This month, the Parish or Petty Constable. Here is a Constable from the Lewis Walpole collection. How typical he would have been I don't know. The Parish Constable was appointed at the Vestry meeting held after Easter and would serve for a year, a voluntary position, unpaid, but could claim expenses. He was responible for law and order in the parish and had a long list of responsibilities. This volume of 1772 outlines the duties of the Parish Constable which extended beyond their own parish. To start with they had to swear an oath that they would fulfil their position and be loyal to King and Country at the Quarter Sessions. There were other types of Constables, Chief Constables and High Constables had power from Justices of the Peace over a specific area, a County, Liberty or Wapentake [division of a County]. They are mentioned often in the records of the Quarter Sessions, and usually had to be present at the court. They were not always up to the job. In 1653 a Luke Yarker of Leyburn was appointed Chief Constable for the Wapentake of Hang West, but in 1654 was relieved of his duty as he could neither read nor write and Thomas Foster of Leyburn was appointed in his place. Under these Constables were the Parish of Petty Constables, originally nominated from the Manor Court, but as some Manor Courts ceased to function, they were appointed from the Vestry Meeting. The Parish Constable had powers of arrest, powers to enter a property and had to keep records of local parishioners. So you can see that as this was a voluntary post, there could be quite a variation in the standards and administration of their duty. Quite often they were summoned to the Quarter Sessions for neglecting some aspect of the job. In 1611 Richard Geldart, Constable for Coverham, was summoned for not apprehending Rogues. The following year all the inhabitants of Coverham were in trouble for NOT appointing a Constable at all and they were told they ought to find one. One of their duties was to raise a Hue and Cry if a felon was in the parish, or an escaped prisoner. This meant that they had to ride through the parish calling out loud for all the inhabitants to come out and pursue the miscreant on horseback or on foot with much shouting, until captured. If every one did not turn out for the Hue and Cry, the whole parish could be made to pay compensation to the vitim of the crime. And the pursuit could extend beyond the boundary of the parish. Above is the instruction to alert the Constable of the next parish or town. An example was in 1655 when Mr Robert Berry was robbed in the Wapentake of Allertonshire and lost £138. The Constable of Bedale neglected to pursue the robbers in a Hue and Cry and the inhabitants of the Wapentakes of Hallikeld and Hang East had to pay compensation of £124 between them! The bit of Yorkshire called Richmondshire was made up of five Wapentakes, Gilling East, Gilling West, Hang East, Hang West and Hallikeld. The Gilling East Wapentake is not to be confused with the place called Gilling East in Ryedale. The Constable was responsible for maintaining the parish stocks and a whipping post. Here are the stocks on the village green at Bainbridge from the geograph.org.uk website available through creative commons. After a trial the constable would be responsible for taking a prisoner to the local stocks or whipping post to receive their punishment in public. In 1615 Jane Walker, spynster of Hunton, was guilty of her offence of Bastardy, i.e. she had a child out of wedlock, and was conveyed to the market at Middleham where she was whipped by the constable of Middleham. In 1626 Margery wife of Miles Metcalfe of Crakehall was to be sett in the stocks at Bedale in full market time with a paper on her head written with great letters I SITT HERE IN THE STOCKS FOR BEATINGE MY OWNE MOTHER and there to remain untill such time as she shall sitt downe upon her knees & submitt herselfe to her mother & crave her blessinge. Robert Storr & Christopher Smith, Constables of Bedale, to see this Order performed. The Constable was also responsible for the Lock-up, or if there was none, had to keep any prisoner in his own house. This is the village Lock-up at North Stainley near Ripon and is also on the website of geograph.org available through creative commons. The Constable had to regularly apprehend Rogues and Vagabonds and keep them until they could be taken to the nearest Justice of the Peace. The Constable of Kirklington had an unlucky experience when he apprehended Alice wife of Ralph Dixon as a Rogue and Vagabond in 1624, he took her to his house where she died! The Constable had to appoint a Watchman who was reponsible for many things, including watching prisoners, and watching boundaries. At times of contagious disease, of humans or livestock, a watchman had to be in post at the boundaries of the parish. The Constable of Gilling [West] was brought before the Quarter Sessions because he had appointed a poor blind man as watchman who could not see the light of a candle! This was at a time where there was a dreadful cattle plague in County Durham. In the 1740s a cattle plague of some sort kept breaking out all across the country and movement of livestock was strictly regulated. The Constables had to close down all fairs and markets and there were even restrictions in moving cattle to water or pasture. In 1748 the Quarter Sessions ordered that all Parish Officers and Constables nearest to the bridges of the rivers Ure and Swale had to hinder any horned cattle from crossing the said bridges without a legal certificate. The Constables had to set Watchmen at the said bridges at the cost of 10d for one watchman watching in the day time and 1s 8d for two men in the night time. [It didn't mention fords]. This picture is called The Watchman and is by Godfrey Sykes [1824 - 1866] and is at the Sheffield Museum and on the ArtUk website. In towns and cities the Watchman had responsibilities for those coming and going from sun setting to sun rising. His job was quite dangerous and he could be subject to violence. The Parish Constable also had to keep lists of local men who were qualified to do Jury Service. This picture is called The Jury by John Morgan [1823 - 1886] and is at the Buckinghamshire County Museum and on the ArtUke website. I am worried about the one yawning .... The Jury lists were kept by Parish and then Wapentake and were annotated as to when and where the persons listed were summoned. These are interesting for those parts of the dales where there were Quakers, who would not swear an oath, as this is indicated by their name. There were several at the top end of the dales around Bainbridge. I have also found some names annotated with non compos mentis. This is a summons to call men to serve at the Jury of the Quarter Sessions for Christmas 1811 in Richmond. They would be picked from the lists submitted by the Parish Constables. These were all from the top end of Swaledale - Joseph Clarkson, John Clarkson, James Broaderick and Thomas Alderson from Satron; John Metcalfe from Oxnop; Ralph Close from Calvert Houses; William Harker and Edmund Milner from Thwaite; John Grime and James Grime from Muker; Edward Alderson, William Alderson and John Alderson from Angram - Anthony Cleasby and John Alderson from Ravenseat; Thomas Birkbeck, William Parkin, James Spenceley and Christopher Raw from Feetham [although they have put Fleetham which is quite a different place]; William Coates, Richard Garth and Jonas Eglin from Crackpot; then moving down dale - Robert Gibson, George Allan, Robert Allan and George Jackson from Ravensworth; and Robert Moss, Jonathan Thompson and Henry Coates from Scargill; and lastly John Goundry from Thorpe who was a joiner. So who would have volunteered to be a Parish Constable? The list of jobs was long and varied, from keeping lists of who had gun licences and ale houses to pursuing criminals and arresting them. Justices of the Peace gave them warrants such as this - 1723 Apprehension warrant directed to the Constable of East Witton - To apprehend Marmaduke Moore of East Witton, a lunatic, who is not fit to go at liberty and to take him to East Witton and confine him with a chain in some convenient room. The township [of East Witton] to allow three shillings a week for his maintenance as it appears he has no effects of his own. 13 February 1723. Where on earth did they put him? Poor soul. Marmaduke Moore was baptised in 1697 so was still a young man at this time. I have much sympathy for any Parish Constable in Swaledale at the end of the 1760s and into 1770 when it seems as if every miner in the dale was caught up in rioting and fighting. Lists and lists of them were summoned to the court. Someone had to apprehend them. This is a typical summons To the Constable of Grinton and to the Keeper of the House of Correction at Richmond - Whereas Ann Gale, widow, hath made information & complaint upon oath that John Dunn of Grinton, yeoman, hath bruised and ill treated her & hath of late frequently threatened to kill her, whereby she is afraid. The said John Dunn intends to kill her or do her bodily harm .... And this day John Dunn hath been brought before me ... to find sureties for his appearance at the next Quarter Sessions ... which he hath refused to do. These [i.e.this summons] are therefore to authorize & require you the said Constable to convey the said John Dunn to the House of Correction. Wm Chaytor [ who was a J.P] This is for 1771 . Phasing out of Parish Constables and the establishment of County Police Forces began after an Act of Parliament in 1839, and probably not before time. And so began the professional police force. Does anyone remember when villages had their own police officers who lived in a police house? You can still spot them by their distinct architecture. And yes, I do think they had bicycles.
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