| Chap. 28. |
Constables.
the Peace; and so was the direction of Sir John Doderidge at
Summer
Assizes at Cambridge, Anno Dom. 1620. |
57 |
| 13 E. 1. c. 6. |
By the opinion of Master Lambert and others,
the Constables of Hundred
were first ordained to be chosen by the said Statute of Winchester,
tempore Ed. 1. And they were appointed for the keeping of
the Peace, and
to make view of Armour, twice every year, and to present before Justices
assigned, defaults of Armour, of Watches, of High-ways, and of
Hue and Cry; and also all such as lodged Strangers for whom they would
not answer. See Rastal. 379 c. d. Lamb. Duty of Const.
5. Minsh. verbo
Constable. |
§. 3.
When first
made. |
See Sta. 4.
E. 3. cap.
3 & 10. |
Petty Constable (in Towns and Parishes) were after
devised (for the
aid of the Constables of the Hundred,) viz. about the beginning
of the
Reign of King Ed. 3. as it appeareth by M. Lambert in his
Book of the
Duty of Constables pag. 9. |
§. 4.
Petty Constables. |
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But it appeareth by Fineux 12 H. 7.
fol. 18. a. that whereas the Sheriffs
of the Counties, at the first., had the Government of their Counties committed
to them, afterwards, by reason of the multitude of People, and
for that it was too great a thing for one person (sc. the Sheriff)
to undertake,
therefore Hundreds were divided and derived out of the Counties,
and in every Hundred there was ordained a Conservator of the Peace,
who was called the [High] Constable; and after, Boroughs or Towns
were made, and within every of them also was ordained a Conservator of
the Peace, who is called the Petty Constable, (and in some places the
Borough head) and this was long before the times that Mr. Lambert
speaketh of, sc. long before King Ed. 1. or King E.
3. which also may appear
by the derivation of the word Constable hic supra, and that they
were in the
time of the Saxons: so that it may seem, that as well the High
Constable
as the Petty Constables, and their Authorities, were by the common
Law; and that the old Statutes concerning them are but a recital of the
ancient Common Laws. |
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The Authority which High Constables and petty
Constables have by the
Common Law for keeping the Peace, see chap. 1. And the Constables
power
to make a Deputy. Ibid. |
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Constables may make their Deputies, and such
Deputies are within the
Statute of 7 Jac. as was resolved in Felp's case,
M. 13 Jac. B. r. |
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Co. 5. 59.
Fosters case. |
If a Justice of Peace make a general Warrant
to bring a man before me,
or any other, &c. It is not at the choice of the Delinquent,
but of the
Constable, before what Justice to carry him; but a Justice of Peace may
make a Warrant to bring an Offender before himself, and it is good.
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I have seen a M. S. said to be a Collection
of Sir Nicholas Hides of the
Office of a Justice of Peace; wherein is said, That it was resolved
by all the
Judges of England, Trin. 5. Car. 1. That Justices of Peace
at Sessions may not
compel the Constables of Hundreds to attend at the Quarter Sessions, and
to present Offenders upon Oath, otherwise it is at the Assizes, &c.
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The chusing and swearing of these petty Constables
is reputed properly
to belong to the Court-Leet: yet we find it usual and warranted
by common
experience, that every Justice of Peace doth also swear them, and
upon just cause doth and may also remove them. See the Title
Warrants,
cap. 121. |
§. 5.
How chosen. |
| Ba. U. 5. 6. |
But in ancient time both the High Constable of Hundreds,
as also the
petty Constable of every Town, were yearly appointed by the Sheriff
in
his Tourn, and were there sworn, or received their Oath: and it seemeth |
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