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Rushworth's property on each side of the road," without elation of heart; and it was a pleasure to increase with their approach to the capital freehold mansion, and ancient manorial residence of the family, with all its rights of court-leet and court-baron. "Now we shall have no more rough road, Miss Crawford; our difficulties are over. The rest of the way is such as it ought to be. Mr.
"Out of the county court was derived an inferior court of civil jurisdiction, called the court-baron. Gilbert on the Court of Exchequer, ch. 5. 61- 2. Political Dictionary, word Manor. The same work, speaking of the county court, says: "The judges were the freeholders who did suit to the court." See word Courts. Political Dictionary, word Suit. Gilbert on the Court of Rxchequer, ch. 3, p. 42.
Aside from his position as landlord, the most important of these rights was that of holding a court-baron and a court-leet and view of frank-pledge. Various powers and activities had long gathered around these petty courts, but the whole group of manorial rights and duties of jurisdiction and administration was, in 1600, fast becoming an obsolete and insignificant institution.
And further also, We do by these Presents, for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, give and Grant, License to them the Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton and Sir William Berkeley, their Heirs and Assigns, full Power, Liberty and License, to Erect, Raise and Build within the said Province and Places aforesaid, or any Part or Parts thereof, such and so many Forts, Fortresses, Castles, Cities, Boroughs, Towns, Villages and other Fortifications whatsoever; and the same or any of them to Fortify and Furnish with Ordnance, Powder, Shot, Armour and all other Weapons, Ammunition and Habiliments of War, both Defensive and Offensive, as shall be thought fit and convenient for the Safety and Welfare of the said Province, and Places, or any Part thereof; and the same, or any of them, from Time to Time, as Occasion shall require, to Dismantle, Disfurnish, Demolish and Pull down; And also to Place, Constitute and Appoint in, or over all, or any of the said Castles, Forts, Fortifications, Cities, Towns and Places aforesaid, Governours, Deputy Governours, Magistrates, Sheriffs and other Officers, Civil and Military, as to them shall seem meet; and to the said Cities, Boroughs, Towns, Villages, or any other Place or Places, within the said Province or Territory, to Grant Letters or Charters of Incorporation, with all Liberties, Franchises and Privileges requisite, or usual, to, or within this our Kingdom of England granted, or belonging; And in the same Cities, Boroughs, Towns and other Places, to Constitute, Erect and Appoint such, and so many Markets, Marts and Fairs as shall in that Behalf be thought fit and necessary; And further also, to Erect and Make in the Province or Territory aforesaid, or any Part thereof, so many Mannors with such Signories as to them shall seem meet and convenient, and in every of the same Mannors to have and to hold a Court-Baron, with all Things whatsoever, which to a Court-Baron do belong, and to have and to hold Views of Frank Pledge, and Court-Leet, for the Conservation of the Peace, and better Government of those Parts, with such Limits, Jurisdiction and Precincts, as by the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, or their Heirs, shall be appointed for that purpose, with all things whatsoever, which to a Court-Leet, or view of Franck Pledge, do belong; the same Courts to be holden by Stewards, to be Deputed and Authorized by the said Edward Earl of Clarendon, George Duke of Albemarle, William Earl of Craven, John Lord Berkeley, Anthony Lord Ashley, Sir George Carterett, Sir John Colleton, and Sir William Berkeley, or their Heirs, by the Lords of the Mannors and Leets, for the Time being, when the same shall be Erected.
Ditto, p. 57, note. "The administration of justice was carefully provided for; it was not the caprice of their lord, but the sentence of their peers, that they obeyed. Each was the judge of his equals, and each by his equals was judged." Introd. to Gilbert on Tenures, p. 12. They undoubtedly were suitors to the court-baron of the lord, to whose soc, or right of justice, they belonged.
These courts, it must be considered, were very numerous, and held very frequent sessions. There were probably seven, eight, or nine hundred courts a month, in the kingdom; the object being, as Blackstone says, "To bring justice home to every man's door." The court-baron was the court for a single manor, and there was a court for every manor in the kingdom.
They where consequently judges in civil causes, determined before the manorial tribunal." 2 Middle Ages, 481. Stephens adopts as correct the following quotations from Blackstone: "The Court-Baron is a court incident to every manor in the kingdom, to be holden by the steward within the said manor."
"The court-baron is a court incident to every manor in the kingdom, to beholden by the steward within the said manor. This court-baron is of two natures; the one is a customary court, of which we formerly spoke, appertaining entirely to the copy-holders, in which their estates are transferred by surrender and admittance, and other matters transacted relative to their tenures only.
In his "Conditions for Plantations," August 8, 1636, after providing liberally for all who brought emigrants to the colony, he directed that every one thousand acres or greater quantity so given to any adventurer "should be erected into a manor with a court-baron and court-leet to be from time to time held within every such manor respectively."
The nature of the common law courts existing prior to Magna Carta, such as the county courts, the hundred courts, the court-leet, and the court-baron, all prove, what has already been proved from Magna Carta, that, in jury trials, the juries fixed the sentence; because, in those courts, there was no one but the jury who could fix it, unless it were the sheriff, bailiff, or steward; and no one will pretend that it was fixed by them.
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