward VL, but he was made Vice-Treasurer and General
Governor of Lish Revenues, and for a time served in Ireland
as Lord Justice.
Sir Henry's life, written by Edward Molyneux, has been
incorporated in Holinshed's Chronicle.^ It was a life of much
sorrow and yet of much joy. Many of his best years were spent
in the weary task of crushing Irish rebellion. During his first
tenure of office as Lord Deputy (1565-7) he had to cope
with Shane O'Neill. On his death in 1567 Sydney came back
to England, but was coldly received, owing to the fact that his
patron Leicester was for the time out of favour. Next year,
reluctantly enough, he returned to Ireland, and this time his
enemies were Fitzmaurice and others of the Butler family. In
15 7 1 he laid down his thankless charge and came home, spending
the next four years partly at Court and partly in Wales or the
Marches. In 1575 he was for the third time appointed Lord
Deputy with a free hand : ;^2o,ooo per annum was to be paid
to him in quarterly instalments. But he failed to govern as
cheaply as Elizabeth expected, and in 1578 he was recalled,
with broken health and impaired fortunes.^ Gratitude was not
a Tudor virtue, and Elizabeth showed little to the man who
had spent the best years of his life on a task hard enough in
itself, but made harder than it need have been by unwise
parsimony. His wife, too, the Lady Mary, deserved some favour
from the Queen, whom she had nursed through smallpox, catching
the disease herself, to the loss of all her beauty. Yet no reward
' Vol. III., p. 1548, b. 10 (sub anno 1586).
- Diet. Nat. Biog.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES ^j
came — " not so much ground as I can cover with my foot," and
all his fees amounted to less than a hundred marks a year.
" It was his hard fortune," writes his biographer, " to have his
services subject to the Ear and not to the Eye, wherby his
noble Virtues and Merits were sometimes undervalued and
disregarded, and consequently his services liable to Misreport,
Slander and Calumniation ; as appears from his Letters to the
Queen and her Council," .... "in these services he spent
his Youth and his whole Life, sold his Lands and consumed
much of his Patrimony to the great Hinderance of his Posterity,
without any great Recompense or Reward." ^
Sydney's happiest years were probably spent in the Marches,
mostly at Ludlow, where his activity can be traced in many
of the existing buildings. Here his children Philip and Mary
spent most of their childhood ; their sister Ambrozia died in
the castle, and was buried in St. Lawrence's Church, where her
monument may still be seen.^ The castle, with its memories
of baron and prince, was a fitting home for the boy, who in
after life became the model of all knightly virtues, and for the
Mary Herbert of later days, whom Spenser called the " ornament
of all womenkind," and on whom Ben Jonson wrote his undying
epitaph. Sir Henry and Lady Mary paid many visits to
Shrewsbury, where their son Philip attended the Grammar
School, then the most noted in the kingdom. The tenderness
of the man — all the more remarkable in an age when home-life
was mostly stern and often cruel — comes out, more than anywhere
else, perhaps, in the letter to "my litell Philippe."^
Sir Henry had in truth the qualities most needed in the offices
' Collins, Sydney Papers, p. 93.
^ Cf. Churchyard, Worthines of Wales (ed. 1776, reprinted from the
edition of 1587), pp. 76-8. Ludloe Towne, Church and Castle ; "The Lord
President Sir Harrie Sidney's daughter called Ambrosia is entombed here
in most bravest manner and great chargeable workmanship on the right
hand of the Altar."
^ Collins, Letters and Memorials of State, pp. 8, 9. The last sentence
but one is as follows : " Well (my litell Philippe) this is ynough for me and
to muche I fear for you." The date of the letter is 1566, when Philip was
twelve years old.
88 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
he filled — firmness and sympathy. He could, when necessary,
be as firm as Bishop Lee himself, but he had in addition a
real sympathy with the oppressed Celtic populations over whom
he ruled. The Irish and the Welsh of the sixteenth century
found few indeed who understood them, but among those few
Sydney holds the highest place. Wherever he sojourned, we
are told, he had that " gallant Behaviour and Comeliness of
Person, as gained him the Hearts of many and such universal
Esteem of all Sorts of People to him, that they were ever
desirous of his Aboad with them."^ He cared for the past
history of Wales, and it was due to his encouragement that
Powel's History of Wales was published in 1584.^ Both in
Dublin and at Ludlow he took much pains to preserve ancient
records.^ Another of his interests was building : not only
Ludlow, but also Wigmore and Montgomery Castles and
Bewdley House bore traces of his work. During his residence
in the Marches he left more permanent memorials of himself
in his upright administration of justice, and he could say with
honest pride, " A better country to govern Europe holdeth not."
Sir Fulke Greville had ample justification for thus summing up
his career : " Sir Henry Sydney was a Man of excellent naturall
Wit, large Heart, sweet Conversation : and such a Governor
as sought not to make an End of the State in himself, but to
plant his own Ends in the Prosperity of his Countrey. Witnes
^ Collins, Sydney Papers, p. 90.
■■^ Sydney had in his possession a copy of the unfinished History of Cambria
by Humphrey Lloyd, and induced Dr. David Powel to publish it with
additions. — The Cambrian Plutarch, pp. 299, ct seqq.
^ The description of Sydney's Irish Record Office is worth quoting. He
found the Irish records " in an open Place subject to Wind, Rain and all
Weather and so neglected that they were taken for common Uses. Where-
upon with great Care and Diligence he caused them to be perused and
sorted and placed within the Castle of Dublin, in a Room well boarded, with
a chimney for a Fire, so that neither by the Moisture of the Walls or any
other Means, they could receive Prejudice. And several Divisions were
made for laying them separate ; and one of Discretion and Skill appointed
to look after them, with an Assignment for his labour." Perhaps this
enlightened act was one of the "extravagances" which brought Sydney
into trouble. Collins, Sydney Papers, p. 90.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 89
his sound Establishments both in Wales and Ireland, where his
Memory is worthily grateful unto this day." ^
During Sydney's term of office lengthy instructions were
issued for the guidance of the Council in the Marches. The
first issue was in 1574, and in 1576 and 1577 additional orders
were sent down.^ They are of great importance as showing how
much the Council's work had developed since the instructions
to the Princess's Council in 1525. They furnished a model
for all later issues, especially that of 1586 to the Earl of
Pembroke, Sydney's successor. The preamble states that Her
Majesty, " much desiring the continuance of quietness and good
government of the people and the inhabitants within the
Dominion and Principality of Wales and the Marches of the same,
for good and indifferent administration of justice to be there
had between party and party, intendeth the continuance of her
right honourable Council in the Marches of Wales," and appoints
Sir Henry Sydney as Lord President. Then follows the list
of the Councillors, twenty in number, including the Bishops of
Hereford, Worcester, Bangor, St. David's, and St. Asaph ; Sir
James Croft, the Comptroller of Her Majesty's Household ; Sir
John Throgmorton, Justice of Chester ; and George Bromley, Esq.,
Justice of North Wales. These are directed to do unto Her
Majesty " such service as they can best to her Highnes con-
tentation and to the dischardge of their duties, laying aside all
respects and affections in all matters, although the same may
touch their kinsmen, friends, servants or any others, when and
as often as they shall be appointed or required, by L. Presi-
dent, Vice-President and Council, for their presence or assistance,
for the furtherance of her Majesties service." The members ap-
pointed to continual attendance were Sir J. Throgmorton and the
Secretary Charles Fox, save that the former might be absent in
the two vacation times between Lent and Trinity and Trinity
and Michaelmas terms, when the Justices of Chester and North
' Collins, Sydney Papers, p. 96; cf. what the Archbishop of Dublin said
of Sydney : " In all the realm there was no such pilot in stormy weather."
- Lansdowne MSS. 155, p. 2226-496 (present numbering); see Clive's
Ludlow, pp. 309-52.
90 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Wales rode their circuits. Tlie Lord President or Vice-President
might call to him at his discretion any other members of the
Council, who, if they had no other regular fee allowed them,
were to receive at least 6^. Sd. for each day of their attendance.
After other regulations as to the stipends of individual
councillors, the instructions proceed to enumerate the Council's
powers. The Council as a body, or two of them at least (of
whom the Lord President or Vice-President was to be one) were
empowered to hear and determine "by their discretions, all
manner of complaints and petitions, as well wnthin the liberties
of her Majesty's Duchy of Lancaster, the cities of Gloucester,
Worcester, and Hereford, Salop and Monmouth, the county of
the city of Gloucester, the county of the town of Haverford West
and within all the cities, towns, franchises and liberties within
the liberties of their commissions, concerning as well the titles of
lands and other hereditaments, as also personal, real or mixt
actions,^ causes or matters, civil or criminal, exhibited or put
unto them by any poor persons, that shall manifestly appear not
to be able to sue or defend after the course of the common law,
or by any person like to be oppressed by maintenance, riches,
strength, power, degree or afifinity of the parties adversaries.
And the same actions, causes or matters, and every of them, to
examine, hear and determine, as well by depositions and ex-
aminations of witnesses, to be discreetly and sincerely taken, as
by all other kinds of process, and all other good means and ways,
by their discretions." An important caveat was added against
increasing such suits, especially for title of lands, unless absolutely
required ; as far as possible they were to be referred to the
common law. Then follow instructions as to procedure, which
will be more conveniently dealt with in a later chapter.
' Action personalis "that which one Man hath against another by reason
of any Contract for Money or Goods, or for Oftence done by him or some
other person for whose fact he is bylaw answerable" (Blount). Action real
is "that whereby the Demandant claims Title to any lands, tenements, rents
or commons, in fee-simple, fee-tail or for life {Ibid.). Action nti.vt is "that
which lies indifferently for the thing detained or against the person of the
detainer, and is so called because it hath a mix'd respect both to the thing
and the person (Ibid.).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 91
In addition to determining suits of the nature stated above,
the Council was to hear and determine all manner of " extortions,
maintenance, imbraceries, oppressions, conspiracies, escapes, cor-
ruptions, falsehoods and all other evil doings, defaults and
misdemeanours of all sheriffs, justices of peace, mayors, bailiffs,
stewards, lieutenants, escheators, coroners, goalers [sic], clerks
and other officers and ministers of justice " within the limits
of their Commission, and punish the same accordingly by fine
or imprisonment according to the offence. Proclamations might
be issued as often as the Lord President and Council thought
good " for the better order and quietness of her Majesty's
subjects and the repressing of malefactors and misdoers." The
Council, or three of them at the least (the Lord President or
Vice-President being one), were to compound for all forfeitures
arising from breach of penal statutes and breach of obligations
and recognisances ; they might also assess fines for any offence
of which persons were convicted before them. All such sums
were to be duly entered in a book subscribed by the Lord
President or Vice-President and two of the Council, so that
the Queen might be answered of them accordingly. One very
important duty was to examine into charges of perjury committed
by jurors in the shires of Hereford, Gloucester, Worcester,
Haverfordwest, or elsewhere within the Council's jurisdiction.
One of the most common accusations against jurors, especially
in Wales and the Marches, at this time was that they acquitted
offenders in the teeth of "good and pregnant evidence." The
Lord President, Vice-President, and Council, or four at the least,
were empowered to order that jurors convicted of such wilful
perjury were to be at the Queen's highness' pleasure for their
bodies, goods, and chattels.
The next few clauses are of special interest, as throwing light
on everyday life in Wales and the Marches. The Lord
President and Council are bidden " by all their pollicies, ways
and means they can, to put their good and effectual endeavours
to repress all manner of murders, felons, burglaries, rapes
riots, routes, unlawful assemblies, unlawful retainers, regrators
forestallers, extortioners, conspiracies, maintenances, perjuries of
92 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
what kind soever they be." Misdemeanours of all kinds were
to be examined by depositions of witnesses and otherwise.
On sufficient grounds persons accused or known or suspected
of treason, murder, or felony might at the Council's discretion
be put to torture.
This last clause is noteworthy as affording a point of re-
semblance to Star Chamber procedure. The origin of the
"riots and routes" referred to above is amply explained by
the succeeding clause, which runs thus :
" And whereas divers persons in Wales have commonly used
heretofore, to go as well to the church, as in fairs, markets and
other places appointed for justice, in harness and privy coats,
the Queen's Highnes pleasure is that from henceforth no man
shall wear neither harness nor privy coats neither in churches,
fairs, markets or any other place of justice, except such as shall
be licensed, commanded or authorised by the Queen's Highnes,
or her honorable Council, or by the Lord President and Council,
or officer, where any fair, market, or justice place is kept."
The prevalence of livery is noted in the clause which forbids
that any of the Council should by any wages, Hveries, badges,
or recognisances retain or entertain any of Her Majesty's servants,
" whereby he shall account himself bounden to do unto him or
under him, other than as to her Majesty's officers (if he be so),
any manner of service." At each of the principal sittings special
charge was to be given that no nobleman or gentleman was to
presume to retain any of Her Majesty's tenants.
The next clause refers to the " divers lewd and malicious
persons " who " have heretofore, and of late days, more and
more spread abroad many false and seditious tales, which
amongst the people have wrought great inconveniences breeding
to the danger of uproars." The Council were to use their
utmost endeavours for the punishment of any so offending : if
the rumour extended to treason, the law was to be put in force ;
if it were of less moment, yet of harmful effect, the offenders
were to be punished " by the pillory, cutting of their ears, whip-
ping and otherwise by their discretions." Here again is a point
of resemblance to Star Chamber procedure.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 93
A clause of great economic interest is the following :
" Furthermore the said Lord President or Vice-president and
Council shall, from time to time, make due and diligent in-
quisition, who hath taken and inclosed any commons or decayed
tillage, or habitations for husbandry, against the form of the
laws and statutes. And leaving all respects and affections apart,
they shall take such order for the redress of the enormities used
in the same, as the people be not oppressed or lack habitation,
but that they may live after their sortes and qualities."
The great scope of the Council's work is seen in the next
clause but one, which empowers them to execute all manner
of penal statutes within the realm, proclamations, and other
ordinances, and to punish the transgressors according to the
terms of the same. They were also to inquire into cases of
bribery under colour of assessment of any subsidy, taking of
musters, or providing of armour or weapons. The guilty parties
were to make twofold restitution, and suffer fine or imprisonment
at the Council's discretion. The last clause, dealing with juris-
diction, empowers the Council to punish all evil-livers, and to
cause the ordinary in every place within the limits of their
Commissions to do and execute that which to their office apper-
taineth, or else to reprehend and also to punish the same
ordinaries, as the case shall require, according to their discretions.
The remaining clauses deal with officials, stipends, and fees.
Allowance was made for " one learned minister to preach and
use the Common Prayer with due administration of the Sacra-
ments for the said L. President, Vicepresident and Council,
and their whole household, which person being learned, and
using the office of a preacher, shall have the yearly fee of ;^4o,
with the allowance of his diet and the diet of one servant in the
household. And if he shall not be of sufficient ability to preach,
but to serve there as a minister for common prayer, then to have
the allowance under the sum of ;^4o, as the Lord President for
the time shall appoint him, with the allowance of the like diet
for himself and his servant." This clause corroborates the
frequent complaints at this time of the lack of preaching
ministers.
94 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Details are given as to the household allowance, fees of the Vice
President and Councillors, the Clerk, the Keeper of the Armour
and Artillery, the Clerk of the Fines, the Messengers, the Steward
of the Household, and the Serjeant-at-Arms. No excessive fees
were to be taken by any attorneys, clerks, or counsellors, and a
reasonable number of " honest, discreet and expert men " were to
be appointed to be attorneys for the furtherance of poor men's
causes at fees to be fixed by the Lord President or Vice-President
and two of the Council. No counsel were to be admitted unless
they were already utter barristers of the Inns of Court, and any
counsellor, attorney, or clerk known to be of evil name and a
procurer of suits or vexations was to be dismissed. Various
clauses respecting the safe keeping of the records, the manage-
ment of the household, and the disposal of the fines are dealt
with elsewhere. The last clause deals with the attendance of
the Council {three members at least in term, and two in vacation)
and with the place of session, which was to be fixed every term
according to the convenience of suitors. It was also recom-
mended that such of the Council " as be men of estimation and
yet not learned in the laws of the realm, nor having any fee for
attendance, may nevertheless for the service of her Majesty, and
upon the trust reposed in them, be limited some certain times
by turns to repair unto the said Council at the places meetest
for their resort in respect of their dwelling-place, so as by this
means the presence of the Council at every sessions may be the
greater, both for the honor of the Council, and aid of service
and administration of justice."
Appended to the instructions is the form of oath to be
administered to every member of the Council, when he should
be preferred to any other office belonging to its jurisdiction.
These instructions were far from being faithfully observed,
and in 1576, by the advice of the Privy Council, the Queen issued
additional orders "for the direction and reformation of her
Highness' Court in the Marches of Wales." The preamble states
that of late years " great and sundry abuses and disorders are crept
into the Court of the Marches of Wales through lack of care in
such inferior ministers to whom the reformation thereof did
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 95
appertain, whereby justice hath lacked his due execution, and
the inhabitants dwelling within that province have been sundry
ways most grievously molested and vexed, as also by long delay
of suits and new exaction of fees greatly impoverished ; whereby
that Court (which, at the beginning was erected for the ease and
relief of the said inhabitants) is now become unto them, through
these new crept in abuses, most grievous and intollerable."
The orders that follow mostly concern details of procedure,
and may be more conveniently dealt with in a later chapter.
Some, however, relate to the kind of suit to be entertained by
the Court, and were evidently intended to check causeless litiga-
tion. It was ordered that no suits in the nature of "replevin,
debt without specialty, detinue, action upon case, or account " ^
might be received in Court unless the bill were signed by two
of the Council at the least. "Also, if complaint be made for
trespass, or wrongful entering or disturbing of the freehold, or of
the possession of any farmer for years or at will, within any
of the twelve shires of Wales [names given] ; and surmise he
is not of ability to try the common law in the county where
the wrong was committed and therefore for inequality prayeth
to be heard of that Court, no process to be graunted upon any
such bill, except the complaint be first exhibited to the Justices
of Assize within that county, where the cause of such suit ariseth,
and he by letters and other note of allowance, recommend the
hearing of the same for that cause to this Council." Thirdly,
no title of copyhold was to be heard except against the lord,
without manifest testimony that the complainant could not have
impartial trial in the lord's Court. Lastly, no process was to
be granted for the appearance of any before the Council unless
' Action upon the case " is a general action given for redress of wrongs,
done to any man without force, and by law not especially provided for, and
is now most in use " (Blount). Replevin " signifies the bringing of the writ
replegiari facias by him that has his Cattle or other Goods distrained by
another for any cause and putting in surety to the Sheriff that upon delivery
of the thing distrained, he will pursue the action against him that dis-
trained " {Ibid.). Detinue, " a writ that lieth against him who, having goods
or chattels delivered to him to keep, refuseth to deliver them again " {Ibid.).
g6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the value thereof exceeded 40^. To the non-observance of these
salutary regulations much of the Council's later ill-repute may
be traced.
Minute instructions follow as to the custody of the prisoners
in the Porter's Lodge. A person committed for a single contempt
was to pay the porter a fee of 2s. 6d. Any one of the degree
of an esquire committed for an offence entailing the wearing of
irons was to pay 2s. 6d. and an additional 2s. 6d. if he sought
to be discharged of the same. Any one committed to the
porter's charge was not to depart out of its circuit without the
Council's special permission, and if the commitment was for
treason, murder, or felony, he was to be detained in irons at
the Council's pleasure. The porter was to keep in readiness
for the entertainment of prisoners two tables, the best and first
at Sd. a meal, the second at 612^. The prisoner was to choose
at his commitment at which of these tables he would remain.
If he refused to pay his fees on the day following his commitment
and the ordinary diet charges every week-end, the porter was
to take bonds for their due payment. x\ny person who was
committed to ward, till the payment of money to the Queen (as
a fine) or to any person in pursuance of the Council's order,
and did not make payment within a month, was to be removed
to Wigmore or such other place as the Council thought fit.
The additions to the orders for Wales, dated July, 1577, deal
with matters of detail ; the only point of interest is the order
that a recommendation of a suit to the Council (in the case of
inability to sue at common law) might, in the absence of the
justices of assize, be made by the bishop of the diocese or two
Justices of the Peace in the same county or that adjoining.
The clause is noteworthy as showing the extent to which Elizabeth
regarded the bishops as civil servants. The remaining articles
deal with the fee for copies of orders and the reduction in the
numbers of attorneys and clerks.
Full details as to the working of the Council in the Marches
during Sir Henry Sidney's Presidency are furnished by the Acts
of the Privy Council. These show that it acted in serious matters
as a Court of inquiry, from which offenders were sent up to
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 97
the Privy Council for trial, while it decided less important cases
outright.^ As in earlier years, its jurisdiction extended to
cases both criminal and civil. Under the first head come cases
of murder, felony, riot, robbery, slander, piracy, breach of the
peace, illegal hunting, praemunire, high treason, recusancy, forcible
expulsion, " lewd words," forcible entry, rescue of priests, forgery,
intimidation, taking of comorthas, false coining, and unlawful
assembly. The civil cases were concerned mainly with title
to lands, copyholds especially, inheritance, and debt.
The correspondence of the Privy Council with its subordinate
Council throws considerable light on the condition of Wales
and the Marches. Though crimes of violence seem to have
diminished in number since Lee's days, the Council had to
deal with not a few cases of a serious character. Thus in 1574
(A.P.C., Vol. VIIL, p. 278) it was ordered by the Privy Council
to try at Shrewsbury the murderers of a certain Edward ap Rice.
Similarly in February, 1574-5, the Privy Council wrote to the
Lord President enclosing a petition from one ap Rees, who
urged prosecution of one of Her Majesty's Guard for the murder
of his son. The Lord President was ordered to help and defend
the petitioner from " injuste practises that wrongfully do hinder
the due course of lawe " (A.P.C., Vol. VIIL, p. 347). Partiality
was a great stumbling-block in the way of justice — e.^. in the
case of a murder committed at Gloucester fresh examiners were
to be appointed if those^ formerly named could not be trusted
(A.P.C., Vol. IX., p. 203). Breach of the peace was an offence
specially to be repressed by the Council. In 1576 certain
Denbigh gentlemen complained to the Privy Council of the
insolency of Owen ap Robert, who had slain David ap Richard
Lloyd, had been included in the last general pardon, but was
likely to cause a breach of the peace by his " insolent and
lewd conversation " among David's friends. The Vice-President
was ordered by the Privy Council to see to the keeping of the
peace. A case of which somewhat fuller details exist - is that
of William Vaughan's lackey, who was summoned before the
Council of the Marches on a charge of murder. He failed to
1 See especially A.P.C., Vol. X., p. 432 (1578), and Vol. XL, p. 67 (i578-9)<
7
98 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
appear, and Vaughan was accordingly sent for by the Privy
Council with orders to produce his lackey before them. The
father of the murdered man complained that the lackey had
quarrelled with his son and " strake him with a cudgell on the
lefte side of his hedd, that shortlie after he died thereof," and
further that Vaughan "did not onelie denye him to be in his
house, but hath ever since kept him secretlie and relieved him,
so that he cannot be apprehended." On Vaughan's appearance
before the Council, their lordships, " being otherwise much
troubled with her Majesties business," confided the examination
of the matter to Sir Walter Mildmay and the Master of the
Rolls. This was on March 19th, 1577-S ; on May i8th, 1578,
Vaughan, who was now in prison, prayed to be released on his
own bond of ;^2oo, to be answerable to the law and to do
his best for the apprehension of his servant. His petition was
granted and the matter was at an end.^
Towards the end of Sydney's Presidency several references
occur to disorders in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire (A.P.C,
Vol. Xni., pp. 127, 246). In the latter county it is said that
more murders had been committed than in any two shires
thereabouts. Besides perjury and maintenance, there were " both
riots, routs, ridings and unlawful assemblies," and in the view
of the Privy Council these disorders were " very intolerable and
needful to be reformed." Cases of robbery are mentioned here
and there — e.g. a letter was addressed by the Privy Council to
the Justices of Assize in Devon touching the conveyance of
certain prisoners to Ludlow to be examined for robbery ; an
open letter was also sent to all sheriffs between Devon and
Gloucester for their safe conduct (A.P.C, Vol. IX., p. 185).
Another case is that of Edmund Bennys, who had been " spoiled
and robbed," and petitioned the Privy Council for redress. The
Council in the Marches was bidden to proceed in the matter
according to justice, without partiality (A.P.C., Vol. IX., p. 339).
The suppression of false rumours, slanders, and " lewd words"
was also part of the Council's work. Thus in 1578 it was
ordered to suppress false rumours touching the coinage, tending
' A.P.C, Vol. X., pp. 116, 117, 151, 158, 161, 175, 189, 209, 226.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 99
to the hurt of the Government (A.P.C., Vol. VII., p. 378). In
1573 a certain Nicholas Grimshawe, accused of "lewd and
seditious speeches," was ordered before the Privy Council
(A.P.C., Vol. VIII., p. 147). In 1576 the Vice-President and
Council were ordered to examine into the truth of two slanderous
bills of complaint sent up to the Queen and Privy Council
against Sir John Perrott. In all probability, says the letter,
the complaint proceeded altogether from malice, for Perrott is
"well thought of" by Her Majesty; but the Vice-President
and Council were to send for the complainant, charge him with
contempt, and punish him if he deserved it (A.P.C., Vol. IX.,
p. 1 01). A few years later the Lord President was ordered to
examine John Brenton, who, when at dinner with the Mayor of
Hereford, had " used certain lewde speaches in the maintenance
of Campion the seditious Jesuit." No affection or partiality
was to be shown in the examination (A.P.C., Vol. XIII.,
pp. 193, 322).
Riot was an offence specially to be dealt with by the Welsh
Council. In 1571 a disturbance took place at Bromyard against
the ofificers and servants of the Bishop of Hereford, who was
reduced to such straits that he could not even travel from his
dwelUng without a great guard. The Vice-President and Council
were bidden to give orders for the apprehension of offenders and
their trial before private sessions, if no general sessions were
near (A.P.C., Vol. VIII., p. 33). A few years later Sir Andrew
Corbet Vice-President, and the rest of the Council, were ordered
to examine into a complaint to the Queen on behalf of Catherine
Meuricke and Catherine Heriott, her daughter, touching a riot
committed by certain of Sir John Perrott's servants (A.P.C.,
Vol. IX., p. 66). Soon after this entry is a letter to the
Vice-President and Council speaking of the "great disorders
through want of execution of diverse good and ancient ordinances
specially made for those parts." In a later case of an "out-
ragious disorder and riott " committed by one Robert Vaughan,
the Lord Bishop of Worcester (Whitgift) and Sir Thomas
Bromley were to send for the offender and see justice done to
the man he had injured (A.P.C., Vol. XIII., p. 139 [1581]).
lOo THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Numerous references occur during this period to the prevalence
of piracy on the Welsh coast, and the Council in the Marches
was constantly urged by the Privy Council to take measures for
the arrest of pirates and those who aided and abetted them.
Thus in 1565 they were bidden to send up a "pyrat" in safe
custody, and in 1576-7 a Scotch pirate apprehended in Wales
was to be delivered with his goods to the officers of the
Admiralty (A.P.C., Vol. VII., p. 272, and Vol. IX., p. 270). By
1577 piracy was so prevalent that Sir John Perrott and Fabian
Phillips (one of the Council in the Marches) were specially
deputed, together with the Mayor of Cardiff, to examine into
matters of piracy at Cardiff, and a warrant was issued to the
Treasurer and Chamberlains of the Exchequer for the payment
of expenses to the amount of one hundred marks (A.P.C., Vol. IX.,
p. 379). The Privy Council Acts about this time give many
details showing the loss to trade caused by piracy and wrecking ;
thus in 1576 we read that certain Haverfordwest merchants had
been taken and robbed on the seas by Phipson, an English
pirate, and despoiled of their goods, which were afterwards
dispersed and sold in sundry Welsh and Cornish ports. A
Commission out of the Court of Admiralty had been obtained
for the recovery of the said goods, but it had not been obeyed.
So again, after the wreck of a richly laden Bristol ship, the cargo
had been taken by the inhabitants of the sea-coast of Somerset,
Cornwall, and South Wales (A.P.C, Vol. IX., p. 113). Much
sympathy seems to have been shown towards pirates, to judge
by the case of John Callice, a notable pirate, who was lodged
and horsed in Haverfordwest, and, though known, was allowed
to escape. He and his servant brought a prize laden with wine
into Milford Haven, but got off scot-free, though "for a shewe
and colour of justice " some poorer offenders were apprehended
(A.P.C, Vol. IX., p. 267). Throughout the year 1577 numerous
references occur to the examination of persons on the charge of
dealing with pirates.^ Next year the Privy Council recorded
its thanks to those who had inquired into the sympathy shown
in Wales towards pirates, and an investigation was ordered into
' A.P.C, Vol. IX., pp. 317, 339, 341, 373.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES loi
the property of such abettors. Some years later occurs a letter
from the Privy Council to two Justices of the Peace and
Commissioners for Causes of Piracies to take security for two
persons to appear in London to answer for conniving at a pirate's
escape (A.P.C., Vol. XIV., p. 143 [1586]). A similar case
occurred in 1587, when a French ship, the Hope of Fecamp,
laden with salt for Calais, was robbed by various persons, the
goods being sold in the ports of Carmarthen and Laugherne.
All the vice-admirals and Justices of the Peace were ordered by
the Privy Council to aid in the apprehension of the offenders
and the recovery of the goods. ^
The execution of the recusancy laws was a duty frequently
insisted on by the Privy Council, but without much success. In
1578 a complaint was made by the Welsh Council that offenders
in religion had not been adequately checked by the Privy
Council. The latter body denied the imputation, and asked
for further particulars (A.P.C., Vol. X., p. 331). Not long
afterwards the Council wrote to the Bishop of Worcester
(Whitgift) concerning the disorders in the house of John Edwards,
of Chirk, touching " papistrie," and a correspondence ensued
between the Privy Council and the Council in the Marches
touching recusants in Wales. The result was that Fabian
Phillips was employed by the Lord President and the Council
in the Marches to find out offenders in matters of religion
(A.P.C., Vol. II., pp. 29, 97, 190). Not long afterwards a
notice occurs of the arrest of a " massing priest," who had in
his possession certain Popish books, crucifixes, beads, etc.
Order was given by the Privy Council for thorough investigation
of the case by a Commission at the next assizes. But the
activity shown seems to have been short-lived, for in 1580 order
was given for the Commission Ecclesiastical to be put in execu-
tion, with the warning that Her Majesty is offended because
' Cf. the depositions before Sir Edward Stradlyng and Sir William
Mathewe in a case of piracy under Penarth, printed in Mr. Clark's Cartae
et alia Munimenta de Glamorgan, Vol. II., No. CCCCLXXI., from P.R.O.,
S.P.D., 125, No. 66., September 19th, 20 Eliz. (1578). The pirates in this
case did no great damage; they certainly went ashore with swords and
calivers, but all they took was a wether and "three copple of conies,"
102 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
nothing has been done for a whole year (A.P.C., Vol XII.,
p. 59). In 1582 complaints of recusancy increased : it was
alleged that the Justices, sheriffs, and jurors were slack in
apprehending and punishing recusants ; the Justices of the Peace
left them to the Judges of Assize, who were pressed for
time. The Lord President was therefore urged to choose as
Justices of the Peace those who most favoured religion, that such
slackness 'might be avoided (A.P.C., Vol. XIII. , pp. 427-8).
In the diocese of Hereford recusants seem to have abounded,
being allowed to live in their own houses and enjoy liberty.
The sheriff and his two predecessors, who had been guilty of
favouring recusants, were ordered to appear before the Privy
Council and make answer for their action (A.P.C., Vol. XIII.,
p. 192). This laxity in carrying out the Government poHcy
against recusants brought Sir Henry Sydney into great disfavour
with the Queen. "Your Lordship," wrote Walsingham in a
friendly note of warning, " had neade to walk warily, for your
doings are narrowly observed, and her Majestic is apt to geve
eare to any that shall yll you."
Among matters of minor importance is a charge brought by
the Sheriff of Haverfordwest against one William Morgan for
keeping the writ for the choice of burgesses in Parliament
(A.P.C., Vol. VIII., p. 77 [1572]). The Lord President and
Council were to examine into the matter. Often after the
preliminary examination before the Lord President and Council,
arbitrators or Commissioners were appointed to decide the case.
For example, under 1573 is an entry that " indifferent gentlemen "
were to end the case if they could, and, if not, to return
it to the Lord President (A.P.C., Vol. VIII., pp. 99, 161,
Vol. IX., p. 58). So, again, the Vice-President and Council were
ordered to hold an inquiry into irregularities committed by
certain private persons who had licences to dispense with sundry
penal statutes (A.P.C., Vol. X., p. loi). In fact, the Lord
President and Council were expected to give their assistance
in any kind of process from a Star Chamber case to a coroner's
inquest (A.P.C., Vol. VIII., p. 311, and Vol. IX., p. 26).
Points of interest are presented by some of the cases connected
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 103
with landed property. In 1578 Lord Stafford had forcibly
entered into Cawes Castle, and had refused to appear when
summoned before the Court of the Marches. The Privy Council
ordered him to appear, apologise, and produce witnesses, if he
could, in self-justification (A.P.C., Vol. X., p. 206). Similar
contumacy, it may be noted, was shown a little later by the
Sheriff of Worcester, who refused to appear before the Council
of the Marches on the pretence that he was sent for by the
Lords of the Privy Council. He was ordered by their lordships
to apologise before both bodies, and receive an admonition from
the Council of the Marches (A.P.C., Vol. X., p. 217). Later
on there occurs in the Acts of the Privy Council a reference
to the petition of John Corbet, of Cawes, touching the forcible
entry on his lands committed by Lord Stafford. It appears
that the matter had been referred to Lord Buckhurst, Sir Thomas
Heneage, and Sir John Perrott, but they could come to no con-
clusion because Corbet had brought with him only a copy of the
lease made of the said lands by Lord Stafford, who denied any
such grant. In Lord Stafford's absence, however, Corbett ven-
tured to produced the original lease. The Privy Council finally
ordered the Lord President and the Council in the Marches
to examine Corbet's complaint, and "appease and compound
the strifes there amongest you, that we may be noe more im-
portuned therewith."
Another case in which Lord Stafford was concerned is of
much interest as showing the survival of villeinage. The
tenants of his Manor of Thornbury complained of " hardie
and extreame usage against them by the Lord Stafford," who
claimed them as his villeins. The Lord President was bidden
to arrange the matter, or else refer it to the Privy Council,
while Lord Stafford was enjoined to refrain from any threats
or extreme dealings (A.P.C., Vol. XIV., p. 48). Lord Stafford
came before Sir Henry Sydney, and, after getting copies of
his tenants' complaints, departed before the matter could be
heard (A.P.C, Vol. XIV., p. 100). On this a letter was directed
to Lord Stafford, telling him that if his tenants were free-born,
his action had been illegal. He is to "prosecute his right
104 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
without using anie such violent proceedinges and threatninges,
which her Majesty, who naturally pitiethe the evill usage of anie
of her subjectes, will not take in good parte " (A.P.C., Vol. XIV.,
pp. 190-1).
Another manorial case was a dispute as to the interest of
a messuage held as copyhold of the Manor of Painswick.
The matter had been dismissed by the Lord President and
Council of the Marches, and referred to the common law.
The lord or steward of the manor had been directed to give
the plaintiffs possession, and make them a copy according to
the custom of the manor; but this the plaintiffs could not
secure. The Lord President was accordingly requested by the
Privy Council to see right done (A.P.C., Vol. XIL, p. 201).
Cases of forcible entry and disputed title were bound to be
frequent, partly owing to the change that had come over the
system of land tenure in Wales since the extension of the law
of primogeniture to every part of the country in 1536 ; the result
was a fierce land-hunger. A typical case is the dispute as to
the possession of a certain mansion house between Sir Thomas
Raglande and Wildgose. The former had been expelled by
the latter, and the Lord President and Council were directed
to give him assistance (A.P.C., Vol. XIIL, p. 367 ; cf. p. 106).
Matters of inheritance not infrequently came before the
Council ; thus a certain William Clench (servant to the Lord
President) and Francis Clench made use of a forged will and
other means to dispossess George Smith, of Morvile, Shropshire,
of his inheritance. His lordship had sequestrated Smith's lands,
goods, and chattels. The Privy Council wrote that " this course
of proceedings seeminge verie hard unto their Lordships, they
praie his Lordship and the rest in respect of justice to cause the
sequestration to be taken away and restitution made." Clench
was to be referred to the common law (A.P.C., Vol. XIV.,
p. 49). Another case concerning title to lands in the Manor
of Styrcheley, co. Salop, was dismissed into the Court of
Exchequer because one of the parties was servant to a clerk
of the Privy Council, and therefore could not attend to the suit
before the Council in the Marches. A case of some importance
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 105
was that in Anglesey between Sir Richard Bulkeley and Lewes
ap Owen ap Merricke. The latter had refused to hand over
the common armour of the county to Sir Richard and the sheriff,
owing to their oppression and partiality. By virtue of a writ
from the Court of the Marches, his lands and goods had been
seized by the sheriff, and his wife had been " dispossessed and
turned out of her dwelling house to her great discomforte and
the trouble and vexation of the old man." The Privy Council
ordered the Earl of Pembroke to stay all proceedings against
him in the Court of the Marches, considering his age and the
services he had done to the Queen and in the advancement
of true religion (A.P.C, Vol. XV., p. 375).
There are abundant indications that Sir Henry Sydney's
absence in Ireland had a harmful effect on the Council in the
Marches. Frequent complaints occur of corruption, partiality,
greed of gain, delay of justice, laxity in levying fines, carelessness
in keeping accounts, excessive fees and extravagance in the
management of the household at Ludlow. These complaints
were of long standing: as early as the second year of Elizabeth's
reign orders had been drawn up by the Council in the Marches
for the checking of abuses caused by the increase of vexatious
and unnecessary suits to the delay of urgent business.^ In
1566-7 the Privy Council wrote to the Court of the Marches
directing them to abate the number of their causes at gaol
deliveries, and so diminish the number of attorneys and clerks.
Ten years later the orders of 1576 were drawn up for reformation
of the abuses enumerated above. Before receiving the Queen's
ratification the draft was sent to the Lord President in Ireland,
with a letter recounting the complaints of the greed shown
by the Court. Sir John Throgmorton, Mr. Bromley, Mr.
Phetiplace, three members of the Council of the Marches, and
the Master of the Rolls had been called before the Privy Council
to state any objections to the proposed reforms (A.P.C,
Vol. IX., p. 165).
The best description of the Council of the Marches at this
time is to be found in certain documents addressed to Walsingham
' S.P.D., Vol. 1547-80 (Eliz.), Vol. XIV., No. 41 (Cal., p. 163).
io6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
in 1575 by Mr. David Lewis and William Gerard. The former
was the first Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, Judge of the
High Court of Admiralty, Master of St. Katherine's Hospital,
London, a Master in Chancery and of Her Majesty's Requests.
He died in 1584. The latter had for many years (over twenty)
been a member of the Council of the Marches ; he was a
Judge of the Great Sessions in South Wales till 1579-80, and
reference is made to him in that capacity in the instructions
of 1574. He also held the office of Lord Chancellor in Ireland.^
Mr. Lewis begins by lamenting "My countrey is so farre
out of order at this time as dothe requyre seuere remedye and
in euery comein wealthe seueritye used with indifferencye of
iustice to all men is more commended than leuytye. . . . And
in my countrey this medyson hathe ben tryed in busshope
Rowlandes and Mr. Eglefeldes [sic] time, and since in that little
time that S' Hughe Powlett was there, and seinge experyence
is counted the beste meystres in my opynion she is to be followed."
After a passing reference to Solon and Lycurgus, he mentions
the " late inordinate and unlawfull assemblye in Glamorganshire,
and the excessive number of retaynors there, leste the same
brede a worse example, yf some punishment do not ensue."
Then follows a passage which throws much hght on the social
condition of Wales at this time :
" The greate dysorders in Wales, speciallye in South Wales
haue growen muche of late dales by retayners of gentlemen,
whome they muste after the maner of the countrey bere out in
all actions be they never so badd. They haue also foster brothers,
loyteringe and ydle kinsmen and others hangers-on, that do
nothinge ells but playe at cardes and dyce and pick and steale
and kyll or hurte any man when they will haue them, and yet
they them selfes will washe their handes thereof when the yll facte
is don. These ydle loiterers when they haue offended wilbe
' See Judge Lewis's article in Y Cymmrodor, Vol. XII. On p. 12 he
writes that Gerard " does not appear to have been considered important
enough to be noticed by the writers in the Dictionary of National
Biographj'." This statement is incorrect, for an article on Gerard is given
in Vol. XXI., pp. 225-7.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 107
shifted of to some frendes of theires in an other quarter, so as
they will not be fownde to be ponished when time shall require,
and in the meane while the gentlemen will practize an agreement
with the partyes greved, and then because the loyterers haue
nothinge of theire owne the gentlemen must helpe them to a
Comortha to satisfye the parties dampnifyed."
He goes on to say that men of no substance or credit are
made sheriffs and Justices of the Peace, living for the most part
by " poUynge and pyllynge." The authority of the Council in the
Marches is not regarded as it had been, " for neither shreiffe.
Justice of the peace, maior, baylye or officer of any towne
corporate will so carefully apprehend or take any suche persons
as hathe any frende of any accompte, althoughe theire faltes be
neuer so grevous and apparant, yea though he hathe the saide
counsayles lettres to that ende, but will playe bo pype, seest me
and seest me not, and this haue growne by impunytye whereof do
proceade all maner of disorders." The remedy, he is convinced,
is to punish the gentlemen for their retainers, " to let the father
answer for his sonne, the master for his man, yf he be not
furthcommynge to answer for the disorder, and so each other for
his brother or any other that dothe hange upon him for ought
don in his quarell, or that maye be thought to be don by his
assent or will." He insists that officers who fail to secure
offenders should be kept in prison till such are brought in for
punishment, and that the penalties inflicted should be " rather
in bodye by imprisonment then in purse, leste the countrey by
Comortha bere that payne more then the offender." Comorthas,
except by special permission, should be utterly forbidden, ^ and
masterless men, loiterers, and idle persons should be bound over
to good behaviour.
Very practical suggestions follow for the reform of the Council
' Cf. S.P.D., Vol. CVII., No. 5. "Consideration of thinges to be re-
formed with the CoLinsell of the Marches of Wales." 4. " The Kymorthas
which was wont to be a benevolence is now grovven to be partlie
compulsorie by suche as haue riotouslie wasted their living, or haue bin
greatlie chargde to win their saftie for some heynous murther or felonie to
the importunate charge of the best sort of men. And therefore worthie to
be staide, for the honest and simple are never releived therbie."
io8 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
in the Marches: they should "imploye them selfes to se the
countrey well ordered and guyded in good obedyence rather then
to hear pleas for landes and other thinges, which might receve
ende by the course of the comein lawes with more spede and
lesse charge then there." Small matters might be referred to an
experienced Councillor for decision. The Vice-President or the
Justice, with two other members, should be always resident, " and
not one to tarye a sevenight or fortnight and then to departe
levinge another for so lytle tyme, who is clene ignorant of the
accydentes and procedynge therein."
Further advice is that the Justices of the Peace in each of
the twelve shires of Wales should be "chosen of the beste
disposed men to Justice and godlynes and the nomber to be
abridged to viij according to the ordynance of Wales." Those
that profess the laws of the realm and are members of the Council
should not be "in fee with any gentleman within the lymittes
of theire Commission as for the moste parte they haue ben, and
(as I thincke) be at these dayes."
The discourses of William Gerard are of a more elaborate
character, dealing not only with the actual working of the Council
in the Marches, but with its origin and development. His
eulogy on Lee and Englefield has been quoted above. He
passes on to lament that the qualities he has described in them
are not found in their successors : "at this day, to be plaine, the
Counsell and Courte are neyther reuerenced, feared, or theire
proceadinges estemed. There is not neyther hathe bene sithens
the Queues Raigne anie of the Counsell appointed to contynuall
attendaunce of suche profounde Judgement as the place re-
quireth, or that maie be termed profound, learned, comparable
with those meaneste of those that have served as Justice sythens
Englefelde. And as the knowledge hereof hathe bredd the
Counsellors at the barre by contemptuouse carpinge overmoche
to deforce contempn and discountenaunce the benche, soe the
Clientes takinge houlde of theire disorders and perswaded that
everie order which passethe againste them is eyther throughe
Ignorance or wilfullnes of the Counsell and soe doe departe
wythe repyninge and murmuringe speeches."
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 109
Very serious are the charges brought against the Council : the
members are too numerous, for the most part unfit, and have
their private ends to serve rather than the good of the country.
The resulting evils are vividly described in the following
passage :
" It is moste true that the bodie of the Comunaltie of Wales
are pore and theire estate to be lamented of everie pitifuU and
carefull Magistrate, for he that woulde but marke the pore simple
Creatures (I call Gode to witnes with greeff and pitie of theire
smarte I speak yt), whoe come and goe to and from that Courte
in the yere, and the small causes which they travell for when
theye come to hearinge, meeter for a meane under-stuarde at a
Leete or lawe dale to be decised, then for a Counsell settled for
governement to be occupied withall, would sale to himself, ' You
pore walshe Creatures, yt is not you, but those appointed to
governe you whoe be the causes of your beggerie ; th' establish-
ment lis to devise for your wealthe that which your malicious
and wilfull disposicions cannot procure to yourselfs."
Other defects noted by Gerard are the abuse of the office of
Examiner, the indebtedness of the "house" at Ludlow (one
thousand marks), and the management of the porter's lodge,
which " was in Bushoppe Rowlandes tyme suche a straite place
of punishment as the common people termed yt a hell ; and
nowe is growen to noe terror of ponishment of the bodie but a
gulph throughe fees to sucke uppe a meane man."
Gerard concludes with a description of the members of the
Council which is certainly pungent. The Vice-President^ (Sir
Andrew Corbet) was " a verie sicklie man not able to take the
toyle of that service." Doctor Ellis (Ellis Price, LL.D.), "of
xij or xiij yeres contynuance, a good Mountaigne doctor and
seldom called to attendaunce there." Powell of Oswaldstree
(Oswestry) was a recent addition to the Council. He had
evidently made his mark at the dinner-table rather than at the
Council board, for Gerard describes him as " well scene in Welsh
Stories, in that service sitteth like a Zipher." " Jerom Corbette "
was " a yonge man, an utter barrister in Court, but soe slowe of
' See A.P.C., Vol. IX., p. 66.
no THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
dispatche as not meete for that Court." His compeer, Fabian
Phillips, is described, in terms not much more complimentary,
as " a yonge man, an utter barrester of small experience at the
barre or benche, of noe knowen lyvinge savinge a bailiwick or
Stuardshipe."
Gerard suggests names for fresh Councillors : he knows an
excellent man for the post of Vice-President, who would diminish
causeless suits within two years, but doubts if he would take
office. A very noteworthy suggestion added at the close is that
one of the Justices of Assize should understand Welsh, " for
nowe the Justice of assise must use some interpretor. And
therefore many tymes the Evidence is tolde accordyng to the
mynde of the Interpretor, whereby the Evidence is expounded
contrarie to that which is saide by the examynate, and so the
Judge gyveth a wronge charge."
Among all the proposals for reform in the Council of the
Marches those of Lewis and Gerard are pre-eminent for insight
and commonsense.
During Sydney's absence in Ireland between 1577 and 1579
the office of Vice-President was filled by Whitgift, who had
been recently consecrated Bishop of Worcester. His appoint-
ment was perhaps due to the urgent representations made by
Gerard as to the need of an energetic man to fill the post. His
biographer Strype relates at considerable length his activity
especially against recusants.^ In this task he received but little
help from his colleagues, and accordingly requested the Privy
Council that a special Commission might be issued to himself
and some of the Welsh bishops to repress the efforts of the
Roman Catholic priests. His request was favourably received,
and he was promised a speedy Commission of oyer and terminer,
with an inhibition to the Justices of Assize in the counties named
therein from dealing in such cases.^ In pursuance of directions
' Strype, Life and Acts of Archbishop Whitgift, Oxford, 1822, pp. 164-80.
^ This letter is dated by Strype February 17th, 1578 : the minute of
it should apparently have been written on one of the blank pages of the
Council Register (Vol. IV., Elizabeth, of the Council Office Series). See
Acts of the Privy Council, Vol. II., p. 51 (editor's note).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES in
from the Privy Council, Whitgift, in conjunction with the Bishops
of Bangor and St. Asaph, examined a recusant named John
Edwards, of Thirsk, co. Denbigh, in whose house mass had been
celebrated. Neither Edwards nor another person named Morice,
who was examined, would give any answer, and they were
accordingly imprisoned. The Privy Council empowered Whitgift
to use some kind of torture on them (if he thought fit), "whereby
the very truth of such reconciliations to the Pope, lewd practices
and assemblies, might be bolted out and known ; which they
[the lords] were informed to have been very many in that
country."
Whitgift's relations with Sir Henry Sydney were somewhat
strained. On his appointment as Vice-President he had been
warned by Burghley not to neglect the duty of frequently inform-
ing Sydney of the Council's transactions. Sydney " took
something amiss from him," on the ground that his business
communications were too rare, and the complaint was made
known to him by Burghley, both by message and letter.
Whitgift replied that he had always written to the Lord President
every time that a letter had been sent to the Privy Council. Sir
Henry Sydney, however, he went on to say, had written sundry
letters to the Council at Ludlow at other men's suits, some of
which he was forced to deny because they were grounded upon
wrong information. Yet he did commonly answer such letters,
especially if they required it. He goes on to speak of certain
persons within his Commission, " who thought by letters and
friendship to prevail in their evil causes and supposed that no
man dared or ought to withstand them." He was ready to yield
where he lawfully might ; but if justice or conscience otherwise
required, he could not consent. For sure he was that they
would bring a man peace at the last and never be confounded.
Whereas friendship oftentimes failed and was very mutable.
Such a letter deserved Strype's admiring comment: "Spoken
like a right Christian Bishop and magistrate, steady and un-
moveable in honest principles."
A second imputation cast upon Whitgift's government was
that certain misdemeanours and murders had been committed
112 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
in Worcestershire. To this he replies, in the letter quoted
above, that within his Commission there was no shire more quiet
and in better order. Two assaults had certainly been committed
of late : one was a trifling matter ; and for the other, process
had been awarded out of the Court of the Marches. As few
misdemeanours had been committed within his Commission as
at any time, and those that were proved were as severely punished
as ever they had been, for aught he could perceive by any record.
Towards the end of 1579, when Sydney returned from Ireland,
Whitgift was meditating some reform in the Council's proceedings
as regards fines. Great abuses existed, but he was at a loss
how to reform them, and any further action was stayed by
Sydney's sending for the Clerks of the Fines, auditors' rolls, and
books of instructions. Whitgift was well able not only to clear
himself of unjust accusations, but to stand up for others whom
he thought maligned. Thus he defended his colleague, Mr.
Fabian Phillips, saying : " For my own part I know not any-
thing whereupon he can justly be charged, unless it be because
he is Stout and upright in judgment and not appliable to
satisfy other men's affections and pleasures, as peradventure it
is looked for. Truly my Lord, I find him one and the same
man ; but I see how hard it is for such to follow the rules of
equity and justice without respect to please all men : and I
would to God it were not altogether contrary."
However unpopular Whitgift's unbending firmness may have
been in the Marches, his services were fully appreciated by the
Privy Council, who wrote him a letter of cordial thanks on
Sydney's return to his duties at Ludlow.^
Sydney came back from Ireland sick in body and mind. He
reached England in the autumn of 1578, and was dangerously
ill at Chester. After a short visit to Ludlow, he spent Christmas
at Hampton Court, then went back, and busied himself with
' A.P.C., Vol. II., p. 385, February 9th, 1579-80. On Whitgift's
monument in Croydon Parish Church are the lines :
" Mox Wigorn petit esse suum : fit episcopus illic
Propraeses patriae, quo nunquam acceptior alter."
— Y Cynimrodor, XII., p. 26.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 113
building the great portal and stone bridge of Ludlow Castle.^
Early in 1580 he visited Wilton, the seat of the new Lord
Deputy of Ireland, Lord Grey, who was doubtless anxious to
benefit by the experience of one long familiar with Irish diffi-
culties. But Sydney was sharply ordered by the Queen to
remain at his post he was clearly out of favour, and was
censured for laxity in carrying out the instructions concerning
recusants. He died at Ludlow on May 5th, 1586, aged nearly
fifty-seven years. He was buried at Penshurst, after lying in
state at Worcester Cathedral ; but his heart was interred at
Ludlow, "for the entire love he bare that place."
' A memorial of his return is described by Churchyard :
" At the end of the dyning chamber there is a pretty device how
the hedgehog brake the chayne, and came from Ireland to Ludloe." —
Worthines of Wales.
CHAPTER IV
THE' PRESIDENCY OF THE EARL OF PEMBROKE, 1586-1601
On Sydney's death the reform of the abuses in the Council of
the Marches engaged the attention of the Privy Council and
in particular of Lord Burghley. The Lansdowne MSS. contain
numerous documents, drafts of instructions, recommendations,
lists of abuses, and the Hke, in the drawing up or criticism of
which a prominent part was taken by Sir James Croft, the
Comptroller of Her Majesty's Household, and Whitgift, now
Archbishop of Canterbury. Most of these suggestions were
incorporated in the book of instructions issued in 1586 to the
new Lord President, the Earl of Pembroke ; but on the whole
it would seem as if the need of reformation continued, for
documents similar to the above-mentioned occur at frequent
intervals throughout Pembroke's term of office. ^
Foremost in the list of abuses at this period comes the practice
of exacting excessive fees, this in turn being due largely to the
creation of new and unnecessary offices during the last twenty
years, and the inordinate number of clerks who attended the
attorneys practising at the Court. " Many," it is complained,
" dothe practize havinge very smale judgement in lawe and for
their owne gayne do gyve contentious counsell to the greate
unquietnes of the courte, for ignoraunce will never be satisfied." ^
In the time of Henry VHL the number of attorneys practising
in the Court had been two only, now there were twenty-four, each
' E.g. in 1590 and 1593.
^ Lansdowne MSS. 22, ff. 166-70, art. 7 ; cf. Ibid., 49, f. 173 and ff. 195-6,
and 60, ff. 103-12, arts. 2, 18, 19.
114
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 115
employing four or five clerks besides those allowed by the Clerk
of the Council — viz. twenty. " These," it is alleged, " do use
to procure dyverse suytes the rather because they are suffered
to make billes of complaynte, aunsweres, replycacons and in-
formacons." The clerks " now swarm to the nomber of cxx,
every of which nomber for theire gayne dothe procure dyverse
suytes and causes without cause." ^ Clerks of the signet were in
the habit of signing bills to the benefit of no one but themselves,
and to the encouragement;of vexatious suits, by which defendants
were often compelled to travel a hundred miles to the Council
and make a long sojourn there till the case was dismissed.^
In fact. Sir James Croft, in his " Remembrances concerning the
Counsell in the Marches," goes so far as to say : " These causes
before rehersed make that courte greedie in settinge of excessive
fees so burdensome to the subiectes within that comission as to
none other of her Mat'ies subiectes within the realme of
Englande." ^
Equally burdensome were the delays caused to suitors. The
most important cases were not selected with a view to speedy
hearing, hence suitors were often compelled to give attendance
during a whole term, and yet not obtain judgment. At the end
of one term, it is complained, two hundred cases had to be
continued, to the great grievance of the parties concerned.*
Orders which should have been taken in open Court were often
heard in chambers, with the result that twenty days at least were
spent on a case which in old times would have been settled in one.^
The old procedure in regard to bills had fallen into disuse.
Formerly the Lord President, Justice, or any other Councillor
would receive bills at the hands of suitors in passing to and
from the Court, and, assisted by some clerks, would peruse
them in the afternoon, after which each bill was endorsed with
a statement of the process to be awarded. Other bills containing
matters outside the Court's jurisdiction were torn up, and the
same night all bills were sent to the office, whither the suitors
\ - Lansdowne MSS. 22, ff. 166-70, art. 16 ; cf. 76, ff. 141-9.
' Ibid.^ 60, fif. 103-12, art. 18. ^ Ibid., 22, ff. 166-70, art. 20.
' Ibid., 60, ff. 103-12.
ii6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
repaired next day to receive their despatch. Another hindrance
to suitors was the failure to sit in the afternoon " upon rules " ;
" for wher a matter of hearing dispatchith but two, and so the
fforenoone hearing but a ffew, the afternoone Rules dispatch
xx*'* times as many, and yet hit is sayd that the Coort is behind
in matters of hearing two thowsand cawses." ^
The irregular attendance of Councillors is blamed for this
unsatisfactory state of things. Details are given in a document
penned by an unknown writer about 1593. Rewrites: "Upon
New Yeres Eve last yere Touneshend went away and no
Counsailer was there for many days after untill ffower days in
the terme, and then ther were but two, and upon Palme sonday
Eve all the Counsaile went away, and abowte a fortnight after
Easter one came and is putt to his boord wages att an Ordinary
amongst Attorneys and Clarices and no howse kept at all." ^
Uncertainty as to the place of sessions was another abuse.
The presence of the Council brought considerable profit to a
town, and frequent applications were made to the members
to change their meeting-place without due notice, to the dis-
appointment of many suitors and of the townsfolk, where pre-
parations had been made.^ Officers of the Court were often
bribed to secure such a change, and so great was the uncertainty
that suitors coming from remote parts of Wales were often com-
pelled on the way to inquire where the Council might actually be.*
Connected with the last-named abuse was the oppression of
which the household officers were often guilty. Complaints occur
of the taking of victuals and carts for the use of the Council, to
the great vexation of the neighbouring inhabitants.^ We hear
also allegations of serious misconduct against Court officials
from the Lord President downwards. The attorneys were said
to reserve rules till such Councillor as was best affected to their
client should sit on the Bench. ^ We are told that payment to
' Lansdowne MSS. 76, f. 144; cf. ill, ff. 36-7.
^ Ibid., 76, ff. i^lb-q. 2 Ibid., 22, ff. 166-70, art 14.
* Ibid., 60, ff. 103-12, arts. 9, 10.
^ Ibid., 22, ff. 166-70, arts. 17, 49, ff. 195-6, ad fin.
^ Ibid., Ill, f. 25, ad init.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 117
the amount of one hundred marks was exacted from attorneys for
permission to practise ; ^ that the officers were asked how much
they would contribute towards the entertainment of the Queen
by the Lord President, poor clerks giving perforce 20s. and
counsellors and attorneys much more ; finally, that the Queen's
attorney was his lordship's " man," so too the Auditor and the
Clerk of the Fines, which was a clear breach of the statute
of livery. After this it is not surprising to read that Mr. Atkins,
the Queen's Attorney, sold a "band" of ;^4o for ^4, "which
course doth rob the subject and undoith the Coort," or that
" servantes are manie tymes laboured to make motions for the
which they receave bribes and the dorekeepers rewarded, with
many other suchelike not nowe in remembrance." ^
Another statute constantly broken was that against granting
comorthas, except in case of loss by fire. They had been
granted on slight causes, often to councillors' friends and
servants, to the relief of distress brought on by folly and
prodigality.^
Sir Henry Sydney had during his term of office endeavoured
to secure the safe keeping of the records of the Court by building
a special room for them in Ludlow Castle. In spite of this,
it is alleged, they were embezzled, erased, and falsified. The
Privy Council had done its best to impress on successive Lords
President the scope of their instructions, and yet it was found
that " the same Instruccions are seldome perused by the said
L, President and Counsell as theie ought to be." * It is suggested
that they should be always kept in a small box or casket, and
perused once or twice a quarter before the Council during
sessions.
Last in this long list of abuses comes the tendency, common
to all the extraordinary Courts of Tudor times, to extend the
jurisdiction of the Court over matters which could be sufficiently
determined by the common law. Many cases were needlessly
tried by the Court of the Marches, to the great diminution of
' Lansdowne MSS., 76, f. 1416-9. = Ibid., 60, ff. 103-12, art. 7.
' Ibid., 67, f. 242.' * Ibid., Ill, ff. 36-7, No. 14, art. I.
ii8 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Her Majesty's profits in the way of fines and forfeitures. By
the hearing of such cases at common law, it is urged, the queen
would gain I ;^3oo a year. Another estimate is that the queen
lost yearly as much as would discharge the whole diet of the
Council. In almost every document dealing with the reform
of the Council this stretching of jurisdiction is censured in the
strongest terms. ^
The new Lord President was the son of the Earl of Pem-
broke, who J had twice held the same office. His first wife had
been Lady Catherine Grey (sister of Lady Jane), his second
was Catherine Talbot, and the third was the famous Mary Sydney,
Sir Henry's daughter, "the subject of all verse." He had been
prominent at the trials of Norfolk, Arundel, and Mary, Queen
of Scots. Like other members of his family, he was a man
of culture, a special patron of antiquaries and heralds, and a
collector of heraldic manuscripts. He was keenly interested in
the drama, as is shown by the frequent mention of the Earl
of Pembroke's players between 1589 and 1601.^ Two of the
greatest Elizabethan dramatists were in some way connected
with him : Massinger's father was his confidential servant, and
to his sons William and Philip, " that incomparable pair of
brethren," Shakespeare dedicated the first foHo of 1623.'
Pembroke had clearly a difficult task before him when he
assumed office in 1586. He at once set to work to become
acquainted with the working of the Court and the abuses that
had crept in of late years. The result of his investigations
during his first term is given in a document entitled "lA brief
collection of the presente state of the courte before the Lo :
President and Counsaile in the Marches of Wales, beginning
with the offices and officers seuerally for the better understanding
' E.g. Lansdowne MSS. 49, f. 173, 22, ff. 166-70, ad init., and 76, f. 148.
Much of the Council's energy seems to have been expended on quarrels
between the members, especially the Solicitor and the Attorney — e.g.
Lansdowne MSS. 49, ff. 190- 1, and ill, ff. 1-5.
- E.g. A.P.C., Vol. XXIV., p. 113.
' Diet. Nat. Biog. For references to Massinger the elder see Lansdowne
MSS. 53, r. 138, and 63, ff. 187 and 193.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 119
therof and of the whole practise there, etc." ^ From this we
obtain fuller details than are elsewhere given of the actual
working of the Court and the scale of fees charged. Three points
struck Pembroke as specially needing correction — viz. the great
increase of fees, the ill-keeping of the records (in spite of the
creation of a new office, that of the register), and the practice
of examining witnesses by means of young and inexperienced
clerks, totally unfit for such an important task, and very liable
to be corrupted. Much inconvenience was also caused through
the exercise of sundry offices by deputy, and through the careless
keeping of Her Majesty's signet, which passed from hand to
hand. Often it was the practice to join a number of distinct
debts in one bill of complaint, so that many persons were unjustly
troubled at one man's suit. In a case quoted by Pembroke the
sum total of the various debts amounted to over ^2,800. " This
devise," |he says, " being throughly considered, will fall out not
to differre muche from a kynde of commortha. And therfore
verie need full it is that it be provided for." He is especially
severe on the injury to the reputation of the Court caused by
young clerks, who " without all consideracion, iudgement or
understanding haue usually taken upon them to deale in matters
farre beyond their capacities." Often they made such blunders
on points of law that when a case came to hearing, the material
points were found to be omitted, and the party had to begin
over again, to his great loss both in time and money.
Equally oppressive was the practice described as follows :
" Likewise it is used in that Courte upon the plaintiffs bare
suggestion that the defendant is a fugitive or that he hath
disobeyed some former process of the Courte, to awarde proces
against him in the nature of a commission to apprehend and
bynde him for his apparance, which commission is only granted
unto suche commissioners as the partie himself will name, who
commonly will fynde out the enemyes of the aduerse partie yf
anie be, or otherwise make choise of some badd runnagate
fellowes for that purpose, who to worke their owne reuenge,
or to satisfie the partie's malicious hauior, will not spare by color
' Lansdowne MSS. 51, ff. 103-4.
120 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
of their commission to offer any abuse unto the aduerse partie,
being many tymes gentlemen of good credit or others of such
honestie and hauiour as greatly disdayne to be soe dealte with
by suche bad fellowes, whereuppon many inconueniences follow,
olde quarells be nourished and new stirres and fraies are daily
raised."
Pembroke quotes a flagrant instance of extortion practised by
the Serjeant-at-Arms. He had been sent with an ordinary
process of the Court to a gentleman of Gloucestershire living
not more than forty miles from Ludlow. He never executed
the process, for he did not find the party ; but he had the
effrontery to demand against him, before the Lord President,
the sum of ;^24o in fees. To his great chagrin he was allowed
only ;^5. Pembroke adds that he had been sufficiently rewarded
by the party procuring the process, and at the time of his journey
had business of his own to transact in Gloucestershire.
A few years later — in 1590 — certain "libelling articles" were
exhibited against the Court of the Council in the Marches.
What they actually were does not appear; but that the Lord
President felt himself deeply wronged thereby is seen from his
words : " I have often sought with all earnest humilitie to haue
those thinges which in these libelling articles concerne mee in
particuler to be sett downe in such sorte as I might by the course
of lawe seeke my owne iustification, but seeing I can not obteine
this favor, I am enforced in defence of my honor to say that
in these particulers which concerne mee alone, y® first libeller
and he who commented therupon doe bothe lie in their
throtes." ^
Sir James Croft, writing in May, 1590, disclaimed any intention
of infringing on the authority of 'the Lord President or of
damaging his credit. He had merely set forth certain articles
showing the disorders that had crept into the Court and household.
These led to a second effort at reform by the Lord President and
Sir Richard Shuttleworth, Chief Justice of Chester, details of
which are given in a statement dated July 29th, 1591.^ Excessive
' Lansdowne MSS. 63, fi". 88-98, ad init. - Ibid., 67, f. 243.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 121
fees had been abolished, a table set up to show the lawful
amounts, the number of the counsellors at the Bar had been
diminished to eight, and of the attorneys to eighteen, and the
number of clerks reduced from one hundred to eighteen. The
office of the signet had been looked into, also that of the
porter, and order had been taken for the economical management
of the household. Much, however, remained to be done, for
in 1593 the Privy Council drew up a series of Articles to be
considered of for the government of Wales.^ It was still
necessary to admonish the Council of the Marches to observe
the instructions, and especially to occupy their time in hearing
misdemeanours rather than cases triable at common law. They
were bidden to give notice against the wearing of weapons in
church, fairs, and markets, and were reminded that the receiving
of retainers was at the root of most disorders in the Principality
and Marches of Wales. They were also to examine the mis-
conduct of sheriffs, who, contrary to ancient practice, kept Courts
every week or fortnight, to the great loss and impoverishment of
poor subjects. Lastly, it is added that " the Recusantes do
swarme, no man but theire owne companies doe know where
they were married, by whome or in what place, where theire
Children were christened. Theire Children be learned, and bred
by scholemasters of their own creed, nor who be theire godfathers
and godmothers."
A list of abuses, dated 1594, deals with the excessive number
of clerks who occasioned multiplicity of suits and great dis-
orders. Other clauses show the conflict between the jurisdiction
of the Council and that of the common law Courts. Thus :
" If a man sue for debt uppon a simple contract at the Comon
Lawe, wherein there is no forfaiture, he shall be stayed there.
And after that he hath spent the tyme and money he shalbe
dismissed to the Lawe.
" If a man distrayne for his Rent he shalbe compelled to
delyuer the Cattell and to staye the Suyte at the Common Lawe
untill the cause be first hard there.
"And so it is yf an accon of trespasse be comenced for entring
' Lansdowne MSS. 76, ff. 1416-9.
122 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
into Landes where the tytle of the Landes cometh in question.
In all penall lawes upon Statutes, As Tanners for not tanning of
Leather according to Lawe, or for wearing of Hattes upon
Sondayes, or for not sowing of fflaxe and hempe or for usurye
and all other such like penall Lawes men are compelled to
answere Interrogatories upon their oathes and to accuse them-
selves without any prooff produced against them, or elles be
periured, which is lamentable for many poore men. And some
Riche will strayne their oaths rather than paye greate ffynes." ^
The evidence points to the conclusion that in spite of the
Lord President's attempts at reform, the condition of the Court
continued unsatisfactory. Unfortunately he seems to have fallen
out with Sir Richard Shuttleworth on a small matter of riding
charges. Shuttleworth, writing to Burghley in January, 1595,
about this grievance, complains that his predecessors have always
had such an allowance, and at the same time takes occasion
to remark acrimoniously that the only reformation accomplished
has been the keeping of a true copy of the instructions. At the
last audit, he adds, the allowances made by the Lord President
and some others of the Council amounted to ;^ioi5 8^-. 2d. He
has forborne to sign the book till he hears what allowances are
to be made out of the fines and what out of the diet money.
Pembroke's Presidency is chiefly marked by complaints against
the Court. In general the cases that came up for trial would
seem to have been of much the same character as hitherto.
One or two, however, may be mentioned as presenting features of
some interest. The first is a case against the Chancellor, Registrar
and Apparitor of the Bishop of St. David's, for calling a number
of persons to the Courts without cause, which, as Pembroke
justly remarked, was a " coUorable conning Comortha, not only
by law but her Mat^^ Instructions and her spetiall commaunde-
ment to myself often and as your LP [Burghley] doth know,
straightly forbidden." Evidence was given showing that many
hundreds of persons, churchwardens and others, had been
' Lansdowne MSS. 76, ff 1416-9 (May, 1594, Abuses in y® Counsell of
y"^ Marches of Wales).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 123
summoned before these Ecclesiastical Courts.^ Very few charges
were alleged against them, and yet fees were exacted from all
who appeared, and half fees from the absent. Courts kept in
this manner, is Pembroke's caustic comment, were " only ad
colligendum as wee conceaved, not ad corrigeiiduni, as by these
offences was pretended." ^ The following evidence may serve
as a specimen :
" Thomas Worhall proveth that hee and xv<^" more of Begildy
were citted and that he and two more only appeared where the
deffendant Havard demaunded whether they were at Churche
upon the Queenes holy daye which was all the matter layd to
their chardge ; where le deponent and his two neighboures that
appeared paied ij^ viij'' a peece, viz. viij^ and le deponent then
payd to le defendant Havard iiij"* for two of his neyghbours who
did not at all appear, they then were discharged, no matter
was then examined, and nothing said unto them, but the money
receaved (viz. xij^ in toto) and they discharged."
The evidence of thirty-eight witnesses is recorded, and it is
added that most of them prove "howe the Countrye exclayme
against the deffendantes for theire infynite vexacion and for
the same extorcion." Pembroke was inclined to punish the ac-
cused, but as Sir Richard Shuttleworth was of opinion that
the cause, being ecclesiastical, was outside the competence of the
Court, he asked Lord Burghley to advise him of the queen's
pleasure in the matter.
Another case of extortion is that against William Thomas, of
Carnarvon, who had received from forty-six person sums
varying in amount from ;!^2o to £,^. He had also received
cows, a mare, a gelding, a " spurre Royall," " a silver salte parcell
gilte"; in all, money and cattle to the value of ^175 12s. 8d.,
besides the silver salt. It is added that, had not the Com-
missioners directed to examine into his exactions been discharged,
forty times more bribes and extortions would have been proved
against him. Over and above all this, he and his friends had
' Vis. at the Consistory Court, which, it is alleged, was held every
fortnight.
■-' Lansdowne MSS. 84, f( 84-5.
124 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
by force driven away fifteen cows, a bull, and a heifer, taking
them over from Carnarvonshire into Anglesey, "verie late in
the night," selling them there, and crowning his misdeeds by
imprisoning the luckless owner without just cause. He had
also been guilty of champerty, buying the title of Griffith ap
Robert to a certain tenement, entering by force, and keeping
possession without payment. In a similar case he had " pitched
in a foote " and got for nothing the lands from two parties at
variance.-^
A third case brings up a question of which more must be
said later — viz. the relation of the Council in the Marches to
the Ecclesiastical Courts. A certain Simon Cotherington was
called before the Council for evil living, and confessed his guilt,
but to avoid due punishment alleged that he had already been
punished by his ordinary, the Chancellor of Gloucester, with
corporal penance, commuted to a penalty of ;^3o, to be paid
in three yearly instalments towards the maintenance of a free
scholar at Oxford. Notwithstanding the production of an Act
under the Chancellor's seal, dated February 27th, 1596, the
Lord President and Council punished Cotherington with fine
and imprisonment, " for that they conceaved that Commutacon
to be but a covenouse and fraudulent practize to avoid the
danger of lawes, and, supposing it to have bin sincearly proceded
in, yet they took a further penaltie to be both lawfuU and
nedefull." Various reasons induced the Council to think that
the Chancellor was confederate with Cotherington ; indeed, it
would appear that he was to have ;^3o if Cotherington were
discharged from the Court of the Marches. Pembroke, in writing
to the Privy Council, refers to a petition presented to them on
Cotherington's behalf, and to an order thereon that he should
be released from the fines imposed on him by the Court. Against
this he urges that the double punishment seems to have been
contemplated by the instructions, and was paralleled by double
punishment in case of usury, where both the congregation and
the law had to be satisfied. Cotherington, it seems, had arranged
' Lansdowne MSS. in, f. 7.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 125
matters in his own interest with the Chancellor in his study,
not in open Court ; and " if publique shame, open detection
and deepe fines could not restraine him, it is likely he will
not heereafter be more regardfull when all may be ended better
cheape with a frend in his studie." ^
The Recusancy Laws, especially those of 1585 and 1593,
furnished the Council with more work. The Lord President,
in enumerating the various offices in the Council, speaks of a
certain Scrope who was displaced for refusing to receive the Com-
munion with the rest of the household, as enjoined by art. 35 of
the instructions of 1586.^ An undated document headed The
Requestes of the Lord President of Wales " expresses a desire that
the Commission for causes ecclesiastical might be renewed for
the correction of such faults as were very necessary to be looked
unto, and especially of such as were contained in the last statute
of recusants. He further asks that this last statute might be
sent down, that some help might be h^d for the case of
praemunire, and that the Lord President and Council or any four
of them might call on the bishops whose jurisdiction reached
to any part of the Council's Commission, and on all other
ecclesiastical judges and ministers to account for the commuta-
tions (sc. of penance) made by any of the inhabitants. An
order of the Privy Council directed the Lord President to find
out persons fit to hold inquiry for Jesuits, seminary priests, etc.,
" such lewde and suspected persons as do lurke in those remote
places." It would appear from the letters which follow (addressed
to certain trusty persons in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire)
that the common people still resorted by night to places where
' Lansdowne MSS. 87, f. 26.
- Ibid., 51, ff. 103-14. First in the list of penal statutes to be enforced
by the Council of the Marches according to art. 43 of the instructions of
1586 come: "All the acts in sorte ordeyned for unyformitie of common
prayer, divine service, and for causing all persons to resorte to churches to
divine service so as at the hearing and determyning thereof some of the
Bushopps of that Counsaill may asiste the L. President and Counsaill for the
better performaunce and due execucion of the said lawes and Statutes as
apperteigneth."
126 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
in times gone by there had been images or offerings. To check
this practice it was ordered that " superstitious and idolatrous "
monuments were to pulled down, broken, and quite defaced
in both counties.! There are not a few indications of the
sympathy felt in Wales towards recusants — e.g. a priest sent by
the Council from Monmouth gaol was forcibly rescued.^ This
sympathy, according to Pembroke, was shown even by members
of the Council. Writing to Lord Burghley in 1590, he says that
some of them are "coldlie affected in relligion," and asks that
persons " of good disposicion in relligion " may be added to
their number.^
Pembroke's position as Lord President was by no means
pleasant. The Council over which he presided had seen its
best days, and was becoming unpopular, while the Privy Council,
the Star Chamber, and the Common Law Courts tended to
withdraw from it all important cases. In 1590 he wrote bitterly
to Burghley : " And let me plainly write to your Lordship
as to my much honored friend that her ma**'' not respecting me
therein [i.e. in the matter of supplying him with fit Councillors]
hath occacioned me to continue lesse at that Counsaill then
I meant. I have there been misreported of without dezert :
I haue also founde myselfe mallised without cause ; yea dis-
covery made of speeches used by some as thoughe they purposed
to poison me. All those thinges have bin made knowen to them
who should yeald justice in the same, and yet am I farre from
being regarded therin, as every lewd varieties informacion is
still receaved against me and howe incredible soe ever, yet if
it concerne me, it shall finde some ready to geeve therunto creditt
and countenance. I need not for prouf heerof looke farre back ;
but to remember your Lordship of somewhat even within fewe
daies donne at the Counsaill bourde, wherwith I take myself
greatlie wronged and if I be not righted therin, I shall be sorry
' A.P.C. 22, pp. 543-5 (1592). 2 Ibid., 16, p. 95 (1588).
^ Lansdowne MSS. 63, f. 187. For the religious condition of Wales at this
time see Lansdowne MSS. 159, f. 50, and Penry's exhortation to the
governors and people of Wales (dedicated to the Earl of Pembroke),
especially p. 15 of the 1588 edition.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 127
to finde myself soe unkindly used by them from whom I haue
dezerved better." ^
During the last few years of his Presidency the earl can hardly
have been fit to improve the condition of the Court to any
material degree. In 1595 he is described (Sydney Papers, i. 372)
as very "pursife and maladise," and in September, 1599, his life
was despaired of. In January, 1601, he died at Wilton, and was
buried in Salisbury Cathedral.
An important description of the Council of the Marches at
this period survives in the Dialogue on the Government of Wales
between Barthol, a Doctor of the Civil Laws, and Demetus, a
Pembrokeshire man. It was. written in 1594 by George Owen of
Henllys, and will be published before long in the Cymmrodorion
Record Series. Demetus begins with a general description of
the Court of the Marches, comparing it to the Chancery and the
Star Chamber, and noting the benefits it confers. " Generallye
it is the very place of refuge for the poore oppressed of this
Country of Wales to flye unto . . . and for this cause it is as
greatly frequented w*'^ suytes as any one Court att Westminster
whatsoever, the more for that it is the best Cheape Court in
England for fifees and there is great speed made in tryall of all
Causes." He then states the days for beginning and end of the
terms, each of which then lasted a month, and concludes : " This
Court is it w'ch att the begininge brought Wales to that Civilitye
and quietnes that yo" nowe see it from that wild and out-
ragious state that yo" shall reade of." Some, he adds, talk of
abolishing it as unnecessary, but this could not be done without
great risk. Barthol replies that during a journey through the
Council's jurisdiction he has heard many complaints of heavy
charges and the entertainment of frivolous suits. Demetus agrees
that these abuses exist. The rest of the dialogue, so far as the
Court of the Marches is concerned, is taken up with a description
of the existing abuses and suggestions for remedies. Strictures
are passed on the smallness of the costs awarded (to the en-
couragement of vexatious suits), the large number of attorneys, the
unnecessary processes, and on the undue extension of the Court's
• Lansdowne MSS. 63, f. 187.
128 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
jurisdiction to matters that might be left to the common law.
On the other hand, the Court is praised for the speedy trial
yielded after appearance, and for the rule that every process must
be grounded on a bill signed by the Councillors. The conclusion
reached is that the defects of the Court are small in comparison
with its merits, and might with little trouble be redressed.^
' Lansdowne MSS. 2i6, fif. 34-9, and Had. MSS. 141, ff. 28-85.
CHAPTER V
THE DECLINE OF THE COUNCIL. CONFLICTS OVER JURIS-
DICTION. THE PRESIDENCY OF THE EARL OF BRIDGE-
WATER, 1631-42
After the Earl of Pembroke's death, the Council of the Marches
rapidly declined in importance. Up to 163 1, when the Bridge-
water MSS. become available, there is comparatively little
information as to its actual work. On the other hand, a large
number of documents (several in duplicate) exist, referring to
its jurisdiction over the four Border counties. The men who
held the office of Lord President were of no great distinction ; in
fact, the post seems to have been regarded at this time as little
more than a comfortable sinecure. Pembroke's immediate
successor was Lord Zouch, the friend of Ben Jonson, and from
1615 to 1624 Warden of the Cinque Ports. ^ In 1607 Lord
Zouch was succeeded by Lord Eure, who held office till 16 16,
when he was followed by Lord Gerard (1616-7), aad then by
the Earl of Northampton, whose tenure lasted till 1630. The
office was then vacant for a while, the duties being performed
probably by Sir John Bridgeman, Chief Justice of Chester, till
the appointment of the Earl of Bridgewater in 1631.
Lord Zouch began his tenure of office at the close of Elizabeth's
reign, June, 1602, and his Commission was renewed on James's
accession. In the autumn of 1602 Chamberlain writes : " Lord
Zouche plays rex in Wales and takes upon him comme im
Millord (PAngleterre both with the counsaile and justices as also
with the poor Welshmen." ^
' Chamberlain's Letters (Camden Societj'), pp. 14, 108, 139.
"^ S.P.D., Eliz., Vol. CCLXXXV. (Cal. 1601-3, p. 249).
129 9
130 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
We also learn that he began " to know and use his authority,"
even going so far as to slight the Chief Justice of Chester by
throwing down the cushion, laid according to usage beside his
own, with the words that " one was enough for that place." ^
Very soon his jurisdiction came into question, and the " tedious
business of the Marches," over which so much ink and paper
were expended, began.
The dispute arose out of the claim of one Fareley, or Farley,
to hold a piece of land under a lease from a deceased copyholder.
The widow of the latter claimed to re-enter and make void the
lease, and obtained from the Court of the Marches that Fareley
should suffer her to have possession till the Court of the Manor
had tried the right.^ Fareley disobeyed this order, and was
imprisoned by the Council ; whereupon he sued out a writ of
Habeas corpus ann causa from the King's Bench. This writ
was disobeyed by the Council, "for that none of that nature had
ever taken place." It would seem that one had been issued in
the Earl of Pembroke's time, but not returned. At this stage
Lord Zouch brought the dispute before the Privy Council. Coke,
the Attorney-General, acted on behalf of the King's Bench, Sir
John Croke and Sir Francis Bacon for the Council. After several
conferences of counsel, it was agreed that the King's Bench had
the general right and duty of seeing that Courts like that of the
Marches kept within their due limits, but that it was bound to
guard against abuse of the writ of Habeas Corpus.^ The matter
left in dispute was the extent of the Council's jurisdiction, though
this does not seem to have been in the mind of the King's Bench
Judges who awarded the writ.
' Harl. MSS. 5353 (Manningham's Diary, Camden Society, p. 58).
^ Croke's Reports, Trin. Term., 2 Jac. (1604), ed. 1791, Vol. II., p. 36,
-case 12, Fareley's case. Prohibition : " It was held by all the Court that
if a copyholder make a lease for years whereof a Jcme by custom is to have
Jier widow'' s estate, she shall not avoid the lease, unless there be a special
custom to avoid it ; for he comes under the custom and by the lord's licence
as well as the feme. This case depended before the Council of the Marches
of Wales, and they, giving orders there against the lessee for the feme, a
prohibition was granted to stay the execution of those orders."
2 Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., 25,244, f. 84.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 131
The question, however, was no new one. In EHzabeth's reign
the city of Bristol had felt itself aggrieved by being included
in the sphere of the Council's jurisdiction, and had successfully
petitioned the queen for exemption. In the Bristol Chronicle
is the entry: " In the year 1561 or 2, the citizens of Bristol by
the cost and industry of this Mayor were exempted for ever
from the Marches of Wales ; which before had been great trouble
and expence to them."^ A few years later Cheshire had
secured exemption on the ground that it was a county palatine.
One Radforde had questioned the Council's jurisdiction over
the county ; whereupon it was referred, on February 2nd, 1569, to
Sir James Dyer, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, Richard
Weston and Richard Harpur, Justices of the same Court, and
Thomas Carus, Justice of the Peace. Their opinion, which was
presented to the queen on February roth, contained the
following arguments :
1. That the county of Chester had been a county palatine
before the reign of Henry III., and that of very ancient
time the city also had been a county of itself. Therefore
its ancient laws and usages should be maintained.
2. That the Chamberlain of Chester had during all this time
exercised the jurisdiction of a Chancellor within the said
county palatine, while before the Justice of Chester were
heard and determined matters of Common Pleas and
Pleas of the Crown. Therefore all pleas of lands or
tenements, etc., arising within the same county palatine
ought to be there determined, except in a few cases
such as in cause of error, etc.
3. That the Court of the Exchequer at Chester has been and
is still the Chancery Court of the County Palatine of
Chester, the Chamberlain being the chief officer and
1 Seyer, Memoirs of Bristol, Vol. II., Ch. XXVL, p. 238, § 3. Barrett's
Bristol, p. 685; also Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 25,244 (Collections out of Bookes
receaued from the Earle of Salisbury). " Temp'e Eliz. The City of Bristol!
which is in the County of Gloucester and was formerly included within
the Jurisdiction of the Counsell is at theyr speciall suit exempted as to
reall and mixt actions and continued as to personall suites and matters
touching the peace and Crowne."
132 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
judge, and having authority equal to that of the Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster.
4. That in the opinion of the four Justices the Vice-Chamber-
lain of Chester had rightfully imprisoned Thomas Radforde
for refusing to put in sureties of the peace within the
said Exchequer, upon affidavit made in that behalf;
while the proceedings of the Council of the Marches
in releasing Radforde and issuing an order against the
Vice-Chamberlain were contrary to the ancient laws and
liberties of the County Palatine of Chester.
5. That neither the County nor the City of Chester was
included in the Dominion of Wales and the Marches
of the same, and therefore neither was affected by the
statute 34 & 35 H. VIII., c. 26.
6. That for the enjoyment of the above liberties the inhabit-
ants of the county of Chester have paid at the change
of every owner of the earldom a mise of 3,000 marks,
and the inhabitants of the County of Flint (being
parcel of the said county palatine) 2,000 marks.'
On March i6th, 1569, Elizabeth wrote to the Lord Chancellor,
Sir Nicholas Bacon, enclosing the opinion of the Justices, and
directing him to order its entry and enrolment in the Chancery,
there to remain of record, and to be used and exemplified
hereafter for the benefit of the residents in the county of
Chester.2
Five years later — in 1574 — the jurisdiction of the Council over
the city and county of Worcester was questioned by one
Wilde, acting, it appears, on behalf of certain lawyers. The
Privy Council referred the case to Mr. Attorney Gerard and
the Solicitor-General Bromley. Wilde meantime was to be
released from the custody of the knight marshal, on giving
bond for ;^2oo to appear when summoned and on the first
day of the next term. He was not to prejudice the controversy
in any way, and the Lord President was to see that he was free
from molestation so long as he behaved himself dutifully. On
' Brit. Mus. Cott. MSS., Vitellius, C. i., ff. 208-9.
- Ibid., Add. MSS. 25,244, ff. 2b, 3, 4.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 133
April 28th he appeared; on May 2nd the Attorney and
Solicitor-General were directed to examine the controversy,
while Mr. Recorder of London and Mr. Bell were to be
admitted as Wilde's counsel. On May 13th the Attorney and
Solicitor-General reported against Wilde that both the city
and county of Worcester were subject to the jurisdiction of the
Council of the Marches ; whereupon his bond was restored. It
is possible that a later entry in the Acts of the Privy Council
refers to this same Wilde. In reference to an appeal from the
Welsh Council it is stated that too strict an imprisonment has
been imposed on Wilde, and that such course is to be taken
as is agreeable to justice and " meetest for the preservacion
of the jurisdiction of that Counsell whereof for her Majesties
service their Lordships have a speciall consideration."^
These three cases of Bristol, Chester, and Worcester show
that there was ample precedent for those who aimed at limit-
ing the Council's jurisdiction. In Michaelmas Term, 2 Jac.
(1604), all the Justices and the Barons of the Exchequer were
assembled by the king's command, and after the hearing of
counsel and long deliberation, they resolved una voce that the
four Border counties were not within the jurisdiction of the
Council. The King's Bench then proceeded against the ofificer
of the Council of the Marches, who had Fareley in custody.
Lord Zouch was highly indignant at this slight, and it would
seem that he ceased henceforth to discharge his duties as Lord
President, while the authority of the Council was practically in
abeyance within the four shires. Apparently also some new
instructions were drawn up, though whether they were actually
issued is doubtful.^ Meanwhile Lord Zouch and members of
the Council were busy collecting precedents, and urging on
king and Privy Council the dangers that would result from any
diminution of the Council's authority. The House of Commons
now took the matter up, and in March, 1606, passed a Bill for
' A.P.C., Vol. VIII., pp.200, 204, 207, 231, 234, 236, and Vol. XIV., p. 187.
- S.P.D., Jas. I, Vol. XXXI. 31 (Memorandum of the differences between
the present and former instructions relative to the office and powers of the
President and Council of Wales).
134 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
explaining the Act 34 & 35 H. VIII., c. 26, which was rejected
by the House of Lords. In May another Bill to the same
effect passed the Commons, after which it was dropped, Sir
Herbert Croft, the mover, resolving to " rest upon His Majesty's
Grace for the execution of the law." ^
Among the Domestic State Papers for 1606 are preserved two
copies of the Bill passed in March. The longer appears to be
the original draft ; it contains marginal notes of objections to
various statements which are omitted in the shorter form. In
the following copy the bracketed words show what was omitted
from the original draft :
"An act for the better explayninge of a former act made in
xxxiiij*^^ yeare of the Raigne of Kinge Henry the viij concerninge
ordinances made for Wales (and establishinge of the governement
of the Lord president and Councell theare).
" Whereas by a Parliament holden at Westm'' in the xxxiiij**^
yeare of the raigne of Kinge Henry the viij*''' there were certaine
ordinances enacted for the dominion and Principalitie of Wales
at the humble peticon of the inhabitantes thereof. By which
it was endeauored to reduce the s'^ dominion and inhabitantes
of the same (from certaine lawes and customes before used
amongst them) to a more fit governement (for w'^'' cause a
President and Councell were established within the said dominion
and Principalitie of Wales and the marches thereof, with other
Judges, Justices and officers fit for orderinge, governinge and
guidinge of the Inhabitantes in the ordinances then enacted for
them). And whereas the Counties of Glocester, and the Cittie
and Countie of the Cittie of Glocester and also the Counties
of Worcester, Hereford and Salop were allwaies meere {i.e.
absolutely) English Counties being governed of auncient under
and by the lawes and Statutes of this Kingdome (in like sort and
manner as all other the Counties of this Realme were and of
right ought to be) yet notwithstandinge of late yeares the
' Journals of the House of Commons, Vol. I., pp. 272, 276, 277, 281, 296,
297, 308, 309. Journals of the House of Lords, Vol. II., under dates
March 13th, March 25th, April 3rd, April 7th, 1606.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 135
President and Councell established in the dominion, principalitie
and Marches of Wales haue exercised some iurisdiction in the
same Counties and Cittie pretendinge the same to be parcell
of the Marches of Wales (to the grief of manie Subiectes
inhabitinge within the said Counties and Cittie). Be it therefore
declared adiudged and enacted by the Kinges most excellent
Ma"'^, the Lordes Spirituall and temporall and Comons in this
present Parliament assembled and by the authoritie of the same,
That neither the Counties nor Cittie aforesaid nor anie of them
(nor any part of them or anie of them) are [nor at any tyme since
the Statute made in the xxvij*'^ yeare of the Raigne of Kinge
Henry the viij'''' (intituled an Act for Lawes and Justice to be
ministred in Wales in like forme as it is in this Realme) were]
anie parte of the Dominion, Principalitie or Countrey of Wales,
or of the Marches of the same nor by the said Statutes (made
in the xxvij*''^ and xxxiiij"^ yeares of the Raigne of Kinge Henry
the viij*"' or either of them or the true meaninge of them or of
either of| them) were intended to be subiecte to the governement
or Jurisdiction of the said President and Councell of Wales,
Provided allwaies and be it enacted by authoritie of this present
Parliament that no person or persons shalbe admitted or
receaued hereafter to bringe or comence anie action, plaint, or
suite (of false imprisonment, Battery, trespasse or action of the
case) upon anie imprisonment. Battery, Corporall punishment,
entrie or other trespasse done heretofore within anie of the said
foure Counties or Cittie by warrant, power, authoritie, or execution
of anie order, decree or warrant made by the Lord President
of the said Councell or by the Court of the Lord President and
Councell or by the said Councell or by any of them." ^
Accompanying these drafts is an examination — i.e. hostile
criticism — the nature of which may be gathered from the words :
" The Bill drawen to explane this lawe consisteth of certein false
positions alledged in the preamble and absurde conclusions made
therupon in the purview or body of the Acte."^ The writer
has no difficulty in pointing out four false positions and four
' S.P.D., Jas. I., 1606, Vol. XIX., ft'. 33-5.
- A criticism to much the same effect is in the Tanner MSS. 91, 9, f. 139.
136 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
absurd conclusions (contained especially in the bracketed words
above); he then passes on to note "certaine Inconveniences
which (like straung and mo'strous children) this New Lawe must
needes bring furth, if it should haue passage." This evil brood,
he maintains, would num.ber twelve at least, beginning with
danger to the king's prerogative, dishonour to his predecessors
and all their Councillors of State, judges and Council learned,
condemnation of all past Lords President, and risk that other
statutes would be misinterpreted against meaning and usage.
Furthermore " it will cast a generall skorne and contempt upon
the Remainder of aucthoritie left in that Court for hereafter
and make the Welshmen despised by the English, who are now
by their common governement holden in termes of Love ; and so
will ere longe revive the auncient enmytie betweene those two
people and bring all to the old confusion againe : which as no-
thing could redresse at first but that Court, so it is not probable
anie thing can better prevent then the continuance of the same."
All traffic and commerce between the English and Welsh would
cease for lack of equal remedy. Welshmen would have to
answer at the Council of the Marches on the suit of Englishmen,
but would not be able to implead them at Westminster. Again,
"the poore, the widow and the orphant, for whose relief this
Court was speciallie erected, not being admitted to haue remedie
here and not able to seeke it at Westm'', shalbe oppressed; it
being too well knowen that those 4 Counties are as apte to
' banding and siding ' as Wales and that in all disorders the
gentlemen are alwaies principally parties or apparent favourers,
so as iustice shall seldome prevaile, but where it is seconded with
the strongest faction as by late examples maie be made to
appeare." Any outbreak resulting from Welsh jealousy of the
four shires, if exempted, could not be so easily repressed as
at present. Wales would certainly put in a plea for exemption,
and the Council of the North would be likewise endangered.
All orders and decrees of the Court would be void; men
punished for perjury would be declared no perjurers; fines of
great value paid into His Majesty's receipt might have to be
restored ; the Council officials would be in great straits, especially
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 137
the Porter, " unlesse the Kinges Ma'tie be gracious unto him
to staie the violent course intended against him." The writer
avers that the change is sought especially by men of " Popish
or doubtfull religion," and now especiallie because the Lord
President is soundlie afifected." There were said to be twenty
thousand recusants in the four counties and some parts of Wales
adjoining. In conclusion, the time was specially inappropriate
when there was a Prince of Wales, and when " we generallie
desire the happie union of what hath been long severed and
disunited."
In August, 1607, Lord Eure was appointed Lord President,
with instructions of which an abstract survives.^ The twelfth
article is given in full among the Bridgewater MSS., and is
to the effect that, whereas the question has been raised whether
the four counties are parcel of the Marches of Wales, His
Majesty ordains that the Lord President and Council shall hear
and determine all manner of debts not exceeding the sum of
;^io arising within any of the four counties, and also trespasses
where the damages do not exceed the same sum.^
Submission even to this limited jurisdiction seemed to the
supporters of the contention of the four counties equivalent to
giving up their case : they felt, too, that the king had broken
faith with them, and were irritated at the proceedings of the
Privy Council and of Lord Eure, the new Lord President.
Sir Herbert Croft, the leader of the opposition, was put out of
the Commission of Lieutenancy and of the Peace. In retaliation
for this, according to Lord Eure, he pursued the matter further,
and took up the case of one of his tenants. A complaint
having been made about the conduct of a magistrate, the Council
of the Marches had called the parties before them, and without
disclosing that they were acting ultra vires, had induced them to
submit to arbitration. Sir Herbert Croft obtained a prohibition,
with the result that a serious resistance was organised against
the Council. The Bishop of Hereford and twenty-six of the
' Brit. Mus. Cott. MSS., Vitellius, C. i., ff. 197-204.
- Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, 13.
138 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
leading gentry urged Croft to continue the opposition, while
Sir John Packington, Sheriff of Worcestershire and his under-
sheriff, refused to obey the Council's precepts.^ Lord Eure
wrote to Salisbury describing the difficult position in which he
was placed, through the "generall disobedience, many meetinges
and Combination agamst the government of the Courte," and
praying that he may be strengthened " against these Ambitious
gentlemen, or otherwise that his Ma'ties will may be made
knowne unto me, that I may know what to obey; for by this
doubtfulnes both his Ma'tie is dishonored and his people
discomforted." ^
Finally the matter was taken up by the Privy Council. In
April, 1608, the Chief Justice of Chester repaired to London
with records to uphold his case. Lord Eure being ready to join
him when necessary. With the matter of the four counties was
joined the question of the right of the King's Bench to issue
prohibitions to other Courts ; the jurisdiction of the Council of
York also came up for consideration. On November 6th,
at a meeting of the Privy Council, the king propounded the
question "whether the article of the Listructions touching
hearing causes within the four shires under ^10 be agreeable
to the law." Chief Justice Coke asked for time and a chance
of hearing counsel before giving an answer. The matter was
argued for six days, four of which were taken up by the counsel
for the Crown and the Council of the Marches. Bacon, as
Solicitor-General, was counsel for the Crown, and Serjeants
' In Cottonian MSS., Vitellius, C. i., f. 205, is the answer of Thomas Corne-
wall, who had evidently been asked to support the agitation. He writes: " I
could be very well pleased to be freed from any law, but sith I must be
subiect to any or all, then had I rather be unto this of the Principality than
any other, being led thereunto as well for nearenes of the Place as also for
that I know it to be his Ma'ties pleasure as also the noble Prince's, both
whose Servant I am sworne. Besides this my father and selfe have here-
tofore subscribed to the necessary government of the four English sheires^
to be within the Instruccions of the Councell in the Principality and
Marches of Wales, which was ever since the establishing of that Court
so intended and continued."
- Cottonian MSS., Vitellius, C. i., f. 206.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 139
Hutton and Harris for the four counties.^ The opinion of the
judges was dehvered by Coke in writing on February 3rd, 1609 ;
as its tenor was not published, it was probably unfavourable
to the Crown.
During the rest of 1609 no further action seems to have been
taken in the matter, but in 16 10 the numerous actions for false
imprisonment and motions for prohibitions showed that the
supporters for the four counties were returning to the charge.
In Parliament their grievances were taken up by the House
at large, but the king stopped legislation by a promise that
he would, after midsummer next, give leave to any man to try
the right. 2 The grand jury of Herefordshire presented the
Court as a nuisance ; a declaration with five thousand signatures
was issued to the same effect, and the processes of the Council
were entirely set at naught in the four counties.^
Before the session of 16 14 Sir Herbert Croft tried to induce
the king, through the influence of Somerset, to let the question
come fairly before the Courts at Westminster, and even offered
to answer in His Majesty's presence any objections to his case.
His challenge wsls not taken up ; whereupon he tried to obtain
the exemption of the four shires as a matter not of right, but
of grace, asking that in the issue of new instructions they might
be omitted. His request was not complied with, and in spite of
the persistence with which it was urged, the agitation subsided.
Sir Herbert Croft died in 1622. Before this, when Lord Compton
(afterwards Earl of Northampton) succeeded Lord Gerard in
161 7, the new instructions had made no distinction between
Wales and the four English counties. Jurisdiction in civil
suits up to ^50 was allowed in both.
It will be convenient in this place to summarise the real
' See Bacon's Works, ed. Spedding, Vol. VII., pp. 609, et seqq., with the
valuable sketch of the case there given; cf. S.P.D., Jas. I., Vol. XXXVII.,
1608, November 8th, No. 53.
- S.P.D., Jas. I., Vol. LVI., 1610, July 7th, No. 10. Petition of the House
of Commons for redress of grievances among which is the jurisdiction
exercised over the four counties.
^ S.P.D., Jas. I., Vol. LVII. 96, 1610, October loth, and Vol. LVIII. 56^
l6io, December 3rd.
140 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
grounds of the agitation against the Council's jurisdiction in the
four counties, and then to notice the arguments employed by
the advocates on both sides. There appears to have been a
very strong sense of the " mischiefs and inconveniences " caused
by the Council.^ Complaint was made of its illegal proceedings ;
its interference with the common law Courts ; its undue extension
of jurisdiction in matters of title, legacies, etc. ; its punishment of
offenders already punished in other Courts ; and its hearing of
trifling suits where a sum of less than ten shiUings was in-
volved. It had "tortured the bodies of the Kinges subiectes for
bare suspicion of felonye " ; had erected new offices in the Court
to the burden of the subject, increased the fees, and vexed the
inhabitants of the four counties with the carriage of provisions,
etc., or exactions in lieu thereof. Furthermore, it was in the
habit of receiving bribes to determine the place of its resort.
The whole working of the Court, it was alleged, tended to the
vexation of the subject, through the number of informers, relators,
and cursitors, who made it their business to bring suits against
persons already punished in the ecclesiastical Courts. The ex-
amination on oaths and interrogatories forced the defendant
either to accuse himself or to commit perjury. The settling of
differences once commenced in the Court was hindered by the
practice of compelling the prosecutor to bring his case to hearing
on pain of a heavy fine. The sheriffs of the four counties were
more plagued with executing the processes of the Court than
with those of all the Courts of Westminster, and often found
themselves punished for executing illegal orders. It was urged
that the king lost heavily through the Court, having to pay
almost ;^'iioo for the diet of the members, and receiving out of
the fines but a few hundreds, though thousands were drawn
annually from the subjects. Strongest of all were the arguments
that four ancient English shires ought not to be put in a position
different from that of others equally remote from the capital ;
that the inhabitants ought not to be deprived of their ancient
' A full summary of grievances is given in Bridgewater MSS., Welsh
Council Papers, 2, 3 : see also list of authorities given above.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 141
right of trial iby jury and remedy by attaint; that the subject
was in perpetual uncertainty as to the tenor of the instructions,
which were alterable at the pleasure of the Crown ; lastly, that
subjection to two jurisdictions a hundred miles apart {viz. at
Ludlow and Westminster) caused intolerable distraction and
inconvenience.
In answer to all this, the supporters of the Council's jurisdiction
used arguments of which the most important have been stated
above. They admitted that certain abuses existed, and doubtless
called for remedy, but denied that these furnished any excuse
for the overthrow of the jurisdiction in the four counties.
The legal arguments employed were lengthy and corfiplex, turning
mainly on the interpretation of Henry VIII. 's statutes relating to
Wales, the usage before and since his day, and the precedents
for exemption in the cases of Bristol and Chester. Both sides
admitted that the instructions to the Council were warranted by
the statute of 1543, which gave the Lord President and Council
authority to hear and determine such causes and matters as
should be assigned to them by the king " within the said
dominion and principality of Wales and Marches of the same."
The question was briefly this : Could the four counties be fairly
comprised under the word " Marches " ? As Bacon said, the
question was but " the true construction of a monosyllable."
On the side of the defence records were quoted to show that
the Border counties had been considered to be " in marchiis
Walliae." Year-books and chronicles were ransacked for instances
in which Hereford, Shrewsbury, and other places in the four
counties were spoken of as lying in the Marches. An instance
of this line of argument is to be found in a document among
the Bridgewater MSS., endorsed " Marches and Counsell of Wales.
Miscellaneall Rapsody, v. hasty and defectiue." The writer
found time to cite references to a long list of authorities, from
Henry of Huntingdon and Giraldus Cambrensis down to Grafton,
Camden, and Holinshed. But this display of ancient lore was
met by the assertion that the word " Marches " meant the
Marcher Lordships which had been abolished by the statute of
1536. Did the statute of 1543 mean the counties or the lordships
142 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
when it spoke of the Marches? Bacon laid stress on the fact
that the Act of 1536 had already abolished all the Marcher
Lordships, either annexing them to the ancient counties of Wales
or England, or else forming them into new counties which were
to be part of the Dominion of Wales. " Marches," therefore,
could not mean Marcher Lordships. He strengthened his argu-
ment by a comparison of two passages in the statute of 1543 —
viz. " that there shall be and remain a Lord President and
Council in the Dominion of Wales and the marches of the
same," and the clause giving power and authority to the king to
make and alter laws for the weal of his subjects in the Dominion
of Wales. The word " Marches," he argues, was omitted in the
second clause, because the king was not given power to alter
laws in any part of the realm of England, and this proves that the
word " Marches " in the former clause meant the four English
counties. But against this view it was argued that the form
of the Commission of oyer and terminer, which gave power and
authority to the President and Council (" infra principalitatem
Walliae et infra quattuor comitatus et marchias Walliae eisdem
comitatibus adjacentes "), proved that the Marches were dis-
tinct from the four counties. Bacon demolishes this argument
by showing that the form of Commission dated further back
than the statute of 1536, and was simply copied by the Clerk of
the Crown, though the word " Marches " was quite superfluous
after that date.
On the whole, it seems as if both sides had a strong case ; the
word " Marches " was so ambiguous that it could be taken in
the sense of Border (in which it is employed to this day) or in
the narrow sense of the Marcher Lordships. Those for the
Council took the wide popular sense ;l those against, the narrow
legal sense : and as the two sides differed on this fundamental
question, it is not surprising that the case dragged on to so
unconscionable a length.
The arguments from precedent were entirely on the side of
the Council. Its advocates had not the slightest difficulty in
proving that its jurisdiction had been exercised in the four
counties ever since 18 Ed. IV., and that it had received the
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 143
•support of the Courts of Westminster, the Star Chamber, famous
judges and learned counsel. Another strong argument in the
same sense was the Council's title — viz. the " Council of, or in,
the Marches of Wales," rather than the " Council of Wales "
or "in Wales." Again, as Bacon argues, "the perpetual
resiance and mansion of the Council " was evermore in the
shires, and to imagine that a Court should not have jurisdiction
in the place of its sitting was a thing utterly improbable, " for
they should be tanguani piscis in arido." The only defence
against these contentions was that usage availed nothing against
.an Act of Parliament.
In the third place, much stress was laid on the exemption
of Cheshire on the ground that it formed no part of the Marches
of Wales. The other side, however, easily proved the exemption
to be due to the fact that Cheshire was a county palatine, and
therefore on a different footing from the four counties. In
fact, Bacon turns his adversaries' position by the assertion that
the exemption of Cheshire made the inclusion of the four
counties more certain, inasmuch as exceptio firmat legem in
casibus non exceptis. The example of Bristol proved nothing,
for it was left out of the instructions upon supplication made
to the queen.
The interest of the case lies mainly in this, that the king's
prerogative and the existence of discretionary governments were
conceived to be involved. " Discretionary governments," it was
urged on the one side, " are most dangerous, and therefore the
fewer of them in any state the better." ^ On the other side,
James laid down with emphasis the sweeping doctrine, " All
novelties are dangerous." " I wolde not," he says, " haue you
medle with suche auntient Rightes of myne as I haue receaved
from my predicessors, possessing them more inaioriim. I wolde
bee loathe to bee quarrelled in my auntient rightes and posses-
sions for that were to judge me unworthie of that which my
predicessors had and lefte mee." To James the contention of
the four counties seemed to " savour of particuler men's
Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, 2
144 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
thoughtes." ^ In vain was it attempted to show that the juris-
diction of the Council rested on a Parhamentary basis, and
that the king's prerogative would not be affected by any change.
James came to regard the matter as affecting not himself only,
but also the young Prince of Wales.
The king's views are clearly seen in the most interesting
document of the many relating to this case — viz. the account
of the proceedings on November 3rd, 1608, when all the judges
save one met, with the Privy Council, to decide the long dispute.
The judges were first called upon to say whether the king by
his own prerogative and the statute of 34 H. VIII. could give
power to the Lord President and Council to exercise jurisdiction
within the four counties. They refused to give an answer,
saying that if the case came before them judicially, they would
decide it to the best of their ability. The Lord Chancellor
urged that the matter should be considered as one of State,
and that the judges, being members of the Privy Council, were
sworn to give the king advice when called upon. They con-
tinued silent ; whereupon the Lord Chamberlain went for the
king, " who presently came to the Councell Table and brought
the younge Prince with him whoe was seated upon a stoole by,
but not at, the Table." Once more the judges refused to
answer the question, even when propounded by the king.
James spoke strongly of the hindrance caused to the Lord
President and Council by prohibitions and the prejudicial effect
that the weakening of the Council of the Marches would have
on the Council of the North, the Court of Admiralty, the Court
of Requests, and the Ecclesiastical Courts.
In a long and rambling speech, in which he touched on
Moses and Jethro, the Emperor Constantine, the Picts and Scots,
the Heptarchy, and the growth of the English law Courts, James
emphatically laid down the doctrine that " all lavve is but
voluntas Regis" and "eius est interpretare cuius est condere."
He then turned to the prince, saying, "This conserneth you,
sir, and I hope you will loose no thinge which is yours." Coke,
kneeling before the king, said that the question was one of fact,
' Cottonian MSS., Vitellius, C. i., flf. 134-5
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 145
and ought to come before a jury ; whereon the king " angerly "
replied that judges derived their power merely from the royal
will, and that all this mischief had come about through kings
not sitting in Parliament. " Non doe oppose themselves against
the Jurisdicon of the Councell in the marches but certen high-
headed ffellowes calling them by a Scottish name mountinge
ffellowes, in English swaggeringe ffellowes, such as Harbert Crofte
and others to the number of 3 or 4, whoe because they would
oppresse the meaner people and beare the whole sway of theire
Country without Controulement doe oppose themselves against
government and the state of the King. ... I knowe there
might be wiser Kinges and more vertuous, and yett I knowe I
am noe foole, I came not as a usurper but as a RightfuU Kinge
discended out of the Loines of the Kinges of this Lande, and
what prerogative to mee therein apperteigneth I will hould and
mayntaine to the uttermost."
After this outburst, the Lord Chief Justice and Chief Baron
" swelled soe with anger that Teares fell from them." The
king, remarking by the way that he had unfolded the " True
Lawe of ffree Monarchies," again asked the judges for their
reasons against the jurisdiction. They prayed for time, on the
ground that the question had only just been propounded to
them ; to this the king replied that the question was no longer
new, having been twice debated in his own presence and oftener
before the Lords of the Council. Coke rejoined that he
and his brethren had not debated their answer together, and
wished to avoid the fate of the ancient Britons, who " dum
singuli pugnant, universi vincuntur." After more wrangling
between the king and Coke, the sitting ended with a victory
for the judges, who were given time to reconsider the matter.
The whole account is very typical of James's method of dealing
with constitutional questions.^
The few notices as to the Council's working at this time are
of comparatively little interest. Lord Eure found his allowance
inadequate for his expenses, and in 1609 begged Salisbury for
' From a document among the Bridgewater MSS. (uncalendared in
April, 1903).
10
146 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
;^6oo a year, on the ground that he was compelled to sell his
lands. ^ Tickenhill House and park, as we learn from a letter
about this time, were going into decay, and needed thorough
repairs. 2 Recusancy was still prevalent in the Border counties
and South Wales,^ and we read of proceedings by the President
and Council against Sir John Wynn of Gwydir for various
flagrant acts of oppression. He was fined one hundred marks,
and the king was asked to discharge him from the Council
of the Marches and the lieutenancy of the county.*
In 1611 the Lord President was required to return to the
Privy Council a list of persons within his jurisdiction, capable
of lending money to the king.' A notice of some interest
relates to the free school of Carmarthen. The Earl of North-
ampton wrote to the Justices of Assize, cos. Carmarthen,
Pembroke, and Cardigan, bidding them call on Francis Mansell
to deliver up certain moneys towards the erection of a free
school at Carmarthen and collect a benevolence from those
willing to contribute to so good a work.^ About the same time
the earl wrote to Secretary Calvert expressing his approval of the
petition from the Surveyor of the Crown lands in South Wales
to the king. Waste lands, it is said, that have long been the
resort of thieves and malefactors, and are therefore uninhabited,
a^-e likely to be made useful by the care of the Lord President
in rooting out such persons, and might be advantageously
colonised from England. The petition asks that the Justices
and other resident gentlemen may inquire into the extent and
ownership of the said lands.'^
Another sign of increasing prosperity in Wales at this time
was activity in mining operations. In 1623 the king ordered
the Master and Officers of the Mint that all bullion sent up
from the lately discovered mines of Wales should be coined
' S.P.D., Jas. I., Vol. XLVII. 97, 1609, August 26th.
2 Ibid., Vol. XLVII. 23.
5 Ibid., Vol. XXVIII, 122, Vol. LXVIII. 75, etc.
* Ibid., Vol. LXXXIV. 14.
* Ibid., Vol. LXVII. 102, December 17th, 161 1.
« Ibid., Vol. ex. 46. ' Ibid., Vol. CIX, 108, L, II.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 147
weekly into pieces bearing the arms of the prince, to distinguish
them from other coins. The Lord President and Council, with
others, were authorised to apprehend all persons found encroach-
ing on the mines of Sir Hugh Middleton, in Cardiganshire, from
which he had been able to extract silver and lead to the em-
ployment of many poor and the general benefit of the
kingdom.^
The duties of the Lord President at this time seem to have
been' mainly those of Lord Lieutenant in the counties of Wales
and the Border ; he was expected to supervise the levying of
troops for Ireland and the collection of loans, especially that
of 1626. In January, 1627, a correspondence of considerable
interest began between the Earl of Northampton and the Privy
Council respecting the loan. He apologises for the delay in
sending up certificates, on the ground that the country is
extremely backward ; the inhabitants pretend poverty, the
payment of subsidies, the charge for levies of soldiers, and the
near prospect of a Parliament. Gloucestershire and Hereford-
shire had sent in no answers, and a doubt had arisen whether
the king's letter authorised the earl to require certificates beyond
the Principality of Wales. He had received no help in com-
piling the certificates from Shropshire and Flint, but found " in-
finite difficulty in persuading men to discover the state of the
country." A few days later he wrote again, sending the best
certificates he could from cos. Radnor, Hereford, and Worcester,
and enclosing a letter from the Deputy Lieutenants of Hereford-
shire to the effect that certificates could not be called except
from the counties of Wales. A little later he sends certificates
for Privy Seals for cos. Gloucester, Denbigh, Carmarthen,
Brecknock, Merioneth, and Cardigan, " no small task having so
little assistance." In August of next year the feeling against
the loan was just as strong, for the Justices of Pembrokeshire
wrote to the Privy Council that the gentry and subsidy men
excused themselves from presenting a voluntary supply to His
Majesty on account of the extiaordinary burdens resting upon
them and their diminished means. They add that " it had
' S.P.D., Jas. I., Vol. CLII. 7, 22.
148 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
ministered no small comfort to their hearts, if by course of
Parliament this supply had been added to their former burden,
although thereby they had ever so much needed." ^
In February, 1628, the Earl and Sir John Bridgeman wrote
to the Privy Council an account of their success with the
Commissioners for the Loans in Salop, Herefordshire,
Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire. In the first-named two
counties all the Commissioners had subscribed and paid,
Shrewsbury and Ludlow being specially mentioned. In
Gloucestershire, however, twelve out of the twenty-five had
refused both payment and subscription, and had entered willingly
into bonds of ^40, to appear before the Council of the Marches
within fourteen days after notice. They had been urged to
assist the Commissioners of the hundreds in which they dwelt,
but had refused, saying it was not fit for them to persuade others
to do that which they themselves had in conscience refused to
do. In March the prospect for the loan was no brighter. In
Gloucestershire there had been indifferent success with the
inferior Court, but in other parts of the shire refusals were
increasing. " If some course be not taken," the Earl adds,
"with such as have so boldly denied, the service will suffer."
In the same strain he writes to Secretary Conway that the
gentlemen who are subject to censure or contempt for doing the
king's service clamour for strong measures against the refractory.^
The Privy Council Books preserve some record of cases that
came before the Council of the Marches between 1603 and 1631.
It was still found to be a convenient Court of First Inquiry,
especially in matters where His Majesty's service was specially
concerned or where the ordinary course of law could not be
safely followed. Thus the Privy Council wrote to Lord Eure
asking him to examine into a petition containing allegations of
poisoning, on the ground that there were "suggestions of practise
in the matter," and that an attempt was being made to " blind
' S.P.D., Car. I., Vol. XVIII. 33 (January i ith, i62f ), and 72 (January i6th,
l62f), Vol. XIX. 68 (January 28th, 162?), Vol. XXXIII. 46, August 7th,
1628.
2 Ibid., Vol. LIV., 28 (February 17th, i62|), and Vol. LVI. 12
March 2nd, l62|).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 149
the eyes of justice." ^ Petitions seem now to have been addressed
to the Privy Council rather than to the Council of the Marches,
by no means to the satisfaction of the former body, which must
have found itself overburdened with matters of detail. An
instance is a petition from the late Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in
November, 1618. The examination of the facts is referred to the
Lord President and Council with the remark that the complainant
would have done well to address himself to them first of all.^
Similarly the case of a maimed soldier is referred to the Lord
President, " that the Board may be no further troubled here-
withall." ^ Sometimes, however, the Council of the Marches
was directed not only to examine but to conclude a case — e.g.
the detention of evidences by Lady Vaughan's brother,^ and a
false accusation against the Vicar of Eldersfield in Worcester-
shire.^ That the Privy Council did its best to uphold the
authority of the Council of the Marches may be seen from
the case of Edward Fludd, counsellor-at-law, who had brought
groundless charges against Sir Frances Eure (one of the
members). Fludd was ordered to apologise before the Council
of the Marches and at some place in a county of the North
Wales Circuit at the next General Great Sessions. On his
refusal, he was kept in prison between October, 16x9, and
December, 1620, when, on giving sureties for his submission,
he was promised an order for release.^
For the Trinity Term of the year 161 7 there survives a copy
of an entry book similar to those among the Bridgewater MSS.,
which will be described later. It is prefaced by a summary of
the most important cases heard during the term ; these include
a case of duelling in which the challenger was fined ^200 and
his opponent two hundred marks, and one of abusing the warrants
of the High Commision Court and of the late Lord President
' Council Register, June 27th, 1613 ; cf. August i6th, 1620, and Decem-
ber 2nd, 1629.
- Ibid., November 30th, 1618. ' Ibid., February 26th, 1623.
^ Ibid., July 3rd, 1624. ^ Ibid., September 2ist, 1619.
" Ibid., October 20th, 1619, December 21st, 1619, July 21st, 1620, and
December 29th, 1620.
150 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
touching recusants. In the latter case, say the Councillors,
" wee did (for example to others) censure him to stand on the
Pillorie, and com'itted him to Prison and fined him more
then he is worth, being a fellow of no value." Informations
had been exhibited by the Attorney of the Court against interlude
players on the Sabbath, and against divers persons who had
riotously entered into the house of a rich man lying on his death-
bed. Order had been taken for the preservation of His Majesty's
deer in the Border forests, parks, and chases, and for the
" suppressing of superstitious flocking and resort of your Ma^*
subiects unto Holliewell, comonly called St. Winifred's well."
The summary concludes with the following complacent re-
mark : " Lastlie whereas there haue been two prohibicions
graunted out of your Highnes Bench for Causes dependinge
here, wee haue certeffied your Ma"®^' Judges of the State
of the Causes, whereupon they haue dissolued the prohibitions :
So as now there resteth nether prohibition nor habeas Corpus
dependinge betweene your Highnes Bench and this your
Ma^'®^ Courte. But are at peace and unitie accordinge to
your Ma^i^^ Royall direction." ^
The number of cases heard during the term was 407 ; of
these about 25 per cent, were cases of debt, 14 per cent, of
"affray," 13 per cent, of detaining various articles, especially
bonds, and 11 per cent, of interruption. The other cases are
of much the same character as those quoted later for the years
1632 to 1642. The list certainly justifies the accusation against
the Council that it entertained trifling and frivolous suits, for
among the entries we find, "carrying away of pears," "beating
of a mare," " detaining of cartwheels," and even " detaining of
a kettle."
In 1631 the Earl of Northampton was succeeded in his office by
the Earl of Bridgewater, who had been a member of the Council
of the Marches since 161 7. His tenure of office is noteworthy
for many reasons. It was to celebrate his first public appearance
in the Marches that Comus was first acted at Ludlow on
Michaelmas Day, 1634, in the room which still bears the name
' Brit. Mus. Royal MSS. 18, B. VII., f. 277.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 151
of the Comus Room. He lived to see the Court weakened
by the Long Parliament and overthrown during the Civil War,
and from his retirement at Ashridge in Hertfordshire he heard
of the capture of Ludlow by the Parliamentary troops in 1646.
Lastly, his correspondence has been most carefully preserved
among the Bridgewater MSS., so that more details as to the
cases before the Court of the Marches are extant for the years
1632 to X642 than for any other period. He would seem to
have been an extremely methodical, cautious man, delicate in
health, and anxious to avoid political strife as far as might be.
For the most part he lived at his house at Barbican, and paid
only rare visits to Ludlow, keeping up, however, a constant
correspondence with his steward there, and watching carefully
over the business of the Court.
Among the Bridgewater MSS. calendared for the Historical
MSS. Commission ^ is mentioned, " Entry-book of cases heard
before the Council in Jan. 1631." Two copies of this are
preserved. They are paper books (rather smaller than foolscap
size), sewn together ; one has on the outside, in a contemporary
hand :
BOOKE OF HEARINGS
Hillary Terme
163 1 {i.e. 1632 N.S.)
reci 10° feb. 163 1 {i.e. 1632 N.S.)
In a modern hand below is the note, "Welsh Council Cause
List."
The book contains entries for each day of the term, giving
details in the following order: (i) name of county; (2) names
of plaintiff and defendant : (3) nature of suit ; (4) judgment.
Thus :
Die Veneris xiij'" die Januarii 163 1-2.
Wigorn Humfrey Burleton q I , ,
Anthony Hill ^ [ debt, decree pro q.
Cardigan Richard Morris q I , ,
XT Tj J ' debt, sine die.
Hum: ap Harry d |
' Hist. MSS. Report, XI., App. VII., p. 147,
152 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
At the end of each week is entered the amount of fines
imposed during that week, the sum total being entered at
the end.
The second of the books mentioned in the calendar contains
the counties and names of parties ; but the judgments are not
entered. At the end of each day's list the number of cases is
given. The writing, except in a few instances of corrections,
is not the same as that of the fuller book.
In 1902 a number of entry books similar to these were
transferred from the Bridgewater House library to the office
of the Bridgewater Trust at Walkden. These cover the years
1632 to 1642 : in all they are sixty-one in number, thirty-three
being covered with parchment and tied with blue ribbons, twenty-
eight being paper-covered like those described above. -^ A
perusal of these books furnishes information on several points
connected with the Court.
I. Length of Sessions. — The Hilary Term began, as a rule, in
the second week of January, and ended at some time in the last
week. Lent Term began in the last week of February or the
first of March, and lasted a fortnight. The length of Trinity
Term varied a good deal : once it began as early as June 15 th,
1636, and once as late as July 17th, 1635. ^^ was distinctly
the longest and busiest term, as might be expected ; sometimes
the sitting went on into August — e.g. in Trinity Term, 1635
(July 17th to August 8th). Michaelmas Term beean in the
first week of November, or sometimes in the second, and lasted
for a fortnight or three weeks, sometimes longer, as in 1639, when
the length of sitting was from November 6th to December 3rd.
The average thus would seem to be a fortnight for the Hilary and
Lent Terms, three weeks or more for the Trinity Term, and a
fortnight or three weeks for the Michaelmas Term.
' As a rule the parchment-covered books are written in copying hand,
do not give the judgments, the number of cases, or the totals of fines ;
also they often omit the last few cases. But they give the date of each
suit, which the paper-covered books do not.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 153
2. Number of Cases heard and Amount of Fines imposed. — These
can be most clearly shown by the following table :
Amount
of Fines.
1632.
Hilary Term . .
Trinity Terra . .
I s. d.
607 13 4
1,904 6 8
1633-
Hilary Term . .
330 6 8
Lent Term . .
not stated
Trinity Term . .
1,032 3 4
Michaelmas Term
790
1634.
Hilary Term . .
442 10
Lent Term . . .
1,122 6 8
1635-
1636.
1637.
1638.
1639.
1640.
I64I.
1642.
Trinity Term . . not stated.
For the first week
the amount is
£Zo and for the
second £,'2<^S '^^ ^
Michaelmas Term 1,628 16 8
Hilary Term . . not stated.
Lent Term .
Trinity Term
Michaelmas Term
Hilary Term
Lent Term .
Trinity Term
Michaelmas Term
Hilary Term
Lent Term .
Trinity Term
Michaelmas Term
Hilary Term
Lent Term .
Trinity Term .
Michaelmas Term
Hilary Term
Lent Term . .
Trinity Term ,
Michaelmas Term
Hilary Term
Lent Term .
Trinity Term
Michaelmas Term
Hilary Term
Lent Term .
Trinity Term
Michaelmas Term
Hilary Term
Lent Term .
Trinity Term
1,876 10 o
not stated
891 10 o
1,039 10 o
1,006 6 8
403 o o
880 6 8
not stated
708 o o
1,079 13 4
745 13 4
1,130 6 8
1,015 13 4
1.057 13 4
647 o o
1,907 13 4
617 6 8
773 3 4
594 6 8
not stated
;^3,97i 6 8
A.229 13 4
1,109 3 4
not stated
530 o o
no entry book extant
not stated
no entry book extant
not stated
Number of Cases
as given in Entry Books.
275
502 (should be 506)
(should"
^73 be 267)
24 s
(should
^^^ be 554)
485
, (should'
^46 ije 249)
(should
be 329) ,3^1 or
correctly
1582
1545 or
-correctly
1551
459
545
229
244
418
552
260
271
440
427
278
284
564
524
282
275
496
472
302
318
480
439
318
271
453
441
(not added 1
up in book) I- 1443
(not added
up in
laaea^
book)
i'
I
398
(not added
up in
book) I
1650
[525
1539
(not added >-i483
up in book) |
^ (not added
^ up in book)
294
62
69
154 THE COUxNCIL OF THE MARCHES
It thus appears that in 1638 and 1639 — the only years for
which complete information exists — the fines amounted to
;^3,97i 6^. 8d. and ;^4,229 135-. 4d. respectively. The average
number of cases heard annually for the years 1633 to 1640
inclusive is 1,521. These figures may be compared with a
list in the Bridgewater MSS., giving the number of cases from
the four English shires from October ist, 1608, to March 15th,
161 1 — t'.e. two years and a half.^ The total for October ist, 1608,
to October ist, 1609, is 1,350, and for October ist, 1609, to
October ist, 1610, 3,386 ; while for the half year, October, 1610,
to March 15th, i6ij, it was 1,755. ^^ ^^^ been found on adding
up the cases from the various counties for four terms (Trinity,
1632, and Hilary, Lent, and Trinity, 1633) that the percentage
from the four counties is 41 per cent., 37 per cent., 41 per cent.
and 43 per cent., respectively — i.e. on an average 40 per cent.
If this result can be fairly applied to the year 1609-10, the
total number of suits (from all counties) in that year would be
as high as 8,465, six times that in 1633 to 1640. Or, putting
the matter in another way, the average number of suits from all
counties in 1633 to 1640 was less than half that from the four
counties only in 1609-10, which shows how rapidly the Court had
declined, in spite of all the efforts made to strengthen^it.
3. Nature of the Suits. — The matters before the Court were
still of a varied character, but a large proportion of the suits
were for debt, 67 out of a total of 267 in the Hilary Term of
1633, and 71 out of 245 in the Lent Term of the same year.
The following is the list of cases for Hilary Term, 1633 :
Debt .
67
Wrongful imprisonment
. 6
Affrays .
35
Riot
• 4
Equity .
22
Misdemeanours
3
Interruption .
21
Arrears of rent
2
Agreement
17
Assault .
2
Breach of order or injunction
17
Incontinency .
2
Damages
14
Recovery
2
Not saving harmless
II
Rescue .
2
Detaining goods
.
II
Title
2
„ evidences,
etc.
II
Pound-breach
2
Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, 22.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 155
Unlawful Assembly
Bond .
Combination .
Forgery .
Not repairing a mill
„ bridge
Stopping a watercourse
Killing deer, etc. .
Forfeiture of a bond
Adultery
Oppression
Legacy .
Vexation
Indirect practice
Not sealing a bond
„ „ „ specialty
Stay of action
The list for the Lent Term, 1633, is of much the same
character, including a case of embezzling records, one of unlawful
maintenance, and one of forcible entry.
Several notes occur of cases being referred to the common
law — e.g. twelve in Hilary Term, 1633. The name of the queen's
Attorney in the Marches, Sampson Eure, appears very frequently,
as often as nineteen times in the entry book for Lent Term,
1634. The number of cases heard daily was often twenty or
more. The fines imposed were frequently of small amount —
e.g. ds. Sd. ; for more serious offences the penalty was twenty
nobles, or even, in the case of riot or affray, as much as ;2^io
or j£i5, with costs ; killing a deer was punished more heavily
than affray — viz. by a fine of ;!^io costs and lo^'. damages.
The entry books are certainly of interest, though the reader
is tempted to regret that the information they yield is not of
an earlier date, when the Court was in full vigour.^ During
the Earl of Bridgewater's Presidency an attempt was clearly
made to increase the dignity of the Council in the Marches.
This may perhaps be due to the fact that the parallel jurisdiction
in the North was exercised by a Lord President as vigorous
and determined as Wentworth. In July, 1631, he and the
Earl of Bridgewater proposed that no grant of a place or fine in
' In the Bridgewater MSS., Ludlow Castle Papers, 65, is a reference
to the sending up of the entry books from Ludlow to London — vis. " In
the Book of Cases sent herew'th your Lo'p will find a great number more
then were formerly sent ; the fault is in the clerk, that enters soe many
for th' end of the Terme, w'ch hee ought not to doe ; yet though soe many
were enter'd for hearing, aboue a hundred of them were not proceeded in,
and in w'ch state stand moste of the suites now depending in the Courte."
156 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the Courts under their respective Presidencies should pass the signet
without their receiving notice ; this was carried and notified by
the king to Secretaries Dorchester and Coke.^ Another indication
to the same efifect is the great increase in the membership of the
Council as set forth in the Earl of Bridgewater's Instructions
dated May 12th, 1633. The list includes more than eighty-four
names, among them being twenty-four peers, eleven bishops, and
several justices.^ Incidental notices in the State Papers show
a desire on the part of the king and Privy Council to uphold
the authority of the Council of the Marches as standing or
falling with that of the Star Chamber.^
The Lord President appears prominently from 1635 onwards
as responsible for the levy of ship-money in Wales and the
Border counties. Numerous notices occur in the Council
Registers for these years of complaints of over-assessment and
of reluctance to pay promptly. The sheriffs' letters in the State
Papers (Domestic) throw considerable light on the financial
condition of Wales. Nearly all ask to be excused from paying
the money in person; it was sent up in the summer with the
drovers, who were the only persons travelling regularly between
Wales and London. Several of the Welsh counties — e.g. Car-
marthen — depended entirely on the sale of sheep and cattle in
summer, and money was hard to get at any other time. Very
little gold was in circulation ; the quota for Denbighshire levied
in 1626 (nearly ;j^i,2oo) was collected entirely in silver, and
could not possibly be exchanged there for gold. On the whole,
the collection for the tax before the decision in Hampden's
case was, all things considered, satisfactory from the point of
view of the Government ; afterwards matters were very different,
and complaints and excuses came from all sides.*
' S.P.D., Car. I., Vol. CXCVII. 14 (July 21st, 1631): cf. Ibid., Vol.
CCCXVIII. 32, I., Vol. CCCCLVI. 67.
^ In the Instructions to Lord Zouch the number of Councillors was 46.
» E.g. S.P.D., Car. I., Vol. CCLXXX. 81, and Vol. CCLXXIV. 8.
* Council Register, April 17th, 1635, November 27th, 1636, February 24th,
1637, and August 27th, 1637. S.P.D., Car. I., Vol. CCCLXXXI. 70, and
Vol. CCCCXII. 28 (1638-9) : cf. Phillips, Civil War in Wales, pp. 70-8.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 157
About the year 1637 a controversy respecting jurisdiction arose
between the Court of the Marches and the Prerogative Court
of Canterbury. The immediate cause was the case of Vaughan
V. Vaughan, out of which arose a general question whether the
Court of the Marches was competent to deal with legacies and
other matters in which the Ecclesiastical Courts exercised juris-
diction. The Court of King's Bench issued a prohibition into
the Marches of Wales, on the ground that the case did not
properly lie within this Court's jurisdiction. A vigorous agitation
was carried on, till at last the king took the matter into his
own hands and gave command to the Lord President for respiting
all further proceedings before the Court of the Marches.^
More storms awaited the Court than mere quarrels over
jurisdiction. In November, 1640, the Long Parliament met, with
a firm resolve to redress the grievances that had accumulated
since the dissolution of 1629.- Prominent among these was
the jurisdiction exercised by the Star Chamber and other extra-
ordinary Courts. On December 3rd, 1640, a committee was
appointed to consider the jurisdiction of the High Commission
Court of Canterbury and York and of the Star Chamber.
Within a few weeks after the meeting of Parliament it was
declared that all who had concurred in certain sentences by
the Star Chamber were criminal and to be proceeded against.^
Petitions were frequently presented to Parliament by those who
had suffered heavy sentences in that Court, while all persons im-
prisoned for sedition were set at liberty, that they might prosecute
their appeals to Parliament. The unpopularity of the Court
was shown in a striking manner by the demonstrations of joy,
mingled with indignation, when Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton
returned to London from their island prisons.* It would seem
' Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, 37-9, 46.
- In 1640 the Grand Jury of Worcestershire made a long complaint
against the Court of the Marches, which was given to the M.P.'s for the
county, that it might be brought before Parliament. The text is given on
pp. 684-6 of the Worcestershire County Records (Quarter Sessions Rolls,
Part II.).
* Clarendon History, ed. 1888, Vol. III., pp. 229, 239.
* Ibid., p. 269.
158 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
that at first the regulation, rather than the abolition, of the
Star Chamber was intended. On the suggestion, however, that
a jurisdiction so obnoxious should be abolished outright, the
original Bill was altered, and was reported in its amended form
by Mr. Prideaux on May 31st, 1641.^ Amendments were twice
read, and the Bill was ordered to be engrossed.^ On June 8th
it was read a third time and passed ; next day it was committed
to Hampden to be carried up to the I>ords.'
The Star Chamber Bill and that for abolishing the High
Commission Court were discussed together by the Lords ; they
agreed to the latter, but not to the former, wishing only a
limitation of the jurisdiction. Several conferences on the subject
took place between the two Houses, and it was not till July 5th,
1 64 1, that both the Bills received the royal assent.^ The
abolition of the Star Chamber was grounded on various statutes,
from Magna Carta downwards, upholding processes at common
law; on the exercise of powers not warranted by the Act of
1487, and on the burdensome and arbitrary character of the
Court. The like jurisdiction in the following Courts was abolished
at the same time : The Court before the President and Council
in the Marches of Wales ; the Court before the President and
Council estabhshed in the northern parts; the Court of the
Duchy of Lancaster ; the Court in the Exchequer of the County
Palatine of Chester. Stringent provisions were added against
the setting up again of any of the abolished jurisdictions.^
Meanwhile, a special committee had been appointed on
' Verney's Notes on the Long Parliament (Camden Societ}'), pp. lOO-l.
' Journals of the House of Commons, II. 162.
■"Ibid., II. 171.
^ For the detailed history of the Act see " The Diurnall Occurrences or
Dayly Proceedings of both Houses in this Great and Happy Parliament "
(November 3rd, 1 640, to November 3rd, 1641), under the following dates :
December 5th, 1640, January I2th, May 15th and 31st, June 9th, June 14th,
June 2ist, 25th, 28th, 29th, July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 1641 : cf. Lord Andever's
speech concerning the Star Chamber (March, 1641); in Speeches and
Passages of this Great and Happy Parliament (London, 1641) ; also Journals
of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, 1640- 1 passim.
'■' 16 Car. I., c. 10.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 159
Wednesday, December 23rd, 1640, to consider the jurisdiction
of the Court of York and the Court of the Council of the
Marches. Of this committee Hyde was chairman,^ and brief
minutes of its meetings, or rather its adjournments, are extant
among the Clarendon Papers in the Bodleian. The members
were fifteen in number, in addition to the knights and burgesses
for the counties of York, Northumberland, Cumberland,
Westmoreland ; the burgesses of Berwick and Newcastle ; the
knights and burgesses of the thirteen counties of the Principality
of Wales and of the four shires, the Marches of Wales, and
•all the lawyers of the House. ^ They were empowered to
consider : (i) the jurisdiction of the two Courts and how far
the thirteen shires of Wales were subject to the jurisdiction of
the Court of the Marches ; and (2) the original foundation and
institution of the Courts and their several instructions. They
had power to send for parties, witnesses, papers, books, and
records, or anything else that might conduce to the business
in hand, and were to report their conclusions to the House.
The first meeting was fixed for Thursday week, December 31st,
at two o'clock in the Court of Wards. No record of a meeting
occurs on that date, but there are notices of adjournment on
March 6th, March 8th, and March 13th; on the last-named
date it was arranged that the counsel for the thirteen counties
should attend on the Thursday following. On March i6th, i8th,
and 19th, and on June 4th there were more adjournments.
Under date June 28th are some fragmentary notes headed
" Mr. Ball," evidently arguments in favour of the jurisdiction of
the Court of the Marches.' The gist is that the Court is both
legal and useful ; that the district within its jurisdiction is subject
to disorders, forcible entries, and so forth ; that the Justices
in the Great Sessions cannot determine matters of equity ; that
concurrent jurisdictions in law are not useless ; that the Court
is not burthensome ; and that its process may be reformed.
The last entry is on June 19th, 1641 :
' Clarendon's Life, ed. 1759, folio, pp. 39-40.
^ Clarendon Papers, No. 1475, f. i.
' Ibid., 1538.
i6o THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
" Resolved upon the questyon
" I. The iurisdiction of the Courte of the President and Counsell
of the Marches of Wales as it is now exercised is a
grievance to the subjects of those partes.
"2. That the Courte of y® President and Counsell of the Marches
of Wales is uselesse to the Subiects of the 13 Countyes
and fitt to be taken away by Bill."
The general drift of the proceedings against the two Courts
is described in Clarendon's Life ^ : " He was Chairman ... in that
Committee which was against the Court of York, which was
prosecuted with great passion, and took up many weeks' Debate :
In that which concerned the Jurisdiction of the Lord President
and Council of the Marches of Wales, which likewise held a long
time, and was prosecuted with great Bitterness and Animosity : In
which the Inhabitants of the four neighbour counties of Salop,
Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester and consequently the Knights
and Burgesses which served for the same were passionately
concerned to absolve themselves from the burthen of that Juris-
diction ; and all the Officers of that Court and Council, whereof
some were very great men and held Offices of great value,
laboured with equal Passion and Concernment, to support and
maintain what was in Practice and Possession ; and their Friends
appeared accordingly."
Full details as to the proceedings of the above committee and
the agitation against the Court of the Marches are preserved in
the Welsh Council Papers among the Bridgewater MSS. On
March 20th, 1641, a warrant was issued by the committee to
the keeper of the Council records, at Ludlow Castle, requiring
him to permit the bearer or bearers to search the records and
take notes and copies without fee. The bearers were four — two
barristers, the Under-Sheriff of Herefordshire, and an attorney
in the King's Bench ; they continued their search between
March 30th and April ist.^ A second search was made in
May, as related in a letter from Thomas Crumpe, the Clerk
Examiner of the Court. A certain Mr. Kinaston was empowered
' Clarendon's Life, ed. 1759, pp. 39-40.
^ Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, 71, 32.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES i6i
by a warrant (signed by Mr. Edward Hyde) to search the records.
Kinaston and his colleague were paid every day for their "paines
and travell " at the cost of over forty persons, who had subscribed
for the purpose. The strength of the opposition to the Court
is shown by a letter from E. Martyn to the Earl of Bridgewater
in September, 1641 : "the opposers therof are daily in these
parts consulting and collecting moneyes to effecte their ends,
when some here who are neerly concern'd in their particular
interest in y® Courte, will not joyne in y^ like waye to make
defence w*''^ maye be to their owne advantage."
All through 1641 the position of the Court was most pre-
carious : several affidavits are extant of rescues and misdemeanours
committed during the execution of process. On one occasion
two special bailiffs, who vainly tried (August 17th, 1641) to arrest
one Robert Ruffe and bring him before the Court at Ludlow,
were assaulted by a crowd of forty persons, men and women,
armed with staves, reaping-hooks, and other weapons. One of
the bailiffs " was stricken with a stone on his Backe, and was
sore hurt and bruised thereby," and " with the violence of the
saide Blowe was astonied and amazed." ^ Orders of the Court
were neglected, not in the four shires only, but in the Principality
as well, and the Councillors wrote to the Lord President that un-
less the king intervened their authority would disappear entirely.*
The Bill abolishing the Star Chamber by no means did away
with the Court of the Marches entirely : as a civil Court it
continued till the outbreak of the war, and as such it was
revived at the Restoration. But the blow struck by the Act of
July, 1641, was followed up by a vote of the House of Commons
that the Court's jurisdiction in the four shires was illegal and
unwarranted. On August 6th a committee was formed for the
" Bill of exemption of the Four Shires " ; it consisted of twenty-
three peers, spiritual and temporal, and Mr. Baron Henden and
Mr. F. Mallett were to attend on them. They were to meet and
hear counsel on August 24th, but nothing appears to have been
settled.^ Early in September Richard Heylyn, the Earl of
' Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, 67.
- Ibid., 28. = Ibid., 56.
i62 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Bridgewater's chaplain, wrote to him that ;z^ioo was to be ex-
pended by the four counties on securing their exemption, and
that only the Shropshire quota remained unpaid.^ Thomas
Milward, writing to the earl about a week later, reported that
there was a talk of repealing the statute of 34 H. VIII., which
confirmed the Council's jurisdiction. He adds that " many
disorderly persons (presuming of impunitie) doe daylie com'itt
outrages in theise partes, not onely abroade uppon y^ service of
y^ proces of this Court, but also about y* celebracion of divine
service and that in the Church in the time of prayer, w''^ I hope
the Court of Parliament will in due time take into consideracion."^
The result of the resolution, taken by members of the Council
at Ludlow, not to meddle with the four counties and to act as
cautiously as possible even in regard to Welsh suits,^ is seen in
the Books of Hearing for Michaelmas Term, 1641, and Trinity
Term, 1642,* the last terms for which these books are extant.
During the Michaelmas Teriji, which lasted from November 12th
to December 2nd, the total number of cases is only 62 as against
441 in the corresponding term of 1640. Many pages in the
book are left blank, and the amount of fines levied is not stated.
In the Trinity Term of 1642 (June 13th, to 27th) the number of
suits was 69 as against 453 in the corresponding term of 1640 :
here again the fines are omitted. It may be of interest to state
the nature of these 69 cases and the counties in which they
arose.
Trinity Term, 1642.
Nature of suit.
Debt
Breach of order
No. of
cases.
. 23
. 10
Counties. ^a^f
Anglesey . . . . i
Brecon 15
Equity .
Detaining goods .
Interruption .
Damages
. 9
. 6
• 5
• 3
Cardigan . . . .10
Carmarthen .... 2
Carnarvon .... 3
Denbigh .... 7
Carried forward 56
Carried forward 38
• Bridgewater MSS.
2 Ibtd., 62.
Welsh Council Papers, 59. ^ Ibid., 74.
* See above.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 163
Nature of suit.
No. of
Counties.
No. of
cases.
cases.
Brought forward
56
Brought forward
. 38
Not saving harmless
2
Glamorgan
. 4
Rent ....
2
Merioneth
I
Alimony
Monmouth
. 6
Fees and disbursements
Montgomery .
. 6
Forfeiture of bond .
Pembroke
• 3
Not performing an agreement
Radnor .
. 8
Not satisfying a recovery
Recovery
Salop (q), Brecon (d) ^
I
Relief ....
Wig. (q), Mont, (d)
I
Stay of action
Hereford
I
Title ....
Total
69
69
These figures show clearly that the great bulk of the business
of the Court had arisen within the Border counties.
During the spring of 1642 an attempt was made to overthrow
the Court entirely, as useless and injurious not only to the
inhabitants of the four counties, but even to those of the
Principality. The light in which the jurisdiction was now re-
garded may be seen from "The Grievances of His Majesties
Subjects residing within the Principality of Wales in respect of
the Court of the Council of the Marches of Wales." 2 The
articles deal with the grievances of the Welsh by being subject
to a two-fold jurisdiction, being often summoned by writs to
appear in Ludlow and London on the same day ; also with the
unwarrantable extension of the Court's jurisdiction at the expense
of the Common Law Courts. On April 19th, 1642, the Earl of
Bridgewater wrote to Mr. Richard Lloyd that the matter of the
Council seemed to be urgent and to demand the presence of
some one acquainted with its procedure. He himself was a
prisoner to his house, Lord Goring was occupied elsewhere, and
there was a danger "lest there might be alierius silentiuvi in
' I.e. plaintiff and defendant.
- A broadsheet in the volume Declarations, Letters, etc., 1626-89 (Brit.
Mus. 190, g. 13,236). The date is given in the catalogue as 1665 (?), but the
words in clause 14 as to the abolition of the Star Chamber point rather to
the autumn of 1641 or the spring of 1642.
i64 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the proceedinge." ^ He begs Lloyd to take the matter into his
serious consideration, and concludes with the words, '■'■ Liberaui
animam tneam and I can say no more." Lloyd replied that he
was obliged to be on circuit, and that the matter of the Court
could not come up for discussion within six months at least,
"the matters of highest, most publick and generall Concerne-
ment being in soe serious agitation as nowe they are."^
Among the Bridgewater Papers is an interesting document
headed, "Provisions for a Court to be established in Wales, etc.,
1 64 1. "3 It is a scheme for establishing a Court of Law at
Ludlow to take the place of the Court of the Council of the
Marches, and to supplement the deficiencies of the Court of
Great Sessions, which meets only twice a year with an inadequate
number of judges. The writer urges that thereby the four
counties will be benefited by having cases decided at home,
while the Welsh would rather forego their legal rights than travel
to London, "beinge for want of being able to speake English
disheartened to travell farr, more then the Northern men." The
proposed Court would be free from all the objections raised
against the Court of the Marches as arbitrary and not conform-
able to old law and the Great Charter, and it would save Wales
and the Marches from relapsing into disorder. It would also
prevent the oppression of the poor. "Wales," says the writer,
" consists for the most parte of greate Lordships which heretofore
were Lordships Marchers, many parishes which enioyed Lardge
ffranchises and iura regalia, the Characters of which remain in
Claymes of soe great Hberties that it is an occasion and Culler
of oppressinge the poorer sorte whose Complaints must be heard
and that when they are oppressed by the Officers of the Llords
the poorer sorte will suffer that oppression that will ruyne them."
This document is accompanied by one of like tenor entitled
the "Concerments of Honor and advantage to the Kinge and
Prince by this forme of Government." The passage of most
interest deals with the need of providing more speedy justice
than is attainable at Westminster. No Chancery suit, it is said,
' Welsh Council Papers, 19. - Ibid., 16; cf. 20.
3 Ibid., 63.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 165
could be brought to hearing within two years, and the other Courts
were no speedier. Matters would be even worse now that the
Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission and the Council of
the North were abolished, while the Court of Requests would
soon be reduced in the extent of its jurisdiction. All men would
bring their suits to Westminster, with the result of great delay
and expense and the excessive increase of the City of London.
" It is a Consideracion not to be neglected to prevent the growth
of the Cittye of London, w'^'^ is growne monstrous in numbers
of People and hard to be governed. Which must be reformed
by preventinge of the Concourse of people, one goode meanes
whereof is the distribucion of Courts of Justice into seuerall
partes." Experience in Wales had shown how much the
neighbourhood of a Court of Justice can do towards the
"reducing and civilizing" of a people, "and howe apt Wales
would be to fall into their auntient wonted Rapines is apparant
to those that knowe the extreame povertye of the Common people,
the extreame oppression of the Gentrye, and how little the pre-
sence of two Justices that be practisers of Lawe at Westm'r will
avayle, to whom the Gentrye can make their owne accesse and
applicacion and where they will meete with haughtie spiritts
and subtile witts." The only objection to the continuance
of the Court is that raised by the gentlemen and great men
who are "eclipsed in their firmament"; but this is really an
argument for the Court, for "an Emphaticall trueth it wilbe
found out to be : That by how much the more the Gentry
dislike y° neighbourhood of a Courte of Justice, by soe much
the more it will behoove the Prince and Common People re-
spectively to assert it."
Within a few months the Civil War broke out, and the Court
of the Marches fell into abeyance. The Lord President was
joint Commissioner of Array for Flintshire, Denbighshire, and
Merionethshire in May, 1643 ; but soon afterwards he withdrew
to his house at Ashridge, Hertfordshire, where he died on
December 4th, 1649.
CHAPTER VI
THE REVIVAL OF THE COUNCIL AT THE RESTORATION.
ITS ABOLITION IN 1689
At the Restoration the Court of the Council of the Marches was
revived with respect to its civil jurisdiction, which was held to be
untouched by the Star Chamber Act of 1641. The revival seems
to have been due partly to the need of lucrative offices wherewith
to reward loyal adherents to the king during the late wars. But
besides this, there was a desire for the re-establishment of a
Court near Wales, in which small suits might be settled, so as
to make the long and expensive journey to London unnecessary.
A statement of the case for the Court is given by Sir R. Lloyd
in his " Reasons far settling y^ Court and Coun" in Wales,"
June, 1 66 1. After reviewing its history and the various attempts
to secure exemption from its jurisdiction, he points out the
advantages it offered to both king and people. It secured " an
entire command of seventeen Counties ready uppon all occasions
as the last king found in the beginning of the late warrs." It
furnished a place of residence for the Prince of Wales when
absent from the king's Court ; it was " a great settlement of
the peace of those Counties where different jurisdictions and
different languages border," and if it were permanently abolished
failure of justice would result.^ About the same time petitions
in favour of the Court were sent up from the four Border counties,
bearing in all nearly three thousand signatures. Several of the
petitioners were evidently illiterate persons, as is shown by their
" marks " ; but among those who signed were the Mayor of
' S.P.D., Car. II., Vol. XXXIX., No. 39.
166
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 167
Evesham, the Bailiff of Bewdley, Tho. Washbourne, Doctor of
Divinity, and a number of clerks. The text of the petition was
as follows :
"To THE King's most Excellent Ma"^
" The humble Petition of your Ma" loyall and ffaithfuU
subiectes of the Marches of Wales and more especially of the
County, City, and County of the City of Gloucester, whose names
are hereunto subscribed and in the severall Schedules hereunto
annexed mentioned.
" Most humbly shewinge unto your Royall Maiesty That yo"
Petitioners beinge sensible of the great want of yo' Ma**^^ Court
of the Councell in the Marches of Wales, beinge established by
your Ma*'®® royall Ancestors with the advise of their privy
Counsell and alsoe by severall acts of Parliament, not onely for the
quiet and peaceable goverment of the Principality of Wales and
Marches of the same, but alsoe for the good and ease of Your
People of the same parts and that They should not be oppressed
nor inforced to appeare at the Courts at Westminster upon ordinary
Causes (except for Trialls of Titles of Land). In w'ch your
Ma*" said Court of the Marches of Wales your Petitioners had
speedy Justice at very easy Charges in Comparison of the Courts
at Westminster and were not Compelled to travaile farre from
home and might then peaceably till their Land and use their
good husbandry, and follow their other occasions, the said Court
of the Marches of Wales beinge much nearer to them than Those
at Westm'.
" And yo' Petitioners findinge That the Charges of the Courts at
Westminster are soe great That Three Causes (at the least) haue
beene heard and Judicially determined in That Court of the
Marches of Wales at farre lesse Charge then One Cause can be
tryed in any of the Courts at Westminster.
" Your Petitioners therefore most humbly beseech yo"" Maiesty
to take the Premisses into your royall Consideration, And that the
said Court in the Marches of Wales may be rs-estabUshed and
i68 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Continued as formerly It hath beene for the good of your
Mat^ Subiects and People inhabitinge Those parts,
" And yo'' Petitioners will ever pray for yo'' Maiesties longe,
happy and prosperous Raigne over Them and Allother yo'^
Mat's Subiects."
This petition is signed by eighty-six persons ; another copy is
signed by ninety-one. From Worcester city and county came 683
signatures, from Shropshire 434, and from Hereford city and
county 1,649. The total number of signatures is thus 2,943.^
The petitions were promoted by one Thomas Harurn and
his friend Richard Phillips, as is shown by the following letter :
*' Sonne Phillips,
"Your ffortnights limittation hath obstructed a larger
Returne of Subscriptions then the Petitions inclosed (w'ch are but
Two) containe. I haue severall others abroad and expect their
Returne w'ch I send unto you as They come in. Take these
the while de bene esse. And yf longer time may be given and
yf yt be required, send me word. That I may gett subscriptions
accordingly : ffor I am Confident (had I but longer time) I
could procure Two Thousand hands more. The Countrey doth
soe generally desire the reestablishment of The Court in the
Marches of Wales. Those few subscriptions are from Inhabitants
in or not farr from the City of Gloucester, Let me heare from
you by the next Post, what is further to be done. And soe with
my hearty well wishes for good successe in the proceedinges,
with my respective salutes to yo'r selfe, I rest and am
" Yo'r ffather and Constant Lo : ffriend
" Tho. Harurn.
" Colledge Greene in
Glouc' City, Munday
7" Clocke nocte 17 Junii " Reed. 19 Junii 61
1 661. I hor. p. raer.
pd Post I^ 6"i."
» S.P.D., Car. II., Vol. XXXIX.. Nos. 39-47. The totals given in the
MS. are not always correct; once 153 is given instead of 147.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 169
Addressed —
" To his very lovinge ffriend Mr. Richard Phillips
at his Chamber at the Bull-head neare St. Dunstans
Church in ffleet-street
" London.
" These
" Present." ^
Even during 1660 grants of offices in the Court were promised
or actually made. Before Charles left Breda, he received from
John Butts, of the Inner Temple, a petition for the office of
examiner in consideration of services rendered during the late
wars. He had served the late and present king ever since
Charles I.'s first journey to the North, and had raised a troop
of horse and foot at his own cost. Through this, and through
taking part in the second Civil War (at Colchester), he had been
debarred from practising as a lawyer, and had also lost a con-
siderable office in Wales and the Marches.^ The reply, signed
by Secretary Nicholas, is that the king cannot confer the desired
office at present, but will do so when the Court is re-established.
The actual grant was not long delayed — only till September,
1660.3
In January, 1661, however, a certain John Bissell petitioned
for the same office, on the plea that he had suffered great
loss during the war, twenty-six houses belonging to him at
Worcester having been burnt down.^ Upon this, Mr. Butts
sent up a statement of his own merits and losses, in great resent-
ment at his rival's attempt " to take the bread out of his mouth." ^
He details how he attended the late king at York, led a troop
of foot from Glamorganshire into Bristol, lost his books and
goods in the Temple and his office as Auditor of the Signet in
the Marches of Wales. It does not appear whether Bissell was
successful in his attempt.
' S.P.D., Car. II., Vol. XXXVII., No. 69.
2 Ibid., Vol. CCXX., Nos. 112, 113 (1660).
^ Ibid., Vol. XVI., p. 279, No. 97.
* Ibid., Vol. XXIX., p. 495, No. 88,
5 Ibid., No. 89, II.
170 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
In August, 1660, John Daulbin received a grant of the office
of " Clerk and Receiver of Fines adjudged and taxed before the
President of the Council in the Principality and Marches of
Wales," with a fee of ;^^o per annum.^ In January, 166 1, the
warrant was issued for a grant to Richard, Lord Vaughan, Earl
of Carbery, of the office of President of the Council in the
Principality and Marches of Wales.^ The grant was duly made,
and soon afterwards the earl formally requested that no grant
of any office in the Council of the Marches of Wales might pass
without his privity. In September, 1661, a proclamation was
issued declaring that the President and Council established and
continued in the Principality and Marches of Wales had full
power to determine causes and complaints there, and that its
orders were to be implicitly obeyed.^
During the past year instructions for the Lord President
and Council had been prepared ; they were examined by the
Attorney-General Palmer on February nth, and signed by the
king on September 9th, 1661.^ In the same month a warrant
was issued to the receivers of North and South Wales to pay
the Lord President ^£1,106 13^. 4^. a year for the diet of
himself and the Council, and for " foreign expenses " from
January 2nd, 1661.^ The Lord President was also appointed
in this year Keeper of the Game in the Principality of Wales
and the four Border counties, and in 1665 was made Constable
of Ludlow Castle. An outward sign of the re-erection of the
Court was the engraving of its seal — the size of a twenty-shilling
piece — by Thomas Simon, the king's engraver.^ Other offices
* S.P.D., Car. II., Vol. XI., p. 212, No. 104.
2 Ibid., Vol. XXVIII., p. 465, Nos. 8, 9.
= Ibid., Vol. XLV., p. 99, No. 41 (Proclamation Collection, p. 97).
* Ibid., Vol. XLI., p. 86, No. 31.
5 Ibid., Vol. XLI., p. 91, No. 65.
* Ibid., Vol. XLIII., p. 121, No. 94. The seal is engraved on p. 189
of Clive's History of Ludlow. It bears the royal arms and the legend
CAROLVS II. D.G. MAG. BRIT. FRA. ET. HIB. REX. F.D. On either
side of the crown (which is surmounted by the three ostrich-plumes) are
the initials C.R. The remaining legends are : " Honi soit qui mal y pense"
and " Concilium Marchiar." On p. 149 Clive gives an engraving of the
Sword of State of the Lords President from the original, which is in the
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 171
granted about this time were those of Clerk of the Billets,
Secretary to the Council, Remembrancer, Wardrobe Keeper,
Solicitor, Receiver of Answers, Registrations, Rejoinders, etc., and
Serjeant-at-arms.^ New members were also appointed — e.g. Sir
Gilbert Cornewall, Robert Charlton of Whitton, Robert Milward
(Justice of the Sessions for cos. Carnarvon, Merioneth, and
Anglesey), John Walcott of Walcott, and Robert Roberts. ^
On February 20th, 1661, it was ordered that the Earl of
Carbery and such gentlemen as were concerned in behalf of
the four counties of Worcester, Gloucester, Hereford, and Salop,
with their counsel if they pleased, should attend at the Council
Board on February 22nd, to settle the matter of the said
Presidency. The Lord Chief Justices of the King's Bench,
Common Pleas, and Exchequer, with His Majesty's Counsel
learned in the law, were desired to contribute their assistance at
the same time. No record of a meeting appears under the date
February 22nd; and the matter did not come up till July loth,
when that day week was appointed for discussing the jurisdiction.
The Lord President, the three Chief Justices, the Attorney- and
Solicitor-General and Serjeants-at-Law were to attend and uphold
the Council's jurisdiction ; those who opposed it were likewise
to attend. It does not appear from the Council Register that
this meeting ever took place. But on August 24th, 1661, it was
ordered that the instructions relating to the re-establishment of
the " Court of the presidency of Wales " should be prepared by
the committee appointed thereunto, and that they should be
drawn up according to the words of the Statute of the thirty-
fourth year of Henry VIH. — viz. for Wales and the Marches.^
The new Lord President had served in the Civil War as
Lieutenant-General of the royal army in the counties of
possession of the Earl of Powis, hereditary Governor of Ludlow Castle.
Models of the sword and seal are in the Ludlow Museum.
' S.P.D., Car, II., Vol. XXIX., p. 496, No. 92; Vol. XLIV.,p. 163, No. 140,
and p. 164, No. 141 ; Vol. LVIIL, p. 462, No. 56 ; Vol. LXIV., p. 586, No. 42 ;
VoL LXVIL, p. 20, No. 88; and Vol. XL., p. 66, No. 61.
- Ibid., Vol. XLIIL, p. 370, No. 46, and p. 436, No. 45 ; Vol. LVL, p. 408,
No. 61 ; and Vol. LXXII., p. 118, No. 21.
' Council Register (under dates above-mentioned).
172 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Carmarthen, Pembroke, and Cardigan, but had resigned his
command on being driven out of Pembrokeshire by Major
General Langharne in March, 1644. He was threatened with
impeachment, and assessed as a delinquent, but escaped seques-
tration through his intimate relations with Essex and other
Parliamentary generals. During the Second Civil War he sided
with the Parliament. He gained the favour of Cromwell, and
received from him a present of stags for his park at Golden
Grove. Carbery was in no great repute with the Royalists ; his
career is touched upon in a pungent document (date about 1661)
entitled,^ "A true character of the Deportment for these 18
years last past of the principal Gentry within the Counties of
Carmarthen, Pembroke and Cardigan in South Wales." The
writer remarks that although the troops under his command far
outnumbered those of his opponents, he made no resistance,
"some attributing it to a suspected naturall cowardize, others to
a designe to be overcome." However this may be, Carbery
deserves the gratitude of posterity for the shelter he gave during
many years to Jeremy Taylor, his chaplain, at Golden Grove in
' This is printed in the Cambrian Register, Vol. I., p. 164, et seqq. A few
extracts may serve to show the intense indignation with which the Royalists
regarded those who had made any compromise with the other side — e.g.
Roger Lort is described as being " of any principle or religion to acquire
wealth ; he fortified and defended his house against the parliament's sea-
men ; but in preservation of no cause but his own. Hugh Peters was his
welcome guest as long as Hugh was welcomed by Cromwell. Hugh had
no sooner lost the one than the other." Sir Richard Price was "a young
gentleman not of full age the tyme that the discovery of principles was
most dangerous]; and it'is conceived he hath not as yet any that he is too
much obliged unto. He ranne through several publique offices under all
the governments that have been from 1652 to this time ; but probably more
by the direction of his father-in-law Mr. Bulstrode Whitlocke, then by
his own desires." John Vaughan is " one that will upon fitts talke loud
for monarchy ; but scrupulous to wet his finger to advance it." Henry
Vaughan is characterised as " anything for money, a proselyte and favorite
to all the changes of times, a sherif for his late Majesty, afterwards for
Cromwell, justice of peace under each, tyrant in power, mischievous by
deceit : his motto qui nescit dissimulare nescit vivcre." Sampson Lort had
" nothing of his first namesake but the Jawes, and hath with that destroyed
as many ministers as the other Philistines, both for the same ends ; hates
the cliurch, hugges the profits of it."
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 173
Carmarthenshire. Here Taylor wrote the " Great Exemplar,"
the "Holy Living" and "Holy Dying," and the "Manual of
Devotions," to which, as a compliment to his patron, he gave
the title of Golden Grove. Carbery also befriended Samuel
Butler, the satirist, who wrote the first part of Hudibras when
secretary and steward at Ludlow Castle. It is a curious coin-
cidence that the patron of Butler, the anti-Puritan poet, should
be also the husband of Lady Alice Egerton, the pupil of Milton's
friend Henry Lawes.
Carbery seems to have paid close attention to the business of
the Court, such as it was, and in some matters he successfully
asserted its jurisdiction over even the four English shires.^
One of his first duties as Lord President was the repair of
Ludlow Castle, which had suffered severely during the Civil
War. In November, i66r, a warrant was issued to pay him
;!^2,ooo on account for repairs and furniture, and in June, 1662,
another for ;/^2,5oo.^ It would appear that considerable sums
in addition to the above were allotted for the same purpose. A
petition sent up to Lord Arlington by Thomas Hunton, Wardrobe
Keeper to the Council of the Marches, complains that though
these large sums for repairs and furniture had been received,
the earl had put in old household stuff, neglected the repairs,
and kept only half the soldiers paid for. It was further alleged
that though he was allowed ;^3,ooo a year for the household,
he did not expend ;!^4oo ; the servants were allowed only one
meal a day, and the Court was brought into such contempt that
whereas twenty cases daily used to be tried, only one was tried
in five days. Other allegations in a second petition, July, 1670,
were that the earl withheld the diet and salary of his chaplain,
neglected to keep a steward, and had converted to his own use
the plate and other goods provided by the king for Ludlow
Castle.^ Both petitions were referred to certain members of
the Council in the Marches for consideration, and in August, 1670,
at a meeting of the Privy Council, where the earl himself was
' Hist. MSS. Commission, 5th Report, p. 338.
= S.P.D., Car. II., Vol. XLIV., p. 163, No. 140, and Vol. LVI., p. 402, No. S5-
' Ibid., July, 1670 (Cal., p. 355).
174 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
present, it was stated that he had acted in his office as a person
of honour and integrity. The petitioners were dismissed, and the
earl was left to prosecute them in order to right himself as
he should think fit.^
The Lord President, being lieutenant of seventeen counties,
had, as in earlier days, certain military duties to perform. As
Constable of Ludlow Castle, he commanded the company of
foot kept there to protect the militia money for Wales and
certain jewels and plate.^ He was also regarded as the proper
person to be informed of any threatened disturbances in Wales
and the Border. Thus in March, 1664, Lord Herbert wrote that
Ludlow and Philip Jones, the Protector's late counsellor, had
been with twelve servants at Welshpool, had " talked knowingly "
of Wales, and proposed to go to Ludlow town. As the Lord
President was in London, Secretary Bennet was to be informed
should anything important arise.^
With regard to the actual work done by the Court at this
time hardly any evidence survives, but it must have been small.
Its jurisdiction over the four counties was not allowed, as is
seen by a statement endorsed " Marquis of Worcester's Paper "
1672.* This shows that the Earl of Carbery consented to
have the four counties omitted in his patent, to please the Earl
of Clarendon, thinking they would be comprehended under the
word " Marches." Clarendon had, it will be remembered, taken
a leading part in the attack on the Court in 1 640-1. The Court
at Westminster struck at the jurisdiction of the Council in the
Marches by issuing prohibitions.
References to the Court at this, the closing period of its exist-
ence, are for the most part mere records of offices granted and
disputes between their holders.^ Occasionally, however, notices
of greater interest occur — e.g. the Earl of Carbery was directed
to examine into a charge of misdemeanours against the ex-Mayor
' Council Register, December loth, 1669, and August 5th, 1670.
- S.P.D., Car. II., Vol. CXX., p. 347, No. 46, May 4th, 1665.
3 Ibid., Vol. XCV., p. 532, No. 63, March 28th, 1664.
* Ibid. (Vol. December, 1671, to March, 1672), p. 218 [March?], 1672.
^ Ibid. (1670), pp. 297, 339, 367, and Council Register, March 15th, and
April 5th, 1671.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 175
of Haverfordwest and other persons.^ It was also his duty
to entertain persons of distinction visiting the Principality : for
example, in the summer of 1669 he entertained the Duchess of
Ormond and her retinue at Golden Grove for two or three days.
She was then conducted by him and the chief gentry of
Carmarthen to Brecknock, and entertained there with a hand-
some banquet before pursuing her journey to London.^
The earl seems to have been far from popular; in addition
to the complaints of malversation brought against him by
Hunton, we find him accused of abusing his power in oppressing
subjects, taking revenge on those who would not obey his
arbitrary commands, placing his kinsmen in office, and obstruct-
ing justice.^ The earl, on the other hand, regarded himself as
badly treated, and wrote in a lamentable strain to the king,
begging for relief, lest his family want bread.* In 1672 he was
removed from office, partly owing to his maltreatment of his
servants and tenants at Dryslwyn, near Golden Grove, " some
of whom had their eares cut of, and one his tongue cut out and
all dispossessed." ^ He is characterised by the acrimonious
writer above quoted as " a fit person for the highest publique
employment, if integrity and courage were not suspected to be
often faylinge him " ; nor do the records of his Presidency belie
this veiy damaging description,
Carbery's successor was the Marquis of Worcester, whose
' Council Register, Febuary 17th, 167 1.
- S.P.D., Car. II. (October, 1668, to December, 1669), p. 410, July 14th,
1669.
3 Ibid. (Vol. 1665-6), p. 31, No. 87, Vol. CXXXV., October 26th, 1665.
* Ibid. (December, 1671, to May, 1672), p. 218.
^ Hatton Correspondence, I. 70. Spurrell, Carmarthen, p. 1 18, and art. in
Diet. Nat. Biog. In the Dovaston MS,, f. 191, b. 7, is a copy of "A remon-
strance of the Justices in Ordinarie in the Marches of Wales to the Right
Hon'"'^ the Lord President of the Council." The ^writer says that the Lord
President has usurped authority over the household and made profit out
of it, carrying the king's plate and linen off to Golden Grove, " a thing
never heard of." Worse still, " command has been given to search the
lodgings to see if we have any of the King's goods there, and to bring them
away, and our servants slandered and abused, and some of them by the
Lady s order commanded out of the house ; it is well she cannot carry the
Castle with her."
176 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
appointment was dated March igth, 1672. In 1682 he was
made Duke of Beaufort, and two years later, in the summer of
1684, he made a state journey through his Presidency. This
"Beaufort Progress" is described at great length in a MS.
volume written and illustrated by Thomas Dingley, or Dineley,
one of the duke's escort at the time. It has twice been re-
produced in facsimile, and forms an important record for Wales
and the Border on the eve of the Revolution.^ The duke
started from Chelsea on Monday night, July 4th, 1689, ^^^
reached Worcester on Wednesday. At Pershore he was met
by Charles Earl of Worcester and the gentry of the neighbouring
counties ; not far off were waiting the Mayor, Sheriff, Dean
and chief citizens of Worcester, who escorted him to the Bishop's
Palace. Next morning a festival service was held in the
cathedral, after which his grace repaired to the town hall,
received the freedom of the city, and was entertained with "a
very great and noble collation." Here the writer finds his native
language inadequate to the occasion, and falls back on Lucan
to describe the glories of the feast, substituting for "Nilus" the
highly unclassical " Severn." ^
About noon on Thursday the duke left Worcester, and near
Ludlow was received by the High Sheriff of Shropshire, with the
chief gentry. About a mile from the town he was awaited by
the officers of the Presidency and by the townsfolk, who lined
the way of approach. The writer gives the full order of the
procession, beginning with the Quartermaster for the Progress,
who was followed by sumpter-men and " helpers belonging to
the stables, in livery, leading horses to supply accidents and
defects of y^ Coach Cavalry." Then came gentlemen of the
horse, pages, grooms and trumpeters, the last named " in
very rich Coats, having for Badg his Grace's Cypher in Gold
' It has twice been reproduced in facsimile, once in 1864 (for private
circulation only) and in 1888 by the Cambrian Archaeological Association.
- " Infudere epulas auro quod terra, quod aer
Quod pelagus Severnque dedit ; quod luxus inani
Ambitione furens toto quaesivit in orbe."
— Pharsalia, X. 155-7.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 177
under a Ducall Crown on their backs and breasts, each w* a
silver Trumpett with gold and silver strings and Tazzels and
Crimson Flowr'd Damask embroidered with y* coat Armour
of his Grace the Duke of Beaufort." Then followed the
lieutenant-colonel of the militia foot of Wiltshire, gentlemen
at large, yeoman of the wine cellar, the groom of the chamber,
the cooks, the master of music, the harper, the " Mareschall
or Farrier of y^ Progress," and the clerk of the kitchen. Be-
hind them were more gentlemen, including the officials of the
Court at Ludlow. These all prepared the way for the duke,
himself "in glorious equipage," followed by the Earl of Worcester
and the High Sheriff of Salop, with a number of loyal gentry
from that and neighbouring counties. Then came the Duchess
of Beaufort, the Countess of Worcester and her daughters, with
their attendants. At this point the writer deserves to be quoted
verbatim :
"This splendid cavalcade attended with shouts and acclama-
tions of the people, ringing of bells in y^ neighbouring Villages,
various soundings of Trumpets, Beating of Drums and the
co'tinued neighing of horses, made a very agreable confusion,
y^ latter noyse whereof calls to mind a verse of Mantuan
" Et procul hinnitu campus sonat omnis acuto,"
and the same author
" tremulis hinnitibus aer
Clangit."
Now his Grace and Company being arrived at Ludlow, he was
received at y^ Gate thereof by the Bailiffs and Com'on Councill
in their Formalities with y^ rest of y^ head of y'' Corporac'on with
great expressions of Joy by the people, among which (during the
time y^ Bells rang out) upon the Cross of Ludlows steeple
pinnacle marked A {i.e, in the accompanying drawing of the
Church) sate on {i.e. one, the name is not given) of neer 60 yeers
of age with a Drum beating of a march which he continued from
his Grace entry into the Town untill he came to the Castle. In
the principall part of the Town neer y^ high Cross and Publicque
12
178 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Fountaine his Grace was presented by them with one banquet
of Sweetmeats consisting of half a dozen Marchpanes and Wines,
after which those that attended his Grace had a reception at
Ludlow Castle equal to his Quality.
" Regales epulae mensis et Bacchus in auro,
Ponitur."
Next day, after service in the castle chapel, the duke, " in
his Rich Robes of Presidency," walked to the court-house,
where, after the Chief Justice of Chester had delivered the
charge, the rest of the forenoon was spent in hearing cases.
After this all the company were again entertained at a
magnificent dinner in the castle, each person striving to outdo
the other in manifestations of loyalty to His Majesty and respect
to his grace. The following day the duke spent at Powis
Castle, whence the cavalcade journeyed to Welshpool, Llangollen
and Wrexham and other towns of Wales, the Progress coming
to an end on August 21st.
The fall of the Court was now near at hand. In 1689 the
Duke of Beaufort was succeeded as Lord President by Charles
Earl of Macclesfield.^ During the spring a few notices regarding
him occur in the State Papers — e.g. the petition of John Warren
of Gray's Inn to be continued as Justice of the Peace for Chester,
Flint, Denbigh and Montgomery was referred to him by the Earl
of Shrewsbury (March 26th, 1689).^ He was directed to swear
John Trenchard as Chief Justice and one of the king's Council
in Ordinary for the Marches at Ludlow, and a few days later
he was bidden to suppress meetings held by certain disaffected
persons (April 12th and 19th, 1689).^ On May 22nd the Earl
of Shrewsbury bade Mr. Serjeant Thompson and Mr. Serjeant
Tremaine appear in the House of Lords to defend the cause
of the Court of Ludlow and the Marches of Wales, in which the
rights of the Crown were concerned.*
' S.P.D,, William and Mary (February 13th, 1689, to April, 1690),
March 8th, 1689.
= Utd., March 26th, 1689. ^ j^i^^^ April I2th, 19th, 16S9.
* Ibid., May 22nd, 1689.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 179
The Court was by now regarded as wholly unnecessary, and
was abolished by statute.^ The last reference to it in the
calendars of State Papers is the petition of a certain Charles
Cheturn, who had lost a freehold of ;!£"2oo a year by its
suppression, and begged for the office of Surveyor of the
Green Wax.-
Shortly after the abolition of the Council the Attorney-General,
Sir George Treby, presented to the; king a report on the future
government of Wales. He writes that as the Court is now
abolished " by your Majesties' great grace and favour, and to
your subjects' great satisfaction there," the office of President
is wholly useless. It is of course necessary to have a lieutenant
for the militia, one for North Wales and one for South, and he
suggests five names : Lord Newport, the Earl of Bridgewater,
Lord Willoughby, the Earl of Pembroke, and Lord Carbery.
The duties once performed by the Lord President should, he
advises, be now performed by one or both of the Secretaries of
State. " The gentlemen of Wales have always coveted to be
governed immediately by the King or by the Prince, and by the
means suggested you take them into your immediate protection." ^
The place of the Council of the Marches was, as a matter of fact,
supplied by the Courts of Great Sessions, which continued to
exercise jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters until their
abolition in 1830.
' I Wm. & M., c. 27. The grounds of suppression are: (i) that the-
Court had been found by experience an intolerable burthen to the'subject,,
contrary to the Great Charter, the known laws of the land, and the birth-
right of the subject, and the means to introduce an arbitrary power and
government ; (2) that matters determinable there may be redressed in thf>
ordinary course of justice within the shires of the Principality.
2 S.P.D., William and Mary, July 23rd, 1689.
* Ibid. (Cal., February 13th, 1689, to April, 1690), pp. 383-4.
CHAPTER VII
MEETING-PLACES OF THE COUNCIL: LUDLOW, BEIVDLEY,
SHREWSBURY, HEREFORD, BRIDGENORTH
One of the most noteworthy points in the history of the Council
in the Marches is its relation to the various cities and towns in
which its meetings were held. Chief among these was, of course,
Ludlow ; but there were many others, and from their archives
much information as to the Council's movements and proceedings
can be drawn. The most frequent places of meeting next to
Ludlow were Bewdley and Shrewsbury ; but the Council at various
times held sessions at Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester, Tewkes-
bury, Hartlebury, Bridgenorth, Oswestry, and Wrexham.^ The
list of places visited by that " stowte travellinge presidente "
Bishop Lee would be far longer, for he scoured Wales as well
as the Marches in his search for thieves.
Few English towns are more full, even to-day, of old-world
charm than Ludlow. Its history has twice been written at length
by men of Shropshire birth, one a Ludlow townsman. ^ In the
sixteenth century it had its poet Thomas Churchyard, who did
his best, though with indifferent success, to describe in fitting
verse the town and church and castle. The following may
suffice as a specimen of his well-meaning, though pedestrian,
muse :
"Thus farre I goe to prove this Wales in dede
Or els at least, the martchers of the same.
But further speake, of shiere it is no neede,
Save Ludloe now, a towne of noble fame :
• In S.P.D., Jas. I., Vol. XIX., No. 35 (footnote).
^ Vis. by Mr. R. H. Clive (1840) and by Mr. Thomas Wright (1841).
180
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES i8i
A goodly seate, where oft the councell lyes,
Where monuments, are found in auncient guyse :
Where kings and queenes, in pompe did long abyde,
And where God pleasde, that good Prince Arthur dyde.
"The towne doth stand most part upon an hill
Built well and fayre, with streates both large and wide ;
The houses such, where straungers lodge at will,
As long as there the councell lists abide.
Both fine, and cleare the streates are all throughout.
With condits cleere and wholesome water springs:
And who that lists to walke the towne about,
Shall finde therein some rare and pleasant things :
But chiefly there the ayre so sweet you have,
As in no place ye can no better crave." '
Ludlow was certainly well fitted to be the Council's meeting-
place : it lies high on a knoll girt by the river Teme, in a position
easy of defence and yet accessible. It was noted, as Churchyard
says, for the healthfulness of its air, a matter of much importance
in days when the plague was a dreaded visitant to towns of any
size. The history of Ludlow is closely interwoven with that
of the Welsh Marches. According to Camden, the castle was
built by Roger of Montgomery, first Earl of Shrewsbury, and
forfeited to the Crown by the attainder of Robert of Belleme.
It was granted by Henry I. to one Fulk de Dinan, who was
succeeded by his son, Joce de Dinan, between whom and Sir
Hugh de Mortimer raged a feud of the true Border type. Sir
Joce got possession of his enemy and detained him in prison
till he should pay a ransom of three thousand silver marks, as
well as all his plate, horses, and birds. The tower where
Mortimer was confined is the loftiest in the third ward of the
castle, and still bears his name. In Sir Henry Sydney's
Presidency it was used for the keeping of the Council
records. Nowadays it serves as a storehouse for the rifles
of the Ludlow volunteers, who are drilled in the castle
grounds.
' Churchj^ard, Worthines of Wales (ed. 1776, reprinted from the edition
of 1587).
i82 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
After the death of Joce de Dinan the Castle seems to have
been in the hands of the Crown again till the sixteenth year
of King John, when it passed to the Lacy family. Walter
de Lacy left as his heiresses two granddaughters : the one,
Matilda or Maud, married Geoffrey de Genevile or Joinville, the
brother of the historian. It is to this Geoffrey that the Sieur
de Joinville refers in speaking of his preparations for the crusade
of 1248. "I spent the last week in feasts and banquets with
my brother Vaucouleur and all the rich men of that part of the
country." The co-heiress Margery married John de Verdun.
The Ludlow inheritance was thus divided, but ultimately by
marriage and exchange it was re-united as the possession of
Roger de Mortimer, Earl of March, the husband of Joan, the
great-granddaughter of Maud de Genevile. Henceforth Ludlow
superseded Wigmore as the seat of the Mortimer power. Here
Roger, Earl of March, entertained Edward HI. with tournaments
and other diversions, for which, adds the chronicler, he did not
receive due recompense.
The chequered history of the Mortimer family in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries is reflected in the extant notices regarding
Ludlow Castle. The above-mentioned Roger built a chapel
dedicated to St. Peter in the " utter ward," to commemorate
his escape from the Tower in 1323. Li the fourth year of
Edward IH.'s reign he was disgraced, and all his lands were seized
to the king's use. His grandson Roger, however, was restored
in title and estate, and regained Ludlow among his other
possessions. He also had a grandson named Roger, who, on
the death of his father, Edmund (husband of the Lady Philippa,
daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence), became the ward of the
Earl of Arundel. Roger left a son Edmund, aged six, who
became the ward of Henry Prince of Wales, was taken prisoner
by Owen Glendower, served in France, and died as Lord-Lieu-
tenant of Ireland in the twenty-fourth year of his age. His
cousin Richard, Duke of York (son of his sister Anne), became
his heir, and thus Ludlow came to take a leading part in the
Wars of the Roses. Here the Duke of York mustered the
army which melted away in the so-called Rout of Ludford Bridge.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 183
The town was left a prey to the king's soldiers, and was pillaged
and burnt. As a compensation for losses sustained in the wars,
it received a renewal of its charter from Edward IV., and it
seems to have enjoyed special favour during the reigns of the
Yorkist kings.
The Castle of Ludlow formed one of the line of fortresses
extending from Richard's castle along Corve-dale.^ The extent
to which the Welsh Border was fortified in mediaeval times may
be seen by a list of castles drawn up in the earlier years of
Henry III, Herefordshire contained nineteen and Shropshire six.
One line stretched from Monmouth to Radnor ; another skirted
the Roman road from Hereford to Shropshire ; another, in-
cluding Knighton, Clun, and Bishop's Castle, defended the Welsh
Border on the north-west, and the fourth was that of which
Ludlow formed one link.
The earliest of the existing buildings is the keep, which in its
general character resembles the keeps of Rochester and Rich-
mond. It has been much altered, especially in the fifteenth
century, when the steps leading to the original entrance on the
first story at the east turret were removed, and a new entrance
made in the mass of the wall. In the time of Henry I. the
buildings were extended, probably by Joce de Dinan, to include,
besides the keep, an inner court or castle proper, and an outer
court surrounded by strong walls and towers, and intended to
shelter cattle and peasantry in case the town were attacked. There
were two moats — that which still exists, and another on the
site of the present walks towards the town. No moat was
needed on the side towards the river, where access to the castle
is prevented by the steepness of the rock. Joce de Dinan
was probably the builder of the chapel dedicated to S. Mary
Magdalene, which is of special interest as being one of the
two earliest round churches in the kingdom. A covered way
formerly led from the state apartments on the north to a door-
way in the chapel wall, and so to the gallery ; this was still
standing as late as 1768. In the fourteenth century probably,
' For a full description of the Castle see Mr. Clark's Mediaeval and
Military Architecture.
i84 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
when the castle was held by the Mortimers, the hall and state
apartments were erected on the north side of the inner court.
The great hall, sixty feet long and thirty broad, was approached
by a flight of marble steps. The so-called Prince Arthur's room
was in a tower to the west of the hall ; the banqueting-room
lay to the east.
In the sixteenth century great alterations and additions were
made. Bishop Lee, as noted above, was active in repairing the
castle ; but the most noteworthy additions were those of Sir
Henry Sydney, who erected a mass of buildings opposite the
chapel on the south side of the court. In the Lansdowne MSS.
(No. III., art. 9, printed by Clive, p. 38) is a list of the buildings
and repairs done by him to Her Majesty's houses in the Marches.
The list is a long one, and includes : (i) offices over the porter's
lodge (kitchen, larder, and buttery) ; (2) walls near this lodge ;
(3) a wall at the lodge to enclose a space of two hundred yards
in which the prisoners might walk ; (4) a wall enclosing a wood-
yard ; (5) a court-house and two offices underneath for keeping
the records ; (6) a " fayre lardge stone bridge into the said castle
w*** one greate arche in the myddest and twoe at both endes."
Besides all this, he had repaired the chapel, ceiled, glazed, and
tiled it with " fayre and lardg wyndowes " ; put up wainscoting,
benches, seats, and kneeling-places, and adorned it with the
arms of Her Majesty, divers noblemen, and all the Lords
President and Councillors. Among other items mentioned are
lodgings and offices behind the kitchen, " sundry greate and
lardg wyndowes," " waynescotting and flooring of a great parlor
within the castle," " a ffayre tennys corte within the same castle,
paved with freestone," and a conduit of lead more than a mile
in length, to convey water to the castle. Sydney's efforts were
not confined to the castle only ; the water from the great
fountain within the walls was conveyed in leaden pipes into
the garden and various offices, and thence into the Castle Street,
where a fountain of lime and stone was erected, to the great
satisfaction, doubtless, of the inhabitants.
The above buildings were probably finished about 1581,
for in that year the following inscription was put up over
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 185
the entrance to the inner court of the castle, where it still
remains :
" Hominibus ingratis loquimini lapides.
Anno regni Reginae Elizabethae 23
The 22 Year Co'plet of the Presidency
of Sir Henry Sydney
Knight of the Most Noble Order of
The Garter etc. 1581."
Sydney, one may hope, found in the supervision of these
buildings some comfort amid the disappointments which saddened
the close of his hfe. His son-in-law and successor continued
his work, for in the outer court is a range of buildings to the
left of the entrance, bearing the arms of Queen Elizabeth and
of the Earl of Pembroke.
In Clive's Documents connected with the History of
Ludlow is an account of the " Arms and Inscriptions formerly
existing in the Castle of Ludlow and in the Bull Inn there."
This account was drawn from manuscripts in the possession of
John Mytton, Esq., of Halston Hall, Shropshire (1823). In the
Council Chamber were once the arms of Henry Herbert, second
Earl of Pembroke, and of several others, his predecessors or
successors in the ofhce of Lord President. In all, two hundred
and fifty-six coats-of-arms are described, including, besides
those of Councillors, the arms of Edward IV., Henry VII.,
Henry VIII., and some of the early owners of the castle, as
Sir Walter de Lacy and Geoffrey de Genevile. This manuscript
is important for determining the dates when the various Lords
President held office. Other coats-ofarms are enumerated as
existing in the hall and the lodging of the Lords Justices ;
others, again, are preserved to this day in the Bull Inn.
In 1631 the steward of the castle, John Betts, writing to
a member of the Earl of Bridgewater's house at Barbican,
London, gives an account of the chief rooms then in use, and
recommends that certain repairs be done and some hangings
procured.^ Three years later, on Michaelmas Day, 1634, the
' Ludlow Castle Papers, 59 (Bridgewater MSS).
i86 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
great hall was filled with guests to watch the masque of Comus,
and to hear how
" all this tract that fronts the falling sun
A noble Peer of mickle trust and power
Has in his charge with tempered awe to guide
An old and haughty nation, proud in arms ;
Where his fair offspring, nursed in princely lore,
Are coming to attend their father's state
And new-intrusted sceptre." '
During the Civil War the Castle was held for the king till
June 9th, 1646, when it was captured by the Parliamentary forces
under Sir William Brereton. Four years later the king's goods
there were inventoried and sold by order of the Council of State.
The full particulars are to be found in Harleian MS. 4898, and
are printed by both the historians of Ludlow. The estimated
value of the whole was ;;^34i Ss. ^d. Several articles were sold
to a Mr. Bass, in some cases for more than the price named in
the inventory. Fifty-three rooms or closets are mentioned, the
prince's chamber heading the list. The changes wrought by
the Civil War are seen in the entry, " In the Governor's
Quarters, formerly the Justices' Lodgings." The Council
Chamber was left desolate indeed, for all it contained were three
tables, one form, a wicker screen, a fire-grate, and two stools,
the value in all being ^1. The court-house of justice was
in little better case ; it contained a feather bolster and a brass
pot, value fourteen shillings, while the seat of justice, table, and
benches were valued at ten shillings. Two pieces of tapestry
hangings formerly used in the Court and kept in the first ward-
rode were appraised at jQ^ ?>s. 6d. The makers of the inventory
set down with brutal frankness the state of the furniture and
goods. The reader feels transported into the grimiest of second-
hand shops by such entries as " three broaken lanthornes,"
"one old rotten quilt," "one large old Bible," "a parcel of
ragged sheets and tablecloths," "an old surplice of Holland"
(the chaplain's, no doubt), " twenty old dyaper and flaxen napkins
' See Prof. Masson's Milton, Vol. I., pp. 156-68, ed. 1890.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 187
full of holes " ; nor are matters much mended by the entry that
follows, " fifteen dyaper napkins somewhat better."
Mr. Bass became the possessor of a most miscellaneous col-
lection of articles, ranging from the " standing bedstead covered
with watched damaske with all the furniture suitable thereunto
belonging," valued at ;if 30, down to " a brass cuUendor, a scimmer
and a broaken befe forke." The most interesting entry is that
relating to the withdrawing-room, which contained " Two pictures
the one of the late King and y^ other of his Queen." They
may have been Vandykes, and they were valued at ten shillings !
After the Restoration the castle had to be refurnished and
repaired. It would appear from the information extant as to the
Earl of Carbery's Presidency that much dissatisfaction was felt
with the way in which the work was carried out. Thomas
Hunton, in the petition mentioned in an earlier chapter, com-
plained that the earl had not supplied proper furniture, so that
the judges had to furnish their own lodgings ; what was pro-
vided was not paid for, and was procured second or third hand.
The workmen who had carried out the repairs could not get their
wages, and out of the ;^9,ooo allowed by the king only ^£"3,000
had been expended.
Before many years had passed, Ludlow Castle was deserted :
it was doubtless furbished up for the visit of the Duke of
Beaufort during the Progress described above. Four years later
(1688) it was secured for the Prince of Orange by Lord Herbert
of Cherbury, who imprisoned there Sir William Blount, the
Roman Catholic Sheriff of Worcester. After 1689 it was left
to fall into decay ; by degrees the fabric was stripped of lead,
timber, and carvings ; but the destruction was gradual, for in 1708
forty rooms were entire, and sixty years later the arms of some of
the Lords President were still visible.^ At some time during
' In the museum at Ludlow is an ancient record or deed chest with
three locks, which in the early part of the eighteenth century was filled with
tapestry and armour, and conveyed from Ludlow Castle into S. Lawrence's
Church for safety ; but in vain, for it was rifled of its contents. A description
of the castle (also in the museum) says : " It is not to be wondered that this
noble Castle is in decay, when we consider that the inhabitants of the
neighbourhood live upon the sale of the material."
i88 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the eighteenth century the panels bearing the arms of the various
nobles and others mentioned above were made into wainscoting
for the Bull Inn. In all probability the records of the Court
were turned to yet baser uses by the Ludlow tradesmen, unless,
indeed, they were left to moulder to dust in some dark corner of
the deserted ruin, or sent up to London and lost in a mass of
unassorted public records.
Several of the Council members seem to have built houses
in Ludlow. Churchyard, in one of his welcome lapses into
prose, tells us of the " fayre house by the gate of the making
of Justice Walter," of the " fayre house that Maister Secretarie
Foxe did bestowe great charges on " ; Mr. Townesend, too, " hath
a fayre house at Saint Austins once a friarie." A noteworthy
reference to Ludlow in the early days of the seventeenth century
occurs in Baxter's memoirs : " About seventeen years of age,"
he writes, " being at Ludlow Castle, where many idle gentlemen
had little else to do, I had a mind to learn to play at tables and
the best gamester in the house undertook to teach me." Persons
of leisure no doubt abounded, for " the house was great, there
being four judges, the king's attorney, the clerk of the fines,
with all their servants and all the lord president's servants
and many more ; and the town was full of temptations through
the multitude of persons (counsellors, attorneys, officers and
clerks) and much given to tippling and excess." ^
The connection of Ludlow with the Council appears in a
less unfavourable light in a curious tract entitled, " The Loue
of Wales to their soueraigne Prince," printed from the only
extant copy by Clive in his History of Ludlow. The writer,
Daniel Powel, was the son of Dr. David Powel, who corrected,
augmented, and continued Humphrey Lhuyd's " Historie of
Cambria, now called Wales." He describes in the quaint
English of his day the ceremonies that took place at Ludlow
on November 4th, 161 6, "the day of the Creation of the high
and mighty Charles, Prince of Wales and Earle of Chester in
his Maiesties Palace of White-hall." The Lord President, Lord
Eure, was absent, and three of the Councillors were attending
' Reliquiae Baxterianse, ed. 1696, p. 421.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 189
His Majesty's special service in London ; but on the appointed
day there were present at Ludlow the Chief Justice of Chester,
Sir Thomas Chamberlaine, with his colleagues Sir Thomas
Cornewaile (Cornewall), High Sheriff of Shropshire, and Mr.
Thomas Harley, besides the solicitor and attorney attending
the Council, and many gentlemen from the neighbourhood.
The celebration began by affixing the arms, name, and style
of the prince under the pulpit in S. Lawrence's Church, in
the castle chapel and in the court-house ; also on the town-
gates and high cross and the principal posts and pillars of the
market-place. About nine o'clock a procession came up to
the castle to escort the Justice and Council to church — the
bailiffs, magistrates, and chief brethren, " very richly clad and
apparelled," with the officers and the church choir and six of
the free scholars bearing pennons of the prince's arms. Before
them went the town waits ; and the procession was headed
by two hundred soldiers with halberds, pikes, corslets, muskets,
and calivers. On the castle green they met Master Justice in
his scarlet robes and the other Councillors, counsellors-at-law,
attorneys, clerks, officers of the castle, and other gentlemen.
These were all very richly apparelled, and had "another company
of waits and good consorts of Musicke as Cornets, Sagbuts and
other winde Instruments playing and sounding all along the
way before them." Hereupon the musketeers discharged a
volley, "to the great admiration and much reioycing of all the
spectators " ; and then the merry procession started off to the
church, where yet another volley was discharged. Then service
was said, and " one M. Thomas Pierson a graue reuerend diuine
and worthy Preacher made a very learned Sermon of an houre
and halfe long."
As the company came out into the market-place they passed
by a scaffold near the high cross, from which the scholars in
turn delivered verses composed for the occasion. Those in
Latin were "principally invented and naade by the painful
Industrie of that iudicious and laborious maister of Artes
Humfrey Herbert, Chiefe Schoole maister of His Maiesties Free
Schoole there, upon lone dayes warning." The others in English
190 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
were contributed by a worthy alderman of the town, Master
Richard Fisher. There is something pathetic in the doggerel
lines, with their confident assurance that the young prince will
" protect this happy Government," and their hope —
"O prosper may he and his glory more
Than any Charles the world had e'er before."
Just thirty years later the Council was no more, the castle was
held by the Parliament, and the king was a prisoner in the hands
of the Scots. But in November, 1616, few, if any, could have
foreseen those evil days, and after the scholars had received
due applause for their "gracious boldnesse in delivering their
speeches," the procession passed to the court-house, where the
Justice delivered an oration in praise of the prince. With com-
mendable prudence he used the opportunity to put in la word for
himself and his colleagues. " Let none," he said, " scorne nor
contemne the power and authoritie of this Jurisdiction, his High-
nesse being graciously pleased to signifie his pleasure to me and
my said Brethren of this Counsell That he would protect and
defend the same both by his Highnesse himselfe, and by his
Princely meanes to the King his father." At the conclusion of
the speech "the Musick played. Drums were strucke, Flutes
whistled. Trumpets sounded, people showted, and another
piercing and Thundering Volley of shot was let flie, the eccho
and report whereof resounded admirably to the great solace and
comfort of all present."
It was one o'clock by now, and the Justice and Council, with
the knights, esquires, and best sort of gentlemen, went to dine in
the castle. The bailiffs and burgesses went down to the town
to spend the rest of the day " in all joyfull and iouiall manner."
The castle dinner was evidently a lengthy matter, for it was
scarcely ended when the indefatigable bailiffs again appeared
with the choir, pennon-bearers, and waits, for evening service
in the castle chapel. At its conclusion the scholars offered up
their pennons to the Justice, who ordered them to be placed
in the chapel as mementoes of the day. The bailiffs and their
company then took leave of the Council, and next day they
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 191
celebrated the deliverance of king, queen, prince, and parliament
from "the Papists' treasonable and horrible conspiracie and
unmatchable intended Practise of the Gunne-powder Treason."
A sermon was preached by the chaplain in attendance on the
Lord President and Council, " which Sermon being ended, every
man returned to their homes, the Musicke, Ringing and Bone-
fires continuing, to the great comfort of all his Maiesties said
louing and faithfuU Subjects all the said day."
The connection of the Council with Ludlow is illustrated by
many papers among the Borough MSS. The chamberlain's ac-
counts, for example, contain notices of gifts to the Lord President
or Councillors, consisting of money, wine, oxen, sugar, and so
forth. A curious entry is the following : " It gyven unto the
counseyllers wyffes towardes the eatinge of the d'ct. buckes
to them by us gyven ii'f iiij'^" The Lord President, on his side,
made presents of bucks and does to the corporation — e.g. " It.
spend at Mr. baylyfs cothers hows at the etyng of the two
dooes wiche my lord gave us vj* viij*^ " (see the bailiffs' accounts,
to which those of the chamberlain are appended, for 1544-8).
There is also a large number of orders directed by the Council
to the bailiffs of the town, mostly in the reign of James I.,
though there are some of both earlier and later dates. Nearly
all are orders for stay of suits before the bailiffs' Court or
for release of prisoners from gaol. The formula commonly
employed in the seventeenth century is this : " according to
the auntient priviledge of our Court with our said Councell and
our instrucc'ons to them in that behaulf graunted." This ancient
privilege is thus explained in a petition from a person arrested
for a supposed action of debt by one of the serjeants-at-mace :
" that eu'y p'son and p'sons whatsoeu' having cause of suite for
himself ether as pi. or deff. in this ho : Court is to have his
priviledg to come to this Court and remayne here to prosecute
the same and goe home againe, w'thout any man' of treble stay
or arest." Such orders are often in favour of persons employed
in the castle household or workmen engaged in the repairs
of the buildings.
Besides the above, there are orders to the bailiffs to come
192 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
up to the castle lodge and receive prisoners, who are to be
set in the pillory or whipped in the market-place. Among
offences thus punished were forgery, perjury, serving false billets,
etc. Once the bailiffs were ordered to set in the stocks
John Clenche, " for stealinge of our pewter out of o*' Castle
of Ludlowe." He was to be set in the stocks in the midst of
the market-place, with one of his legs through the same, and
a pewter dish about his neck hanging before him, and remain
thus from eleven in the forenoon till one in the afternoon.
Another order directs the bailiffs to whip out of the town as
a rogue and vagabond a man who, "alleadgng himself to be
deafe and upon pretence of suites in lawe before o' said Councell,
is fallen utterlie to neclect the honest course of lief whereby
he hath bin and still is able to mayntayne himself, abusing
also the late charitie here bestowed upon him and geving
himself to nothing but ydlenes and lewd and evill speeches
to the evill example of others and utter rapine of himself if he
be longer suffered in this disordered course." Yet another order
directs the bailiffs to repair to the porter's lodge, "and of him
to take and receaue into yo'' chardge the bodie of one Griffith
ap Rees (whoe was taken upon suspic'on of Pyking of pockettes
and theverie and his hand taken in another mans pockett."
The offender was to be whipped in open market between twelve
and two o'clock, and then brought back to the porter's lodge.
Several petitions addressed to the Council are also extant.
The most interesting is one from the bailiffs, burgesses, and
commonalty of Ludlow, complaining that Edmund Cornewall,
"a man of greate habylity, worshipp and countenance," had
felled timber and grievously beaten and wounded their tenants
in Evesham parish, where they possessed a parcel of wood ground,
once the property of the dissolved Palmers' Guild. Another in
the same names complains of the non-payment by Edward Foxe
of 50X. rent from tenements in Ludlow, once the property of the
Priory of S. John the Evangelist. To this petition is annexed a
record of the proceedings m the resulting case. The town made
good its claim to part of the arrears of rent, and its claim to
the remainder was to be further examined by Commissioners.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 193
Members of the Council at times held office in the borough —
e.g. both Sir John Bridgeman and Henry Townesend were
recorders, receiving a salary of ;£2 per annum. Respect
towards the Council was rigidly enforced by the town authorities,
as is seen from an abject petition for release addressed to
Sir Thomas Cornewall by a man imprisoned in Galford's Tower
(the town gaol) for having " given some wordes of abuse towardes
your worship." Among incidental notices relating to the Council
is one showing its low estate after the Restoration ; this is a
list of officers and servants attending at Ludlow Castle. The
number is but ten against the large household in the days of
Sir Henry Sydney.
The Parish Church of S. Lawrence at Ludlow still preserves
some memorials of the Council of the Marches. In the south
transept against the south wall is the tomb, with recumbent
effigy, of Uame Mary Eure (wife of the Lord President), who
died in 161 3. On the south side of the choir immediately to
the east of the stalls is the tomb of Edward Walter (d. 1593),
Chief Justice of South Wales. On the north side of the choir
opposite to the Walter tomb is the monument of Edward Waties,
erected in his own lifetime. On the south side, again, just below
the altar steps and to the east of the Walter tomb, is the monu-
ment of Ambrozia Sydney, fourth daughter of Sir Henry and
Lady Sydney, who died in Ludlow Castle, February 22nd,
^574"5- The finest of all the tombs remaining in the church
is that of Sir Robert Townesend and Dame Anne his wife ;
it stands on the north side within the altar rails, and is sur-
mounted by two recumbent effigies.
The importance of the Council to Ludlow may be gathered
from entries in the churchwardens' accounts, especially between
1607 and 1689. The repair of the pews in which sat the Lord
President, his wife, her gentlewomen, and the various members
of the Council, was evidently a matter of great moment to
the churchwardens. Thus in 1607-8 a sum of i^s. ^d. was
expended on "a walnut boorde to make the dext [s/c] in my
laddy [sic] Ewer's pew," for a plank to enlarge the pew door,
for five yards of " fflanders bayes and Inckell to put abought
13
194 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
my Ladyes seate," for "matting in the gentlewomen's pew," for
a " mat and a tumpe for my ladyes pewe," and for a lock and key.
In 1610 the Lord President's pew needed an expenditure of
los. for " Bayes, Incle, Tacks and Workemanshipp," besides
4d. for a mat to lie under his seat in the high chancel. In
1618 lod. was paid for altering the Countess of Northampton's
pew and for a ledge and nails. In 1619-20 16^. was paid for
" matts and tumps for my lord and the counsell pewes," and
Sd. for " doees heare [sic] for stuffing the countise pewe."
Of considerable interest are the entries respecting the allotment
of pews — e.g. in 1620-1 it is recorded that for several years past
Jane Lewis, who had an interest for the term of her life in a pew
situated in the middle aisle, had given it up to the Countess
of Northampton. In consideration of this, Mrs. Lewis was granted
two parts of the pew actually occupied by her. In 1625-6 a
grant was made to two persons of a half-pew in the middle aisle,
provided that the Countess of Northampton might have the
use thereof for her gentlewomen during her residence in town.
In consideration of this promise the town received 2s. but a
marginal note shows that there was some hitch : " stayd for
Mrs. Selman, because the Churchwardens doe not a gree [sic]
for her." The most interesting entries occur during the inter-
regnum. Ludlow was a loyal place, and must have greatly
resented the overthrow of the Council, whose meetings brought
much money into the town. Accordingly, when in May, 1649,
Sir Marmaduke Lloyd's pew was granted to the mayor, a proviso
was added that if the former occupier came again to reside in
the town the grant should be void. So, too, when a life grant
of a pew, commonly called " ye Countesse seat," was made to
Captain William Botterell, governor of the castle, and one of
the bailiffs, his wife Sara, and the survivor of them, the condition
imposed was that, " if there be any future occasion for ye said
pue to ye same purpose for w*^** it was heretofore made use of,
then ye above s'd grant to be voyd and that he ye s'd Capt.
Botterell shall surrender ye same."
Many entries note the amount paid for bell-ringing at the
coming of the Lord President or members of the Council.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 195
Once there is a note of 3*/. paid " for one to attend Mr. Justice
comeinge on the steeple," the high tower of S. Lawrence's
Church, still a landmark for miles round, being evidently the
best available place of outlook. The arrival of the Lord Pre-
sident's wife was similarly greeted; in 1628-9 i2d. was paid for
ringing at the coming of the Countess of Northampton from
Bewdley to Ludlow.
Between 1644 and 1661 there was neither President nor
Councillor for Ludlow bell-ringers to greet ; but the bells were
not silent. Between 1644 and 1646, when the Marches were
aflame with war, are some brief entries which bring home with
curious vividness not the joy only, but the sorrow of those
troubled years.
" It'm. pay'd for a sroud for a souldier iij^ iiij'*
,, ,, ,, Ringing for the Kinge xij"*
,, ,, ,, a sroud for a souldier iij®
,, „ ,, Ringing upon the 25 November v^
for the Kinge
,, for Ringinge at the King's Coming iij^"
to towne
The bells were rung and gladly enough, no doubt, in the year
of the Restoration, when a free Parliament was voted, when
Charles was recalled, on his proclamation as king, and on his
landing at Dover. At the same time one Griffith Edwards
received 20s. for " newe Lyminge ^ the King's Armes w'^'» were
washt out in the Late warres." From 1660 to 1689 Ludlow saw
some revival of its old prosperity ; the Lords President under
Charles II. visited it several times, as is shown by numerous
entries similar to those already quoted.^ The last of such visits
was that paid by the Earl of Macclesfield in 1689.
Many memories rise before one who stands in the inner court
of Ludlow Castle, and looks in turn at keep and chapel and the
' I.e. limning. The spelling of these accounts is erratic in the extreme.
In 1610-11 is the entry, "It: for writing and castinge of these bokes wee
beynge illyterate."
^ A curious entry is the following under 1681-2 : "It. for p[er]fumering
the Lord P''sedents seat, is.
196 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
great Council-room — memories of Border strife in the dim past
and of Prince and President in days which, though nearer,
seem strangely far away. Not warriors, but children, are among
the best-remembered dwellers in those ruined rooms : Prince
Edward and Prince Arthur ; the Lady Mary, who lived to be a
queen, and the Mary Sydney of happier fate, " fair and wise and
good." Nor must those children be forgotten from whose lips
fell the noblest words ever uttered in that stately hall. Baron
and prince and poet have their share in the story of Ludlow
Castle ; but the memory that comes home to us most to-day
is that of the careworn statesman who solaced the too early
twilight of a toilsome life by rearing walls that still speak to a
not wholly ungrateful posterity.
Next to Ludlow, the most frequent resort of the Council seems
to have been Bewdley, which received its charter from James I.
partly for this reason.^ The connection of the Council with the
place went back to the time of Prince Arthur, for whom the
manor place of Tickenhill, to the west of the town (built by
Richard, Earl of March and Duke of York), was made into a
palace. Leland describes it as "a fayre manour place by west
of the towne, standinge in a goodly parke well wooded, on the
very knappe of the hill that the towne standeth on." The town
itself, he says, is " sette on the syde of a hill, soe comely a man
cannot wish to see a towne better. It riseth from Severne banke
by east, upon the hill by west ; so that a man standing on the
hill trans pontem by east may discerne almost every house in
the towne, and at the rising of the sunne from the east the wholl
towne glittereth being all of newe building as it were of gould."^
At Tickenhill Prince Arthur held his Court, and here he was
married by proxy to Catherine of Aragon, Lord President Smyth
being among the spectators.^
The Bewdley records furnish some valuable information as to
' See the History of Bewdley (by J. R. Burton), to which I am indebted
for many of the following details.
•: Leland, Itin. IV. 1836.
» Rymer, FcEdera, XII. 756-62.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 197
the Prince's Council, such as the conclusion of the long feud
between Kidderminster and Bewdley already mentioned. Other
notices of the town occur ; e.g. in 1500 Bishop Smyth, when on
his way to Lincoln, was overtaken by a royal messenger bidding
him return to Bewdley, in order to direct certain arduous affairs
of the Prince of Wales.^ Next year Prince Arthur was still at
Bewdley, for he wrote thence to the University of Oxford
requesting that a servant of his might be elected superior Bedell.^
After his death in 1502 Tickenhill Palace would seem to have
fallen into decay, for it was repaired at considerable expense
when the Lady Mary was sent down to the Marches. Extant
accounts show that workmen were employed on it for eighteen
weeks at a wage of i,\d. a day, the total amount spent being
;^354 5-^- 52^' I""* the account of the repairs " My Lord
President's Chamber" is specially mentioned. Under date 1528
in the town records is an order by the princess's Council that her
servants and persons belonging to her household are to have their
horses at livery in all inns and hostelries of the town at the rate of
\\d. a day and night for hay and litter. The charge was to be 2d.
for all other strangers, suitors, and others repairing to the town.
By the reign of Elizabeth Tickenhill House was again in need
of repair, and ^59 \\s. 4.d. was expended upon it in 1582.
Sir Henry Sydney was as energetic a builder here as at Ludlow :
in a petition to the Queen on various matters concerning his
office he mentions the lack of water supply for the " house at
Tickinhill by beaudeley, a house of often resort of the President
and Counsell." Water had to be conveyed thither in carts with
great charge and much difficulty. He therefore asks that a
quantity of lead there, brought up by Lord Admiral Seymour for
the purpose of conducting water to the house, might be used and
not be left to be daily stolen. The head of the conduit and the
trench for the pipes to lie in were already half made. Sydney
asked for a warrant to employ the lead for this purpose, and
suggested that any left over might be sold to pay the expenses
of the work. A Treasury warrant was issued giving permission
' Churton, Life of Bishop Smyth, p. 113. ^ Ibid., p. 170.
198 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
to use the lead, and adding that any surplus material might, if
Sir Henry Sydney thought well, be conveyed to some convenient
port and used for Ireland.^ The result of Sydney's efforts is
recorded in Lansdowne MSS. iii, f. 20, as follows :
" Item, where her ma*'^* howse of Tyckenhall by Beaudley was
in greate ruyn and decay lyke to have fallen, the same was
amended repared, tyled and tymbered, the Chambers therof
waynscotted, ffayre lardge walkes inclosed w'th pale and Tymber
adioyning to the said howse w'th buttes therin and certen other
pastymes there to be used by the Counsaill.
" Item a conduyt of ledd w'th a howse of lyme and stone for
a hedd to the same and pypes of ledd for conveying of the water
a myle in lenght, a ffayre lardge ffounteyne made with Lyme stone
and ledd at the howse, her ma'tes Armes w'th diuers other
Armes sett therupon and conveying the water in ledd unto
divers offices within the same howse and in like maner con-
veying of the same into the Towne of Beaudley and making of
twoe funteynes with lyme and stone in the said Towne."
During the reigns of James I. and Charles I. Tickenhill House
was occupied by Ralph Clare, Esq. In a letter from the king
to Lord Eure (August i6th, 1608) he is described as "Keeper
of the King's house," and is said to have "forgetten himself"
in refusing to receive the Lord President and Council without
reserving some rooms for himself. Orders had been sent for
him to receive them immediately. It is added that as the king
was then far from his learned counsel, and had not many of
his Privy Council in attendance, the consideration of the matter
must be reserved till next term.- More than thirty years later
it appears from a letter in the Bridgewater MSS., written by
Henry Eccleston, steward of Ludlow Castle, that Tickenhill
House was then let on lease to Sir Ralph Clare, whose term had
nearly expired. He had neglected necessary repairs, the tiling
had fallen, the planks had been stolen, and the stables let to
carriers and others. Eccleston reports that the sills near the
ground needed 120 ft. of timber, that the tiling and ceiling
' S.P.D (Vol. 1547-80), Eliz., Vol. XIV. 38.
- Dovaston MS., f. 68b (Hist. MSS. Commission).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 199
would cost ;j^io to mend, and that Sir Ralph expected all
repairs to be done at the king's charges.^
The inhabitants of Bewdley seem to have presumed unduly
on the favour they enjoyed through the resort of the Council,
and to have committed sundry depredations on His Majesty's
woods near by. In 1623 a complaint of this was made to the
President and Council, showing that certain persons had carried
away " black poles," out of which laths and clap-boards were
made and traded in, even by the magistrates of the town, who
were bound to " right the King against these apparent wrongs."
The complainant urged that the President and Council should
take some speedy action whereby this "insufferable insolence"
might be severely punished. An interesting entry relating to
the town occurs in a letter from the Earl of Northampton
to the Council of the Marches : " The Kinges pleasure is that
you take care that the Lottery shall be presently removed from
Beawdeley and that it contynue noe longer within the Marches
of Wales to the ympoverishing of his subjectes there, unles it
be in some greate and wealthy towns or citties with speciall
care of the governors that the poore be not suft'ered to venture,
or ells to be absolutely dismissed according as you in your
discreacion and wisdome shall think fitt." ^
After the death of Charles I., Bewdley House fared no better
than Ludlow Castle. In the Harleian MSS. (4,898, f. 623) is
an inventory of the goods found there and sold by order of
the Commonwealth. The list is no long one : in the kitchen
were tables, dressers, benches, and other utensils ; in the
chambers above were eight bedsteads, seven tables, five cup-
boards, a small bench, and the tester of a bedstead ; in the
brewing house were " two old Brewing falls, two Coolers, two
Stands and one old Table." The value of everything was ^20,
and the amount to which it was sold to Mr. Hales, of Bewdley,
was ^27 195. td.
In the Bewdley Chapel and Bridgewarden's accounts are
numerous references to the Council in the Marches. One of
' Bridgewater MSS., Ludlow Castle Papers, 2, March 8th, 1641.
^ Dovaston MS., f. 936.
200 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the old chantries in the chapel seems to have been set apart
for the use of the Lord President and Council, and the floor
was well strewn with rushes when they attended Divine service.
Their seat was kept in repair, as is seen by an entry of 4^-. 6d.
for 2 1 yards of green cotton for covering it in 1570 ; a later
entry, dated 1603, notes that 3^. 3^. was paid for " bayes,
tacks, and incle for my lord his sett." In 1630 5^. was paid
for " a large cagement to be set in the window over the Lorde
Presidents pue." Many entries occur showing the amounts
paid for ringing the bell at the Lord President's coming — e.g. in
1596, gd., 2S. in 1602, and i2d. in 1604. In the last-named
year 2s. was paid "to them that playd on the waytes at the
cominge in of the Lord Zowche."
Very numerous are the notices of the refreshments and presents
bestowed on members of the Council. In 157 1 i^. 6d. was
paid for wine given to Mr. Justice Throckmorton, and in 1582
2S. 6d. for two quarts of claret to "my Lord Sidney." Sugar
was evidently a very acceptable present : in 1587 15I lb.,
costing 25i'., were given to the Earl of Pembroke, and in 1597
Sir John Pakenton (Packington) received a sugar-loaf weighmg
10 lb. 3 oz. and costing 17^-. The wife of the Lord President
got her share of these gifts : in 1598 the townswomen gave
the Countess of Pembroke one sugar-loaf, price 16^. 6d. ; 3 boxes
of " marmalat," price 9^. Sd. ; 2 boxes of " comfets," 55. The total
cost of the gift was 30^. 2d., and the entry continues thus :
" Receyved in pt. that the women pay'd towards their som
2/6 apiece being 7 women amounting to 17/6, rest to paye."
In 1602 the sum of 17^. 2d. was paid at the coming of Lord
Zouch for wine, sugar, and cakes; in 1623 2s. Sd. was paid
for "a pottell of Burnt sacke w'ch the Companie [i.e. of
BridgewardensJ bestowed upon the Lord P'sedent [the Earl of
Northampton] at his coming through Bewdley." Other gifts
mentioned are claret and oranges.
But the giving was by no means all on one side. Under 1624
we find that the Lord President bestowed in September a present
of venison upon the town. This was an occasion for a worthy
feast, the items of which are duly set down in the accounts.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 201
Two shillings was paid to the bringers of the gift, and £,2 i-js. 2d.
was expended on mutton, neats' tongues, a brisket of beef, apples,
pears, and nuts, wheaten flour, pepper, bread, rabbits, chickens,
spices, carrots, salt, and wine. The last item alone cost 175'.
The expense of entertaining members of the Council or their
servants passing through the town is often noted — e.g. in 1596
the sum of 25^. 8^. was paid "for dyet and horsmeate" for
Mr. Justice Shuttleworth ; 425-. xod. in 1597 "for the steward
Mr. Morgan and others of my Lords gentlemen." In 1605 as
much as ^^3 loi". 2d. was paid for Sir Richard Lewkenor and his
company. A few entries give the sums paid to the Lord
President's {i.e. the Earl of Pembroke's) players — e.g. 20s.
in 1593, and icy. in 1615.
Among other curious entries are the following :
1598. — "For iiij yards of grene — to lay one the
desk that the Justes leans one in the
Court House . . . . . iij' viij"*. "
1599. — "For corten-rings tenter hokes to hang the
clothes in the Court House . . . j<*."
1607. — " For fringe for my Lords seate . . vj**."
1626. — " P'' at the appointm't of the Company when
the Lo : President came about the Ryall
subsidye for sack and clarett. . . 03' 8''."
P** for mending at the Bridgehovvse when
the prisoners came from Ludlow. . . 07' 2"^."
1623. — " P*^ to Thomas Paine for setting a raile upon
mie Ladies seate. .... 00^ 3''."
Some notices occur of expenses in which the town was
involved through suits before the Council — e.g.
161 1. — " P'' to Mr. Bailiffs to send up to Mr. Bromley
at Hillari Tearme for suites in law betwixt
Sir Edward Blount and the Towne
(amount not stated)."
1614. — " In expenses at Ludlow when I rode thyther
to follow the sute betwixt the towne and
Cooke, mieselfe (Robert Vicaris) and mie
horse three dayes, v"."
One reference occurs to a charge that has been elsewhere noted
202 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
as a great burden to places within the Council's jurisdiction —
vi'z. the carriage of the "Councell's stufife." In 1615 ^i 3^. 2d.
was paid for the carriage of one load.
Next to Ludlow and Bewdley, the town of Shrewsbury, the
capital of the Marches, was undoubtedly the Council's most
frequent place of meeting. The connection was close from the
Council's earliest days, as is seen by the ordinances for the " wele
rest and tranquillitie of the town " made by Earl Rivers in the
eighteenth year of Edward IV. The bailiffs' accounts show that
next year, 1479, Prince Edward visited Shrewsbury, where he
was given a present of money to purchase bread, ale, and wine.^
In 1480 he was again in the town, and confirmed the composition
of the mercers, ironmongers, and goldsmiths. ^
In the reign of Henry VII. the visits of Prince Arthur to
Shrewsbury were very frequent. As early as 1494, when he was
only about nine years old, he and several members of his Council
came to the town and were entertained with a play (probably a
miracle-play) in the " quarell " — i.e. the Quarry. The expense of
this visit was considerable ; the wine given to the prince at the
play cost iioi^. 9</,^ and other items amounted to iZs. 8d.
Members of the Council are mentioned as being entertained at
the town's expense — viz. Thomas (afterwards Sir Thomas) Engle-
field. Sir William Uvedale, and the Lord President, Bishop
Smyth. In 1495 the king and queen, with his mother, the Lady
Margaret, came to Shrewsbury, where the prince was waiting to
give him welcome ; the bailiffs provided a royal feast, in which
were included saffron bread and " ypocras " for the queen.
Presents were given to the king's minstrels, the prince's players,
the footmen and serjeants-at-mace, the total expenses amounting
to ;!^39 lys. 6d., or something Hke ;^558 of our money. The
townsfolk doubtless hoped that the royal visit might lead to the
' Owen and Blakeway, History of Shrewsbury, Vol. I., p. 233.
2 Ibzd.
^ Ibid., p. 262. The amount given by Owen and Blakeway is cvi' ix^ ;
the correction ex' is noted on p. 31 of the Hist. MSS., Report on the
Shrewsbury MSS.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 203
decision in their favour of a dispute with the abbey concerning
the hamlet of Merivale and rights over the stone bridge.
Arundel, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, tried to settle the
matter by arbitration, but before anything was effected, the
bailiff and burgesses submitted to be " ordered accordyng to
the prince's pleasure." Ultimately the matter was decided in
favour of the abbot by Charles Bothe and Sir William Uvedale,
both members of the prince's Council.
After Prince Arthur's death in 1502 intercourse between the
Council and the town was still maintained. One of the leading
members at the time was Peter Newton, who built a house which
for many years was the residence of the Council at Shrewsbury.
On his arrival in the town to reside there, he and his wife were
entertained at dinner by the bailiffs at a cost of 4^. 3./. The
accounts of this period mention presents of wine and money to
Lord President Smyth and various members of the Council.
Under date 1521 is recorded a list of presents to the "Com-
missioners of our Lord the King residing within the Abbey in
the festival of Christmas, given for the honour of the town."
It begins with a boar, price 8s. $d., and two swans, price 2>s. ;
and the total cost, including wine, amounted to 50^. ']d. Besides
the feast, we find a record of a gift of wine to Sir Richard
Herbert and Mr. John Pulesdone (Puleston) " for their favour."
This Sir Richard is of course the famous servant of Henry VHI.,
and chief ruler of all those parts of North Wales under the direct
government of the Crown.
Of a very different character from the above entries is the
following : " Paid for fixing and putting the head of a certain
felon and rebel of our Lord the King called Griffith ap J.
ap David, otherwise Griffith Mikewyne upon a post over the
town-gate towards Wales, to the terror and example of other
the like felons and rebels, 5^." The MS. Chronicle of
Shrewsbury gives some particulars about this man which throw
light on the disturbed condition of the Marches at this time :
" He was an honest man and a good farmer, uppon a certain
tyme having a number of catell stollen from his farme place
(as in those Wales was soonwhat wyld, one stelyng from another)
204 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the calves of the which kyne mackinge sutche bletynge noyse
and pytyfull crye, that he was soe greevyd and in sutche agony
that he wylfully drove them all, being about the number of xl into
a deepe water, and drowynyd them ; and upon the same sware
a desperate oothe that he never wold content hymselfe before
he had spoyled that kynred that had stollen his kyne ; and so
presently gave hymsellffe to owlarye and dyd many wyckyd deads
which he confessed at hys execucon."
Coming back to less gloomy subjects, we find in 15 21 a notice
of wine given to Bishop Blyth and other Commissioners at a
general procession on the feast of Corpus Christi. A few years
later — in 1526 — the corporation sent a mission to Bewdley (where
the Council of the Marches was sitting) for the decision of
certain disputes with the corporation of Worcester. The bailiff
was given ^s. 3c/. in advance to apparel his horse and harness,
and a man was paid 1 2d. to ride on ahead to provide lodging.
During the Presidency of Bishop Voysey the Council visited
Shrewsbury, lodging, as heretofore, in the abbey. On one occasion
(1526) wine was sent to the members in their chambers, an
indulgence which shows that a taste for privacy and comfort
was beginning to develop. The Christmas of 1532 was spent
at the abbey, where the Commissioners were regaled with " a large
and long boar, two swans, conies and other gifts." The corpora-
tion of Shrewsbury, as of other boroughs, fully realised the
advantage derived from the presence of the Council. In a paper
dated 22 H. VIII., apparently a memorandum of instructions
for its parliamentary representatives, is the article : " Item for
the king's commissioners to resorte and abyde for the more
part in the king's towne of Salop." Even the neighbourhood
of the Council was an advantage, at any rate for the speedy
hearing of news from London. In 1536 is the entry : "Money
paid to Richard E. riding to the Commissioners touching new
rumours concerning the Lady Anne late queen 40^." It would
appear from this and other sources that the Government sent
down to Ludlow some account of important current events.
The manner in which the Council was received on its arrival
in the town may be gathered from an entry in 1537 : "They
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 205
be aggreed that all the aldermen beyng owt of the towne, shal
be warned att theyre howses to prepare theym selffs to mete the
king's commissioners ; and also that all wardens of occupacons
shalbe in like manner warned to present unto Master Bailiffs
or theire deputies, what able men they can make with horses,
to mete the said commissioners. Item they agreed to present
the said commissioners with four dozen bredd, half an oxe,
a hogeshed of wyne and forther at Ma'' Bailiff's discression."
The notices of the visit are curious : the Lord President received
no fewer than seven hundred oysters at the cost of 2s. ^d.
the king's Commissioners were given wine in S. Chad's
Church, and a certain youth, at the instance of one of their
number, got 2od. " ad emendam camisiam," to buy him a shirt.
The second of these entries is illustrated by one of later date —
1542 — noting that wine was given to the interluders after the
interlude in S. Chad's churchyard before the Commissioners of
our Lord the King, the bailiffs and others. On January 27th, 1543,
the Lord President, Bishop Lee, was buried in S. Chad's " before
the highe aulter there, under a toombe of marble stone, being
on(e) the right hand." Dugdale, who visited S. Chad's in 1663,
speaks of the bishop's monument as a " large marble tombe
erected and covered over with a faire marble stone " ; it was
removed in 1720 to make room to come up to the altar.
At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, which
took place during the Presidency of Bishop Lee, is the following
entry in the municipal registers under the date of 9 Jan., 31
H. VIII. : " They be aggreed that there shalbe suyte made
unto the Kynge and his Counsell by mediacion of my Lord
President and Mr. Justice, that the Abbey may stand and
remayne to receyve the prince's grace or any other nobilite
of the realme that shall resorte to this towne." The suit failed,
the abbey was dissolved, and only the church remained intact.
The Lord President and Council therefore never again, as in
Prince Arthur's time, kept Christmas within the abbey walls.
Three years before the Dissolution it had been agreed (July 31st,
1357) that Mr. Newton's house be bought for the Lord President,
and numerous entries henceforth occur in the municipal registers
2o6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
with regard to it. In 1558 or 1559 the roof was tiled and the
windows were glazed; in 1563 it was let to Lord Stafford, with
reservation of the use of it for the Council and the Justices
of Assize. The Council House has now been modernised, but
its gateway remains one of the many adornments of the town.
During the reign of Edward VI. a few notices occur of the
stay of the Lord President and Councillors in the town. In
1548 wine was given to the Lord President, who was taking
the musters of the men armed for Scotland ; they were cheered
on their way by "histriones " — i.e. minstrels, or waits, as shown by
the quaint entry, "'Regard' istrionibus ludentibus ante viros
armatos." During Mary's reign no entry seems to occur in the
town records respecting the Council, but during that of Elizabeth
entries are numerous, especially in the Presidency of Sir Henry
Sydney, who showed a special affection for Shrewsbury. In 1561
the Corporation spent 15^. %d. on going to Bridgenorth to
learn the Lord President's pleasure touching the Council's
arrival. Next year, 1562, £,\2 \os. Sd. was paid for wine,
an ox, feeding of horses, and other necessaries given to Sir
Henry Sydney during his stay in August, " on account of his
favour to the town." The notes of such disbursements are not
always couched in such grateful terms ; there is somewhat of
grudging in the statement under 1565 : " Spent upon John
Thogmorton Knight and William Gerrard and their wives at
their coming at different times, ;)£S i6s. -jd." Sir Henry Sydney
seems to have visited Shrewsbury almost every year when he
was in England. In 1568 he and the Council issued a decree
for the settlement of great disputes relating to corporation
elections; in 15 71 he was entreated by the shearmen to give
them help against the drapers, and in 1572 arrangements were
made to give him a present of ^£6 13^. 4^. on his next visit.
This took place in 1573, and was an occasion of much im-
portance to the town. On his arrival, eighteen " chamber peeces "
were shot off in a " ryaltie," or show at a "voyde place under
the Wyld Copp joyning into Master Sherer's howse ; and also
a lytell from the same at the foot of the Wyld Copp was an
excellent oracion made unto him by one of the scollers of the
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 207
Free Scoole." The purpose of his coming was that, in company
with the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, he might cause the
churches to be reformed after the queen's injunctions. The
result of their efforts is recorded thus : " This yeare the
mynysters in the churches of Shrewsberye against Chrystmas
dyd all weare theire cross-capps and white syrplesys, exercising
the protestant religion, which long tyme before dyd leave them
of [off] contrarie to the Queene's injunctions." A noteworthy
visitor in 1573 or 1574 was Sir Philip Sydney, once a scholar at
the Free School and now just returned from foreign travel. He
came with his father, and received a present of wine, cakes, etc.
In 1 58 1 Sir Henry Sydney, being a Knight of the Garter,
kept the Feast of S. George at Shrewsbury with great splendour.
On April 15th is a note of his intention, and a resolution that
the town shall give him a fat ox. A festal service was held
at S. Chad's, where the stalls were decorated with the arms of
the knights. In the evening the Lord President kept open house.
A week later he was entertained by the masters of the free
school with a banquet in the school garden, and the next day
the head boy and captains of the school addressed him with
speeches, promising that when they reached man's estate they
would valiantly defend their country. On his departure by river
on May 8th, an elaborate pageant was prepared. " In the island
about a quarter-of-a-mile down stream a band of music was
stationed with certain of the scholars apparelled in the guise
of water-nymphs with green willows on their heads." In mourn-
ful strains they lamented his departure, " the which," says the
chronicler, " was done so pitifully that truly it made many to
weepe ; and my lord himself to change countenance." Mirth
rather than tears might have been moved by the verses, of which
the chronicler gives the following specimen :
"And wyll yo'' honor needs depart
And must it needs be soe ?
Would God we could lycke fishes svvyme,
That we might with the[e] go."
No less quaint is the account of the visit of the " right honour-
able lady Mary Sidney" in 1584. She came in her wagon to
2o8 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the Council House, her husband arriving some days later ; " and
as he passed in his waggons by the coondyt at the Wyld Coppe,
were made two excellent orations by twoe of the Free Scoole
Scollars, and so passed towards his ladye with his troompeter
blowynge very joyfully to behold and see."
Sydney's successor, the Earl of Pembroke, visited Shrewsbury
in 1588, and mustered the townsfolk, both horse and foot. It
was agreed beforehand that ^£^40 (raised later to ;!^5o) should
be disbursed for his entertainment, j[^2o being allotted for
a personal present. In 1589 Justice Shuttleworth and his
wife came to Shrewsbury and received congratulations on his
recent appointment as Chief Justice of Chester ; he repaid
them by procuring that the Michaelmas Term of the Council
should, much to the town's contentment, be kept at Shrewsbury.
Much displeasure was evidently felt if the Council failed to
resort annually to the town, or curtailed its stay. Under 1599
is an entry to the effect that the Council came to keep term, " but
they continued here but one tearme and departed hence, seal
and all, 6th of July, the towne being worse rather than better for
them, because they had made provision for them for two tearmes."
During the two following reigns the Shrewsbury records say
comparatively little about the Council. In 161 1 it was decided
that the Lord President should be met by the bailiffs, the alder-
men, and the common council " in their beste suytes next to their
robes of scarlett, and the wardens of companyes likewise in their
best gownes ; and that the Bailiffs and six men shall bestow
such charges as they thincke best for enterteynment of my Lord
President, his lady and the rest of the Council." The slight
disrespect shown by the words italicised is more marked in the
next entry on the same subject in 1611-12 (January 23rd):
"Aggreed that a gratuyteye not exceeding 20 nobles be
bestowed on the Right Honourable the Lord President, if it
please him to keepe Lent term next in this towne, or els not.^^
The same feeling is shown in the appointment of the six men
(in 1613) as stewards for the over-seeing of the expenses for
the Lord President's entertainment. Irritation against the
Council had evidently spread even to Shrewsbury.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 209
In spite of this, the old custom of town contributions continued.
Among the baiUffs' accounts is an interesting document showing
how the matter was managed. The heading is :
"To contribute towardes the enterteynm'te of my lord
p[re]sident, 1615."
Then comes the Hst as follows :
" Drap[er]s ....
Mercers ....
Sherman ....
Coruisers [i.e. Shoemakers
Clothyers ....
Glou[erJs ....
Butchers ....
Bakers and milnes [i.e. millers]
Taylers ....
Sadlers and smithes .
Carpenters, Tylers, boyers [i.e. bowyers]
Joyners
Tanners .......
lij' V.
iij' v^
xl'.
xl'.
xl'.
iij-
xl'.
xl».
xV.
xxxnj'
xh"
UIJ"
A list of places near Shrewsbury follows, with the total contri-
bution from each of the groups. Then come the names of
various persons in the streets of Shrewsbury— ^.^. in " Mardoll,"
" frankwell," " Knockyn streete," Claremont, " doggelane,"
"Le stalles," " Shoplatch," "le wyld Coppe," "Baxter's Rowe,"
" Corne markett," and " dogg pole." The sum-total contributed
is ;^55 13^. 11^. (Bailiffs' Accounts, Box X. 559).
The preceding extracts, taken mainly from the Shrewsbury
Chronicle and the bailiffs' accounts, show how much importance
was attached, at any rate in the sixteenth century, to the favour
of the Council. There are further indications of the somewhat
peremptory tone adopted by members of the Council towards
the borough authorities. The following letter from Thomas
Leighton may serve as an example :
" Shrewsbury MSS.
" 2630.
" Worship" Si""^ one of my Servantes having a Taffeta Doublet to
be made gaue the whole stripe for the same to a lewde ffellow
14
210 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
that wroght w"^ Thomas Connye, and nowe he being stoulne
awaye hath paunde the said stuffe (as I am gyven to understand)
w*'^ some one of the towne wherein yo" are officers. Wherefore
I am to request yo" that there may be diligent search and
enquiry made whoe hath the stuffe, the denyall of yt (as I take
yt) ys w%in the Compas of ffellony — therefore I wold wish them
that haue yt, looke to them selves for yf I fynde yt in anie mans
Keapeing after you' publishing therof I will make their necks to
Cracke yf lawe will admitt the same. And so hopeing yo" will
use you"" endevo""* herein w^^ my hartie Comendacons I comyt yo"
to god. Watlesburgh this xxiiif*^ of August 1598.
" I wold not willingly p'cure anie mans troble yf I male haue
the stuffe by way of Curtesey, otherwise I will use all the ex-
tremytie I can, but I will haue the same.
" You"" loving ffrend.
" Tho: Leighton."
William Leighton, again, writes to ask that the bailiffs will
excuse from attendance at their Court a certain John Hassald,
whom he needs as cook on his circuit.^ George Bromley writes
to ask the bailiffs and schoolmaster to lease certain tithes to
one of his servants ; any favour shown in this matter shall, he
adds, be duly requited.^ Henry Townesend asked on behalf
of his sister's man the freedom of the town and " lawfull fauor
ffrom tyme to tyme in his honest behavior and well doinge."
This somewhat vague request is made more explicit by the
postscript, "My meanyng is by your ffavor he may have Licens
to keepe a victelling howse." ^ Some years later the same writer
begged that the trial of a case at Shrewsbury in which he was
concerned might be postponed till his witnesses should be free
to attend.*
Occasionally the requests made by the members of the Council
are not of a personal nature— ^.^. two of them pray that the
" devotion and benevolence " of the town and liberty of Salop
may relieve the inhabitants of Church Stretton, Avho in 1593
' Shrewsbury MSS., No. 2621 (1582). » Ibid., No. 2621 (1584-5).
* Ibid., No. 2621 (1584-5). ' Ibid., No. 2621 (1594).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 211
had suffered great losses by fire.^ Similarly, at the request of
the Lord President, the sum of j[,^ 13^. 4^. was given to Mr.
William Croft in consideration of his great losses. To provide
the money, two new burgesses were admitted, and the surplus
of their payments was to be used for the boarding and finishing
of the new house.^ The same amount was granted at the
Council's request to their own serjeant-at-arms ^ in consideration
of his service in the queen's wars. Other entries may be
quoted to show the closeness of the relations between the
Council and the borough — e.g. in August, 1568, the Council
ordered the pressing of four brickmakers and two tilers to be
set forward for Ireland, where they would be needed by the
Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sydney.^ Another is the note : " Sol'
Henrico Blakemere pro pictura proporcionis ville ostendend'
Consilio domini Regis xij^.^
Among the other meeting-places of the Council, Hereford
calls for some special notice. Among the undated papers in
the city records is a letter from Ludlow Castle, in the name of
Prince Edward, to the mayor, thanking him for furnishing twenty-
four persons to be ready to attend on the prince to do his most
dread lord and father the king service.^ This is one of the
earliest, if not the earliest, contemporary records of the Council.
Several letters are extant, addressed by the Council to the
mayor, which deal with the enforcing of order — e.g. in 157 1 the
Council sent on a letter received from the Privy Council, en-
joining that on August 20th, September 12th, and October 12th
next ensuing, from seven o'clock at night till three in the afternoon
strict watch was to be kept in the whole shire for the appre-
hension of all rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars, who
were to be punished "by stocking and sharp and severe
' Shrewsbury MSS., No. 2621 (1593).
- Hist. MSS. Commission, 15th Report, App., Pt, X., Shrewsbury MSS.,
f. 1926, 1577, October 13th.
^ Ibid., 1571, April 23 (p. 16).
* Ibid., p. 60, August 9th, 1568.
* Ibid., p. 31.
« Ibid., 13th Report, App., Pt. IV., Hereford MSS., p. 314.
212 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
whipping."^ In June, 1584, the Council wrote in the queen's
name to the Mayor and Justices of Hereford to the following
effect : " Our Council in the Marches are informed that there
are sundry outrages, "unlawful assemblies, banding of people with
sundry kinds of weapons, as swords, bucklers, morris-pikes, d^gs,
privy coats and other munitions and armour daily walking up and
down the cities and towns in the country ' facing and brasing '
our quiet subjects, and specially in the city of Hereford many
assaults, affrays, and tumults have been committed and no
punishment hath ensued ; you are therefore to repair to the city
on all market days, fair days etc. and to bind over all persons
found culpable to appear before the Council." ^ Similarly in
February, 1554, the Council ordered the mayor to see that
due watch was kept nightly in the city, and that the gates
were closed and kept safe in convenient time for " th'e
[sjchowing [i.e. the eschewing] of the misorder that might
ensue and for the apprehending of such as would attempt the
same." ^
Among other letters is one ordering the suppression, in accord-
ance with the queen's proclamation, of traitorous and slanderous
books and libels, especially one against the Earl of Leicester (m'z.
Parsons' Leicester's Commonwealth).* Another enjoins the
observance of the queen's late proclamation for the reformation
of the unreasonable excess of apparel, " whiche having of late
yeres dailie encreased is nowe in thende growen to such extreme
disorder as in no wise is any longer to be suffered." ^ Once the
Council had been informed of the existence of plague at Hereford,
and wrote to the mayor bidding him make proclamation that
no one was to come from the city to Ludlow for the approaching
fair without special licence, on pain of imprisonment. The
mayor replied, evidently with some resentment, that he had
* Hist. MSS. Commission, 13th Report, App., Pt. IV., Hereford MSS.,
July 25th, 1 57 1, p. 329.
* Ibid., June 17th, 1584, p. 331.
' Ibid., February 7th, 1554, p. 319. The Calendar has "the chouring."
* Ibid., June 20th, 1584, p. 332.
* Ibid., February 28th, 1 566-7, p. 329.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 213
fixed a copy of the Council's letter on a post in the market-place,
in accordance with directions, but that, after conferring with his
brethren, he had found few instances of recent death from any
kind of disease, "so that who soever dyd gyve unto you any
other knowledge is not a just man." ^ The Council certainly
exercised a good deal of supervision over the city affairs, »s is
seen by an order of February 9th, 1554, that the mayor should
deliver to two persons named (chosen as wardens of the corpora-
tion of goldsmiths, blacksmiths, cutlers, plumbers, glaziers,
braziers, pewterers, and cardmakers) the charter of the said
corporation and the stock belonging to it.^ As in the Shrews-
bury MSS., notices occur of requests for postponement of
suits in the city — e.g. in a case of debt for four silver spoons
against Edmund Scrope, one of the clerks in attendance on the
Council : the reason given is that he cannot appear at short notice.
As late as 16 19 the connection between the Council and
Hereford continued. In that year the mayor and some Justices
of the Peace complained to the Privy Council of the opposition
offered by a common councillor, Philip Traherne, to the levy
of a rate for procuring a fresh charter. As the matter came
from a place " within the jurisdiction of the Marches of Wales,"
it was referred to the Lord President, the Earl of Northampton,
and the Chief Justice of Chester, and Sir Henry Townesend.
These were to call the parties before them and deal with the
case according to their discretion. A month later the matter
was again discussed at the Privy Council, who came to the
conclusion that it ought to be settled among the parties con-
cerned; that Traherne, formerly disfranchised, ought to be
reinstated, and that the mayor and common council should
arrange for the assessment of the amount expended (over ^300).
If by " amicable and friendly treaty and conference among them-
selves " the matter could not be settled, it was ordered that
the Lord President and Council of the Marches " shall enterpose
their authority and assistance for ending of the same either by
' Hist. MSS. Commission, 13th Report, App., Pt. IV,, Hereford MSS.,
November nth, 1556, p. 328.
* Ibid., February 9th, 1554, p. 319.
214 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
course of Justice, or otherwise as they shall finde expedient for
the good peace and quiett of that Citty." ^
The most curious entry in the Hereford MSS. relating to the
Council of the Marches is certainly the account of preparations
for the visit received in the winter of 1556-7.^ The authorities
resolved that " ther be preparid within that citie of Hereford
the fairest house and of most easment whiche requirithe to
have one lodginge for my lord with ij severall roromes [sic] for
himsealf, one chamber for his gromes, and one chambre for
his apparell if this may be." Additional lodging had to be pro-
vided for three of the Council, the steward, the gentleman-usher
or harbinger, the usher of the hall, the butler, pantler, porter,
etc. This, it was reckoned, would mean " xxx^^® feather bedds
with all thinges belonginge to the same for my lord, the counsaill,
and their men at the lest." Other items in the list of requisites
are: "6 hogsheads or 10 barrels of good beer, 10 large wain
loads of good fuel to be taken from the Queen's wood, stables,
hay, provender and litter for 20 horses or more, and grass for
60 geldings and nags or more." In the way of furniture is set
down : " Item viij large table clothes, iiij towels, iiij cupurd
clothes, vj dosine of napkines and xxx*'^ candillsticks ether of
pewter or latten as you may gett them." Then comes a list
of pots and pans, platters, dishes, and saucers, down to the
buckets and tubs for carrying water. Various persons were
called upon to provide the lodging utensils just mentioned.
The Treasurer and Chancellor of Hereford Cathedral between
them were to entertain the Lord President, the Councillors, and
some of their attendants, fourteen beds being provided in the
Cathedral Close. Other leading citizens were to find beds in
their houses, and, in some cases, furniture as well. Others,
again, were to provide furniture only — e.g. the mayor was to
find "a bedde of dowle, a bolster, two pyllywers with pyllowe
beres, a peyr of ffustyan blankettes, a peyre of shettes, a fether
bed." Another citizen was to provide the humble but useful
• Council Register, Vol. IV. (James I.), under dates October 27th and
November 27th, 1619.
« Hereford MSS., pp. 323, 324.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 215
gridiron ; another, four candlesticks ; and yet another was to find
" two arryes clothes."
In all probability similar arrangements would be made for
the Council's visits to other places in the Marches, where they
were not provided with any permanent place of residence.
Some references to the Council occur in the Chester MSS.
Their fewness is explained by the fact that, as noticed above, the
city was exempted from its jurisdiction in the reign of Elizabeth.
In August, 1562, the Council issued a warrant to the mayor
for the due execution of certain wilful and murderous perjurers,
who were to be paraded through the streets of the city " from
the porter's lodge to the shire (hall) and back to the same lodge
through the market place." ^ In May, 1569, the Earl of Leicester
wrote to Sir Hugh Cholmondeley, Vice-President of Wales,
and to three others, bidding them repair to Chester and inquire
into the causes and extent of the alleged decay of the city.
Nearly two years later (April, 157 1) the Commissioners reported
to the earl that "the citizens in tymes past have bene in great
wellth and habilitie and at this present are in great and pytifuU
decay and without help will assuredly goe to utter ruyne and
beggery." The principal link of the Council with Chester was
of course the fact that the Chief Justice of that city was the
most important member of the Council.
This chapter may be concluded by quoting a few references
from the Bridgenorth MSS. These are mostly entries of presents
or payments for bell-ringing — e.g. "in 161 8 a potte of metheglyn,
price \2d. and a potte of sack and a potte of claret wine, price
3^. 4^."'' In 1608 the charges "bestowed on my Lord President
and his Lady" amounted to j[^2'j ^s. M.^ — a considerable sum
for so small a place. One entry belonging to the later days
of the Council is worth quoting in full ; one would like to
know the rights of the case : " Resolved that the information
preferred by the Kinge's Majesties Attorney of his highnes
Counsell in the Marches of Wales against the foresaid Bayliffes
' Hist. MSS. Commission, Report VIII., App., Chester MSS.
2 Ibid., Report X., Pts. 3, 4, Bridgenorth MSS., pp. 432-3.
' Ibid., p. 432.
2i6 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
of this town, whereby they are charged with Hcensinge of 200
alehowses and 40 budgers of corne and graine and other pro-
visions, and for sufiferinge and not suppressinge 100 unlicensed
alehowses in the s^ towne shalbe answered, and the charge in
answering and defending that suit shalbe born at the generall
charge of the town" (March 15th, 1633-4).^
' Hist. MSS. Commission, Report X., Pts. 3, 4, Bridgenorth MSS,,
p. 429, f. 570.
CHAPTER VIII
THE PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL
The scantiness of the material for the early history of the
Council in the Marches prevents any detailed description of
its procedure before the reign of Henry VIII. Among the
Shrewsbury MSS. are several documents of the years 1511 and
1512, which show the forms used for stay of action and discharge
of suitors in the bailiffs' Court, and for direction to the baihffs
to examine a bill of complaint and report on it to the Council.
These documents are all headed, '' By the King," and after the
dating clause the words are added, " And the Lord p'sident and
Counsaile in the Marches of Wales," or, in one case, " By the
Kinges Commissioners being at Ludlowe."
The instructions to the Princess's Council in 1525 give full
details as to the procedure to be followed in the execution of
the various commissions mentioned. In executing the Com-
mission of Oyer and Terminer they were first of all to issue
to the Sheriff of Gloucestershire process of venire facias, sum-
moning jurors of the shire to appear before them to inquire of
all felonies and other offences mentioned in the Commission.
On the day of the sessions, which were to begin at 9 a.m., or
soon after, the Commission was to be read in Latin by the clerk
of the peace, and the tenor explained by one of the Com-
missioners. Oaths were then to be administered to the
" inquests," and they were to be charged to give their verdicts
with all speed, after which the Commissioners were to see that
each indictment was good and sufficient in law, so that pro-
ceedings might at once be taken against the parties therein
mentioned. A similar course was to be followed in executing
217
2i8 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
the Commission of offices and patents. The Sessions of Oyer
and Terminer were to last for eight or ten days (Sundays being
ahvays excepted) in each county within the Commission. Any
person disobeying or disregarding the Commissioners' orders
was to be attached by the sheriff, mayor, constable, bailiff, or
other fitting officers, and sent either to the king or to the
Council at Westminster, or kept elsewhere in safe custody as
seemed advisable. The procedure in suits arising out of a bill
of complaint was to be as follows : the person complained
of was to be sent for by a letter missive under the king's signet
to answer to the charge against him. If he failed to appear,
he was to be compelled by letters of attachment addressed
to the sheriff, constable, etc.
The Council was to attend daily to the reading and answering
of bills ; their answer was to be endorsed on the bill by the
clerk, and declared to the party suing. No member was to be
a party in any matter before the Council, unless it actually
concerned himself, in which case he was not to be present
during the hearing. Each Councillor was to be at liberty to
give his opinion, and " no person of them shall conceaue in-
dignacion, displeasure or wrathe against any other of his com-
pany for sayeinge his advise purposed in the same whome that
euer it touche." No one was to remain in the Council during
its deliberations except sworn members or persons specially
summoned. Decrees, etc., were not to be passed unless at
least three of the Council were present, in addition to the Lord
President, or, in his absence, four at least, the chancellor or
some other chief officer being one. Decrees were to be re-
corded by the clerk of the Council. Matters of special import-
ance were not to be proceeded with, but referred to the king
or the Privy Council. Nothing was to be regarded as assented
to unless at least three Councillors and an officer agreed, and
their assent was not to be effectual unless they formed a majority
of the members present. Any bill that passed was to be sub-
scribed (either in the meeting-place of the Council or elsewhere)
by the Councillors responsible for it. In case of difference of
opinion, the matter under discussion was to stand over till the
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 219
next meeting, when it was to be decided according to the view
of the majority. The clerk of the Council was to be bound
by oath, that in settling the order in which bills of complaint
should be presented to the Council, he would as far as possible
give priority to the bill of the poorest suitor ; those learned in
the law were " to geue the poore man assistance and true
Counsayle in his matters so to be sued without any goodes
takeinge of him upon paine of dischardgeinge him or them of
their offices."
Further details as to procedure may be gathered from the
various books of instructions, especially those to Sir Henry
Sydney in 1574 and to the Earl of Pembroke in 1586. The
clearest statement, however, is that drawn up by the Earl of
Pembroke during his first term of office. It includes a list
of the officers of the Court, from the Chief Justice downwards,
with full details as to fees, and strictures on the various abuses
that had crept into the Court. This is followed by a list of
" th' entries and formes of the awarding of all maner of process,
Commissions and suchelike in all matters and cawses there and
of the whole course of their proceedinges in the same, in suche
sorte as they are usually entred and set downe in the originall
Recordes therof" — viz.
Proces of c" upon A I're to the defendante to appere the daie
the bill of com- ^ ....
plainte exhibited. of to answere upon pame of c^^.
Proces of con- fforasmuche as A. B. hath deposed that he
*^""P'^* aboute daies before the retourne of hir
jj^^ties i^gj. j'j.gg Qf ^x deliuered the same to the
defendante and for that the defendante appeared
not accordingly, but disobeyed etc. Therefore
a I're to the said defendante, recyteng his con-
tempt, to appere the daie of nexte to
answer as well to the matter as to his contempte,
upon paine of allegeance.
Proces of Procia- fforasmuche as C. D. hath deposed that he
™^^°°' aboute daies before the retourne of hir
highnes I'res of allegeance aboue menc'oned
220 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Proces of pro-
clamac'on of re-
bellion with attache-
ment.
Proces of attache-
ment with seques-
trac'on.
L'res Placardes.
deliuered the same to the defendante, who
appered not etc., Therfore a I're to the Signet
(Sheriff ?) of the Cowntie of to make pro-
clamac'on in places conuenient within his office
for the apparance of the defendant the daye
of nexte to answer etc. Letting him to
witt yf He then make defalte of apparance, he
thenceforthe shalbe taken a Rebell, and the
Sherif to certefy etc. upon payne of c".
fforasmuch as it appereth by the certifikat
annexed sent to this Counsaile from the Sherif
of the Countie of whereby it appereth
that he hath fully executed the tenour of the
same l'res of proclamac'on etc. Therefore a
I're eftsoones to the said Sherif, not only to
proclaime the defendante a Rebell etc., But
also him to apprehend and him to bring or
send to this Counsell the daie of etc.
and to certifie etc.
fforsmuche as it appereth by the certificate
annexed sent to this Counsaile from the Sherif
etc. That he hath not only proclaimed the
Defendant to be a Rebell, But alsoe hath
made serche for him etc. and him cannot
fynde etc. Therfore a I're to the said Sheryf
not only tomake serche for the defendante, But
also to sequester into his handes to her ma^^^^
use all suche landes, tenementes, goodes,
cattells etc. as the defendante hath within his
office, and the same to deteyne with the meane
profittes ther of. And to certefye etc.
fforasmuch as it appereth by the certificat
annexed from the Sherif etc. that the defendante
hath not any landes or goodes etc. within his
office etc. Therefore l'res placardes be graunted
unto the gentlemen subscribed to make serche
for the defendante and him to apprehend etc.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 221
Like I'res This
of course is to be
graunted upon any
of the former I'res
discontinued.
Hit ma"" Letters
of sondrie natures
upon a bill ex-
hibited.
The titles or
names of sondry
enformac'ons and
billes of complainte
exhibited to the
right honorable the
Lo : President and
others hir ma""
counsaile in the
marches of Wales,
with the first proces
unto them seuerally
graunted by said
Lo : President and
Counsaile as fol-
loweth.
and forth with upon his apprehenc'on to bring
or send to this Counsaill etc. comaunding all
officers etc. to be aydeng the said gentlemen
in execuc'on of the premisses, etc.
fforasmuche as nothing was donne in th'
execuc'on of hir ma*'"^** former I'res, Therfore at
the plaintiffes humble suite like I'res as the
former were be directed to the defendante to
appere etc.
fifor matters of debte, non-saving harmless,
and suche like of small moment sometyme a
Commission is directed unto gentlemen of
credit, to ende the same with out a Retourne,
or with retourne, as to the said Courte it shalbe
thought meete.
Alsoe sometymes proces is directed for those
causes and for diuerse other matters to bynde the
defendante ther apparance in this Courte upon
affidavit made or some other iust cause shewed.
Sometymes for the removing of a force, proces
is directed to the Sherif and Justices of Peace
to remove the same according to the statute.
Likewise proces is sometymes directed unto
the Sergeant at armes and purseuantes for the
bringing into this Courte of disobedient persones
and sometymes for other greate matters as
occason requyreth.
The order of endorcement whereupon hir
Ma"®^ I'res are directed for the apparance of
the defendante.
222 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Riotes, Rowtes,
unlawful! assemblies
etc.
Rescue.
fforgery and pro-
curing therof.
Periury and pro-
curing thereof.
Imbeselling of
Recordes out of this
Courte.
Forfecting o f
bandes taken to hir
ma"''^ use in this
Courte.
Seruing of false
billettes by colour
of proces out of this
Courte.
Regrating and
forstalling.
Droving etc.
Incontynency.
wrongful! impri-
sonment.
Maintenance.
Affrayes etc.
Comortha.
Actons by e7iforma(^on
A I're to the defendante to appere the
dale of next to answere upon paine of c".
A I're to the defendante to appere ut supra.
A I're to the defendante to appere as before.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
All these with diuerse other matters upon penall statutes th'
enformers are enioyned in x^^ to prosequute. Somtymes proces is
directed unto some gentlemen of credit to bynd the defendantes
in the matters before menc'oned for their apparance before the
Lo : President and Counsaile upon affidauit made, or some other
iust cawse shewed. The tenor of which proces ensueth. A I're
to the gentlemen subscribed or to any one of them to make serche
for the defendantes and them to bynde by seuerall obligac'ons
in the summe of xP' a yeare to her ma^'*^® use with sufificient
sureties for their personall apparance in this Courte the daie
of to answer, And at their apparance not to departe with-
out the speciall licence of this Counsaile. And yf they refuse
to enter into the said bandes then to committ him or them so
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 223
refusing to warde to the nexte gaole there to remaine untill he
or they be conformable to enter into the said bandes. And the
said gentlemen of their doinge herein to certefy etc.
Acdons by bill of complainte
Breache of your A I're to the defendante to appere the
LoP' order or of an ^ ^f ^g^^^ ^^ aunswer to the breache
order taken by Com- ■'
missioners by Com- of th' order within signed, upon paine of c^^
mission from this
Courte.
Debtes without A I're to the defendante to paye unto the
specialtie. plaintiffe the some of money by him or them
in demaund according to iustice or else to
appere to an s were upon paine of c".
Execuc'ons. A I're to the defendante to satisfye the
plantiffe of thexecuc'ons in demaund accord-
ing to Justice, or else to appere to answere
upon paine of c".
Mariage money. A I're to the defendante to pay unto the
plaintiffe the marriadge money in demaunde
according to Justice or else, etc.
Non-saving A I're to the defendante to saue the plaintiffe
arme ess. harmeless, touching the matter him and the
defendante in trauerse, according to iustice,
or else, etc.
Non-sealing a A I're to seale and deliuer unto the plaintiffe
specia le. ^^ specialty in demaunde according to Justice,
or else, etc.
Non-cancelling a A I're to the defendante to deliuer to the plain-
being dLchSgeT' ^iffe the band in demaunde to be cancelled,
or a sufficient acquittance in discharge therof,
according to Justice, or else, etc.
Wager of Law. A I're to the officers within named to admitt
the plaintiffe to his wager of lawe in the acc'ons
within specified yf by order of law he ought
to be thereunto admitted, as to the contrary
they will answer at their perill.
224 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Reteyning of
goodes, cattells,
corne and hows-
hold stuffe.
Deteyning of eui-
dence uncertaine.
Legacies.
Trackes.
Compulsory for A I're to the wittnesses to appere at the
wittnesses. courte within menc'oned when they shalbe
therunto by the plaintiff requyred to testefye
the trothe of their Knowledge in the matter
within specified, upon the plaintiffe's behalf,
costes and charges upon paine of c^\
A I're to the defendante to deliuer to the
plaintilfe the goodes etc. in demaunde,
according to Justice, or else to appere,
etc.
A I're to the defendante to deliuer to the
plaintiffe the euidences in demaund according
to Justice, or else, etc.
A I're to the defendante to satisfye the
plaintiffe of the legacies in demaund accord-
ing to Justice, or else, etc.
A I're to the defendante to satisfie the
plaintiffe for his cattelles in demaund according
to Justice, or else, etc.
A I're to the defendante to appere the day
of nexte to answer and shew their cawse
of suite upon paine of c^'.
Tytle of Common. A I're to the defendante to permitte and
suffer the plaintiffe quietly to occupye and
enioye his common in demaunde according to
Justice, or else, etc.
A I're to the defendante to caste open the
common in trauerse, or else, etc.
A I're to the defendante to deliuer to the
plaintiffe the cattelles in demaunde according
to Justice, or else, etc.
A I're to the defendante to deliuer to the
plaintiffe the cattelles in demaunde upon the
plaintiffe's band in xx^' with sufficient suretie
for redeliuering of the same to the defendante
yf upon examinac'on of the matter it shalbe soe
ordered by the Lo : President and Counsaile,
Serving of sub-
penas and other
writtes.
Enclosing
Commons.
of
ReteynengofCat
telles.
Impownding of
cattelles.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 225
and for that extent the defendante to appere
to answere, etc.
A I're with the bill therein closed are directed
unto the gentlemen subscribed to call before
them the plaintiff and defendant for due ex-
aminac'on of the matter within menc'oned. And
thereuppon by their good meanes and wisdome
with the parties assente fynally to ende the
same yf they so can. And yf they cannot so
do, through the obstinacie of the defendante,
Then they to prefixe the defendante so obstinate
of apparance in this Courte the daye of
nexte to answer, etc. And to certefye, etc.
There be diuerse
other billes exhi-
bited to the Lo :
President and Coun-
saile whereuppon
proces are graunted
from tyme to tyme
as the cause re-
quireth.
Sometyme for
these matters of
debte, m a r i d g e
money, non saving
harmeless, deteyn-
ing of goodes etc.
and suchehke causes
of small valuea com-
ission is directed
to some gentlemen
of credit to end this
controuersie. The
commission is of
the tenor hereafter
ensuing.
Yf the matter be
of small value and
not worthie th' ex-
aminac'on in this
Courte, then this
Comission is with-
out Retourne.
Yf these cawses
be of great impor-
tance, Then upon
Affidauit that the
defendante is a
fugityue and a con-
temptuous persone,
proces is sometymes
graunted for to
bynde the defen-
dante of apparance.
Examples of many of the proceedings mentioned above occur
in the Shrewsbury MSS., in the correspondence between the
Court of the Marches and the town bailiffs. The following may
serve as samples of petitions addressed to the Council :
15
Yf the defendante do not appere according
to the proces aboue menc'oned, Then upon
oathe taken, that the defendante was therewith
serued, proces of contempt is awarded against
him. And so upon his further disobedience,
the proces first aboue mencioned are directed
against the defendante in order as they are
placed unto I'res placardes, excepte upon some
speciall reason to the contrary.
226 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
•' To the Quenes Ma**'" Counsaill for the M'ches of Wales.
" Complayninge shew*''^ unto yo"" good Lordeships yo'' orator
Richard Manninge al's Braband of the towne and countie of
Salop Taylo"" nowe p'sent that whereas one Will'm Piers of the
same towne and com' of Salop' m'cer [i.e. mercer] is and standeth
duely indetted unto yo*" said orato'' in the some of fyftie shillinges
of Lawfull money of England for workemanshipe of app'ell to
hym and to his servantes made at his com'aundem^ upon his
promes to paie yo"" said orato'' for the sayd workemanshipe at
dyu'se and sondry tymes, paiable at daies past, And albeit yo""
said orato"^ dyu'se and sondry tymes requested paym't of the said
some, yet the deff'. beinge an uniust p'son utterly refuseth to paie
the same w'ch is against all right, equitie and iustice and to yo''
orato" expresse wronge. And for that yo"" said orato"" wanteth
specialty to chardge the defendant w%all at the comen Lawe and
thereby remedyles, maye it therefore pleas yo'^ Lordeships to
comaunde the said defendant (beinge p'sent) tanswer fo"" godes
Love.^
" Ex-- per Th. Evance."
The petition is followed by a bill showing the various sums
due — e.g.
" It. for makyng of your hose eggyd vv. sarsnett . . ij= vj'^.
It. for lynyng the Coller of your Cloke . . . vj*.
It. for makyng of your satyn sleues and mendyng
the bodes [sic] viij*."
The second petition deals with more serious matters :
" To the Quenes ma*^^ Counsaill in the m'ches of Wales.
" In his most humble wise sheweth unto yo'' L. yo*" orator
Richard Dryhurst servant and attendaunt upon the worshipful!
Henry Towneshende esquier, one of the same. That wheras the
same yo'' orator aboute xen of the Clocke of saturdaie the xxij***
of this moneth at night in gods peace and the quenes mat^
(having no kind of weapons aboutes him), did accompany and
send one John Dryhurst gent, his uncle ou' the welshe brydge
' Shrewsbury MSS., No. 2621. The year is 1570.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 227
of this Towen of Salopp towardes his lodginge in franquell
mett one lewes Gwyn gent, one of his felowes at the same gatte
passinge ou' the same bridge, and as he there in frendely sorte
bade good night to his said felowe throughe the wicked [st'c] of
the gatte ouer viij'' of the waitchmen appoincted to waithe the
same night in this Towne of Salopp arrogatinge some promynence
to them selfes or otherwise incurradged and set one by some of
thoccupiers of this towne who do maUgne the Company attend-
inge the same Counsaill to haue mischeif or murther one of the
company and therby to terrifie the rest as heartofore they haue
attempted the Hke upon sundry others of the same Company who
likewise narowly escaped their handes, in most despitfull and
arrogant soret [sic] as yo"" orator passed by them havinge bydden
good night to his said felowe ane of the said waithmen then
p'ntlie (i.e. presentlie) and fyercly p'essed (i.e. pressed) towardes
yo'' orator and tooke hold in him by the CoUer, and said I will
make they geve us also good night and therupon w^** his fyst
strake yo'' orator ou' {i.e. over) the eye upon the face a great
blowe [till he was black and blewe] and ymediatlye the rest
of the watchmen w*'' their waithinge weppons thrusted, feyned
and strake at yo"" orator and one of them with his gleave thrust
yo' orator into the belly through his dowbled and shurte that
verey narowly he escaped his lief and gave unto yo*" orator diu'se
other blowes or strokes and had bene vere like to haue murthered
yo'' orator [and not so contented hayled and puled yo'' orato''
towardes the kayge swearing grete othes that there he shuld
remaigne that night like a roge]. Whiche offence deserveth
Correcc'on in example of others and to advoid further inconvenienc
like to ensue wherefore and to thende the offendo^'s may be
Knowen and ponished, may yt pleas yo"" L. to graunt Com'ission
to the baylif of this Towne and Thomas sheirer gent. Chief
Cler. attendinge this Courte or to any two of theim, wherof the
said Mr. Sherer to be on ^ to Call before them the said waithmen
appoincted for that night and them to examien upon their othes
and therby and by all otheir wayes and meanes they cane to
learne and trie out who were the same offenders and suche
' Sc, one.
228 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
as they finde culpable to baile of apparaunc before yo' L.
furthwith t'answere herunto to thende suche order may be taken
w'th them as to yo'' L. shall be thought good, and thus for
gods love." ^
The following is an order to the bailiffs to deliver to the
porter of the Council the bodies of two persons suspected of
treason :
" By the Quene.
" Right welbiloued we greate yo" well. And woU and comaunde
yo" furthew^'^ to deliuer unto the Porter attending our Counsaill
in our marches of Wales or his sufficient deputie the bodye of
one Margaret wief to Richard Gruf (?) remayning in your warde
upon suspic'on of Treason, not failing hereof upon payne of c^',
yeven under o*' Signet At o*' Castle of Ludlowe the vij*-^ dale of
November the xij^^ yere of o"" raigne.
" And her ma*^^ Counsaill
" In the Marches of Wales.
" Regina.
Endorsement.
" To our right belbeloued the Bailiffes of our Towne of
Salopp." 2
The following is an order to the bailiffs to discharge a person
from their custody at Shrewsbury :
" By the Quene.
" Right welbelouid we grete yo'* well. And woU and comaunde
yo" furthw*^** to dischardge Oliuer ap Dauid of the acc'on of
detynewe comenced against him by John pavior in the court
of yo*" aucthoritie as highe as c markes. And to enlardge him
out of yo'' ward where he nowe remayneth to his libertie
according to the auncient p'viledge of our Court w*** our Counsaill
in our m'ches of Wales, ffaile ye not herof upon paine of c^*.
• Shrewsbury MSS., No. 2621. The date is 1583 or 1584. The words
in brackets are additions to the original petition.
^ Ibid., The year is 1570.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 229
Yeven und"" o*" Signet at o'' Towne of Salopp the xvj*'* daie of
June the xij*''^ yere of o*" Reigne.
"And her ma^*^^ Counsaill
" In the m'ches of Wales.
"Oliuer ap Dauid.
Endorsement.
"To o"" right welbeloued the Bailieffes of our Towne of
Salopp." 1
The most complete extant record of a suit before the Council
appears to be that respecting the town tolls of Shrewsbury in
1598-9.^ The case is of general interest as throwing much light
on municipal affairs at that date ; it has also a special interest
in that it preserves the actual depositions of witnesses before
Commissioners appointed by the Council.
The origin of the suit was as follows : On February i8th,
1597-8, the petitioner, Edward Pickstock, servant to Mrs.
Alexander Wood (tenant of Black Abbey, near Shrewsbury, the
property of All Souls' College, Oxford), accompanied his mistress
to Shrewsbury market. During the morning the bailiffs and
their Serjeants walked through the market " to see good order
kept, and to persuade such as then and there sold corn to sell
the same at reasonable prices in this time of dearth." Finding
that Mrs. Wood was selling her corn too dear, they remonstrated
with her ; whereon she abused them roundly, saying they had no
right to price her corn. They naturally retorted ; whereupon
Edward Pickstock took up the cudgels on his mistress's behalf,
saying that " she came not thither to buy wit nor to borrow
wisdom " of the bailiff. After more wrangling, Pickstock was
committed to the custody of one of the serjeants-at-mace, there
to remain till he should find surety for his good behaviour and
for his personal appearance before the Privy Council. This
incident in itself would have had no importance, had it not
• Shrewsbury MSS., No. 2621.
^ For the transcript of this long case and for some valuable notes bearing
upon it, I am indebted to the generous kindness of Mr. Phillips, of
Shrewsbury.
230 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
raised the question of the right of the corporation of Shrewsbury
to exact toll from all persons bringing goods into the town.
Pickstock's master, Alexander Wood, held that he was exempt
from such payment in virtue of a charter granted by Henry VI.
to All Souls' College. It would seem that Wood made use of
his servant's imprisonment to test this supposed right, and in all
probability he was backed up by his landlord, the college.
The proceedings in this suit fill seventy-nine sheets, mostly
written on both sides. They begin with Pickstock's petition to
the Privy Council that his case may be examined by means of
Justices of the Peace. A summary of this was sent by the Privy
Council to the Chief Justice of Chester, Sir Richard Shuttleworth,
together with a statement that the Justices of the parts near
Shrewsbury had complained of the taking of excessive tolls.
The Council of the Marches was to ascertain by what authority
such tolls were levied, and to take order for their surcease and
for Pickstock's liberation. Then follows the answer of the
bailiffs, Thomas Burnell and Richard Cherwell, denying the
allegations in Pickstock's petition and maintaining that he was
" noted to be a common quarreller, drunkard, haunter of ale-
houses, and a notorious disordered person." Pickstock's repli-
cation deals with the question of excessive tolls, and alleges that
the exactions and oppressions of the bailiffs and their officers are
generally complained of in the county. Then follow the rejoinder
of the bailiffs and the surrejoinder of Pickstock. On March 30th,
1598, the first hearing of the case took place at Ludlow before
the Earl of Pembroke ; it was adjourned till the following June,
and in the meantime a letter was to be directed to four gentlemen
to meet in the Booth Hall of Shrewsbury on April 27th, for the
purpose of examining on oath the witnesses for both parties.
The interrogatories administered to the witnesses produced by
Pickstock were eleven in number — e.g.
I. " Item, doe you knowe the said parties, the towne of
Salop, three gates entringe into the said towne, the markett
place therein, and howe longe haue you knowen them or euery
or any of them ? "
3. "Do you knowe or haue you crediblie heard that in
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 231
auncient time past there was a farthinge paide for euery horselode
or one strike of come at the coming in of the gates or one of
theim of the towne of Salop and nowe a half peny, and for a
waine loade of any maner of cariedg in time past a halfepeny
and nowe a peny ? "
The sixteen witnesses gave full evidence as to the practice
of toll-taking both at the gates and in the market-place of Shrews-
bury, and to the increase in the amount of toll within their
memory. It would appear from their evidence that the price
of corn at Shrewsbury had been so enhanced by heavy tolls
that sellers preferred to take their corn to market elsewhere — e.g.
Oswestry, Newport, Drayton, Bishop's Castle, and Wellington.
Some witnesses admitted that they had bought corn at other
market towns, and made a profit by selling it at Shrewsbury.
Twelve interrogatories were administered to the sixteen
witnesses for the defendants ; their evidence is less full than
that for the plaintiffs, and deals mainly with the sale of corn
by Elizabeth Wood at an excessive price. ^
On July loth the case was heard at Bewdley before the
Council in the Marches ; it was decreed that unjustifiable tolls
had been taken, and that in future none might be taken beyond
a specified amount, which was to be made known by notices
and proclamation. The next document concerning the suit is
a letter from Thomas Owen to his brother Edward, one of the
Commissioners, begging that the case might be heard afresh,
seeing that the custom of taking toll for keeping the market
clean prevailed in all the market towns of Shropshire, and in
Lancashire and London too. This is followed by a letter from
Sir Richard Shuttleworth to his "verie loving frends" of the
Council, urging that the execution of the Council's order of
July should be suspended till the case had been heard afresh.
The charter granted to Shrewsbury by Henry VI. had in one
instance been mistranslated, and certain accounts affecting the
issue had not been heard in Court. Accordingly, on August 9th
the Council wrote to the bailiffs bidding them appear on
• The evidence of these witnesses shows the extreme difficulty of
enforcing the statutes fixing the price of food.
232 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
November i3thj for the re-hearing of the case and authorising
them in the meantime to take the accustomed tolls, with due
care not to commit any abuse against those coming to the
market.
This fresh hearing duly took place, and after consideration
of "sundrie auncient graunts, charters, officers' accoumpts, ex-
emplificac'ons and matters of record," the case was dismissed,
the parties grieved being at liberty to seek their remedy else-
where. The bailiffs triumphantly issued a proclamation making
known the result of their suit, and ordering the payment of
the accustomed tolls. The remaining proceedings are not clear.
The Town Council wrote to the Council of the Marches asking
that the injunction by which Wood was freed from paying toll
might be removed. On January 28th, 1598-9, the parties again
appeared before the Council, the matter of the tolls was heard,
and dismissed to the common law. Full directions were given
for the way in which the matter was to be brought to issue.
At the same time the injunction of the previous July (in Wood's
favour) was declared void to all intents and purposes. The last
stage of the proceedings was reached on March 9th, 1598-9, when
the case was heard before Justice Shuttleworth and the Council
of the Marches ; but no record of their decision survives, nor
does it appear why the case came again before them after it
had been referred to the common law.
This sketch of the Council's legal procedure may be appro-
priately ended by the list of charges incurred by the town of
Shrewsbury in the above case. The fees proper amount to
j£^ 14s., and the expenditure on food, lodging, and gifts to
j^g 135. 2d. The fees are certainly higher than those allowed
by the instructions of 1574 (Clive, pp. 343, ef seqq.), but not
very much higher considering the importance of the case.
The item that strikes one as excessive is the " extraordinarie
dinner," at a cost of 24s. 6d. ; but very possibly the money
was well spent and helped to secure success.^
' For the expensiveness of Ludlow inns, see Brit. Mus. Add. MSS.
33.589, f- 3-
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 233
Legal Charges.
At Ludlow the ii"\ i2*''\ I3*''", 14*'^ I5^^ iG^''^ of November
1598 for the townes cawse viz. for the Tolles and the staye of
Lewis.
Ffirst unto Mr. MedHcott for his travaile in^
helping in serching all ye pleadings and
depositions and drawing out breviats for
bothe the cawses.
Unto Jo. Bevion for writing up y*' Lardg bre-\
viate by Mr. Medlicott's motion contayning \
three sheets of pap"". /
iiij Cownselors ffees in y® cawse of y® toles viz.l
Mr. Lewis, Mr. Litleton, Mr. Medlicott 1-
and Mr. Smith, every of y™ 10*
ij Counselers ffees in the cawse of Twis viz. Mr.^
Morgan x" and Mr. Medlicott xx** in con-
sideration of his speciall travaile to Ludow
\slc\ w*'*' us onely for theas cawses.
Mr. Edward Preese y^ Attorney his ffee for both^
cawses. J
Unto Thomas Phelips and anothe, for writing^
3 of y*^ lardger breviats vj^ and for drawing j-
y® oficall \sic\ order twise ij^. j
The copie of the oficiall order under teste and^
for expidicton. /
Unto Mr. Bothe in y° Coort for his paynes and^j
helpe ij^ to y^ porters man for his favowre I
for rome in y^ cort xij'' unto y® regester x, j
Mr. Price xij'' unto the marshall iij^ viij''. ]
Paid for a link 10'^, bestowed in wine on y^^
clarks of the signitt 2^ and on the cown-r
selers clerks, 20". J
Unto y^ Porters men for fetching Evans' wife^
to y^ coort. /
xx^
xl-
vnj^
xvj*^
vii^
viij"^
iiij^
vj<^
xij*
234 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Chard' of an extraordinarie dinner on Sunday^
for our learned cownsile, our Attorney and I
owr owne whole companie and for wine and j
after to the same and y*^ after noone. J
All the other chardg of diett and horsmeat thear-^
the same time viz Mr. Baylie Perche and
his servant, Mr. Burnell and his man,
Mr. Edw. Owen and his man, Mr. Adam
Mytton his sonne and man, being 9 p'sons
and 9 horses.
Extraordinarie wine the same time and some")
gestes. j
Fewell viz. Mr. Bayliffs chamber 2^ 9^*, Mr.
Burnell and Mr, Owen 3* 6'^ and in
Mr. Mytton's chamber where wee dined
and supped some times, 4® 3^
Geven in rewards in ye howse at our coming)
away. /
Som of this bill is xv^' vi'f i}'^.
Ther were to attend this business
Mr. Baylie Perche, Mr. Burnell, Mr. Edw. Owen.
Mr. Adam Mytton, one serjant and everie one
their man.
vij*^
xxnij^ vy
ny
viy vny
vy
Edward Jones. John Perche.
Roger Evans.
Edward Lloyd.
Wm. Hasillwall.
Willm. Fawknor.
John Downes.
CHAPTER IX
FINANCES OF THE COUNCIL. THE MANAGEMENT OF
THE HOUSEHOLD AT LUDLOW CASTLE
With regard to the finances of the Council a good deal of
information is available in the form of warrants, accounts, and
so forth. In the Council's early days its expenses were for the
most part merged in those of the prince or princess on whom
the members nominally attended. In the account of sums paid
by the treasurer of the chamber and the cofferer for the
household expenses of the Princess Mary from July ist, 1525,
to December 31st, 1526, the following items occur:
Expenses of the Councillors being out of Court on) ^ ^ , ,
• • \ £9^ 15-y- 9k^-
commission. j ^^ j ^^
Wages and fees of the Councillors and others ^265 16-y. 8</.
Buildings and reparations at Ludlow and Bewdelyi - , ,
in the Manor of TyknelU j^543 7s. ^d.
But in 1511-12 (in the interval between the death of Prince
Arthur and the coming of the Lady Mary to the Marches)
the expenses of the Commissioners in Wales appear as a separate
item, amounting to ;;^302 Zs. 3^., and in 15 19 is recorded a
further payment of ;£'97 105-.- After the Lady Mary's with-
drawal from the Marches, the Council's allowances seem to have
been felt inadequate. In 1528 they informed Wolsey that the
household had been reduced, and yet the diets amounted to
great sums, owing to the dearth of grain. ^ Soon after this a
' Madden, Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, p. XLIV.
- Brewer, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., Vol II., Pt. II.,
p. 1449, and Vol. III., Pt. II., 1538.
^ Ibid., Vol. IV., Pt. II., 3874.
23s
236 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
more regular system of allowances came into force, as is shown
by entries to the following effect :
Diets and extraordinary charges of the Commissioners \
in the Marches of Wales.' [^^285 l6s. od,
(March 28th, 1530);
To Thos. Hacluyt for the Commissioners in theN
Marches of Wales for their diets and " foren
expenses " in part payment of ;^694 2S. 6(i., to be - ;,^62 135. g^d.
paid yearly.
(May loth, i53o)>
To the same Commissioners in further payment.^ ^80 os. od.
Yearly fees, diets, etc., of the Commissioners in thel ^ ,
Marches of Wales (November 22nd, 1530).^ ]^
Order to the Treasurer of the Chamber and his suc-
cessor for the payment of diets and wages of
Roland, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and
others of the Council of the Wesh Marches.
for Diet (per week), 1534 £\o os. od.
„ foreign expenses per ann. 1535^ £66 13^, 4«f.
It would seem, on the basis of the last two extracts, that the
expenses of the Council amounted to ^586 ly. /[d., exclusive
of fees. Bishop Lee, however, found his allowances inadequate,
and in 1536 he reminded Cromwell more than once of the
necessity of augmenting either the diet-money or the allowance
for foreign expenses, " considering the great charges of appre-
hending the multitude of these thieves."^ He had also to
complain of the expense involved in the renewal of the
commissions and warrants for diet, which amounted to ;^2o a
year. Sir Brian Tuke (Treasurer of the Chamber) had to be
given jQ^ ; his clerk, 26s. 8d. ; and, in spite of this, Lee's servant
was kept seven or eight weeks in London waiting for the money.^
He urged the necessity of increasing the sums allowed, as the
' Gairdner, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., Vol V.,
p. 318.
2 Ibid., Vol. v., p. 319.
3 Ibid., Vol. v., p. 322.
< Ibid., Vol. VII. 1026 (28), and Vol. VIII. 149 (17).
« Ibtd., Vol. X. 259, and Vol. XI. 1255.
« Ibid., Vol. XII., Pt. II. 1094 (1537).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 237
Council was not able to " gratify " the loyal gentlemen of the
country except at table. In another letter in the same year, 1537,
he wrote that ^30 of his hardly won diet-money had to remain
in London for New Year's gifts. His remonstrances had some
effect, for the amount was now raised to j(^i^ 6s. Sd. a week;
and in 1538 Sir Brian Tuke was ordered to pay ;£S-j^ 15^. lod.
for the Council's expenses, this being the largest single amount
for the purpose yet recorded.^ Soon after the issue of this
warrant he wrote to Cromwell, describing the " good cheer made
to the gentlemen that came to serve the King and Council,"
though he adds ruefully, " the cost was far above the commons
of our diets." - During the remainder of Henry VIH.'s reign
it seems to have been the normal practice to pay the sum
of ^875 155. 10^. in quarterly instalments, though payments of
smaller sums were frequently made.^ In 1540 Lee twice
suggested to Cromwell that the warrant for diet-money might
be directed to Mr. Gostwicke (Commissioner of First Fruits
and Tenths), so as to save the expenses charged by Sir Brian
Tuke ; but his suggestion was not adopted.*
During the reign of Edward VI. it would seem that the
Council's allowance was on much the same footing as in Bishop
Lee's time. In Collins' Sydney Papers an account is given for the
year 3 Edw. VI. ^ The whole sum allowed to the Commissioners
for diet and all other charges was ;!^876 i^s. 6d., paid quarterly.
The fees for ten Commissioners amounted to ;^95 (three at
^13 6s. Sd. per annum, three at ;^io, three at ;^6 135'. 4^., one
^^.£5)- Other fees amounted to ^29 iii'. 10^. This amount
includes the fees of the two messengers (^2 each per annum),
the fee of the armourer at Ludlow {^(^g 2s. 6d.), a payment to
Wm. Austy for soliciting the Commissioners' causes at London
' Gairdner, Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., Vol, XII.,
Pt. II. 914 (ii), and Vol. XIII., Ft. I. 134.
- Ibid., Vol. XIII., Pt. I. 152.
' E.g. Ibid., Vol. XIII., Pt. II. 1280, ff. 2b, 6b, 18b, 28b, 35, 49; Vol. XIV.,
Pt. II. 781, ff. 576, 636, 74, 846, 906, 102b, 103 ; Vol. XVI. 380 and 1489 ;
and Vol. XVII. 880, f. 24.
' Ibid., Vol. XV., 398, 562 (2).
5 Collins, Sydney Papers, Letters and Memorials of State, pp. 5i 6.
238 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
(;^5), and the portage of the diet-money (;^5). It further includes
a fee of ;£^ to the treasurer of the chamber " for making speedie
payment of the said Diet-money and in good money," also a
fee of 26s. Sd. to his clerk, and of 2s. Sa. to his porter. The
words "and in good money" are significant, when it is re-
membered to what an extent the coinage was debased at this
time. The wages of sundry officers (steward of the household,
cooks, butler, etc., eleven in all) amounted to ;^2o. A note is
added as follows : " And it hath been used to allowe out of the
Grosse Some aboue remembered towards the Diet of the said
Commissioners weekly (that is to sale) for all Victualls, Fuell and
Implements of Household ^13 6s. Sd. And also to allowe
towards fforeyn Expences (that is to sale) for Rewardes, Carraiges
and all other Charges not before remembred p.a. c marks."
Early in Elizabeth's reign a change appears in the method of
payment. The warrant for the Council's diet-money is now
directed to the Receiver of North Wales, and this seems to have
been the practice henceforth, though sometimes the Receiver of
South Wales is substituted.^
During the years when Sir Henry Sydney was able to
fulfil in person his duties as Lord President, the finances of
the Council were managed in a business-like way. No debts
were incurred, and considerable sums were expended on repairs
at Ludlow and Tickenhill. The " note of the yerelie fiees and
certayne chardges issweinge out of the fynes," shows the
details of expenditure at this period, exclusive of diet. The
fees of the secretary, two assistants or councillors, the queen's
attorney and solicitor, the chaplain, the pursuivants, the armourer,
the Keeper of Ludlow Castle, the keeper of the leads for the
conduit bringing water to the castle, the auditor and clerk of
the fines, amounted in all to ;^333 13^. 4^., and the foreign
expenses (riding charges of the Justice and other Councillors,
carriage of household utensils and repairs of Her Majesty's
houses) amounted to ;^343 gs. 2d.^
• S.P.D. (Vol. 1547-80), Vol. III., Eliz., No. 14, p. 124, and S.P.D.
(1625), p. 551, App., October 22nd.
- Lansdowne MSS. 28, ff. 124-5.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 239
Further information may be gathered from a document in the
Lansdowne MSS. which gives the details as to fines taxed by
the Lord President's Council for the nineteenth to the twenty-
fifth years of Queen Elizabeth.^ Thus, for the twentieth year,
fines were taxed to the amount of ;;^i,o28 3^. ^d. ; payments to
Commissioners and officers came to ^406 6s., extraordinary
expenses to :^373 175. 2d., while fines were qualified to the
amount of ^70 \6s. Sd. In the twenty-fifth year fines were
taxed to the amount of ;^i,i4o igs. ; Councillors' and officers'
fees came to ^173 17^. 3d., repairs at Ludlow to ^387 2s. ^d.,
at Tickenhill to ^59 14^. 4^., provision of household stuff to
;;^i3o 7^., the expenses of the sergeant, messengers, etc., to
;^48 bs. gd., and extraordinary expenses to ^2^3 5 3 i6i-. 10 d.
Among the MSS. of Lord do L'Isle and Dudley is a paper roll
about three feet long headed, "The Household of the Queen's
Highness Councell of the Marches of Wales. A brief declaration
of what my Lord hath spent of his own revenues concerning the
diet and foreign charge of the said household above the Queen's
allowance." There are accounts for the years 2 & 3 Eliz. (each
ending at Easter) and for thirteen weeks of a third year ; the
total given is ^^7,182 ic^s. g^d. (stable charges and riding
expenses not included).-
Sir Henry Sydney had certainly cause to lament his absence
in Ireland so far as the state of things at Ludlow was concerned.
It appears that on his return in the twentieth year of the queen's
reign, he found the house indebted to the amount of over
;;^i,5oo, though at his departure it had been quite clear of debt.
Sydney found a lengthy list of creditors, for most of the officials
connected with the Council seem to have suffered through delay
of payment. Sir William Gerard had died, leaving his executors
with a claim of ;^40o against the Council ; his colleagues. Sir
Hugh Chomley, Sir Andrew Corbet, Henry Townesend, and
others had claims varying in amount from ^100 to ;^5o. The
steward fared worse : his claim was for ;!^2oo, and even the
' Lansdowne MSS. 38, f. 99.
* Hist. MSS. Commission, 3rd Report, App., p. 228 (MSS. of Lord de
L'Isle and Dudley).
240 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
armourer and pursuivants were credited with claims for
jC^-i)^ 6s. and ;^3o respectively.^ Another list of debts gives
a yet higher amount — viz. ;^i,385 6i-. %d. towards the payment
of which there were arrears of fines amounting to ^{^1,128 \%s.
Of these, however, the "good debts" were only ;^3oo, and the
rest were " desperat by reason of the decease of th' offenders
and the povertyes of such as be leavinge." The list of claimants
for arrears is headed by the " Reuerend ffather the Bushopp of
Worcester, vice-president of the Counsaill there (Bishop Whitgift)
^34." In all, twenty-six creditors occur, among them the late
bailiff's of Ludlow for the hire of bells.^
The indebtedness of the Ludlow household was, as mentioned
above, one of the matters calling most urgently for reform after
Sydney's death. The instructions of 1586 repeat with great
emphasis the regulations previously laid down respecting the
fines. After being taxed in open Court, all fines and forfeitures
were to be entered in the register book and also in a book kept
by the clerk of the fines. Every month or oftener the clerk
of the fines, the register, and any officer in charge of any book
or bonds in which any fine, debt, or other sum due to Her
Majesty was mentioned, were to bring such books to the Lord
President, Vice-President, or Council. After the porter and all
other officials dealing with the fines had been examined, order
was to be given for the levying of all fines unpaid, " to th'entent
her Ma^i^ may be truly answered of the fynes from tyme to tyme
and not to remayne in arrerage as now they doe wherby the
counsaillors' fees for diuers yeres remayne unpayd in that the
ffynes are not duly levyed." At the end of every term the Lord
President and Vice-President with two others of the Council
were to call the clerk of the fines before them, and see what
fines had been paid and what not. A similar searching inquiry
was to be held to ascertain the amount of the fines paid and due
' Lansdowne MSS. 28, ff. 124-5 '< ^^^ ^°'^^ of debts is;^l,l6o 14s. i^d. (in
MS. ;^i,i6o 17s. 4fi?.); cf, A.P.C., Vol. IX., p. 122. Request of Mr. Gerard
for arrears of the entertainment allowed by the queen in the Marches
(payment is five years behind).
2 Ibid., Ill, ff. 21-4.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 241
throughout the year, " that the howse for want of due con-
sideracion run not into debt (as of late tyme it hathe by suche
default)." Every Hilary Term the Lord President and Council
were to send up to the Privy Council a transcript of the year's
accounts up to the preceding Michaelmas. The Privy Council,
after declaring the amount to Her Majesty, was to send the
transcript into the Exchequer, there to remain of record. No
fine was to be qualified, and no penalty or forfeiture com-
pounded for " but upon iust and resonable consideracion as
well with regarde of the gretnes or habilitie of the offender and
other behovefuU circumstaunces thereupon depending." Out of
the fines were to be paid the Councillors' fees, necessary foreign
expenses, and repairing expenses for the Queen's houses within
Wales and the Marches.^
In spite of these stringent instructions, the old abuses appear
to have continued or, rather, grown worse. In a document
written perhaps by Justice Shuttleworth is a complaint that
the diet-money is put in four men's purses through the non-
attendance of Councillors, and that on one occasion no house
was kept at all, the one member present being " putt to his
boord wages att an Ordinary amongst Attorneys and Clarices."
No accounts of the household expenditure were presented weekly
as required by the instructions ; no book of forfeitures and fines
was kept, and no account made at the end of every term. Fines
were not strictly levied, but were " purloyned or vaynely bestowed."
In one year ;^i8o had been spent in napery, and ^300 the
next in bedding ; whether it were well bought the writer cannot
tell, but " these and like colours carry all away." Many items,
such as linen and " vessell " and officers' wages, should have
been paid for out of the diet-money ; whereas it is alleged that
the latter was appropriated by individuals, and payments made
out of the fines. ^
Whether these complaints were exaggerated or not, it seems
clear that the finances of the Council were in an unsatisfactory
state. On December 1st Sir Richard Lewkenor and two other
> Lansdowne MSS. 49, ff. 179-207, Arts. 42, 44-7.
2 Ibid., 76, flf. 1416-9.
16
242 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
members wrote on the subject to the Lord High Treasurer,
Lord Buckhurst. With respect to the yearly audit, he suggests
that the most convenient time for it to be taken would be between
St. Andrew's Day and Christmas Day, when the Council members
would not be away on circuit. They add that the Receiver
of North Wales had kept back all the diet-money for more than
a year, alleging that it should come out of fines and forfeitures.
This, they point out, is not the case, and, even if it were, the
fines would be insufficient to furnish both fees and diet ; every
audit has proved that " her ma'tie hath heretofore every yere
rather remayned in debt than otherwise." They ask for speedy
direction to the Receiver of North Wales for immediate payment
of ;^5oo, " or else the howse must of necessitie be presently
dissolved, the same being already much in debtt, and hindered
for want of the money to haue made provision of corne and
victualles at the best hand, w'ch now must be bought at the
dearest rates." ^ This request was backed up by a letter to the
same effect from the Lord President Pembroke; he earnestly
entreated Lord Buckhurst " for the redresse of this abuse by
commaunding present satisfaction, that his Ma^"*^^ Counsell which
for so many yeares I haue not only held without new debtes,
but freed of old arrerages, may not fall now to such dishonorable
necessitie as to fede on nothing but what they borow. For
such indede is now that place's estate and dailie must be worse,
if by your Lordship's favour and respect the Receuver be not
enioyned to deliuer readie money." ^
In the seventeenth century difficulties as to money did not
lessen. Lord Eure wrote that his resources were inadequate,
and that he was compelled to sell his lands.^ Yet the amount
paid for diet and 'foreign expenses was considerable — viz.
;^i,io6 13^. /i^d} The yearly total of the fines was also large,
as may be seen from the Books of Hearing above described.
With them may be compared a document among the Welsh
' Lansdowne MSS. 156, f. 394.
- Ibid.
3 S.P.D. (1603-10), Jac. I., Vol. XLVII., No. 97, p. 538 (1609).
^ Ibid., Car. I., 1625, p. 551, App., October 22nd.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 243
Arrerag' fines re-
ceaved within the
tyme of this Ac-
compt. viz'
Council Papers of the Bridgewater MSS. — viz. the account of
Thomas Beale, receiver of fines, for the year ending Michael-
mas, 1640.^
£ s. d.
(Dependinge upon the said Ac-^
comptant in the foote of his last J- 736 5 9
Accompt. J
rffines received upon Courte"j
< bookes within the tyme of this!- 416 18 4
(accompt. J
fifinesfor not prosecutinge causes 379 6 8
receaved ffines in Absence 270 3 4
The totall some of the) „ „
. 1087 8 I
Charge is )
Fees, wages, and
ordinary allowances
viz'
6 8
paym"' and dis-
bursem'^^ viz'
(ffees and rideing charges of the)
Icouncell. i "^^^
rffees and allowances of the^
-^ Principall officers attending y*^!- 175 6
tCouncell. J
rffees and wages of the rest of y**"!
-| officers and seruan*^*^* attendinge |- 48 8
[the Councell. J
{Provision of wood and Cole for^j
his Ma*'^^ houshold there within J- 802 7 6
the tyme of this Accompt. J
rffor houshold stuff and utensills^l
\ prouided for his Ma"^® said hous- \ 2418 6
thold within the same tyme. j
/'Reparac'ons and New buyldinges >>
J in and aboute Ludlow Castle and I
I Ticknell house within the tyme j
''aforesaid. ^
(Diverse other Extraordinarie and )
(forren expences. j
Some is ^^1351 8 5I
' Welsh Council Papers, 27.
185 8 o|
411 13 I
244 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
£, s. d.
depending in TUpon the said Accomptant re-"|
Charge. ^ mayninge in his handes upon)- 456 5 l\
ideterminacon of this Accompt. j
Ex' per Jacobum Haughtonn
Audit.
The figures given above do something to justify the frequent
accusation against the Council that it was extravagant and a
needless burden on the royal exchequer.
After the Restoration the payment of ^1,106 13J. 4^. for diet
and foreign expenses continued.^ Several additional payments
are recorded — e.g. j[^^oo towards the maintenance of an " honour-
able stable," and ^800 for extraordinary expenses formerly
defrayed out of the Star Chamber fines at the Council. The
last entry is of importance, as showing the great difference made
to the Council of the Marches by the Act abolishing the
Star Chamber.^
As to the actual management of the household a good deal
of information is extant. Sir Henry Sydney hit the mark when
he petitioned the queen " that yt may please her highnes to
extend her Lyberalitye in that behalf as to her shall seme good,
for that the alio wau nee for his dyat and the Counsele ther ys
no more than yt was Twentie yers past, and now every thing
treble the pryce that then yt was." At present he has " no
mannor of helpe for his ready money to bye all thinges agreeing
with the partie to his great charges " By way of saving a little
outlay, he asks that wine brought from the haven towns near
Bristol for the consumption of the household may be exempted
from impost, and this was granted so long as the quantity did
not exceed ten tuns.'
' S.P.D., Car. II., Vol. XLL, No. 65, p. 91 (1661-2), and (166S-9), p. 83,
and July, 1672, pp. 427-8.
- Ibid., Vol. XLIL, 1661, September 25th, p. 96, No. 25, and 1672, July,
pp. 427-8.
Many details concerning the fines are given in the following documents
at the Public Record Office : Exchequer Q.R. Rolls (Accounts, etc.),
Bundle 119, Nos. 5, 11, 12; Bundle 120, Nos. 8 and 20; Bundle 533,
Nos. 22-6.
» Ibid. (1547-80), Eliz., Vol. XIV. 38, p. 163.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 245
In the Lansdowne MSS. 87, f. 124, is a "note of the numbers
who haue their diett by force of the presente Instructions in hir
Ma^'^^ houshold at the Counsell in the Marches." Besides the
Lord President and his servants (the number of whom was not
limited), there were every term at Her Majesty's charge thirty-nine
persons, not reckoning four men for whom the porter was allowed
a mess of meat. Besides these, there were sixteen servants of
necessity ever to be continued in the household, beginning with
the steward and his servant, and ending with the two labourers
in the kitchen. The Lord President would hardly have fewer
than ten servants, as the Justice of Chester had eight ; more
likely he would have as many as fifteen, so that the total number
of persons to provide for would be between eighty and ninety.^
Some help towards provisioning the household was furnished
by the royal forests of Wales and the Marches. The rangers,
or keepers, of forests and chases were bound to furnish the
Council with a certain amount of game yearly. Thus in July,
1558, a bill was signed by Robert Townesend, addressed to the
master of the game, ranger and keeper of the forest of
Snowdon, for a stag to be sent " for the furniture and provision
of the queen majesty's household of her great councell in the
marches of Wales." A similar warrant is extant, signed by
Sir Henry Sydney at Cardigan August 14th, 1561.^
In the Dovaston MS. (f. gr, 1616, November 7th) is a letter
from the deputy ranger of the forest of Feckenham to the
Lord Presidenti and Council, stating that since entering on his
office he had supplied them with three bucks and three does
yearly, serving them out of his friends' parks so as to increase
the game in the forest. In the same volume (f. 107/^, 1621,
May 19th) is a note dated from Bewdley that warrants were
to be sent forthwith to all foresters in certain specified chases
and forests for the provision of the household with bucks
(or, in two cases, stags) ; like warrants were to go out in the
proper season for does and hinds. This entry is followed by
a warrant that the Lord President and Council might have
' Lansdowne MSS. 87, f. 124.
- Pennant, Tours in Wales, 8vo edition, App. Ill,, pp. 388-94.
246 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
out of every park, forest, and chase within the Principality of
Wales and the Border counties three bucks and three stags
in summer and three does and three hinds in winter, and
might hunt them with their bows, hounds, or greyhounds, or
other ways at their liberty.^
The royal forests also supplied firewood for the use of the
household. In the Dovaston MS. (f 17, 1596, December loth) is
a warrant upon information from John Taverner, surveyor of
H.M.'s woods, to deliver to the steward of the household of the
Council in the Marches so many firewood trees out of Orleton
wood as may make six hundred loads of wood and coal, the said
steward paying for the felling of the same, "provided always that
no tymber tree be falne by cullor hereof" Similarly on Novem-
ber 7th, 161 8, it was ordered that the underwood in the forest
of Bringwood and the Chase of Mocktree was to be allowed
towards fuel for H.M.'s use at Ludlow, and cut according to
a constant proportion yearly. The despoiling of some royal
forests, partly, it is said, through pretended claims of estovers,
partly by negligence of officers, was causing some disquiet at this
time. Next year — 1612 — the Lord Treasurer Cranfield, writing
to the Earl of Northampton, bids his purveyor set a good
example and take only dry wood in very moderate proportion
for the use of the household.
The extreme care with which the Earl of Bridgewater
preserved his correspondence is seen by the preservation of a
household account for the week July 13th to 19th, 1641. Dis-
bursements, expenses, and " remains " are entered under the
following heads : Larder, Buttery, Pantrey, Sellor {sic), Spycerie,
Sawcerie, Chaundrey, Stables, Extraordynarie Bills.
One more point in regard to the household deserves some
mention. A common complaint against the Council was that
great expense fell on neighbouring places which had to find
conveyances for its furniture, provisions, and fuel. The in-
structions of 1586 refer to the corruption used by the purveyor
and inferior officers in this matter, and provide that henceforth
the country shall not be charged for any unnecessary carriage,
• Hist. MSS. Commission, 13th Report, App. IV.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 247
and that the number of carriages shall be appointed by special
warrant of the Council, or three of them/ the Lord President
or Vice-President being one. The abuse, however, still continued,
and was commonly complained of in the seventeenth century.
The Bridgewater MSS. furnish some curious and amusing
details as to the management of the household at Ludlow Castle
between 163 1 and 1642. The Earl of Bridgewater rarely visited
the Marches, but he received frequent letters from his steward,
Henry Eccleston, who seems to have found his office burden-
some in the extreme. He writes long, querulous letters to his
master, full of the most trivial domestic details, to which the
earl replies in an equally doleful strain — e.g. " I haue neither
health nor leasure at this time to write much nor trouble my selfe
with much Business" (April 3rd, 1641).^ On August 21st, 1641,
the earl writes as follows : "I heare a rumor about the Towne
of some miscarriage in the oeconomicall disposall of thinges in
and about his Ma*-^'*^^ Castle of Ludlowe, w^*^ howsoever they
may be at this time diuulged to make the Counsell in the
Marches lesse gracious at this Parlement, yet I doubt there is
some malice thereby intended to myself or y" ; w*^** I rather
beleeue because I knowe myselfe absolutely free from meritt
of blame in all (as I conceaue) for as many as are yet come
to my eares or knowledge or that I can at the present remember.
That Beere shoulde be bought by Firkin to serve the K. House.
That a Poore wenche (to the disgrace of the K.) shoulde be
made Brewer there, and the Graines soulde and alledged that
they weere to be accompted for to the K. That there shoulde
be a warehouse to sell Tymber in the K. house, and 5^. in the
Turme gotten thereby. That the K. Courte shoulde be inclosed
and lett out for Pasture to Butchers and others. That the
allowance shoulde be imbursed by the Counsell and the House-
keeping maintayned by the Extraordinary fines imposed upon
delinquents." The earl was convinced that these charges were
baseless, but wished Eccleston to send up an exact statement
of the truth. The matter must be kept secret, " lest too much
' Lansdowne MSS. 49, ff, 197-207, art. 50.
^ Bridgewater MSS., Ludlow Castle Papers, 2 (April 3rd, 1641).
248 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
stirring therein may increase jealousy and suspitions and breede
an injurious credulity." ^
Eccleston had evidently heard that trouble was ahead, for on
August 2oth he had written an indignant denial of the rumours
then current. Beer, he says, was not taken in by the firkin, and
not taken in at all till January, 1638. The brewing was usually
done by a woman at least fifty years of age, though sometimes
it had been the task of a lazy fellow "who at his last beinge
here would not be gotten to brew but once a wicke, and he had
halfe y° wicke to wander up and downe idlely and talke, and
that was his delightful course of life." No such thing as a timber
warehouse was kept in the castle ; merely a few spokes for carts
were put in the woodyard to season, and they were not made
out of the king's timber. It was a calumny to say that the
castle courts were let out to butchers ; a few horses only were
pastured in the bowling green.^
A few months earlier he had written to the earl complaining
of the difficulties of his position. His chief bugbear was one of
the Councillors, " Sir N's sucksessor, who is neuer pleased w*''*
any thinge, but contynewally murmuringe and grudgeinge, euer
fyndinge fault, where others his betters can find none : neyther
is there any just cause to fynd any, and that do I knowe and the
bills of fare will more fuUie manifest when they cume to be
vewed. but sume are neuer pleased w*''^ anythinge, and it is such
as the Prophett settes forth ; to be unjust and unholie, neyther
thankful! to God or man and from such I pray to be deliuered
and against such, when tyme is, I hope yo" will stand up and
shew yo" selfe an opposytt, or else I am quite discouraged, and
wish w^** all my hart to be discharged from hence and quitt of
this imployment." Eccleston had also fallen foul of Wardell,
the brewer, whose carriage and behaviour " is such as I shall
neuer while I Hue here, desire to haue him cume againe." ^
The climax of grumbling is reached in Eccleston's letter of
September 27th, 1641, to which unfortunately no reply is extant.
' Bridgewater MSS., Ludlow Castle Papers, 32 (August ist, 1641).
- Ibid., 2 (August 20th, 1640).
' Ibid., 17 (February i8th, 1640-41).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 249
It says much for " his honour's patience " that the letter should
have survived intact.
" I humblie craue yo'' hon"^ patience to make a short relation
of the condition of Jane Eames the Scullery woman, whose
carriage hath bene such as I thinke not fytt to be indured in any
howse and so I haue giuen her a discharge, and paid her all
that was due unto her and this was her course, full of scouldinge
and malitious speaches, reuileinge and slaunderinge of no less
then 1 1 seuerall persons vidl*- my selfe, N. Edwardes the Cooke
etc etc. Upon perfyttinge of the Inventory book, I fynd she
hath lost 14 pewter dishes, 14 sawcers, 2 p'ir plates, i porrenger,
all w*^'^ would cume to aboue 40® and she had found in her
boxe 10 of y*^ hall Pewter spoones, thoughe before she in a
most bould confident manner denied them, yea and forswore
them, as thoughe she had bene the most innocent creature that
could haue lined, and after beinge found lapt up in a cloth and
laid close in y« corner of her boxe her selfe haueinge throwne
out all her thinges out of her trunke, before and lastly out of her
boxe, sayinge would she take such a thinge or anythinge to be
found w*-*^ her, no, she was innocent and knew nothinge of any
such matter and then beinge found, she could not denie it, but
earnestly intreated Moyses who found them that I might not
know of it ; then she had a secrett way under her aprone of
conveyinge meate from y*^ table and she had very often one or
2 charewemen hanginge after her, so I thinke it was more
then tyme to be ridd of her and for y"^ after tyme how lyttle so
euer I hope to fynd a better for the place, it goes very hard if I
finde a worse, and soe humblie craueinge pardon for my tedious
letter w*'^ my prayers for yo*" hon" health w*''' prosperity I most
humblie remaine
" Yo"" hon""^ most humble seruant,
" Hen. Ecclestone." ^
The earl evidently felt he could not hope for much in
the way of entertainment if he visited Ludlow. Writing on
July nth, 1640, he tells Eccleston :
' Bridgewater MSS., Ludlow Castle Papers, 39.
2SO THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
" y' Letter of the 6"^^ of this present I haue receaued and ame
sorry to finde thereby that I shall' be so ill prouided at my
comming to Ludlowe whither if may be 1 shall come before
I be looked for, if God permitt and enable me w*'' healthe.
For y^ iioodes at Culmington I coulde have wished it otherwayes
if it had pleased God. I finde by y*' Letter that y" intend to
seeke for helpe at Birche. I must lett y" knowe that I must
as well take care for my selfe as for prouisions at Ludlowe and
my Landes and revenewes must not be spent to that purpose,
wherefore I thinke y"" marketts must be y'' last and perhaps best
refuge, and wee must Hue upon the Peny rather than I shoulde
consume and loose so many poundes as I presume I shall, if
wee continue in our former waye. I shall be ill besteed if I
can neither haue fleshe nor Drinke when I come to Ludlowe
and I doubt both by y"^ Letter and this is all either the direction
or comforte I can geue y"^ as the case now standeth, so that
y" must sett y*" judgm* and experience on worke to see that all
thinges may be as well accommodated as is possible in these
pressures, so being at this present very full of Businesse, I
conclude and rest
" Yr very louing M*'.
" Barbacan,
"JuHj 11° 1640." '
Next year and the year after matters naturally grew worse.
In March, 1641-2, Eccleston writes: "there are 4 seuerall
Billes signed to be paid out of the fynes w''*' came to £i^<). 07. 08.
w'^'^ are in no lykelyhood as yet to be paid, for these 2 last
termes haue not brought in so much as will pay the lawndress,
which is but jQ^. 2. o. for a quarter's washinge the lynen for the
howse ; if the next payment for the dyett money be paid in,
there may be hope to recouer those bills out of that, if the
Court doe goe downe and the howse be giuen up." ^
In April the earl wrote to him advising him to be as economical
as he could during the next term. The Justices must certainly
have meat and drink ; but the diet-money had not been paid,
' Bridgewater MSS., Ludlow Castle Papers, 53. - Ibid., 43.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 251
and the earl had no intention of incurring Habilities for dis-
bursements beyond the necessary bread, drink, and meat for
the next " appearance " ; " and of this," he adds, " I would haue
you to take as good care as you may, being to wrastle with
y'r present difficulties." In May Eccleston wrote that there
was a rumour that the king, the prince, or both might come
to Ludlow before long. He asked if he should provide for them
at the earl's charges or give them what remained out of the
store. The earl replied that he did not believe the rumour,
but if it should be true, the king or prince must of course have
the castle at their disposal, and their own officers would be
best able to make provision for them. " My purse," he adds,
" is not large enough to beare the charge thereof, therefore
I thinke you neede (not) to trouble yourselfe with that care
and paines, unlesse your helpe be desired by their officers
without my charge." ^
The Ludlow housekeeping can hardly be called successful
as regards either economy or comfort. An unknown writer who
evidently had personal experience of it suggests to Burghley :
"That the v*^'' which is receaved every half-yere, may remayne
in the stewartes handes, and not be caried away. That the
bred and beere be good and convenient, or els the on(e) being
old and hard and the other to small, men may thinke counsailers
be used therin as hindes be in other men's houses that they
shuld not spend to much therof." ^ A few years later the
steward wrote an urgent letter to the Councillors asking for
^30 at once, wherewith to furnish napery and pewter, scarcely
any being left of either. The money was paid with unwonted
rapidity.^
' Bridgewater MSS., Ludlow Castle Papers, 27.
- Lansdowne MSS. III, f. 25. This letter is in the same hand as Lans-
downe MSS. 76, ff. 1416-9, which is headed " Incerti Aucthoris."
^ Exchequer Q.R. Rolls (Accounts, etc.), Bundle 533, No. 22.
CHAPTER X
THE ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL
Among the varied duties of the Lord President were the
defence of the counties within his jurisdiction and the despatch
of troops, when occasion arose, to quell rebellion in Ireland.
The Acts of the Privy Council are full of directions with regard
to the levying of troops, the mustering of trained soldiers, the
arrest and trial of pirates, the fortification of exposed ports,
the erection of beacons, and the like. The Lord President was
usually lord-lieutenant for the counties of Wales and the four
Border counties, sometimes of Warwickshire as well.^ In this
capacity he had the power of appointing deputy-lieutenants and
muster masters for the several counties within his jurisdiction.
Notices of activity in this direction are specially frequent in
Elizabeth's reign from the time of the Desmond Rebellion to
the Armada, and again during the personal government of
Charles L
The number of troops sent to Ireland from Wales was con-
siderable. In June, 1574, the Earl of Bedford and the Lord
President of Whales (Sir Henry Sydney) were directed to levy
' The number of counties varied considerably — e.g. in 1613 Lord Eure
was lord-lieutenant of nine Welsh counties and of Worcestershire,
Shropshire, and Herefordshire, while the Earl of Worcester was lord-
lieutenant of IMonmouthshire and Glamorganshire. The Earl of North-
ampton was usually lord-lieutenant of Wales (eleven counties, Glamorgan-
shire going, as before, with Monmouthshire) and of the four Border counties,
Warwickshire being sometimes added — e.g. in 1624. In 1629, however, he
was lord-lieutenant of eighteen counties — vis. the twelve Welsh counties,
the four Border counties, Monmouthshire, and Warwickshire. In 1640 the
Earl of Bridgevvater was lord-lieutenant of the twelve Welsh counties and
of the four Border counties (Council Register, passim^.
252
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 253
two thousand men, and in August two hundred more ; in 1578
a thousand were to be got ready for the same service, while
in 1579 — the year of the Desmond RebelHon — a thousand
more were needed from Wales, besides another thousand from
Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall.^ Next year — 1580 —
the Lord President was bidden to put in readiness eight
hundred soldiers of North and South Wales to embark from
Chester and Bristol.^ The arrangements for embarkation do
not seem to have worked over smoothly. The Commissioners
for Musters in the counties of Carmarthen, Cardigan, and
Pembroke were charged with fraud and self-interest, and had to
be admonished by the Privy Council to mend their ways ; some
of the Welsh recruits, too, were rejected as unfit.^
The Earl of Pembroke, at the time when the Armada was
expected, was bidden to see that the forces in the shires of
Wales were put in readiness, and to inform the Privy Council
of his proceedings, " that her Majestie may take Comfort thereat."^
Next year, at his request, " some martiall men of skill and
experience in these tymes of doubt " were sent to him for the
better ordering and conducting of the forces under his Presidency.
It was arranged that a reasonable contribution was to be made
for providing powder, and that in the case of a hostile descent
every person employed in the defence would be received into
" pay and entertainment " if he served more than eight days.
A little later we find proof of the strain involved in these
preparations against invasion. The inhabitants of Monmouth-
shire complained that divers sums had been collected, but that
the manner of their employment remained unknown ; they had
been forced to travel out of their hundreds for mustering and
training, and the charges of the muster masters and trainers
of soldiers had been extremely burdensome. The Privy Council
ordered that the Earl of Pembroke should cause certain specified
persons to ascertain what sums had been levied in the county
' A.P.C., Vol. VIII., p. 254, Vol. X., p. 240, and Vol. XL, p. 219.
- Ibid., Vol. XII., p. 65.
^ Ibid., Vol. XII., p. 340, and pp. 140- 1.
' Ibid., Vol. XV., p. 255.
254 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
for the last two years, and how they had been spent ; sums levied
without good warrant and not yet employed were to be repaid.
Persons were to be mustered and trained, if possible, within
their own hundreds ; in every hundred, persons appointed at
the discretion of the deputy-lieutenants were to look after the
musters and training, without any wages and entertainment.
Pembroke was to see redress of like grievances effected for the
other shires in his government.^ A few years later a similar
complaint occurred in Carmarthenshire against the deputy-
lieutenant : ;^25 was taken for a muster master who did no
work. The Privy Council directed that an inquiry should be
held and the money returned to the contributors. In the year
1590 Ireland was a special subject of anxiety, owing to the fear
of a Spanish landing. Seven hundred men were requisitioned
from the Principahty of _Wales, to be transported from the havens
of Bristol, Chester, Liverpool, Milford, and Beaumaris. The
fortifications of Wales also were to be surveyed. Pembroke
urged strongly that Milford Haven should be better defended,
and suggested that two thousand men should be sent to
Pembrokeshire for two months. The Council inclined to forti-
fications as being less expensive in the long run ; but as it was
too late to finish them that summer, one thousand men were to
be sent over from Somersetshire to Milford.
The nature of the Lord President's military duties at this
period can be best gathered from the valuable " Papers relating
to the Trained Soldiers of Shropshire in the reign of Elizabeth,"
printed by Mr. W. Phillips in the transactions of the Shropshire
Archaeological and Natural History Society.^ These show that
in 1562, at the time of the outbreak of war with France, a Com-
mission was issued to Sir Henry Sydney, Sir Andrew Corbet,
Charles Fox, and William Gateacre to send up a report to
the Court of Exchequer on the observance of the statute 4 & 5
Ph. & M., c. 2, which enacted that "every temporal person
possessed of property to the yearly value of 100 marks should
have, keep, and maintain one gelding apt and meet for a
» A.P.C., Vol. XVII., p. 328.
2 Second Series, Vols. I., II., 1889-90 (especially Vol. II., pp. 215-94).
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 255
light horseman, with the sufficient harness and weapons for
the same." The Commissioners were to be assisted by the
sheriffs, bailiffs, and constables, and their position was strengthened
by a Privy Council Order enforcing attention to their commands,
and warning all concerned against partiality. The return sent in
to the Commissioners by the town and franchise of Salop was
most satisfactory — viz. " No person or persons that we can find
hath offended the said estatute or any branch or article thereof."
In 1563, when Havre was being held against both Huguenots
and Catholics, a second Commission was issued on June 27th,
with the result that the Sheriff and Justices of Peace for Salop
were ordered to get ready five hundred soldiers. Nearly a month
later three hundred more were required for the war in Normandy
(July 23rd).
In 1577 a Royal Commission for Musters was issued to Sir
Henry Sydney, Lord President, the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury, Sir
Andrew Corbet, Sir Arthur Manwaringe, Edward Leighton,
George Lee (Leigh), and Richard Prince. The men between
sixteen and sixty years of age within Salop and its liberties were
to be armed, trained, and inspected. Interesting details can be
gathered from the papers relating to the Armada year, such as
the contributions for the defence of the country, the orders
touching the trained bands, the beacons, and the appointment
of a provost marshal for the " apprehension, stockinge and
ymprisoninge " of those who spread false rumours. The thanks-
giving for the defeat of the Armada is thus recorded in the
Borough Chronicle: "This yeare and the 19 daye of September
being Tuesdaye, and two dayes after the festivall daye of the
coronacion of the Queenes maiestie, and the sayde daye fallinge
uppon S. Elizabethes daye, was a solempn daye in Shrousberie,
and all people that daye keapt it holly unto the Lorde, that had
gyve hir m^''' sutche victorie and blessid overthrowe of the
Spanishe power and hudge navy of hir enemies to the greate
reioisinge of all England. God be praysid. Amen." ^
' The taking of musters caused at times much friction between the lord-
lieutenant and the municipal authorities. The following is an instance
taken from the Bristol Chronicle : " The Earl (of Pembroke) came to Bristol
256 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
In the seventeenth century the judicial duties of the Lord
President were for the most part left to the legal members of
the Council in the Marches. His military duties as lord-
lieutenant, however, still continued, as may be seen from the
numerous letters addressed by the Privy Council to Lord Eure,
the Earl of Northampton, and the Earl of Bridgewater. For
the most part these letters refer to the mustering of soldiers,
levies for Ireland, the fortification of Milford Haven against
Moorish or Turkish pirates, and the punishment of dishonest
ofificers or refractory subjects. They are of interest as showing
the general unwillingness to be mustered for training. The
Privy Council sought at times to rouse greater efforts by referring
to disturbances abroad : a reason often given for greater viligance
is "for that the affaires of Christendome do still stand upon
such uncertaine terms." An amusing instance of the way in
which the constant supervision of the Privy Council tended to
paralyse local effort and common sense is given in the following
extract from the Council Register under the date July 20th, 1632 :
"About y° landing of Pirates in y*" County of Carnarvon.
" Whereas there was this day read at the Boarde a letter written
by the deputy Lieutenants of the County of Carnarvon to y®
Ea : of Bridgewater bearing date y'^ sixt of this moneth in w*^*^
they informe that certaine Pirates came into a hauen of that
County and seemed to threaten and make a shewe as if they
would lande, in which Case y® said deputy Lieutenants not
knowing what course to take, they desired to be instructed
therein. Their lordships much merveyling they should make
so strange a demande in a matter wherein their owne iudgements
might sufficiently informe them, did order that a lettre should
be written from y*^ Boarde to y*' said Ea : of Bridgewater,
requiring his lordship thereby in regarde of y® place w°*^ he
holdeth in those partes under his Ma*^^ to giue expresse direccon
from Wales Mar. 17 1586, to take a general muster of the trained bands,
and the Queen having notice by some of the citizens that the Earl presumed
to take the upper hand of the Mayor (at which there was a great grudge)
her Majesty sent for him and gave him a sore check and sent him to the
Tower for a certain space, until he had paid a fine." Seyer, Memoirs of
Bristol, Vol. II., ch. 26, p. 249, § 33.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 257
not onely to the Deputy Lieut^ of the sayde County but lykewyse
to the high Sheriffes and Justices of the peace w'thin y'' severall
Countyes, w*^*^ are under his charge, as occasion shall require,
to take careful! and effectuall Order as well to prevent y*' landing
of any Pirates as to apprehende and commit to prison any
such as shall presume to come on Lande." ^
The reader is reminded of the Indian station master's telegram :
" Tiger on platform ; wire instructions."
In the years of trouble with Scotland, 1638-40, letters from the
Privy Council grow more frequent as well as more peremptory.
In April, 1638, the following entry occurs in the Council
Register :
" Letter to the Ea : of Bridgewater Lord President of y®
Marches of Wales.
"The Certificat sent unto yo" from yo'' deputy Lieutenants for
the County of Mountgomery touching the Contemptuous Carriage
of the Constables and others mencioned therein hath beene
presented to the Board by Mr. Secretary Coke and there read
(his Ma^y being present in Councell) and as there is good cause
to bee sensible of the ill Carriage of the persons Complayned of
in this Service, but especially of the undutifuU Carriage of Lloyd
Peirce therein, being a Justice of Peace in that County, who
ought to haue expreste more forwardnes and better affeccion to
the King's Service. Soe wee haue thought good by his Ma*^
expresse commaund hereby to authorize and require yo'' Lo'p
to giue effectuell order for the punishing of the said Constables
and the rest according to their Contempts and demeritts. And
for the said Lloyd Peirce, wee haue by his Ma*'® like Commaund
{T^ven order to put him out of the Commission of Peace. And
so," etc.^
Even stronger is a letter to the earl a year later (April 24th,
1639) exhorting him to punish offenders in the matter of
musters. Only notorious and extraordinary causes are to be
referred to the king or Privy Council, " the travaihng up hether
(being) so chargeable, those Countreyes being so farr remote." ^
' Council Register, July 20th, 1632. " Ibid, April 29th, 1638.
^ Idicl, April 26th, 1639.
258 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
The unpopularity of the bishops may perhaps be shown by
the circumstance that the deputy-heutenants for co. Flint,
having to choose fifteen horse out of the trained bands to be
weekly exercised and kept ready for the king's service, pitched
upon the horses belonging to the Bishop of St. Asaph and the
clergy of his diocese. The Privy Council found this "a very
strange and partiall proceeding," and ordered that the bishop's
horse was to be released, all bishops being naturally exempt
from such a charge. The clergy, too, were to be exempt, in con-
sideration of their large contributions to the expenses of the war.^
In December, 1639, the Earl of Bridgewater was ordered to
inquire into the misappropriation by the conductors of the
moneys received for soldiers on the late expedition to the North.
Offenders were to be indicted at the next Grand Sessions if he
thought fit.^ Entries in the following year (1640) show similar
difficulties. In the town of Brecon there was friction between
the bailiff and the deputy-lieutenants of the county. The
former refused to impress more than eight out of the twelve able
men of the town required by the latter, alleging that for every
one hundred men charged on the county only four were charged
on the town. The county in this case had to furnish two hundred ;
therefore the town could not be liable for more than eight.
He had to submit to the deputy-lieutenants, and his uncivil
behaviour was passed over in consideration that otherwise he
had been forward in His Majesty's service.^
Many indications occur of unwillingness to serve in the
Northern war; the deputy-lieutenants of Montgomery informed
the Lord President that various men had run away since they
had been impressed. The Privy Council ordered the earl to
direct the deputy-lieutenants to proceed against any whom they
happened to arrest.*
After the Restoration the military duties of the Lord President
were of a merely formal character.
An important side of the Council's administrative work was
' Council Register, May 5th, 1639. ^ Ibid., December 22nd, 1639.
* Ibid., June 26th, 1640. " Ibid., June loth, 1640.
THE COUxNCIL OF THE MARCHES 259
that dealing with economic matters, such as the supply of grain
and other victuals, inclosures, and the settlement of industrial
disputes. In fact, they might, equally with the ordinary Justice
of the Peace, complain of the "stacks of statutes" which, as
Lambarde said, were laid on the country gentry in the Tudor
period.
Foremost among these were the Acts against regraters, fore-
stallers, and engrossers of grain and victuals;^ the Act for the
keeping of milch kine and rearing of calves ; the Act against
killing of weanlings, and that concerning the buying and selling
of other beasts. The Lord President was held responsible for
the adequate supply of victuals within his jurisdiction, and direc-
tions were sent to him by the Privy Council for the export of
corn or cattle from Wales in time of plenty. Instances of activity
in this direction may be gathered from the Acts of the Privy
Council.^ Wales was naturally called upon to supply food as well
as men for the constant Irish wars of the sixteenth century.
In 1587-8 there was an unusual dearth of corn in Wales
and the Marches, and in consequence the Lord President was
ordered to cease mustering and training the soldiers.
To this time possibly may be referred an undated document
among the Lansdowne MSS. (49, f. 188). It is headed, "A
remembrance of present provision of grayne to be made for
Wales and the marches of the same to avoyd the sterving of
the subiectes or other as grete mischife as may ensue." The
writer draws a piteous picture of the results of the bad harvest :
" Infinite nombers of idel beggers and also verie many whole
householdes of the good laboring people of the frontier of
Wales, that never begged before, everie part of Wales itself
soe swarmed certeyn monethes before harvest last that noe
doore in the marches any ower of the day was free of theyr
pitiefull cries, and the leane cheres and pale faces of thiese
poore and theyre puelinge and woful mones did playnelly bewray
the exstreame hunger that they did indure, and how unable
the multitude of the fermors were to yeld theyr old accustomed
' Cases of forestalling are occasionally mentioned in the entry books of
the Council from 1632 to 1642.
26o THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
relife to the poore. And the grete nomber of ffermors and
leaseholders chardged with children and servants that were com-
pelled to sel cattell and thinge needefull to purchas come divers
weekes before harvest did discover the generall want of come
in the accustomed storehowses of corne both in Wales and in
al the marches of the same. And also the excessive prices of
pese and ffecches gredely bowght by the people to make bred
did playnely manifest to the world the grete universall want that
was, and what smawle store there was to bring in new provision
by harvest then to com.
" And where most yeres divers ientilmen and ffermers were
compelled by lack of barnerowmes to make stackes and worke
abrode, this present late harvest is not abell to fyl the bayes
of theyr barnes that were wont to be stuffed with whete and
rie only with al sortes of grayne. And certeyne it is that
most men shal not haue grayne enowe of this last harvest to
sowe their growndes ageyne, which thinge weyd, if forsight
be not had, the multitude of her maiesties subiectes are like
to sterve or to fawle (exstreame famine soe compelling) into
more disorder then other her Maiestie or good men can like
of. Wherfore it were good that supreame auctoritie did addresse
theyr I'res in this case of exstreamitie to the Merchants of
Bristowe and to other able marchants of other portes in Wales
or in the West cuntrey to make foreyne provision out of hand
by the wey of the river of Siverne to releve the marches and
the ports of Wales to releve the people of Wales or from other
partes of this realme abovvnding with corne to make the provision
or otherwise to be meanes to the Q. most excellent maiestie
to defray some iij^' or xiij" for the provision to be made, which
were but the forbering of the sonne but for a fewe monthes
but yet be charitable a thing and a thing soe tending to the
purchesse of the unspekeable love of the multitude that ech man,
woman and child if they had tene thousand lives wold spende
the same at hir foote."
As an instance of the hardship that was sometimes caused to
individuals by compulsory sale of com in time of scarcity, the
following case is of interest. Oliver Hullins and others were
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 261
bound to Roger Brereton for delivery of certain bushels of rent
corn for the rectory of Staunton Lacy (Salop). In the time of
scarcity they were ordered to bring corn to the market towns
for sale. Thus the penalties of their bond, accrued, and they
petitioned the Privy Council for relief. The Justices of the
Peace were ordered to call the parties before them. Roger
Brereton demanded ^^o ; but Hullins and his fellows said they
could not pay more than ;^2S. The Privy Council wrote to
the Justices ordering them to send for Brereton, and cause him
either to accept the ^2;^ or show reason for refusal. Brereton
on this procured process of execution to the Sheriff of Salop,
" and on his warrant apprehended Hullins and did committ him
to goale^ from whence he did of late by some casual means skepe
away." Brereton commenced a suit against the sheriff before
the Council of the Marches, while the sheriff prosecuted one
of the tithe-payers upon the forfeiture of his bond. In the
end the Justices were directed to summon Brereton and make
him accept the terms offered, or else certify to the Privy Council
the cause of his refusal (A.P.C., Vol. XVII., p. 2 3).
In the seventeenth century the Council in the Marches was
still expected to see that the country was sufficiently supplied
with food. On May 25th, 1637, the Privy Council wrote to
the Earl of Bridgewater enclosing a letter from sundry Justices
of Pembrokeshire, complaining that Henry Lort, Esq., had shipped
corn out of the county in time of scarcity, and asking for his
exclusion from the Commission of the Peace. Lort had
petitioned against this, saying, on the contrary, he had supplied
various places in England and Wales with corn during time
of scarcity. The earl was asked to bring the matter before
the Council of the Marches and report to the Privy Council.
Meanwhile Lort was not to be put out of the Commission.^
In November of the same year the Privy Council was
perplexed by conflicting reports as to the provision of corn in
Pembrokeshire. Requests had been made to the Privy Council
as well as to the Council of the Marches that corn, being
' Council Register, May 25th, 1637: cf. Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council
Papers, 35 (1637).
262 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
plentiful there, might be exported to other shires where there was
a deficient supply. A letter, however, had come from the
Justices of the Peace in the county complaining that the order
for transportation was likely to cause scarcity. The Privy
Council, " unsatisfied with the contrarity of Informac'ons," sent
this letter to the Council of the Marches directing them, in
accordance with their judgment, to give order for further restraint
or for liberty of sale.^
The Council was frequently concerned with one of the most
difficult economic problems of Tudor times — the question of
inclosures. Several notices are extant of the inclosure cases that
came up for trial, and no doubt if the records for the sixteenth
century survived, we should find much important information as
to the progress of the inclosure movement in the Marches.
Even as it is we have enough to show how steadily inclosing
went on, and also how stubborn was the resistance made. A
typical instance is the complaint in 1573 of the inhabitants of
Worcester respecting the inclosure of a common. The Privy
Council decided that a settlement was to be made by the Bishop of
Worcester, Sir Thomas Lucy, and the Lord President. It appears
that Sir John Conway would not " come before them or stand to
their order ; but how the matter was ended does not appear." ^
Another case of alleged encroachment on a common came
before the Privy Council in 1578. A frame of timber had
been erected by Sir John Throckmorton on a copyhold of his in
the forest of Feckenham. This was alleged to be an encroach-
ment on a common and tend to the undoing of poor tenants.
The frame was thrown down and hewn in pieces ; the culprits
were sent for by a Commissioner appointed by the Council of
the Marches, but refused to come ; whereupon three of them
were sent for by the Privy Council and committed to the
Marshalsea, till an information against them should be exhibited
in the Star Chamber. Meanwhile, till the question of right was
decided, Sir John Throckmorton was ordered not to re-erect
his timber frame. ^
' Council Register, November 19th, 1637. ^ A.P.C., Vol. VIII. p. 195.
- Jbtd., Vol. X., p. 375, and Vol. XL, p. 191.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 263
A noteworthy inclosure suit in which the Council of the
Marches was concerned was the great dispute between Sir
Edward Herbert, brother of the Earl of Pembroke, and Vaughan,
of which full details are given in the Acts of the Privy Council.^
Not long after this case was tried we find that Sir Edward was
again complained of for inclosing certain waste grounds in which
common had been enjoyed "time out of mind." The Privy
Council gave order that this matter should be decided by the
Council in the Marches, but that in future such cases should
be tried by common law without unnecessary delay. Herbert's
late opponent, John Owen Vaughan, seems to have been equally
guilty in the matter of inclosing. Certain gentlemen of the Lord-
ship of Powys complained of his action, and desired letters from
the Privy Council to the Council in the Marches. The Privy
Council decided that no action was to be taken till the ensuing
term, when Sir Edward Herbert, lord of the barony, should
attend their lordships. In the end it was ordered that the
Lord President and the Council of the Marches should call
certain parties before them and examine into the rights of the
case. A few references occur to the action of the Council
respecting inclosures in the seventeenth century. In the
Dovaston MS., f. 44, is an order to Sir Thomas Chamberlaine to
" determine the complaint of Richard Shirburne of Stonihurst, co.
Lanes, esq. holding an estate in Chirk co. Denbigh lately the
inheritance of John Edwardes esq. that sundry great parcels of
commons and wastes of that lordship have been wrongfully
inclosed by Sir Thomas Middleton Alderman of London contrary
to the charter of Henry VII. and other grants and to orders
made by the Council of Queen EUzabeth in the Marches."
Yet another instance of resistance to inclosures occurred in
1629. On April ist the Privy Council wrote to Sir John
Bridgman and Sir Marmaduke Lloyd, Judges of Assize for the
county of Chester and North Wales (members of the Council of
the Marches), and to the Justices of the Peace in the county
of Flint. They complained that information had been received
of the "insolent and Rietous carrage of some audatious persons
' Hist. MSS. Commission, 13th Report, App. IV.
264 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
in pulling downe a new inclosure made aboute a parcell of his
Mat^ Land called Ewloe Wood alias Ewloe Parke in the County
of fflynt." They marvel that "in a civill government" no steps
had been taken to punish such offenders, and think it strange that
the Board should have to give directions in a case where the
duty of Justices was so obvious. The persons addressed are
ordered to examine strictly into the insolencies complained of,
and to take order for the punishment of guilty persons. A
second letter, dated April i8th, administers a severe reprimand
to the Justices for doing nothing to check the above misconduct
or to inform the Council of its continuance. Offenders were to
be apprehended and tried at the next Assizes.
The Council, or individual members of it, were frequently
called upon to enforce statutes dealing with the cloth manu-
facture (which flourished in the Marches and in some of the
Welsh counties) or to intervene in industrial disputes. In the
Acts of the Privy Council, Vol. XIX., p. 154, is a notice of a
complaint made to their lordships by the bailiffs and others
of the city of Worcester against brokers, engrossers, regraters,
etc., who had caused the impoverishment of poor persons and
the increase of the price of wool contrary to the statutes of 5
Edw. VI. and 21 Eliz. These statutes were ordered to be read
in open market and search made for engrossers, who were to
enter into bonds for due observance thereof. The whole matter
was put into the hands of the Earl of Pembroke.
The Council registers for the first forty years of the seven-
teenth century contain several entries of a kind similar to that
just mentioned. Seven of the counties included in the Lord
President's jurisdiction are in the list of clothing counties noted
under the date April 6th, 1622 (Gloucester, Salop, Worcester,
Denbigh, Monmouth, Merioneth, Montgomery). In 16 13 a
complaint was made to the Privy Council by the drapers of
Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and Whitchurch against certain French
merchants of London who came to the town of Mechanteth
(Machynlleth ?) in North Wales, bought up many hundred pieces
of cloth that would otherwise have been brought to Oswestry,
and shipped them to France, to the impoverishing of many
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 265
persons in Oswestry and ' the decay of the ancient staple there.
The matter was referred to the Justices of Assize for Salop and
North Wales, who reported that the drapers of London and
other foreigners should be restrained from buying, uttering,
and transporting cloths except at London. A second hearing
of the matter was confided to Lord Eure, the Lord President,
the Justices of Assize for Salop, the Attorney-General (Bacon),
the Solicitor-General (Yelverton), and one of the Judges of
Assize for North Wales, who reported to the following effect :
1. That the previous decision should be confirmed, with the
addition of certain explanations — viz.
2. That the subjects of North Wales and Cardigan may sell
their cottons, friezes, and cloths at what market or to
what person they will, and not be forced to come to
Oswestry, so long as they sell them for home use only,
not for transportation.
3. All transportation of such commodities from those parts
of Wales was to be forbidden, as it would ruin the trade
(which has become very prosperous), to be diverted to
Blackvvell Hall, London.
4. The drapers of Chester, Coventry, and those parts may be
admitted to buy at Oswestry so long as they do not
transport.
5. Merchants and drapers of London are to be excluded from
buying at Oswestry.
6. Their factors, too, are not to be suffered to buy at
Oswestry.
The Privy Council ordered this report to be put into execution.^
A few years later a difference occurred between the drapers
and mercers of Shrewsbury concerning the purchase of Welsh
cottons at Oswestry and their conveyance to London. The
Earl of Northampton and Sir Thomas Chamberlaine appeared
before the Privy Council, and stated that, according to an order
of a few months before, they had examined into the matter,
but that the parties could come to no agreement. They asked
and received the help of certain specified persons. The point
' Council Register, February 22nd, 1613.
266 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
in dispute was whether the drapers only might purchase Welsh
cloths and cottons at Oswestry for conveyance to London and
elsewhere. They claimed the exclusive right as " the only traffique
they haue to use for their mayntenance and liuelyhoode," while
the mercers asserted that they had exercised the right from time
to time with all liberty and freedom. The Privy Council had
by no means finished with the affairs of Oswestry. In 1662 they
directed the Lord President to examine the dispute between
the Shrewsbury drapers and the Welsh clothiers. The drapers,
it seems, had forborne their weekly resort to Oswestry, while
the poor clothiers were afraid to go to Shrewsbury. Oswestry
market and the Welsh cotton trade seemed likely to decay,
to the prejudice of the whole country of Wales, and possible
ill-consequences to the peace might ensue. The Privy Council
thought that Oswestry market ought to be re-established, and
enclosed a copy of an order to that effect. But the Shrewsbury
drapers had petitioned for the liberty and privilege of their
weekly market at Shrewsbury, that they might buy cottons
brought thither, as well as anything else : this, they maintained,
would benefit everybody, the Welsh clothiers included. The
Privy Council was not inclined to rescind its decision to please
the Shrewsbury drapers, but wished the Lord President and
Chief Justice of Chester to examine the matter and hear all
sides — viz. the gentlemen in the country, the clothiers of Wales,
the drapers of Shrewsbury, the inhabitants of Oswestry, and
any other persons interested.^
The last occasion on which a matter affecting the cloth trade
was referred to the Lord President and Council appears to be
in 1637. The drapers of Shrewsbury had petitioned the Privy
Council respecting the ill-making of "Welch cloathes." The
report presented to the Privy Council is of some length, and
contains recommendations as to the length of cloths, the kind of
yarn, and the details of measuring. The report was adopted by
the Privy Council, who wrote to the Lord President and Council in
the Marches directing them to give it effect (December 3rd, 1637).
The relief of the poor was a matter with which the Council
' Council Register, June 27th and July 29th, 1622.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 267
had some concern. It often granted " placards " to persons who
had suffered loss by fire, allowing them to beg for charitable
contributions. Some of these cases have been noted above ;
to them may be added a letter in the Shrewsbury MSS. from
the bailiffs to the warden of the company of bakers, commending
to them, as to all the brotherhoods, the case of John ap Rees,
in behalf of whom Secretary Fox, a burgess, and one of the
Council of the Marches had written, and to whom a licence had
been granted to receive charitable gifts, " he having by sudden
rage of fire had his dwelling house and all that he had consumed."
Subjoined is a note that the bakers contributed 35-. 2>d. On the
other hand, an instance occurs of the Council's issuing a pro-
hibition against a man who had a hcence to beg for three years.
The matter came up before the Privy Council, Twenty J.P.'s
had certified the causes of his extremity, and order was given
that he was not to be hindered in the exercise of his licence
within the counties of Cardigan, Montgomery, and Denbigh.
In this connection a case of some interest is recorded in the
Council Register for 1639. A certificate is entered as received
from the Chief Justice of the Marches of Wales, Adam Littleton
and Timothy Tourner, dated Ludlow Castle, November 7th,
1639.
Two years before, John Betton and two other persons (Matthewes
and Ridgeway) had received ;!^5oo stock upon certain agreements
between them and the town of Shrewsbury to set the poor
children of the town to work. Owing to the death of his two
colleagues, Betton was unable to undertake the matter alone,
but the Privy Council desiring that " soe charitable a worke
might not be deserted," referred it to certain townsmen of
Shrewsbury, who reported that Betton was not willing to continue
it. Mr. Simon Watson, however, was, if he might have a stock
of ^1,000. Order was therefore given that Betton was to hand
over to Watson the ;^5oo he had received, less his disbursements
in buildings, etc., which were to be estimated by the aldermen
and assistants of the town. Betton petitioned to be allowed to
pay two-thirds of the sum (one-third for himself and one-third
for Ridgeway's administratrix), while Matthewes' executor was
268 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
to pay the remaining third. He also asked to be reheved of his
disbursements, which had amounted to ^^400. The three Justices
who reported the matter to the Council were of opinion that
Betton's petition should be allowed, and that he should hand
over the buildings on being reimbursed for his expenses thereon.
This certificate was approved by the Council.
The Council in the Marches had also to deal with matters
mentioned in the following Acts (which are enumerated in the
instructions of 1586) :
The Act against usury.
The Act for the maintenance and increase of tillage.
The Act against the dressing and eating of flesh upon the
Fridays, Saturdays, and fish-days and other times prohibited.
The Act against alehouse keepers not licensed.
The Act touching tanners, curriers, and other artificers occupy-
ing the cutting of leather.
The Act for the preservation of woods.
In the instructions to Lord Zouch, 1602, most of the above
Acts are mentioned, and a few others are added — e.g.
The Act that timber shall not be felled to make coals for the
burning of iron.
The Act against erecting and maintaining of cottages.
The Act concerning the buying and selling of Rether beasts.
The Act against the decaying of towns and houses of
husbandry.
The loss of the records of the Council is for no reason more
to be regretted than for the light they would have thrown on
the economic condition of Wales and the Border in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. The chance preservation of the
Shrewsbury Tolls case described above is enough to show
the seriousness of the loss, particularly for the history of the
Welsh cloth manufacture and the inclosure movement in the
Border.
CONCLUSION
The history of the Council in the Marches has been traced in
the preceding chapters. It remains to state how far the existing
evidence enables us to answer the following questions : What
was the Council's origin ; what purpose was it meant to serve ;
in what relations did it stand to the central and local authorities ;
why did it become unpopular, and what measure of success did
it achieve ?
To deal first with the question of origin. The Act of 1543
(34 & 35 Hen. VIII., c. 26) clearly gave a statutory basis to
a body which since the reign of Edward IV. had exercised
jurisdiction in Wales and the Marches. But was this Council
established by Edward IV. a totally new body, or was it a
development of an existing institution ? The evidence stated
in Chapter I. points to the view that the Council in the Marches
arose out of the Prince's Council, which had existed ever since
the time of the first English Prince of Wales for the purpose
of administering his estates.^ This Council would in the ordinary
course of things have authority in the Principality only ; it was
therefore necessary to confer by commission special powers in
the Marches, the exercise of which would be facilitated by the
fact that Edward IV., as heir of the Mortimers, was himself the
chief Marcher Lord. Thus the Principality and the Marches were
united under one rule, and an important step was taken towards
the union of England and Wales. The language of the earliest
writers who deal with the origin of the Council is quite consistent
See the " Table of the Councillors of the Princes of V7ales." Gairdner,
Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII., Vol. XIV., Part I. 518.
269 *
270 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
with this view; all of them mention the sending of Prince Edward,
and, after him. Prince Arthur, for the purpose of ensuring order
in the Marches. But the further question arises, how was it
that a Council which began as the Prince's Council came to be
the Council of the Lord President ? The answer to this must
be conjectural, owing to the scantiness of the authorities for the
Council's history in the reign of Henry VII., when the change
seems to have taken place. The main reason probably is that
both Prince Arthur and the Princess Mary ^ were minors when
sent to take the nominal Government of Wales and the Border,
and that both held office for only a short time. After Mary's
withdrawal, however, just as after the death of Prince Arthur,
the Lord President was bound to come to the front, for the
simple reason that during more than a century there was no
Prince of Wales.^ By the reign of James I. the office of Lord
President had been fully developed, but the traditional connection
of the Council with the Prince of Wales is often mentioned by
those who upheld its jurisdiction over the four counties.
The purpose for which the Council grew up was to repress
disorder in Wales and the Marches. There was ample need
for extraordinary measures. An analysis of the cases of crime
mentioned in Bishop Lee's letters shows that the worst districts
within his jurisdiction were those that ultimately formed the
counties of Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, and Denbighshire.
The following lordships are repeatedly mentioned as haunts of
criminals : Elvael, Arwystli, Kerry, Caedewen, and Cyfeiliog.
According to Lee, Presteign was where " the thieves were
thickest," while the sanctuaries of Wigmore and Bewdley served
as refuges for criminals who evaded justice. Almost as turbulent
were the lordships of Oswestry and Powys. A list of crimes
drawn up by Thomas Holt, Attorney in the Marches, shows
that the Earl of Worcester's lordships in South Wales {e.g.
Chepstow and Gower) were in much the same state as the
' Mary does not seem to have been formally created Princess of Wales,
though outside purely legal documents she was so stj'led.
- Henry was created Prince of Wales in February, 1503 ; his namesake,
the son of James I., was created Prince of Wales in June, 1610.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 271
lordships in the north. ^ If such was the condition of the March
districts, that of the old Welsh shires was little better ; indeed,
Lee did not scruple to affirm that " Merionethshire and Cardigan-
shire are as ill as the worst part of Wales, although they are
shire ground." In the absence of more than casual references
no absolute conclusions can be drawn, but the general impression
gained from the extant evidence is that the Marcher Lordships
of northern and central Wales were the most disorderly, but
that the shires were in little better case, while the adjoining
English counties were injuriously affected by their neighbours'
crimes.
Up to the middle of the sixteenth century the main work
of the Council was to punish lawlessness with which the
Common Law Courts were powerless to deal. During the
succeeding half century it acted both as a judicial and also as
an administrative body, the instrument of the Privy Council
in Wales and the Marches. During this period the dignity of
the Council increased, and its organisation became fixed ; but
the cases with which it dealt were less serious than in earlier
years, and by the end of the century its decline had begun. In
the seventeenth century it was mainly a Court for the settlement
of petty suits, and the elaborate establishment which had
descended from the days when princes had kept Court at
Ludlow seemed unnecessary.
The area of the Council's jurisdiction was a debatable question.
The words of the Statute of 1543, quoted on p. 44, might be
interpreted to cover the Border in general or the old Marcher
Lordships only. There can be little doubt that the intention of
the statute was to include the four English counties, in which the
Council had exercised jurisdiction, and in which its sessions had
for the most part been held. To include only the old Marcher
Lordships now joined to the Border counties would surely have
emphasized a distinction which it was the very object of the Act
of Union (1536) to remove. If the Council was to exist at all, its
jurisdiction over the four English counties could hardly be
' For the ownership of the Marcher Lordships in the reigns of Henry VII.
and Henry VIII., see Appendix IV.
272 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
severed from its jurisdiction over Wales. But the controversy of
the seventeenth century, though in form concerned with the
jurisdiction over the four English counties, really raised the
question of discretionary governments in general. In this, as in
so many cases, broad constitutional issues were argued on the
narrowest legal grounds.
The point of most permanent interest in the Council's history
is its relation to the central and local authorities. It was sub-
ordinate to the Privy Council and the Star Chamber ; but it
exercised a considerable measure of control over local Courts and
local officials, especially sheriffs and justices of the peace. It
was thus a link between the central and the local government,
and also facilitated the working of the new institutions created
for Wales by the legislation of Henry VIII.
The Privy Council was the body that determined the powers
to be exercised by the Council in the Marches, for it drew up the
instructions received by each Lord President on entering office.
Constant supervision was exercised by the Privy Council over the
subordinate body. One of the special duties of the Secretary of
State was to acquaint himself with " the power and form of
proceeding at the Council of the Marches of Wales and the
Council of the North." ^ The Lord President or his deputy was
in frequent communication with the Privy Council, and was
bound to send up to it every Hilary Term accounts of the fines
imposed by his Court. The Council of the Marches was a
convenient body for the examination of accused persons : in
Bishop Lee's time it exercised summary jurisdiction, even in-
flicting the death penalty ; but in the reign of Elizabeth, and still
more in the seventeenth century, serious cases were nearly always
dealt with by the Privy Council, the Star Chamber, or the Courts
of Common Law. Numerous references occur to the sending up
of prisoners to the Privy Council for further hearing or for
punishment. Many trifling cases, however, arising out of
petitions addressed to the Privy Council, were referred to the
Council of the Marches for decision. Naturally some clashing
of jurisdictions resulted ; instances are not rare of a person being
• S.P.D., Eliz., CCLXXIV., p. ii8.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 273
summoned to appear at the same time before both tribunals.
In such cases the Council of the Marches was directed to rescind
its order. Tlie fact that a case might be begun before either
Council was sometimes used by litigants for their own ends, as
when the opponents of certain Ludlow burgesses secured post-
ponement of their case on the pretence that it was to be heard
before the Privy Council.^
The dignity and efficiency of the Council in the Marches
were jealously v.atched over by the superior body. In drawing.
up instructions and orders care was taken to secure the
advice of experienced persons ; the payment of respect to the
Lord President and Council was strictly enforced, and persons
guilty of contempt were compelled to make apology.^ At the
same time the Privy Council had no scruple in censuring
the tendency of the subordinate body to disobey instructions,
especially in failing to execute the Recusancy Laws and in
encroaching on the jurisdiction of the Common Law Courts.^
At times the reversal of proceedings before the Council of the
Marches was ordered on the ground that undue severity had
been shown.^ As a rule such reprimands were received without
protest, but occasionally the Council of the Marches ventured to
express resentment.^ In spite of occasional jars the relations
between the two bodies were on the whole harmonious. The
Council of the Marches relieved the Privy Council of many
trivial cases, and in its early days especially did work that could
be done effectively only by local officials. An expression of more
than merely conventional gratitude may be read in the Privy
Council's letter to Whitgift, thanking him for his services as
Vice-President during Sir Henry Sydney's absence in Ireland.
The Council of the Marches was also useful in carrying out
the administrative work of the Privy Council. Government,
in the sixteenth century tended to become " universal, constant
' A.P.C., Vol. XXIV., p. 260.
- Ibid., Vol. IX., p. 165; Ibid., Vol. X., pp. 2o6, 217; and Council
Register under date October 20, 1619.
3 Ibid., Vol. XII., pp. 27 and 59.
* Ibid., Vol. XIV., pp. 49 and 187. ^ /^/^^ Vol. IX., p. 331.
274 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
and penetrative " ; ^ hence the administrative duties of the Lord
President and his colleagues were extremely varied. On the
military and economic side these duties have already been
described ; but the Council was utilized for many other purposes.
Proclamations were sent down to the Lord President for pub-
lication in Wales and the Border; he was expected to suppress
false and seditious rumours, and to strengthen the hands of
the Government in every possible way. Among the mis-
cellaneous duties devolving upon him may be mentioned the
collection of money for the repair of St. Paul's, the supervision
of certain royal forests, the removal of weirs and stakings in
the Severn, and the arrangements for an Eisteddfod." Just
as the Privy Council deliberated on all affairs of State, so in
his small sphere the Lord President of Wales was responsible
for the good administration of the counties within his juris-
diction. Perhaps his position cannot better be summed up than
in a letter to the Earl of Bridgewater from the Vice-Admiral of
North Wales. " Nothing within this y"" jurisdiction of Wales
cann be strange to y'' Lo^, for that y"" Lqp is the true Center
wher all o'' lines meete, and what is w%in the Knowledg of
any man of qualitie and understanding wilbe sure to finde a
way unto you." ^
Throughout its history the Council of the Marches was closely
connected with the Star Chamber. The two Courts existed
primarily for the same purpose, the repression of disorder for
which the Common Law was inadequate, and they were alike
' Prothero, Statutes and Constitutional Documents, p. ci.
^ A.P.C., Vol. VII., p. 8i (proclamation of peace between the Queen,
the French, and the Scots); S.P.D., Vol. 1547-S0, Vol. II., Mary,
January, 1 554 (articles of the treaty with Spain to be declared to the
people) ; Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Council Papers, 80 (repair of St.
Paul's); ibid., Royal Papers, No. 88 (Forests); Brit. Mus. Add. MSS.
14905, and Mostyn MSS., Hist. MSS. Commission Report on MSS. in
the Welsh Language, Vol. I., 1898, p. 291 (Eisteddfod of 1568 and that
of 1594); Hist. MSS. Commission Report X., Parts III. and IV., Mr. Lloyd
Gatacres MSS. (orders for the survey of the Severn within Salop).
^ Bridgewater MSS., Welsh Shrievalty Papers, Bundle VI., No. 193.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 275
in many points of procedure, as well as in the cases they tried
and the punishments they imposed.^ This resemblance in the
powers of the two bodies caused some complications, as is seen
by the complaint of the practice by which rich men, committing
outrages on poor men, had recourse to the Star Chamber and
procured a suit against them. " We dare not stay it," adds
the writer (a member of the Council in the Marches), " for
that the ho : Coort is ffirst possest thereof." In cases with which
either Court was competent to deal it seems that the Star
Chamber exercised jurisdiction when persons of rank were
•concerned," the Council of the Marches when the litigants
were poor men, or where a local hearing seemed convenient.
Hence offenders were often sent up to the Star Chamber for
trial after examination before the Council ; often, too, a case
that had been begun in the Marches would be removed to
London. But instances of the converse proceeding are to be
found as well. Among the Welsh Council Papers 13 (Bridge-
water MSS.) is a " Digest of Cases in the Star Chamber from
Richard II. to 36 & 37 Elizabeth," in the handwriting of Lord
Chancellor Ellesmere. Under the reign of Henry VIII. are
entries to the effect that all matters of Cheshire depending in the
Star Chamber are to be remitted to the Council in the Marches,
that matters arising in North Wales and South Wales and the
' Lansdowne MSS. 6o, fif. 103-12 (pp. 7 and 9); ibid., 22, ff. 166-70;
ibid. 45, ff. 8-1 1. Cott. MSS. Vit., C. i., ff. 197-204. Pembroke's Instruc-
tions, Lansdowne MSS. 49, ff. 197-207, Art. 45.
^ A noteworthy case that was tried before the Star Chamber, though
the parties belonged to the Marches, is commented on in Mr. Leadam's
recent volume of Select Cases in the Star Chamber, 1477- 1509. The
petitioner, Lady Strange, complains that Humphrey Kenaston and others
had committed trespass on her Lordship of Ellesmere. As she was "a
lady marchys after the Custome of the Marchez of Wales having juris-
dicion and power of the Courtes there," she thought it neither " semyng
nor convenient " to bring a suit within her own Court, but petitioned
for letters of Privy Seal to be directed to Kenaston to appear before the
King, i.e. in the Star Chamber. The case is of special interest as showing
how the Courts of the Marcher Lordships were superseded by extra-
ordinary Courts. The date of the case is 1508, i.e. during the Presidency
of Bishop Smyth. Had the complainant been a person of less importance,
it would have probably come before him.
276 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Marches are to be committed with the original books thereof to
the Council of the Lady Princess, that a certain George Kynaston
is to appear before the Council of the Marches of Wales and
to abide their order, and that a case depending in the Star
Chamber and also in the Marches of Wales is dismissed to the
latter Court. In their decline, as during the period of their activity,
the two Courts were closely linked. Much of the unpopularity of
the smaller body arose from its resemblance to the Court, which
in the seventeenth century was a hated instrument of the royal
prerogative. In the many articles of complaint against the
Court of the Marches its resemblance to the Star Chamber
is nearly always mentioned, and it is not surprising that they
were overthrown together.
Before passing to the relation of the Council to local bodies,.
some reference must be made to the parallel jurisdiction
exercised by the Council of the North. Both bodies were
established to check lawlessness in specially disturbed districts,
both did good service at first, and both incurred unpopularity
in the seventeenth century, when the existence of prerogative
Courts was deemed incompatible with the working of the
ordinary legal system. Both were under the supervision of the
Privy Council, and acted according to its instructions. But
the Council of the Marches was the older and more important
body; it had also a statutory basis, while the Council of the
North was erected (after the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536) solely
by royal prerogative. The Presidents of the Northern Council
were, with the great exception of Wentworth, men of no special
note, and their position, as compared with that of the Lords
President of Wales, must have been weakened by the existence
of the office of Warden of the Northern Marches, who per-
formed many of the military duties incumbent on the Lord
President of Wales. The powers of the Council of the North
were also less extensive than those of the Council in the
Marches ; e.g. it could not punish treason. There was also some
difference as to the authority by which various cases were dealt
with. The Council of the North had two distinct commissions,
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 277
one for causes criminal, and one for causes civil. The Council
of the Marches was empowered to hear all manner of complaints
civil and criminal exhibited by poor persons unable to sue at
Common Law. In the instructions to the Council of the North
are several references to the older body on such points as the
need of due severity against notable offenders and the efificacy
of fines as punishments. These instructions, while in their
general tenor resembling those to the Welsh Council, lay special
stress on such matters as recusancy and the conversion of tillage
into pasture.^ The cases before the two Councils seem to have
been of much the same character, and the same complaints
were raised against both of an unwarranted extension of
jurisdiction. In the Four Counties controversy the necessity
for upholding the authority of both Councils was often
mentioned, and during the personal government of Charles I.
efforts were made to increase their dignity and power.^
At the head of the local bodies supervised by the Council of
the Marches come the Courts of Great Sessions instituted by the
Act of 1543. The purpose of this Act was to utiHse the existing
judicial machinery, and extend it over the whole of Wales.
The Justice of Chester (whose office can be traced back at least
to the reign of Stephen) was the chief of the four Justices
appointed by the Act, each of whom had a separate circuit
consisting of three counties.^ He and his fellows were members
of the Council of the Marches. Indeed, the Justice of Chester
was always the chief working member, and was often Vice-
President. The Council fixed the legal fees of the Courts, and
in various ways exercised supervision over them. Thus in 1573
it was ordered by the Privy Council to see that there were two
' S.P.D., Eliz. Addenda, 1566-79, pp 462-6. Lansdownc MSS. 45,
flf. 8-1 1. Cott. MSS., Vit., C. i., ff. 197-204. Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. Eg.
2790, ff. 30, ct. seqq.
- Gardiner, History of England, Vol. VII., p. 239. Rymer XIX. 410'
cf. pp. 155-6.
' See p. 45. Full details respecting the Great Sessions will be found
in Rhys and Brynmor Jones, The Welsh People (ed. 1902), pp. 377-9, 383,
386-92 ; also in Dr. Henry Owen's article on " English Law in Wales and
the Marches," Y Cymmrodor, Vol. XIV.
2/8 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Justices in each circuit at the Great Sessions, and that they
attended in person and heard causes of prisoners before civil
causes.^ Care was taken, in issuing instructions to the Council,,
to provide for the absence of the legal members on circuit :
on one occasion Fabian Phillips (Justice of Assize for South
Wales) was excused from following the circuit in order to attend
at the Council during the illness of the Lord President, the
Earl of Pembroke ; but a caution is added that this was not to
be made a precedent. The best description of the working of
the Great Sessions and their relations to the Council of the
Marches in the sixteenth century is given in George Owen's
Dialogue on the Government of Wales. He points out the
inconvenience of holding the Great Sessions in Lent, when oats
are being sown, and in August and September, during the corn
harvest. He adds that the Justices do not give enough time
to hearing equity cases, and that many suitors are compelled to
come before the Council of the Marches, which gives judgment
more speedily and at less expense. Appeals in personal actions
lay from the Courts of Great Sessions to the Council. Instances
of conflict of jurisdictions between the two bodies are not
common,^ though we hear many complaints in general terms of
persons being drawn from remote parts of Wales to attend the
Council. But it is obvious that sessions held twice a year in
each circuit for six days at a time were inadequate to deal with
the mass of legal business arising out of the rapid economic
changes which took place in sixteenth-century Wales. This fact,
ns justifying the Council's existence, is dwelt on both by George
Owen and by the unknown writer quoted on pp. 164-5.
Besides supervising the Great Sessions, the Council exercised
authority over the Courts of the various boroughs within its
jurisdiction. From the extant correspondence with borough
authorities we get some insight into the kind of suits that
the Council most frequently decided. Some hundreds of
such documents exist among the records of Shrewsbury,
Ludlow, Hereford, and doubtless of other places in the
' A.P.C., Vol. VIII., p. 141, and Vol. XIV., pp. 143-4.
= Ibid., Vol. XII., p. 115.
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 279
Marches. They certainly show a tendency on the part of the
Council to encroach on the borough Courts ; but it must be
remembered that one of the instructions to the Council was
to punish the misdemeanours of mayors and bailiffs/ a clause
which points to the prevalence of partiality and injustice in
the inferior Courts. Further, in many cases the Council afforded
relief which suitors, especially if poor, could not otherwise obtain.
That abuses were Hkely to occur in these borough Courts may
be gathered from Owen's complaint of the excessive number of
corporate towns in Wales having private courts of record for
personal actions to any amount. " There are in Wales yet,"
he writes, "a multitude of very meane villages scarce having
six houses or Cottages, and yet are allowed for corporations and
Boroughs."
Not only local Courts but also local officials were controlled
by the Council. The sheriffs of Wales and the Border counties
were often in the sixteenth century members of the Council,
as may be seen by a comparison of the lists of councillors with
the Record Office list of sheriffs of England and Wales. Out
of twenty-six councillors enumerated in Lord Zouch's instructions
(July 7, 1 602), exclusive of peers, bishops, justices, and the Queen's
Second Secretary, nineteen were at some period sheriffs of
counties on the Border or in Wales. By the Statute of 1543
Welsh sheriffs were nominated yearly by the Lord President,
Council, and Justices of Wales, or three of them, the Lord
President being one. They were bound to execute all lawful
commands of the Lord President and Council. Several letters
referring to the nomination of Sheriffs are extant in the Welsh
Shrievalty Papers (Bundle VI.) among the Bridgewater ]\ISS.
Some of these are lists of leading gentry, with notes as to their
fitness for office, e.g. " John Vaughan of Glan y Llyn, Esq. very
fitt for estate, not for his discretion, but his wife discreete."
' See p. 91 ; also Lansdowne MSS. 60, ff. 103-12. Hist. MSS. Commission,
15th Report, App., Part X., p. 62 (a letter bidding the bailifls of Shrewsbury
come before the Council with their charters to justify their imprisonment of a
certain petitioner). Dovaston MS., f. 128 (reference to the Council of a
dispute between the Aldermen, Bailiffs, and Burgesses of Denbigh con-
cerning the interpretation of their charter).
28o THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Others are letters from persons who desire to escape the burden
of serving, such as Mr. Joas Goschalke, a London merchant,
who alleges that " he understandeth little of the Lawes of y*^
Lande and lesse of the gouernement of this Country," and that
" hee by a great mischaunce had a greate parte of his skull broken
and taken away : whereby his understanding and memory are
much impaired, and is neare 60 yeares old, and weake and
infirme of body." By the Instructions of 1586 the Council was
empowered to punish sheriffs and jurors guilty of evicting those
who had been secured by the Council's order in the possession of
disputed land. A sheriff was also empowered to break into
the house where any person was living who disobeyed the
Council's order. Sheriffs were to aid the Council's pursuivants
on pain of the Queen's high displeasure, and they were to arrest
all disobedient persons and send them under guard either to
the Queen, the Privy Council, or the Council of the Marches.
From George Owen's Dialogue we gather that supervision of
the Welsh sheriffs was highly necessary, owing to their practice
of erecting new Hundred Courts (under a wrong construction
of 34 & 35 Hen. Vin., c. 26) for purposes of extortion. The
Council, he says, had grievously fined sheriffs for keeping such
Courts, and in Brecknockshire the practice had been stopped.
During Lord Eure's Presidency a special arrangement was adopted
from the practice prevailing in the Council of the North, by which
the Council undertook some of the formal duties of sheriffs, e.g.
returns respecting proclamations and so forth. At first many
sheriffs refused to allow this innovation, but in the end they
consented. Though no one but the under-sheriffs was prejudiced,
the Council's action was attacked in Parliament as an injury
to the subject, seeing that by law proclamations should go into
the country that parties might take notice of them. By the Earl
of Bridgewater's Presidency the relations between the Council
and the sheriffs were greatly strained, and numerous instances
occur in the Bridgewater MSS. of direct refusals by the sheriffs
t o carry out the Council's orders.
A close connection may be traced between the Council of the
Marches and the characteristic local official of Tudor times, the
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 281
Justice of the Peace. By the Statute of 1543 Welsh Justices of
the Peace were to be appointed by the Chancellor of England
on the advice of the President, Council, and Justices of Wales, or
three of them. The Lord President was expected to choose
suitable persons, and to keep them up to their work. He and the
chief members of his Council were usually on the Commissions
of the Peace for Wales and the Border counties. From the
Liber Pacis of x6 Eliz.^ it is seen that Sir Henry Sydney was on
the Commission for Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire,
Worcestershire, Cheshire, the twelve counties of Wales, Monmouth-
shire, and the county of Haverfordwest. Other Councillors
occur as often ; e.^. Sir John Throckmorton, Justice of Chester,
was on the Commission for all the counties above mentioned,
and for Warwickshire as well. Sir H. Chomley for the same
nineteen counties as Sir Henry Sydney, and William Gerrard for
sixteen.
While the Council had its prototype in the Council of the
Princes of Wales, which dated back to the thirteenth century,
and superseded the Marcher Courts of still earlier date, it was
also closely linked with an office of purely Tudor origin, that
of Lord Lieutenant. The Lord President was, as a rule. Lord
Lieutenant of the counties of Wales and usually of the
Border counties as well.- It was in this capacity that he per-
formed his mihtary duties. In the seventeenth century, especially
after the Restoration, the Lord President's duties were merely
those of a lord lieutenant on an extensive scale.
Such are the chief points of contact between the Council of the
Marches and various central and local authorities. Two questions
remain to be answered : why did it become unpopular, and what
must be our estimate of its work as a whole.? Its later un-
popularity seems to have been due partly to its failure to adhere
to the Instructions, its financial carelessness leading to extortion,
its tendency to encourage informers, to encroach on the Common
Law Courts, and to punish offences already dealt with by the
Ecclesiastical Courts. It was also affected by the odium in-
curred by the Star Chamber, whose shadow it was held to be.
' Brit. Mus. Add. MSS., Eg. 2345. - See p. 252, footnote.
282 THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES
Between it and the Courts at Westminster there was a deep-seated
jealousy, based partly on professional grounds, partly on the
conviction that prerogative Courts were unconstitutional. The
claim of the Court of King's Bench that prohibitions lay thence
into the Marches of Wales led to the lengthy controversy
described in Chapter V., and probably contributed as much as
anything else to the Council's inclusion in the Star Chamber
Act of 1 64 1. Those who upheld the Council insisted that it was
accountable only to the King and his ministers, and held with
Wentworth that the jurisdiction of Courts was a matter with
which the subject had no concern. They were undoubtedly
right in arguing that the judges at Westminster were not the
proper authorities to deal with such disputed questions, which
ought to have been decided on broad constitutional grounds.
The real question at issue was whether exceptional jurisdictions
such as those in Wales and the North were supported in
the interests of the community or merely out of jealousy
for the King's prerogative. On the whole, it would seem that
in the seventeenth century the second motive was the
stronger.
But the unpopularity of the Council in the seventeenth century
must not overshadow the fact that it had once done useful work.
The fairest estimate of it is to be found not in official documents,
but in George Owen's Dialogue, where it is described as "the
very place of refuge for the poore oppressed of this Country of
Wales to flie unto. And for this cause it is as greatly frequented
with sutes as any one Court at Westminster whatsoever, the
more for that it is the best cheape Court in England for fifees
and there is great speed made in triall of all causes." The
writer frankly admits that many advocate the abolition of the
Court as no longer necessary, but he strongly holds that " some
defectes being reformed it is so necessary a Court for the quiet
gouernm't of that Countrie as w'thout the same Wales would
be turned into her former Chaos of troubles." In no part of the
kingdom had such rapid changes taken place during the sixteenth
century as in Wales ; the people, according to Owen, had changed
' in heart within, and the land had altered in hue without, from
THE COUNCIL OF THE MARCHES 283
evil to good and from bad to better.' In bringing about this
improvement the chief factor was no doubt the Tudor poUcy of
abolishing invidious distinctions between Welshmen and English-
men ; but some credit must also be given to an institution which
did much to repress the disorder, which would otherwise have
kept the country poor and backward. Had the Council's existence
come to an end with the sixteenth century it would probably
have been remembered with gratitude ; by lasting nearly a
century too long it gained an evil reputation for extravagance and
oppression. Its work had long ago been done, and its abolition
in 1689 was but the tardy recognition of the truth that the
turbulent Wales of the fifteenth century had been transformed
into a country as law-abiding as any part of England.
APPENDIX I
THE TITLE OF THE COUNCIL
The title of the Council varied greatly ; the full official style in
its later years was that given on p. i of the Introduction — viz-
the Court of the Council (or " the Council " simply) established
in (or " of " simply) the Dominion and Principality of Wales
and the Marches of the same. The members at first were
spoken of as " Commissioners of the Lord Prince " (Owen and
Blakeway, History of Shrewsbury, Vol. I., p. 262, temp. Prince
Arthur). In Princess Mary's time they were " the King's Com-
missioners of Council with my ladie prince's grace in the
Marches of Wales " ; or, more shortly, the prince's (j.e. princess's)
Council {Ibid., Vol. I., p. 305). After the divorce the style was
altered to " The Council (or the Commissioners) of our lord
the King in the Marches of Wales" {Ibid., Vol. I., p. 311).
After the Act of 1543 the commonest title was the " Council of,"
or "in," the Marches (of Wales), or sometimes the "Council of
Wales" simply (A.P.C, Vol. XVIIL, p. 257, Vol. X., p. 375, and
S.P.D., 1547-80, p. 108). In the seventeenth century, when the
jurisdiction over the four Border counties was in question, the
upholders of the Council laid stress on including the word
" Marches " in the title. As the Council was both a judicial and
administrative body, we find the words Court and Council used
indiscriminately — e.g. the Court of Wales, or of the Marches (of
Wales), or, again. Her Highness' Court in the Marches of Wales
(A.P.C, Vol. XV., p. 375, Lansdowne MSS. 155, f. 235).
Strictly speaking, the word "Court" was applied to the members
of the Council in their judicial capacity.
The Lord President's title was equally variable, as is shown
285
286 APPENDIX I
by the following list : Lord President of the Marches of Wales
{A.P.C., Vol. XV., p. 195); President of the King's Majesty's
Council in the Marches of Wales {Ibid., Vol. I., p. 385); Lord
President of Wales (S.P.D., 1547-80, p. 126); President of the
Council of Wales {Ibid., p. 108) ; Lord President of the Council
established in the Marches of "Wales (Council Register, March 9th,
1632); Lord Deputy of the Marches of Wales (rare, A.P.C.,
Vol. IIL, p. 427).
APPENDIX II
LIST OF LORDS PRESIDENT
Name. Date of appointment.
Bishop Alcock
1473 (Pat. Rolls, 13 Edw. IV.,
Pt. I, m. 3, 1473,
November loth, Cal.,
p. 401).
,, Smyth
. 1501
„ Blyth ....
1512
„ Voysey ....
1525
„ Lee .
1534
„ Sampson ....
1543
Duke of Northumberland
1548
Earl of Pembroke (ist time) .
1550^
Bishop Heath
1553
Earl of Pembroke (2nd time)
1555
Bishop Bourne
1558
Lord Williams of Thame
1558
Sir Henry Sydney ....
1559
Earl of Pembroke (son of above)
. 1586
Lord Zouch ....
1602
Lord Eure ....
1607
Lord Gerard ....
1616
Earl of Northampton .
16172
Earl of Bridgewater
. 1631
Earl of Carbery .
. 1661
Marquis of Worcester (Duke of Be
aufort)
. 1672
Earl of Macclesfield
. 16893
' Sir William Herbert became Earl of Pembroke in l55l'
^ Lord Compton became Earl of Northampton in 1618.
^ This list is largely based on Clive's Documents connected with the
History of Ludlow, pp. 148-89. A list of the Justices of Chester (who
usually acted as Vice-Presidents) is given in Ormerod's History of Cheshire,
Vol. I., pp. 61-6.
287
APPENDIX III
OFFICIALS OF THE COUNCIL IN THE MARCHES
During the second half of the sixteenth century the number of
ofiEicials connected with the Council of the Marches was large.
After the Lord President came the Vice-President, the Justice
of Chester, the Councillors and the Secretary. Next in im-
portance was the Clerk of the Council, who, in the Earl of
Pembroke's time, was also Clerk of the Signet and Register,
though, as Pembroke remarks, there was no need for the latter
office. Out of the clerk's office had grown a number of sub-
ordinate posts. Another new official was the Clerk Examiner,
who left his work to be done by a number of young " Clerks
allowed," whose incapacity is severely censured by the Lord
President in his description of the Court. Another leading
member was Her Majesty's Attorney in the Marches, whose
duty was to prosecute all cases concerning the Queen. His
colleague, the SoHcitor, was bound to solicit the Queen's causes
and to examine persons suspected of treason or felony. In
addition there were the Clerk Receiver of the Fines, the Porter,
the Serjeant-at-Arms, the Remembrancer, and the holder of a
new and easy post called Hankie's office, who took fourpence
a time for writing his name on certain bills. The Remembrancer's
duty was to keep a list of criminal and finable causes to prevent
the secret compounding of suits to the Queen's damage. The
Counsellors at the Bar were by the Instructions of 1586 limited
to eight, and the Attorneys of the Court to eighteen ; but there
was a tendency for these numbers to be increased in spite of
prohibitions. The remaining officials connected with either the
Council or with Ludlow Castle were the Steward, the Marshal,
288
APPENDIX III 289
the two Pursuivants, the Chaplain, the Armourer, the Keeper
of the Castle. The long list ends with the Keeper of the Leads
of the Conduit and the Keeper of the Clock. The duties attached
to most of these offices were certainly not heavy, and many of
them, especially in the Council's later da)'s, were discharged
by deputy.^
The Justices of Chester were often men of considerable
eminence. Other offices in the Council were filled at times by
notable men, such as Whitgift when Bishop of Worcester, the
Irish Chancellor Gerard, and the poet Samuel Butler. Fulk
Greville, the friend of Sir Philip Sydney, also held office, first
in 1576-7 and later in 1583, when he was made Secretary.
The members of the Council were mostly drawn from the
gentry of the Border counties and Wales, as miay be seen
from a list of suitable persons submitted to Lord Burghley by
the Earl of Pembroke.^ In it are such well-known Border names
as Throckmorton and Poyntz (Gloucestershire), Packington
(Worcestershire), Scudamore, Coningsby, and Croft (Hereford-
shire), Corbet and Cornewall ^(Shropshire) ; while for certain
Welsh counties are suggested various members of the great
Herbert family, Thomas Mostyn and Sir Richard Bulkeley.
' See Lansdowne MSS. 51, ff. 103-14, 2S, ft". 124-5, m> f- 16. Ashmolean
MSS. 824 xxii.
- Lansdowne MSS. 63, ff. 8S-9S.
19
APPENDIX IV
OWNERSHIP OF THE MARCHER LORDSHIPS IN THE REIGNS
OF HENRY VII. AND HENRY VIII.
In the reign of Henry VII. the Marcher Lordships were, with
unimportant exceptions, in the hands of the Crown, or of new
famines who owed their rise to royal favour. By reference to the
list of Ministers' Accounts in the Public Record Office for the
reign of Henry VII. it will be seen that the royal possessions in
Wales (exclusive of the Principality proper) formed a large
proportion of the lands enumerated as Marcher Lordships in the
Act of Union of 1536. The list is as follows :
A.
\
1. The Earldom of Pembroke and its
members (including the lordships of
Cilgerran, Llatistephan, Haverford-
west).
2. Brecon lordship and its members (in-
cluding Hay)}
3. Bromfield and Yale lordships.
4. Caurse lordship (Cawes) (including
Hope)?
5. Chirk and Chirkland.
6. Elvell lordship (Elvael).
7. GoldcUft (Goldcliff).
8. Raglan and Penrose (Penrhos).
9. Neivport lordship (including Went-
llooge and Maghen).^
10. Ahergavenfiy lordship.
Total of nineteen
lordships included
1 in the Crown pos-
sessions and also
mentioned in the
Act of Union.
' In the hands of the Crown during the minority of Edward, Duke of
Buckingham ; cf. Campbell, Materials for the History of the Reign of
Henry VII., Vol. I., p. 56.
= Do,, Ibid., Vol. I., p. 184. » Do., Ibid., Vol. I., p. 95.
290
APPENDIX IV
291
Total of twenty-
two lordships in-
l eluded in the Crown
possessions and
also in the Act of
Union.
B.
The Earldom of March, including :
Lordship of Builth.
Cliiford. ^j
Glasbury. !-
Wynforton. j
Denbigh lordship
Dynas lordship (Dinas).
Ewias Lacy.
Comotoidour (Commothuder of the ,^
Union Act.
Raydour (Rhayader).
Knyghton (Knighton).
Melleneth (Melenydd).
Warthrenyon (Gwethronyon of the
Union Act).
Radnor. ^
Glandestre (Gladestry). (_
Prestheinde (Presteign). I
Norton. J
Montgomery.
Kery.
Caedewen.
Chirbury Hundred.
Halcetour (? Alcester of the Union Act).
Wygmore (Wigmore).
Thus forty-one lordships out of about one hundred and
thirty-six mentioned in the Act of Union were in the hands of
the Crown at various periods of the reign. The Earldom of
Pembroke, which in the days of Yorkist power had been held
by William Herbert, had passed to Jasper Tudor, on whose
death in 1495 it came to Henry VH.'s second son Henry, then
Duke of York.^ The lands of the Earldom of March passed to
Henry VH. on the death of Richard IH., the head of the
' Rot. Pari., Vol. VI., p. 552, Dugdale, Vol. II., pp. 242, 256, 257. Campbell
Materials for the History of the Rtign of Henry VII., Vol. II., p, 281. P.R.O
Rentals and Surveys fl
292 APPENDIX IV
Mortimer family.^ Holt, Bromfield, Yale, and Chirk had been
held by Sir William Stanley, who had received from Richard III.
a grant of various Welsh estates comprising the greater part
of the present East Denbighshire, and had been confirmed
in his possession by Henry VH.- These were forfeited to the
king on his attainder in 1495.
The above list, however, does not include all the Marcher
Lordships in Crown hands. The lordships of Monmouth,
Grosmont, Whitecastle, Skenfreth, Kidwelly, Greenfield, and
Ogmore were parcel of the Duchy of Lancaster,^ while from
incidental notices it appears that the Crown held in addition the
small lordships of Cantreselly (Cantercelly), Glynbough, and
Laugharne, while the moiety of the lordship of Magor was to
revert to it on the death of Sir John Tiptoft.* The lordship of
Ruthin was sold to the King by Richard, Earl of Kent, who had
lost his fortune by gaming.
This makes a total of fifty-two Marcher Lordships in Crown
hands during the reign, or forty-four, deducting the Buckingham
lands held during the duke's minority.
The chief Marcher Lordships not in Crown hands were
held by :
{a) The Duke of Buckingham (as above).
(^) The Earl of Derby, who held Moldesdale, Hopedale, and
EUesmere (Brewer, Letters and Papers of the Reign of
Henry VHL, IH. 2820).
(c) The Earl of Worcester, husband of Lady Elizabeth Herbert,
who in 1506 was made Baron Herbert of Raglan, Chepstow,
and Gower.
(d) Lord Powys, who held Powysland (./ Inq. P.M., H. VH.,
p. 421).
During the reign of Henry VIL the process of acquisition
by the Crown continued. Arustley (Arwystli) and Keviliock
' Cf. the Statute 28 Hen. VIII., c. 39.
- Rot. Pari., VI. 316. Pennant, Tours in Wales, ed. Rhys, Vol. I., pp. 267,
348, 362.
^ Campbell, ut supra, Vol. I., pp. 553, 564, 601, also 4S3 and 555.
* Ibid., Vol. I., pp. 46, 79, 443, 487.
APPENDIX IV 293
(Cyfeiliog) were bought soon after Henry's accession, granted to
his son Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond/ but resumed on the
latter's death. The attainder of the Duke of Buckingham in 152 1
gave the Crown most of the lordships which formed the later
Brecknockshire.
The old families of the Welsh Marches had by the year
1536 sunk into insignificance. For example, the family of Grey
was so impoverished that the successor to the Richard Earl of
Kent who sold Ruthin to Henry VH. did not take up his title.
Joan, the heiress of the Strange family, married into the com-
paratively new family of the Stanleys. In South Wales the
leading house was that of the Herberts, which before the fifteenth
century had been unimportant. The old Marcher names of
Fitzwarren, Powys, and Arundel occur here and there in docu-
ments referring to the Council of the Marches, but only as
owners of insignificant lordships.^
' Brewer, Vol. X., No. 130.
"^ e.g. P.R.O., Miscellanea of the Exchequer W: "Since Michaelmas one
was slain in a lordship of Lord Fitzwaren." "A great riot on St.
Andrew's day in Oswestrj', a lordship of the Earl of Arundel's."
INDEX OF SUBJECTS
Arthel, 39
Bondmen. See Villeinage
Champerty, 124
Comortha, 39, 50, 65, 97, 107, 117,
119, 122, 222
Corn supply, 259-62
Council in the Marches of Wales,
necessity for, 1-17 passim ; origin
of, 18-48,269-70; development of,
49-128 ; instructions to, 61, 89-96,
133, 217 ; cases tried by, chaps, ii.-
iii. and pp. 151-5 ; meeting-places,
procedure, and financial system of,
chaps, vii.-ix. passim ; administra-
tive duties of, chap. x. ; officials of,
288-9 ; relations with the Privy
Council, etc., 97-105, 269-81 ;
records of, vii.-viii., 18, 94. 117,
119, 160- 1 ; title, 285-6; abuses
in, 105-10 ; decline of, 129-65 ;
attacks on jurisdiction of, 20,
130-45, 148-65, 271, 277-8, 282 ;
revival, 166 et seqq. ; abolition of,
178-9; summary of its work, 269-
83
Courts —
Court of Admiralty, 144
Court of Chancery, 127
Court of the Duchy of Lancaster,
158
Court of the Exchequer at Chester,
Court of High Commission, 157,
165
Court of Requests, 165
Court of Star Chamber, 1-2, 60,
92, 102, 127, 158-61, 165-6,
272, 274-6, 281
Courts — continued
Courts of Common Law, 104, 108,
121, 127, 130-45, 150, 157, 165,
171, 232, 271-4, 281-2
Courts of Great Sessions, 45, 106,
159, 164, 179, 277-8
Court of Wards, 159
Ecclesiastical Courts, 122-5, ^57)
281
Prerogative Court of Canterbury,
157
Disclaiming, 13
Exchequer, 241, 254
Forcible entry, 97, 103-4
Forestalling, 91, 222
Gavelkind, 79
Inclosures, 49, 93, 224, 259, 262-4,
268
Juries, partiality of, 67-S
Justices of the Peace, 46, 107-8,
272, 280-1
Legislation affecting Wales and
the Marches, 11-14, 37-48, 72-3,
i33-7> 157-60, 179
Litigiousness of the Welsh, viii.,
83
Livery, 17, 92
Lord-Lieutenant, office of, 147, 252-8,
28 1
Maintenance, 91, 98, 222
Marches of Wales, formation, 2-6 ;
March privilege, 6-10, 43-4, 164;
disorder in the Marches, 11-17, and
chaps. \.-\\\. passim ; ownership of
29s
296
INDEX
Marcher Lordships, 290-3 ; warden-
ship of the Welsh RIarches, 17
Murder (and manslaughter), 14-16, 27,
36-9S passim
North, Council of the, So, 82, 136,
144, 155, 158-60, 165, 272, 276-7,
280, 2S2
Northern Marches, wardenship of
the, 17, 276
Perjury, 38, 67, 91, 98, 122, 140,
192, 215, 222
Pilgrimage of Grace, 79-80, 276
Piracy, 82, loo-i, 252, 256-7
Privy Council, its relations with the
Council in the Marches, 81-128,
m>, i47-9> 256, 271-4
Recusancy, 97, 101-2, iio-i, 121,
125-6, 146, 273
Regrating, 91, 222
Retaining, 91, 106-7, 121
Riots (routs and unlawful assemblies),
13-16, 49-113/a.rj-m, 155, 212,222
Robbery, 11-17, 27, 30, 38, 40, 49-
1 1 3 passim
Sheriffs, their i-elations with the
Council in the Marches, 46, 91,
279-80
Ship-money, 156
Theft. See Robbery
Title of lands, 90, 95, 154
Treason, 92, 96-7, 276
Villeinage, 35, 103
Wales, conquest of, 2-6 ; condition
before the Act of Union, 6-36 ;
Tudor legislation affecting Wales,
37-4S ; condition in the sixteenth
century, 49-128 passim, esp. 88,
106-7, 109, 121, 127, 279 ; con-
dition in the seventeenth century,
129-79 passim, esp. 156, 165 ; the
Reformation in Wales, 76-S ; the
forests of Wales and the Border,
56, 150, 245-6; mining in Wales,
146-7 ; cloth manufacture in Wales
and the Border, 264-6 ; troops fur-
nished by Wales for Ireland and
the North, 147, 252-4, 256, 258-9
INDEX OF NAMES AND PLACES
Abergavenny, Lord of, 14
Abergavenny, Lordship of, 290
Aberystwith Castle, 37
Alcock, John, Bishop of Worcester,
Lord President (1473), I9> 23, 25-6,
28-9, 31, 287
Alina de Peshale, 7 ;/. 3
Alyngton, William, 25
Anglesey, 4, 9, 11, 33, 40-I, 45,
72-3, 78, 124, 162, 171
ap David, Griffith ap J., 203
ap David, Oliver, 228
ap Griffith ap Howell, James, 56
ap Griffith, Sir Rhys, 55, 74-6
ap Harry, Humfrey, 151
ap Jenkin, David, 15
ap Jevan, Meredith, 15
ap Morice, Robert, 65
ap Owen ap Merricke, Lewis, 105
ap Rees, 97
ap Rees, John, 267
ap Rice, Edward, 97
ap Rice, John Thomas, 68
ap Rice, Robert, 57
ap Richard Lloyd, David, 97
ap Robert, Jevan, 15
ap Robert, Owen, 97
ap Thomas, Sir Rhys (Rice), 33, 37,
76
Arlington, Lord, 173
Arnulf, son of Roger of Montgomery,
4-5
Arthur, Prince, 20, 23, 29-30, 49,
52, 181, 184, 196-7, 202-3, 205,
235, 270, 285
Arundel, Bishop, 203
Arundel, Earldom of, 4
(1) Arundel, Earl of, 182
(2) Arundel, Earl of, 293
Arundel, Thomas, 54
Arustley (Arwystli), 65-6, 292
Ashridge, Herts, 151, 165
Atkins, Mr., Attorney in the Court
of the Marches, 117
Avranches, Hugh of, 3
Bacon, Sir Francis, 2, 130, 138,
141-3. 265
Bacon. Sir Nicholas, 132
Ball, Mr., 159
Bangor, Sg, iii
Barbican, 151, 185, 250
Barlow, Bishop, 76-7
Barthol, 127
Baskervile, Philip, 58
Baskervile, Thomas, 58
Bass, ]Mr., 1S6-7
Bastwick, John, 157
Bath and Wells. Bishop of (Gilbert
Bourne), 81, 84
Bath and Wells, Bishop of (Robert
Stillington), 20
Baxter, Richard, 2, 188
Beale, Thomas, 243
Beauchamp, Thomas, Earl of War-
wick, 8
Beaufort, Duchess of, 177
Beaufort, Duke of, 176-8, 187, 287
Beaumaris, 254
Beaupie, Agnes, Edward, and John,
23
Beck, Edward a, 75
Bedford, Earl of, 252
Bedford, Jasper, Duke of, 29
Bekynshaw, Dr., 78
Bell, Mr., 133
Belleme, Robert of, 4-5, 181
Belmeis, Richard de, 17
Bennet, Secretary, 174. St'd Arling-
ton Lord
297
298
INDEX
Bennys, Edmund, 98
Berwick, 159
Berwyn Mountains, 3
Betton, John, 267-8
Betts, John, 185
Bevion, John, 233
Bewdley. 29, 31, 37, 52, 62-3, 88,
167, 180, 195, 196-200, 202, 204,
.231, 235, 245, 270
Eishop's Castle, 61, 1S3, 231
Bissell, John, 169
Black Abbey, 229
Black Mountains, 3
Blackwell Hall, London, 265
Blakemere, Henry, 211
Blount, Sir William, 187
31yth (Blythe), Geoftrey, Bishop of
Coventry and Lichfield, Lord Presi-
dent (1512-24), 31, 33, 59,204,287
Bodleian Library, 159
Bohun, family of, 5
Bohun, Mary de, 1 1
Boleyn, Anne, 204
Bolingbroke, Henry, li
Bosworth, II
Bothe, Charles, 30, 203
Bothe, Mr., 233
Botterell, Captain William, 194
Bourne, Gilbert, Bishop of Bath and
Wells, Lord President (1558), 21,
81, 84, 2S7
Brace, John (Johane), 32
Bradvvardine Castle, 8
Bradwey, 58
JBrandon, Charles, Duke of Suffolk,
33
Braose, family of, 5, 6
Braose, William de, 7-9
Brecknock (Brecon), 5, 34-7, 54, 70,
72. 78, 175. 258, 290
Brecknock Castle, 71
Brecknock, county of, 41-2, 45, 147
162, 280, 293
Breda, 169
Brenton, John, 99
Brereton, Sir William, 186
Brereton, Roger, 261
Breteuil, 3
Bridgeman (Bridgman), Sir John,
129, 148, 193, 263
Bridgenorth, 180, 215
Bridgevvater, first Earl of. Lord Presi-
dent (1631-42), 2, 21, 129, 148, 150,
155, 161-5, 185, 246-51, 252 11. I,
256-8, 274, 2S0, 287
Bridge water, 3rd Earl of, 179
Bringwood Forest, 246
Bristol, TOO, 131, 133, 141, 169,
244, 253-5, 260
Britons, 145
Bromfield. 9, 14, 290, 292
Bromley, Mr., 201
Bromley, Sir George, Justice of
Chester, 58, 60, 89, 210
Bromley, Sir Thomas, Solicitor-
General, 99, 105
Bromyard, 99
Broune, John, 35
Buckhurst, Lord, 103, 242
Buckingham, Duke of, 34-5, 59,
290, 292-3
Builth, 5, 291
Bulkeley, Sir Richard, 66, 71, 73,
105, 2S9
Burghley, Lord, 2, 36, III, 1 14, 122-
3, 126, 251, 289
Burleton, Plumfrey, 15 1
Burnell, Thomas, 230, 234
Burton, Henry, 157
Butler, family of, ^6
Butler, Samuel, 2, 173, 2S9
Butts, Dr., 63
Butts, John, 169
Cade, Jack, 14
Caedewen. See Kedewen
Caerphilly Castle, 10
Calais, 82, 10 1
Calvert, Secretary, 146
Cambridge, 23 ; colleges of : Peter-
house, 23 ; Jesus College, 23 ;
King's College, 31. Great St.
Mary's, 23
Camden, William, 141, 181
Campion, Edmund, 99
Camville, family of, 6
Canterbury, Archbishops of : Thomas
Bourchier, 20 ; William Warham,
34 ; High Commission Court of,
157; Prerogative Court of, 157
Cantercelly, 36, 292
Cantilupe, 5
Cantreds, the four, 4
Carbery, Countess of, 175, n.^
Carbery, 2nd Earl of, 2, 1 70-5, 1 79,
187, 2S7
Cardiff, 3, lOO
Cardiff Castle, 82
Cardigan, 5, 53, 146, 245
Cardigan, county of, 9-10, 41-2, 45,
INDEX
299
58, 73, 147, 151, 162, 172, 253,
265, 267, 271
Carlisle, Bishop of (Edward Story),
25
Carmarthen, 5, 8, 53, 55, 76, loi,
146, 175
Carmarthen, county of, 9-10, 41, 45,
58, 125, 146-7, 156, 162, 172, 253-4
Carnarvon, 10, 15, 33, 47
Carnarvon Castle, 10, 72
Carnarvon, county of, 9, 16, 40-1,
45, 73, 124, 162, 171, 256
Carus, Thomas, 131
Castelton, 57
Catherine of Aragon, 30, 59, 196
Caurs (Cawes, Caurse), 6, 35-6, 103,
290
Cecil, Sir William, 85-86. See
Burghley, Lord
Chamberlain, John, 129
Chamberlaine, Sir Thomas, 189, 263,
265
Chapuys, Eustace, 61, 74-6
Charles I., 169, 1S8, 190, 198, 252,
257, 277
Charles II., 169, 195
Charles V., 61, 74
Charlton, Robert, of Whitton, 1 71
Charlton, Sir Edward, of Powys, 28
Chaworth, family of, 6
Chelsea, 176
Chepstow, 70, 270
Cherwell, Richard, 230
Chester, 3-6, 59, 68, 72, 78-9, 112,
120, 132-3, 141, 215, 253-4, 265
Chester, county of, 11, 24, 32, 34,
37, 40, 67-8, 78, 131-3, 143, 178,
263, 275, 281
Chester, Court of the Exchequer of,
158
Chester, Earldom of, 9
Chester, Earl of, 8
Chester, Justice of, 45, 138, 178,
189, 190, 208, 213, 215, 230, 245,
266, 277, 281, 287-9
Cheturn, Charles, 179
Chirbury Hundred, 291
Chirk, 27, 44, loi, 263, 290, 292
Chirkland, 65, 290
Chokke, Sir Richard, 25
Cholmeley, William, 53
Cholmondeley (Chomley), Sir Hugh,
215, 239, 281
Church Stretton, 210
Churchyard, Thomas, 180, 18S
Cilgerran, 290
Clare, Gilbert de, 5
Clare, Ralph, 198-9
Clare, Richard de, 5
Clare, Walter de, 5
Clarence, George, Duke of, 20
Clarence, Lionel, Duke of, 1S2
Clarendon, Earl of, 160, 174
Clench, Francis, 104
Clench, William, 104
Clenche, John, 192
Cliflord, 29 1
Clun (Cloonesland), 6, 68, 183
Clwyd, River, 4, 10
Coke, Secretary, 156, 257
Coke, Sir Edward, 43, 130, 138, 145
Colchester, 169
Comotoidour, 291
Compton, Lord, Earl of Northampton,
139, 287
Coiinis, 1 50- 1, 186
Connye, Thomas, 210
Constantine, the Emperor, 144
Conway, 10
Conway Castle, 10, 72
Conway, River, 4
Conway, Secretary, 148
Conway, Vale of, 15-16
Corbet, family of, 6
Corbet (Corbette), Jerome, 109
Corbet, John, 103
Corbet, Sir Andrew, 99, 109, 239,
254-S
Cornewall (Comewaile), Thomas,
43, 138, 1S9, 193
Cornewall, Edmund, 192
Cornewall, Sir Gilbert, 171
Corno9a, Martin de, 74
Cornwall, 24, 100, 253
Corve-dale, 183
Cother, — , Bailiff of Ludlow, 191
Cotherington, Simon, 124
Coventry, 79, 203, 207, 236, 265
Coventry and Lichfield, See of, 31,
59
Coytemore, Geoffrey, 25
Cradock, Sir Matthew, 82
Cranfield, Lionel, Lord Treasurer,
246
Criccieth Castle, 10
Croft, Sir Edward, 56, 5S-9, 61
Croft, Sir Herbert, 137, 139, 145
Croft, Sir James, 89, 114-15, 120
Croft, William, 211
Crofte, Thomas, 57
?oo
INDEX
Crofts, Sir Richard, 30
Croke, Sir John, 130
Cromwell, Oliver, 172
Cromwell, Thomas, 3S, 56-7, 60,
63-9> 71-3, 76, 7S, 236-7
Crumpe, Thomas, 160
Culmington, 250
Cumberland, 159
Cyfeiliog. See Keviliock
Dacre, Lord, 20
Daulbin, John, 170
Davenham, 78
Dean, Forest of, 3S
Dee, River, 4, 10
Demetus, 127
Denbigh, 10, 41, 57, 66, 97, 279 «. i,
291
Denbigh, county of, 42, 45, iii, 147,
156, 162, 165, 17S, 263-4, 267,
270, 292
Denbighland, 72-3
Derby, Earl of, 292
Dere, Piers, 62
Devereux, Sir Walter, of Ferrers, 25-6,
S3
Devon, 98, 253
Dinan, Fulk de, 181
Dinan, Joce de, 181-3
Dingley (Dineley), Thomas, viii., 176
Dohvyddelan, 16
Dolwyddelan Castle, 15
Dorchester, Secretary, 156
Dorset, 253
Dover, 195
Dovvnes, John, 234
Dryhurst, Richard, 226
Dryslwyn, 175
Dublin, 88
Dudley, Lady Mary, 86
Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester, 86
Dugdale, Sir William, 205
Duraunt, Hugh, 64
Durham, Bishop of (Lawrence Bothe),
20
Dyer, Sir James, 131
Eames, Jane, 249
Eccleston, Henry, 198, 247-51
Edgecote, 82
Edward L, 6-IO, 16, 47
Edward H., 7, 20, 47
Edward HL, 11, 47, 182
Edward IV., 17-21, 23-4, 27-9, 142,
183, 202, 269
Edward V., 2, 20, 23, 28, 196, 202,
211, 270
Edward VI., 66, 82, 86, 206, 237, 264
Edward the Black Prince, 20
Edward, son of Henry VI., 20
Edwardes, John, 263
Edwardes, N., 249
Edwards, Griffiths, 195
Edwards, John, loi
Edwards, John, 1 1 1
Egerton, Lady Alice, 173
Egerton, Sir Ralph, 58
Eldersfield, 149
Eleonora, sister of Charles V., 52
Elizabeth, Queen, 53 n. 2, 76, 84, 129,
131, 185, 197, 206, 215, 23S-9,
252, 256 n.l, 263-4, 272
Elizabeth, Saint, 255
Ellesmere, 6, 275 n. 2, 292
Ellesmere, Lord Chancellor, 275
Elsmer, 33
Elvell (Elvael), 57, 270, 290
Ely, 23
Emlyn Castle, 56
England, 6, 46-7, 52, 269
Englefield, Sir Thomas, 2, 30 71. 5, 60,
61, 6^, 65, 77, 80 n. 2, 106, 108,
202
Eton College, 31
Eure (Ewer), Dame Mary, 193
Eure, Lord President {1607-16), 129,
137-8, 145, 148, 188, 198, 242,
256, 265, 280, 287
Eure, Sampson, 155
Eure, Sir Francis, 149
Europe, 88
Evans, — , 233
Evans (Evance), Thomas, 226
Evans, Roger. 234
Evesham, 167, 192
Evioneth, 16
Ewloe Wood (Park), 264
Ewyas, 5, 291
Exeter, 49
Fareley (Farley), 130, 133
Fawknor, William, 234
P'ecamp, loi
Feckenham Forest, 245, 262
Ferrers, Lord, 34, 54-6, 58, 64, 66,
68, 70-1
Fisher, Bishop, 59
Fisher, Richard, 190
Fitzalan, family of, 6
Fitzhamon, Robert, 5
INDEX
?oi
Fitzmaurice, 86
FitzOsbern, William, 3
Fitzroy, Ilenrj', Duke of Richmond,
.293
Fitzwarine, Fulk, 17
Fitzwarren, Lord, 293
Flint, county of, 9-10, 24-5, 32, 34,
37, 41, 45, 132, 147, 165, 178, 25S,
263-4
Fludd, Edward, 149
Fog, Sir John, 20
Fowler, Richard, 20
Foxe, Edward, 192
Fox (Foxe), Charles, Secretary of
•the Council of the Marches, 89,
188, 254, 267
France, 6, 1S2, 254, 264
Francis I., 52
Fynes, Richard, 20
Gateacre, William, 254
Genevile, Geoffrey de, 6, 182, 185
Genevile, Joan de, 182
Gerard (Gerrard), Sir William, Vice-
President of the Council in the
Marches, 2, 19, 60, 106, 108- lo,
206, 239, 289
Gerard, Sir Gilbert, Attorney-
General, 132
Gerard, Lord, 129, 139, 287
Germany, 6
Giffard, John, 9
Gilbert, Chancellor of the Duke of
Buckingham, 34
Gipcyans {i.e. gipsies), 66
Giraldus Cambrensis, I41
Gladestry, 291
Glamorgan, county of, 42, 45, 57 «. 5,
66, 106, 163, 169, 252 n. I
Glamorgan, Lordship of, 5-6, 8
Glasbury, 291
Glendower, Owen, li, 17, 182
Gloucester, 62, 77 n. 2, 90, 97-8,
124, 134, 167-8, 180
Gloucester, county of, 5, 8 n i, 12,
26-8, 30, 32, 34, 38, 40, 42, 69, 91,
120, 131 n. I, 134, 147-8, 160, 167,
170-I, 173-4, 217, 264, 281
Gloucester, Earldom of, 5
Gloucester, Gilbert de Clare, Earl of, 9
Gloucester, Richard, Duke of, 20, 27
n. 3
Gloucester, Statute of, 13
Glyn, Dr., 73
Glynbough, 292
Goldclifif, 290
Golden Grove, 1 72-3, 175
Goring, Lord, 163
Goschalke, Joas, 280
Gostwicke, John, 237
Gower (Gowersland), 5-6, 9 n. 2, 270
Grafton, Richard, 141
Green, John, 44
Greenfield, 292
Greenwich, 32, 34, 52
Greville, Sir Fulke, 88, 2S9
Grey de Wilton, Lord, 113
Grey, Lady Catherine, 1 18
Grey, Lady Jane, 118
Griffith, — , 62
Griffith, Ellis, 55, 69, 76
Griffith, John ap David, 63
Grimsliawe, Nicholas, 99
Grosmont, 292
Gruf, Margaret, 228
Gruf, Richard, 228
Gruff, Edward, 73
Gwydir, 16
Gwydir, family of, 15
Gwynedd, 5
Hacluyt, Thomas, 236
Halcetour (Alcester?), 291
Hale, R., 78
Hales, Mr., 199
Halston Hall, 185
Hampden, John, 156, 158
Hampton Court, 112
Hamt(jn, Lordship of, 33
Harlech Castle, 10, 29, 48, 72
Harley, Thomas, 189
Harold, 3
Harpur, Richard, 131
Harris, Serjeant, 139
HartlelDury, 180
Harurn, Thomas, 168
Hasillwall, WilHam, 234
Hassald, John, 210
Hastings, family of, 5
Hastings, Sir William, 20
Haughton, James, 244
Haute, Richard, 25
Haverfordwest, 3,90-1, TOO, 102, 175,
281, 290
Havre, 255
Hawarden Castle, 4
Hay, 36, 290
Heath, Nicholas, Bishop of Wor-
cester, Lord President (1553-5), ^i,
83
302
INDEX
Henden, Baron, i6i
Heneage, Sir Thomas, 103
Henry I., 4, 5, iSi, 183
Henry H., 4
Henry HI., 131
Henry IV., 12, 13, 47
Henry v., 11, 14, 17, 20, 182
Henry VI., 12, 14, 19, 230-1
Henry VII., 2, 11, 17, 20. 23, 29, 34,
47, 49, 52, 185, 202, 263, 291-3
Henry VIII. , 18, 20, 27 «. 3, 32, 34-5,
37, 46, 54, 65, 69, 85, 114, 134,
141, 162, 1S5, 203-5, 217, 237,
270 «. 2, 272, 291, 293
Henry, son of James I., 270 n. 2
Herbert, Henry, 2nd Earl of Pem-
broke of the 2nd creation. See
Pembroke
Herbert, Henry, 4th Baron Her-
bert of Cherbury, 187
Herbert, Humfrey, 1S9
Herbert of Cherbury, Lord (ist Baron
Herbert of Cherbury), 46
Herbert, Philip, 118
Herbert, Sir Edward, 263
Herbert, Sir George, 83
Herbert, Sir Richard, 68, 78, 82,
203
Herbert, Sir William, Earl of Pem-
broke of the 1st creation, 27, 291
Herbert, Sir William, ist Earl of
Pembroke of the 2nd creation,
Lord President (1550-3), 81-3,
287
Herbert, Walter, 57
Herbert, William, 118
Herbert, William, Lord Herbert (of
Shurlandi"), 174
Hereford, 3, 8, 10, 12, 26, 58, 89, 90,
99, 102, 137, 141, 168, 180, 183,
21 1-4, 278
Hereford, county of, 5, 8, 12, 17, 27,
28, 30, 32, 34, 37, 40, 42-3, 57,
72, 91, 98, 134, 139, 147, 148, 160,
163, 168, 170-1, 173-4, 183, 252
n. I, 28 1
Hereford, Earl of, 9
Hereford, Earl of, 5
Heriott, Catherine, 99
Hertford, Earl of, 5
Hertfordshire, 151, 165
Heylyn, Richard, 161
Hill, Anthony, 151
Holinshed, 86, 141
Holt Castle (Castle Leon), 14, 292
Holt, Thomas, 270
Holywell, 150
Hope, 290
Hopedale, 292
Howard, Lady, 55
Hudihras, 173
Hullins, Oliver, 260
Hunt, Sir William, priest, 58
Huntingdon, Earl of, 37
Huntingdon, Henry of, 141
Hunton, Thomas, 173, 175
Huntynton, 36
Hutton, Serjeant, 139
Hyde, Edward, 159, 161. See
Clarendon, Lord
Ireland, 15, 33, 70, 75, 80, 86, 105-
6, 182, 211, 239, 252, 254, 256^
273
Isabel, daughter of Strongbow, 5
James L, 129, 143-5, 19S, 270
Jenkins, Judge, 48
Jenkyn, Gitto, 62
Jersey, 85
Jethro, 144
John, 4,182
Johns, Lewes, 70
Joinville, Geoffrey de, 182
Joinville, Sieur de, 182
Jones, Edward, 234
Jones, Philip, 174
Jonson, Ben, 87, 129
Kedewen (Caedewen), 65, 68, 270,.
291
Kenaston, Humphrey, 275
Kent, Richard, Earl of, 292-3
Kery (Kerry), 65, 6S, 270, 291
Keviliock (Cyfeiliog), 65-6, 270, 292.
Kidderminster, 29, 197
Kidwelly, 6, 292
Kidwelly Castle, lO
Kildare, Earl of, 74
Kinaston, Mr., 160
King's Langley, 51
Knighton, 1S3, 291
Knockin, 6
Kynaston, George, 276
Kynlleth, 69
Kynton, 36
Lacy, family of, 5,182
Lacy, Matilda (Maud) de, 182
Lacy, Walter de, 182, 185
INDEX
305
Ladislaus II., 31
Lamharde, 259
Lamphey, 77
Lancaster, county of, 231, 263
Lancaster, Court of the Duchy of, 158
Lancaster, Duchy of, 90, 132, 292
Laugharne, General, 172
Laugharne (Laugherne), lOl, 292
Lawes, Henry. 173
Lee (Leigh), George, 255
Lee, Rowland, Bishop of Coventry
and Lichfield, Lord President
(1534-43), 2, 49, 59, So-i, 83,
85, 97, 106, 108-9, iSo, 205, 236-7,
270-2, 287
Leicester, Earl of, 86, 212, 215
Leicester (Leycetr), 25
Leighton, Edward, 255
Leighton, Thomas, 209
Leighton, William, 210
Leland, John, 52, 196
L' Estrange, family of, 6
Lewes, — , 62
Lewis, David, 106
Lewis, Jane, 194
Lewis, Mr., 233
Lewis (servant of Bishop Lee), 64
Lewkenor, Sir Richard, 201, 241
Leytewich, 78
Lhuyd, Humphrey, 188
Lichfield, 31, 59, 203, 207, 236,
Lincoln, 197
Lincolnshire, 75, 79
L'Isle and Dudley, Lord de, 239
Litleton, Adam, 267
Litleton, Mr., 233
Liverpool, 254
Llandaff, 8
Llangevenny, 78
Llangollen, 17S
Llanlledan, 74
Llanrwst, 15
Llanstephan, 6, 290
Llewelyn, S
Lloyd, David (o'r Plas), 65
Lloyd, Edward, 234
Lloyd, John ap Morice, 6^
Lloyd, Richard, 64
Lloyd, Richard, 163-4
Lloyd, Sir Marmaduke, 194, 263
Lloyd, Sir Richard, 166
Lollards, 33
London, 34, 53, loi, 155 n. i, 156,
163, 166, 169, 185, 188-9, 231,
236-7, 263, 265
Londres, William de, 5
Lort, Henry, 261
Lort, Roger, 172 fi. i
Lort, Sampson, 172 tz. 2
Lougher, Watkyn, 62
Lucan, 176
Lucy, Sir Thomas, 262
Ludford Bridge, 182
Ludlow, 2-3, 6, II, 23, 27, 29, 35,,
52-3, 79, 81, 85, 87, 98, 105,
109, 111-13, 120, 141, 148, 150-1,
155 71. I, 161, 1634, 174, 176-8,
180-97, 201-2, 204, 212, 217, 230,
232-3. 235, 237-40, 246, 249-251,
271, 273, 278
Ludlow Castle, 2, 30, 37, 57, 70-1,,
88, 113, 117, 160, 170, 173-4^
178, 180-196, 199, 211, 22S, 243,
247, 267, 288
Ludlow, Edmund, 174
Ludlow, the Bull Inn, 185, 188 ;.
Castle Street, 184 ; Galford's
Tower, 193 ; Guild of St. John
the Evangelist, 35 ; Palmers'
Guild, 192 ; Priory of S. John the
Evangelist, 192 ; S. Austin's, 188 ;
S. Lawrence's Church, 23, 187 w. i,
189, 193, 195 ; S. Mary Magda-
lene's Chapel, 183
Lugharneys, 43
Lycurgus, 106
Lyndrige, 58
Macci.esfiei,d, Charles, Earl of,.
Lord President (16S9), 178, 195,
287
Magor, 292
Mallett, F., 161
Malvern, Little, 23
Manninge (Braband), 226
Mansell, Francis, 146
Manwaringe, Sir Arthur, 255
March, Earldom of, 17, 37, 291
March, Richard, Earl of, and Duke-
of York, 182, 196
Margaret, the Lady, 202
Marian, Henry, 30 /i. 5
Marshal, William the, 5
Martin, Sir Henry, priest, 32
Martyn, E., 161
Martyn, John, 25
Mary Tudor, 2, 20, 49-53, 58, 74,
84, 86, 196-7, 206, 235, 270, 285
Mary, wife of William III., 2
Massinger, Philip, 118
304
INDEX
Mathewe, Sir William, loi n. i
Matthew, George, 65
Matthewes, — , 267
Matthews, Morgan, 57 ^^. 5
Maxtoke Park. 59
Mechanteth (Machynlleth), 264
Medlicott, Mr., 233
Melencth, 71, 291
Merionethshire, 9, 29, 33, 40-2, 45,
72, 147, 163, 165, 171, 264, 271
Merivale (Shrewsbury), 203
]\Ieuricke, Catherine, 99
Middleton, Sir Hugh, 147
Middleton, Sir Thomas, 44, 263
Mikewyne, Griffith, 203
IMildmay, Sir Walter, 9S
Milford Haven, 63, 71, 82, 100, 254,
256
Millet, Master, 35
Milton, John, 2,173
Milward, Robert, 171
Mochnant, 69
Mocktree Chase, 246
Mold Castle, 4
Moldesdale, 292
Molyneux, Edward, 86
Monmouth, 5, 28 n., 70, 90, 126, 183,
292
Monmouth, county of, 41, 98, 163,
252 n. I, 253, 264, 281
Montgomery, 3, 70-1, 291
Montgomery, Arnulf of, 5
Montgomery Castle, 88
Montgomery, county of, 41-2, 45,
79, 163, 178, 257, 264, 267, 270
Montgomery, Hugh of, 4
Montgomery, Roger of, 3, 17, 181
Morgan, land of, 5
Morgan, Mr., 201
Morgan, Roger, 67
Morgan, William, 102
Morris, Richard, 151
Mortimer, Anne, 1S2
Mortimer, Edmund de, 3rd Earl of
March, 182
Mortimer, family of, 4-6, 11, 184, 269
Mortimer, Roger de, ist Earl of
March, 12 n. 3, 1S2
Mortimer, Roger de, 2nd Earl of
March, 182
Mortimer, Roger de, 4th Earl of
March, 182
Mortimer, Sir Edmund de, 11, 182
Mortimer, Sir Hugh de, iSi
Morton, Archbishop, 30
Morvile, 104
Moses, 144
Mostyn, Piers, So n. 2
Mostyn, Thomas, 289
Mostyn, Thomas, Lord of, 80 n, 2
Moyses, 249
Mytton, Adam, 234
Mytton, John, 185
Nantconway, 16
Neath Abbey, 62
Nedeham, Sir John, 25 n. I
Nevill, Sir Edward, 14
Newcastle, 159
Newmarch, Bernard of, 5
Newport, 36, 231, 290
Newport, Lord, 179
Newton, Peter, 34, 203, 205
Newton, Sir Peter, 30 ;/. 5
Nicholas, Secretary, 169
Nile, River, 176
Norfolk, Duke of (John Mowbray,
4th Duke of the Mowbray
House), 14
Norfolk, Duke of (Thomas Howard,
2nd Duke of the Howard House),
55
Norfolk, family of, 5
Normandy, 3, 255
Northampton, Countess of, 194-5
Northampton, Earl of, Lord Presi-
dent (1617-30), 129, 147, 150, 199-
200, 213, 246, 265, 287
Northumberland, 159
Northumberland, Duke of (John
Dudley), 81, 287
Norton, 291
Ogmore, 292
O'Neill, Shane, 86
Orange, Prince of, 187
Orleans, Henry, Duke of, 52
Orleton, 37 11. 2
Orleton, Adam de, 12 ;z. 3
Ormond, Duchess of, 175
Ossory, Earl of, 75
Oswestry, 6, 56, 64, 180, 231, 264-6,
270, 293 n. 2
Owen, Edward, 231, 234
Owen, George, 7 n. i, 127, 278-
80, 282
Owen, Thomas, 231
Oxford University, 197 ; All Souls'
College, 229 ; Brasenose College,
31 ; Jesus College, 106
INDEX
305
Packington, Sir John, 66, 138,
200
Paget, Lord, 85
Paine, Thomas, 201
Painswick, 104
Palmer, Attorney-General, 170
Parsons, Robert, 212
Paston Letters, 25
Paston, Sir John, 25
Pastowe, 62
Paulet, Sir Hugh, 84-5, 106
Paulet, Sir William, 56
Pavior, John, 228
Peirce, Lloyd, 257
Pembroke, 5
Pembroke, Countess of, 200
Pembroke, county of, 11, 41-2, 45,
68, 71, 125, 146-7, 149, 163,
172, 253, 261
Pembroke, Earldom of, 5, 290-1
Pembroke, Earl of, 15. See Herbert,
Sir William, p. 27
Pembroke, Earl of, 21 n. 2, 2S7.
See Herbert, Sir William, pp. 81-
3
Pembroke, Henry Herbert, 2nd
Earl of, Lord President (1586-
1601), 89, 105, 114-30, 185, 200-1,
208, 219, 230, 242, 253-4, 263-4,
278, 287, 2S9
Pembroke, Herbert Thomas, Sth
Earl of, 179
Penanmen, 16
Penarth, loi «. i
Penkethley, 36
Penrhos, 290
Penry, 126 n. 3
Penshurst, 85, 113
Perche, John, 234
Perrott, Sir John, 99, 100, 103
Pershore, 58, 78, 176
Peshale, Alina and Richard de, 7 11. 3
Peters, Hugh, i-jz n. r
Phelips, Thomas, 233
Phetiplace, Mr., 105
Philippa, the Lady, 182
Philips, Sir David, 30 n. 5
Philps, Thomas, 56
Philistines, 172 n. i
Phillips, Fabian, 100- 1, no, 112,
278
Phillips, Richard, 16S-9
Phipson, 100
Pickstock, Edward, 229-30
Plots, 144
Piers, William, 226
Pierson, Rev. Thomas, 189
Plinlimmon, 3
Pole, Reginald, 74
Pole, Richard de la, t^t,
Pole, Sir Reginald, 29
Pole, Sir Richard, 30 n. 5
Ponthieu, 4
Porte, Justice, 69
Portugal, 74
Pov/el, Daniel, 188
Powel, David, 188
Powell of Oswaldstree, 109
Powys, 3, 56, 6S-9, 72, 1 78, 263,
270, 292
Powys, Earl of, 170 «. 6
Powys, Lord, 72, 292
Preese (Price), Edward, 233
Presteign, 61, 270, 291
Price, Ellis, 109
Price, Sir Richard, 172 n. i
Prideaux, Mr., 158
Prince, Richard, 255
Prynne, William, 157
Puleston, Mr. John, 203
Radforde, Thomas, 132
Radnor, 70, 183, 291
Radnor, county of, 41, 42 n^ 2, 45,
71, 147, 163, 270
Raglan, 28, 290
Raglande, Sir Thomas, 104
Rantone, 72
Rhayader, 291
Rhuddlan, 3-4
Rhuddlan Castle, 4
Rhuddlan, Robert of, 3
Rhuddlan, Statute of, 9, 10 ;/. I
Richard L, 17
Richard H., 47
Richard IH., 17, 23, 37, 291 2
Richard's Castle, 183
Ridgeway, — , 267
Rivers, Antony, Earl, 19-2T, 25-6,
28, 202
Roberts, Robert, 171
Rochester, 23, 183
Rome, Bishop of, 77 n. 2
Russell, — , 59
Ruthin, 292-3
St. Anne's, 35
St. Asaph, 57, 89, III, 25S
St. Clears, 5
St. David's, 76-7, 89, 122
20
3o6
INDEX
St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet Street,
London, 169
St. John of Jerusalem, 16
St. Paul's Cathedral, 30, 274
St. Winifred's Well, 150
Salisbury, John, 6b
Salisbury Cathedral, 127
Salisbury, Robert Cecil, Earl of, 145
Salter, — , 59
Salysbury, John, 57, 72
Sampson, Richard, Bishop of Coven-
try and Lichfield, Lord President
(1543-S), 51, 81-2, 287
Scotland, 9, 74, 257
Scots, 144
Scott, Sir John, 20
Scrope, — , 125
Scrope, Edmund, 213
Scudamore, John, 64, 72
Selman, Mrs., 194
Senlac, 3
Severn, River, 3-4, 6, 10, 38, 176,
196, 260, 274
Seymour, Lord Admiral, 197
Shakespeare, 118
Sherer, Master, 206, 227
Shirburne, Richard, 263
Shrewsbury, Charles, Duke of, 178
Shrewsbury, county palatine of, 4
Shrewsbury, John, Earl of, 25
Shrewsbury (Salop), 3, 21, 30, 62,
69, 87, 90, 97, 141, 148, 180-1,
202-4, 206-10, 225-34, 255, 264-8,
278-9 n. I
Shrewsbury, the Abbey, 205 ; Booth
Hall, 230 ; Council House, 205-
6, 208 ; St. Chad's Church, 69,
205, 207 ; Free School, 207-8 ;
streets of (various), 209; Welsh
Bridge, 227 ; Wyld Copp, 206, 208
Shropshire (Salop), 17, 26-8, 30, 32,
34, 37, 40, 42, 64, 67, 104, 134.
147-8, 160, 162-3, 168, 170-1, 173-
4, 176-7, 180, 183, 185, 189. 231,
252 n. I, 254, 261, 264-5, 281
Shuttleworth, Sir Richard, 120, 123,
201, 208, 230-2, 241 ,
Simon, Thomas, 170
Skenfreth, 292
Slavs, 6
Smith, George, 104
Smith, — , 233
Smyth, Bishop, Lord President (1501-
12), 30-2, 59, 196-7, 202-3
Snowdon, 3-5, 245
Snowdon, Justice of, 10
Solon, 106
Somerset, Edward Seymour, Duke
of, 82
Somerset, Robert Carr, Earl of, 139
Somersetshire, 34, 38, 100, 253-4
Spenser, Edmund, 87
Spytty Jevan, 16
Stafford, 68, 72
Stafford, county of, 17
(i) Stafford, Edward, Lord, 37
(2) Stafford, Henry, Lord, 72
(3) Stafford, Henry, Lord, son of (2),
206
(4) Stafford, Edward, Lord, brother
of (3), 103
Stanley, Sir William, 29, 292
Stapleton, 43
Staunton Lacy, 261
Stephen, 277
Stokeley, John, 32
Stonihurst (Stonyhurst), 263
Stradling, Robert, 62-3
Stradlyng, Sir Edward, loi n. i
Strange, Lady, 275 n. 2
Strongbow, 5
Strype, no- 11
Styrcheley, 104
Sulyard, John, 25 11. i
Sulyard, Sir William., 68-9, 70, 73
Surrey, Earl of, 33
Swansea, 82
Symonds, William, 83
Sydney, Ambrozia, 87, 193
Sydney, Lady Mary, 86, 193, 207
Sydney, Mary, 87, 118, 196
Sydney, Sir Henry, Lord President
(1559-86), 2, iS, 21, 85-113, 117,
181, 184-5, ''QSj 197-8, 200, 206-7,
211, 219, 238-40, 244-5, 252, 254-
5, 273, 281, 287
Sydney, Sir Philip, 87, 207, 289
Sydney, Sir William, 85
Sydnour, Richard, 58
Taff, river, 5
Talbot, Catherine, 118
Taverner, John, 246
Tawe, river, 76
Taylor, Jeremy, 172-3
Teme, river, 181
Temple, the, 169
Terouenne, 34
Tewkesbury, 52, 180
Thirsk, III
INDEX
307
Thomas, William, 123
Thompson, Serjeant, 178
Thornbury, 34-5, 52, 70, 103
Throgmorton (Throckmorton), Sir
John, 89, 105, 200, 206, 262, 281
Tickenhill House, 31, 52, 146, 196-8,
235> 238-9, 243
Tinlern Abbey, 5
Tiptoft, Sir John, 292
Tourner, Timothy, 267
Townesend, Dame Anne, 193
Townesend, Henry, 116, 193, 210,
213, 226, 239
Townesend, Sir Robert, 193, 245
Towy, River, 5, 76
Traherne, Philip, 213
Treby, Sir George, 179
Tremaine, Serjeant, 178
Tremostyn, 80 n. 2
Trevor, John, 64
Tudor, Jasper, 291
Tuke, Sir Brian, 236-7
Turbill, Christopher, 62
Udall, Sir William, 30 n. 5
Usk, Lordship of, 28 n.
Usk, river, 5
Uvedale, Sir William, 202-3
Valence, family of, 5
Vandyke, 187
Vaucouleur, 182
Vaughan, Henry, 172 n. i
Vaughan, Howell, 15
Vaughan, John, 172 n. i
Vaughan, John, of Glan y Llyn, 279
Vaughan, John Owen, 263
Vaughan, Robert, 99
Vaughan, Thomas, 20
Vaughan, William, 97-8
Vaughan v. Vaughan, 157
Verdun, Theobald de, 6
Vernon, Sir Henry, 30 n. 5
Vernon, Thomas, 71
Vicars, Robert, 201
Vikings, 4
Voysey, John, Bishop of Exeter,
Lord President (1525-34), 49, 57,
59, 61, 204, 2S7
Walcott, John of Walcott, 171
Walkden, 152
Walsingham, Sir Francis, 19, 60,
102, 105
Walter, Justice, 188, 193
Warden, 248
Wareune, John de, 9
Warr, Thomas, Lord la, 78
Warren, John, 178
Warthrenyon, 291
Warwick, Anne, Countess of, 28 n.
Warwick, John Dudley, Earl of, 82
Warwick, Richard Neville, Earl of,
28 n.
Warwickshire, 28 ;/. I, 30, 252 n. i,
281
Washbourne, Thomas, 167
Waterford, 63
Waties, Edward, 193
Watson, Simon, 267
Welshpool, 64, 174, 178
Wentworth, Thomas, 155, 276
Westminster, 20, 53, 127, 139-41,
164-5, 167, 174, 218, 282
Westmoreland, 159
Weston, Richard, 131
Whitchurch, 264
Whitecastle, 292
Whitgift, 99, loi, 110-12, 114, 273,
289
Whitington, Guy, 12
Whitington, Robert, 12
Whitlocke, Bulstrode, 172 n, i
Wigmore, 5, 63, 68, 70, 79, 270, 291
Wigmore Castle, 88, 182
Wilde, — , 133
Wildgose, 104
William the Conqueror, 3
William the Marshal, 5
William Rufus, 5-6
William HL, 2
Williams of Thame, Lord, Lord
President (1558-9), 81, 84-5, 287
Williams, Nicholas, 57 n. 5
Willoughby, Lord, 179
Wilson, John, 30 n. 5
Wilton, 82, 113, 127
Wiltshire, 177
Windsor, Sir A., 58
Wisbech, 23
Wolsey, zi, 49, Si-3, 55, 58, 235
Wood, Alexander, 230, 232
Wood, Elizabeth, 229, 231
Woodstock, 36
Worcester, 23, 62, 81, 83, 85, 89,
90, loi, 103, no, 132-4, 168, 176,
180, 240, 262, 289
Worcester, Bishop of (Nicholas
BuUingham), 262
Worcester Cathedral, 113
308
INDEX
Worcester, Prior of, 58
Worcester Priory, 74
Worcester, county of, 12, 18, 26,
28, 32, 34, 63, 69, 91. 112, 132-4,
147-9, 151. 160, 163, 168, 170-1,
173-4, 187, 252 n. I, 264, 281
Worcestershire, Grand Jury of, 1 57 «. 2
Worcester, Charles, Earl of, 176-7
Worcester, Countess of, 1 77
VvT^orcester, Earl of, William Somer-
set, 3rd earl, 64, 66, 70, 270
Worcester, Marquis of, 174-5, 287
Worhall, Thomas, 123
Wrexham, 178, 180
Wye, River, 5
Wynforton, 291
Wynn, Sir John, 15, 146
Yale, 9, 14, 290
Yelverton, 265
York, 169
York, county of, 159
York, Council of, 138, 159-60
York, High Commission Court of.
157
York, Richard, Duke of, 11, 1S2, 196
ZOUCH, Lord, Lord President (1602-
7), 129-30, 133, 156 «. 2, 200, 268,
279, 2S7
Prxftied by Hasell, Watson <S' Vtney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
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