Misplaced Pages

#460539

41-643: The Bishop of Durham was the supreme judge of all the courts of Durham, both ecclesiastical and temporal, by virtue of the privileges of his palatinate. The Court of Pleas probably developed from the free court of the Bishop of Durham. There was also a free court of the Prior of Durham . This court was abolished by the Courts Act 1971 . This court was abolished by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 . The Assizes for

82-483: A coronet as well as a mitre and crossed crozier and sword. The bishop of Durham also continued to hold a seat in the House of Lords; that has continued to this day by virtue of the ecclesiastical office. Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese have been: Court Leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court ) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised

123-541: A county palatine, formerly sat by virtue of a special commission from the owner of the franchise, and under the seal thereof, and not by the usual commission under the Great Seal of England (3 Com 79) Section 99 of Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 provided that "From and after the commencement of this Act, the Counties Palatine of Lancaster and Durham shall respectively cease to be Counties Palatine, so far as respects

164-522: A jury formed from the freehold tenants, as bondsmen could not give an oath ( jury means persons having taken an oath). The jury's role was similar to that of the doomsmen of the Anglo-Saxons and included electing the officers (other than the Steward who was appointed by the lord), bringing matters to the attention of the court and deciding on them. The officers of courts leet could include some or all of

205-489: A plate or plates to be run for upon Durham Moor; and Mr. Mayor, chairman of the quarter sessions, was desired to communicate the same resolution to the bishop of Durham." Signed, George Morland, and nine others. Rice says of this that the justices "probably resolved upon a display of generosity unique in history." Petty Sessions for the city of Durham were held in the County Court-house every Saturday, when two or more of

246-442: A remedy for each social ill and inconvenience. To take cognisance of grosser crimes of assault, arson, burglary, larceny, manslaughter, murder, treason, and every felony at common law. The court generally sat only a few times each year, sometimes just annually. A matter was introduced into the court by means of a "presentment", from a local man or from the jury itself. Penalties were in the form of fines or imprisonment. Attendance at

287-427: A sharp distinction between the court baron, exercising strictly manorial rights , and the court leet, exercising the powers formerly held by the hundred court, emphasising that the ability to hold court leet depended upon a royally granted franchise. However, in many areas it became customary for the court baron and court leet to meet together, as a single operation. The court leet was a court of record , and its duty

328-463: Is an episcopal title which takes its name after the tidal island of Lindisfarne , which lies just off the northeast coast of Northumberland , England. The title was first used by the Anglo-Saxons between the 7th and 10th centuries. In the reign of Æthelstan (924–939) Wigred, thought by Simon Keynes to have been Bishop of Chester-le-Street , attested royal charters. According to George Molyneaux,

369-429: Is enough to support one entire household. A tithing was an area of 10 hides, which therefore originally corresponded to about 10 households. The heads of each household were judicially bound to the others in their tithing by an arrangement called frankpledge , which created collective responsibility for behaviour within their tithing. The hundred court monitored this system, in a process called view of frankpledge , with

410-567: Is responsible for the diocese of Durham in the province of York . The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords . Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham until his retirement in February 2024. The bishop is officially styled The Right Reverend (First Name), by Divine Providence Lord Bishop of Durham , but this full title is rarely used. In signatures,

451-468: The Administration of Justice Act 1977 . However, one exception was allowed: the court leet for the manor of Laxton, Nottinghamshire , which had continued to operate judicially; Laxton retains the open-field system of farming, which had been replaced everywhere else by the 18th century (as a result of the process of enclosure ), and required the court in order to administer the field system. Although

SECTION 10

#1732851245461

492-590: The River Tweed until after 1013. The title of " bishop of Lindisfarne " is now used by the Roman Catholic Church for a titular see (there is also a Catholic titular see of Cuncacestre , the latin form of Chester-le-Street). The Anglo-Saxon bishops of Lindisfarne were ordinaries of several early medieval episcopal sees (and dioceses ) in Northumbria and pre- Conquest England . The first such see

533-403: The "view of frankpledge " and its attendant police jurisdiction , which was normally restricted to the hundred courts . The word "leet", as used in reference to special court proceedings, dates from the late 13th century, from Anglo-French lete and Anglo-Latin leta of unknown origin, with a possible connection to the verb " let ". At a very early time in medieval England, the lord of

574-508: The Administration of Justice Act had abolished the legal jurisdiction of the other courts leet, it emphasised that "any such court may continue to sit and transact such other business, if any, as was customary for it". Schedule 4 to the Act specified the "business" which was to be considered customary, which included the taking of presentments relating to matters of local concern and – in some cases –

615-831: The Deputy Clerk of the Peace for a venire , and shall also have given notice of trial to the prosecutor, on or before Saturday se’nnight preceding the Sessions. The Court, in the first place, proceeded to call over the names of the Chief Constables , and examine them as to arrears (if any) of the county rates . Motions of counsel were then heard. The surveyors of the highways of townships, and other persons under any indictment or presentment, for not repairing highways, or for nuisances thereon (not previously disposed of on motion), were then called over and fined, or otherwise dealt with, according to

656-541: The Magistrates attended for the administration of justice. A Court Leet , View of Frank pledge , and Court Baron , for the city of Durham and borough of Framwellgate , was held at the Guildhall, or Toll booth, before the steward, or his deputy in his absence, twice a year, a month after Easter, and Michaelmas, when all the inhabitants and residents within the manor were required to attend, and to do their suit and service to

697-614: The Sessions, were required to attend on the second day of the Sessions, at nine o'clock in the morning. And all recognisances were estreated unless the persons bound personally appeared and discharged the same. An adjournment was held on the first Saturday in every month, at the County Courts. At the Durham Quarter Sessions, in January 1690, the following resolution was made: "The Justices resolved to give their wages towards procuring

738-573: The bishop's family name is replaced by Dunelm , from the Latin name for Durham (the Latinised form of Old English Dunholm ). In the past, bishops of Durham varied their signatures between Dunelm and the French Duresm . Prior to 1836 the bishop had significant temporal powers over the liberty of Durham and later the county palatine of Durham . The bishop, with the bishop of Bath and Wells , escorts

779-586: The bishops had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons. Except for a brief period of suppression during the English Civil War , the bishopric retained this temporal power until it was abolished by the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4 . c. 19) with the powers returned to the Crown. A shadow of the former temporal power can be seen in the bishop's coat of arms, which contains

820-517: The church of St Cuthbert "was in all probability the greatest landholder between the Tees and the Tyne". Traditionally, following the chronology of the twelfth-century writer Symeon of Durham , historians have believed that the body of St Cuthbert and centre of the diocese lay at Chester-le-Street from the ninth century until 995, but recent research has suggested that the bishops may have been based at Norham on

861-621: The county of Durham were held twice a year, about the first week in August and last in February. Two Judges attended in summer, but only one in winter. The assizes sat at the Shire Hall (also known as the County House) beside Palace Green until 1811, when they moved to the new courthouse at the head of Old Elvet . Mary Ann Cotton was tried at the Durham Assizes. The judges of assize who sat in

SECTION 20

#1732851245461

902-602: The county of Durham, were held in the Court House, on the Monday in each week, appointed by statute, to inquire into "all manner of felonies, poisonings, sorceries, trespasses, &c." Sessions weeks were the first week after Epiphany, the first week after the close of Easter, the first whole week after St. Thomas a Becket, and the first whole week after 11 October. By order of Court, all Justices' Clerks were to transmit their informations, convictions, depositions, recognizances, &c. to

943-428: The court leet was often compulsory for those under its jurisdiction, with fines being meted out for non-attendance. The ability of the court to levy a fine was always subject to limitations, but the limits were never updated to account for inflation over the centuries; for those courts leet that still exist, the fine has effectively become merely nominal – 2p for example in the case of Laxton. Courts leet generally had

984-484: The following: The introduction of magistrates gradually rebalanced power away from manorial lords. Magistrates were later given authority over view of frankpledge , which effectively negated the remaining significance of the court leet, and they gradually ceased to be held, largely dying out. Following the collapse of the feudal system, and subsequent rise of the Reformation , civil parishes had largely taken over

1025-410: The issue of Commissions of Assize, or other like Commissions, but not further or otherwise; and all such Commissions may be issued for the trial of all causes and matters within such counties respectively in the same manner in all respects as in any other counties of England and Wales." This court was abolished by section 2 of the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 . The General Quarter Sessions , for

1066-445: The jury indicted wrongdoers, stood witness, and helped decide on punishment. It also developed as a means of proactively ensuring that standards in such matters as sales of food and drink, and agriculture, were adhered to. The Alcester Court Leet contained the following wording: To enquire regularly and periodically into the proper condition of watercourses, roads, paths, and ditches; to guard against all manner of encroachments upon

1107-455: The king formally granted certain trusted lords with the legal authority that had been held by the hundred court over the tithings in the lord's manor, the most important of those being view of frankpledge . The group of tithings that were located within each manor had come to be called a leet , and hence, in the later Middle Ages these judicial powers came to be called court leet . The quo warranto proceedings of Edward I established

1148-433: The lord of the manor, upon pain of amerciament. The town clerk granted the summons for the recovery of debts under 40s in this court. There were also numerous other courts in the different manors of the diocese, some of which were copyhold courts , others were only courts baron for the redress of the tenants' grievances; some were courts leet, and some few courts for the recovery of debts and damages under 40s held according to

1189-400: The management of common land . The following courts leet were exempted from abolition by the Administration of Justice Act 1977, and were known to be still functioning in 2010: In addition, the following courts leet are in operation, having been re-established, or continued, but without statutory authority (not having been preserved by the 1977 act): By contrast, the statutory backing for

1230-505: The manor exercised or claimed certain feudal rights over his serfs and feudal tenants . The exercise of those rights was combined with manorial administrative concerns , in his court baron . However this court had no power to deal with criminal acts . Criminal jurisdiction was held by the hundred courts ; the country was divided into hundreds , and there was a hundred court for each of them. Each hundred comprised 100 hides , with each hide being an area of land of variable size that

1271-498: The office of the Clerk of the Peace on or before the Wednesday preceding each Session; and all appeals and traverses (except such as came within the provisions of the statute 60 Geo 3 c 4) had to be entered with the Deputy Clerk of the Peace before twelve o'clock on the first day of the Sessions. And no traverse, (except as aforesaid) could be tried unless the defendant had made application to

Courts of the County Palatine of Durham - Misplaced Pages Continue

1312-402: The public rights, whether by unlawful enclosure or otherwise; to preserve landmarks, to keep watch and ward in the town, and overlook the common lands, adjust the rights over them, and restraining in any case their excessive exercise, as in the pasturage of cattle; to guard against the adulteration of food, to inspect weights and measures, to look in general to the morals of the people, and to find

1353-418: The remaining authority of courts baron, and tithings were seen as a parish sub-division. Nevertheless, courts leet technically survived into the late 20th century, though almost all of the small number which still operated had become merely ceremonial, simply forming a way of promoting or celebrating their local area. Despite this, their legal jurisdiction over crime was only abolished in 1977, by section 23 of

1394-450: The role of the bishops as a "buffer state between England and Scotland": From 1075, the bishop of Durham became a prince-bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England's northern frontier. A 1788 report adds that

1435-520: The sovereign at the coronation . Durham Castle was a residence of the bishops from its construction in the 11th century until 1832, when it was given to the University of Durham to use as a college. Auckland Castle then became the bishops' main residence until July 2012, when it was sold to the Auckland Castle Trust. The bishop continues to have offices there. The bishop of Lindisfarne

1476-465: The standing orders of the Court. The Court then proceeded to hear appeals against orders of removal, and such other matters as did not require the attendance of jurymen. All jurors, prosecutors of indictments, and witnesses on prosecutions, and also all defendants in traverses, with their witnesses, and all persons bound by recognizances to prosecute or give evidence on, or to answer any indictment to be tried at

1517-533: The tithing reporting any wrongdoing in their area, and handing over the perpetrators among them. If the wrongdoing was minor, it would be dealt with by the hundred court, but serious crimes were passed up to the shire court . Before feudalism, hundred courts had also dealt with administrative matters within their area, such as bridge repairs, road conditions, and so forth, but the courts baron had largely superseded that in practice, and some manorial lords began claiming authority over criminal matters as well. Eventually,

1558-401: The various local customs. The Halmote Court office was on the intersection of Owengate and North Bailey. The records of this Halmote Court are from 1345 onwards. There were courts of forest and marshalsea. There was a vice admiralty court from the seventeenth century. It appears to have fallen into disuse after 1717. It sat at Sunderland . Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham

1599-471: Was founded at Lindisfarne in 635 by Saint Aidan . From the 7th century onwards, in addition to his spiritual authority, the bishops of Lindisfarne, and then Durham, also acted as the civil ruler of the region as the lord of the liberty of Durham , with local authority equal to that of the king. The bishop appointed all local officials and maintained his own court. After the Norman Conquest , this power

1640-409: Was not only to view the pledges, which were the freemen's oaths of peacekeeping and good practice in trade, but also to try with a jury , and punish, crimes committed within the jurisdiction; more serious crimes were committed to the king's justices. Despite the presence of a jury, it was not trial by jury as understood today. The court leet had developed while the jury system was still evolving;

1681-520: Was retained by the bishop and was eventually recognised with the designation of the region as the County Palatine of Durham . As holder of this office, the bishop was both the earl of the county and bishop of the diocese. Though the term 'prince-bishop' has become a common way of describing the role of the bishop prior to 1836, the term was unknown in Medieval England. A UNESCO site describes

Courts of the County Palatine of Durham - Misplaced Pages Continue

#460539