September 1644
[13 September, 1644.]
Ordinance for Mr. Brooke to be High Sheriff of Chester.
The Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled, taking into
Consideration the Necessity of appointing an High Sheriff for
the County Palatine of Chester, and that such Officer cannot be
constituted in the usual Manner, in respect the Castle of Chester,
where the Court of Exchequer (being the ancient Chancery Court
for that County) and the County Palatine Seal are kept (by which
Seal, and no other, the Sheriffs of that County have been usually
there made), as also the City of Chester, are now all in Possession
of the Enemies to the King and Parliament, and the Chamberlain
of that County in present Rebellion, and in Arms against the
Parliament; do think fit to Order and Ordain, and be it
Ordained and Established, by the said Lords and Commons,
That Henry Brooke Esquire shall be, and is hereby authorized
and appointed to be, Sheriff of the said County; and do commit
unto him the said Henry Brooke the Office of Sheriff, and the
Custody of the said County Palatine, to have and execute
the same in as large and ample Manner as any Sheriff
of that County heretofore lawfully hath or might have
done: And whereas, by virtue of a Writ or Commission
under the Great Seal of England already issued. Gilbert Millington, Will'm Ashurst, and John Bradshawe, Esquires, Commissioners therein named, have ministered unto the said Henry
Brooke the Two usual Oaths; to wit, the Oath for the due
Execution of the said Office of Sheriff, and the Oath of Supremacy
the Execution of which Writ is thereby enjoined to be returned to
the Chamberlain of Chester, at the said Exchequer of Chester;
And the said Lords and Commons do Order and Ordain, in respect such Return cannot now be made, That the same be forborn; and that the said Commissioners shall return in the said
Commission to them directed, and the Execution thereof, into
the Chancery of England, there to remain of Record, which
shall be a sufficient Discharge to them the said Commissioners
in that Behalf: And where, by the Statute made in the 33th
Year of the Reign of the late King Henry the Eighth, the
Sheriffs of the said County for the Time being are limited to
keep their Shire Courts in the Shire Hall of that County, which
Shire Hall is within and Part of the said Castle of Chester, now in
the Enemy's Hands; and where the Usage hath been for the
said Sheriffs to keep their County Court upon a Monday,
whereby Bailiffs of Sheriffs, Suitors of the Court, and others, for
saving of Expence, have taken Occasion to travel on the
Lords-day, to the great Prophanation of that Holy Day;
for Supply of the said Defect, and Remedy of the said
Evil, be it further Ordained and Established, by the Authority
aforesaid, That, during the Time that the said Castle of
of Chester shall continue in the Enemy's Possession, and until
the same shall be reduced within the Power of Parliament, and
that other Order by both Houses of Parliament shall be taken to
the contrary, the said Sheriff of the said County, and other the
Sheriffs of the same, for the Time being, shall keep his and their
Shire Court in the Town Hall or Court Hall of or within the
Town of Namptwich, in the said County; and that the said
Shire Court shall be hereafter constantly kept every Month
upon the Tuesday next ensuing the former usual Court Day,
and not upon any Monday, for Determination of Plaints and
Actions under Forty Shillings, and for Proclamations, and calling
of Exigents, and other necessary Causes, as hath been used at
other Shire Courts held formerly as aforesaid; and that the
Head Coroners for the Body of the said Shire, when any new
Choice is or ought to be, by reason of Death, Insufficiency, or
otherwise, during the Enemy's Possession of the said Castle as
aforesaid, shall be elected and chosen by virtue of the King's
Writ De Coronatore eligendo, to be awarded from the Chancery
of England; which Coroners, as also those for the Time being
(not secured or sequestered for their Malignancy to the Parliament), are hereby enjoined to sit with the said Sheriff at the
said Courts, to give Judgement upon Utlawries, and to do all other
Things as appertaineth to their Place and Office; any Law,
Usage, Statute, Privilege, or Custom, to the contrary notwithstanding: And the Lords and Commons do Ordain, Enjoin,
and Command, all Manner of Persons of the said County, whom
the same may concern, to be to him the said Henry Brooke,
during his Continuance in the said Office, aiding and assisting, in
all Things which belong to the said Office: And whereas divers
Writs, Commissions, Precepts, and Warrants, have usually heretofore issued out of His Majesty's Court of Chancery, Court of
Wards, and other His Majesty's Courts at Westminster, directed
to the Chamberlain of the said County Palatine for the Time
being, by Force whereof divers Writs and Commissions have
issued out of the said Court of Exchequer, at Chester under the
said County Palatine Seal, directed unto the Sheriffs, Escheator,
Feodaries, and Coroners of the same County, whereupon Proceedings have been usually had, and afterwards returned into
the said Court of Exchequer at Chester, and from thence transmitted to the respective Courts above at Westminster, according
to the Nature of the Cause; now, forasmuch as the said Court at
Chester and Seal are in the Enemy's Hands as aforesaid, and the
Chamberlain and other Officers of the Seal there in present
Rebellion against the King and Parliament, so as such Course for
Writs, Commissions, and Warrants, cannot be observed as formerly; neither can the Inhabitants of the said County with
Safety repair to the Courts of Chester for Justice as formerly;
and yet, by the ancient Usages and Privileges of that County,
cannot, for Matters there arising, sue one another, or be sued elsewhere, whereby the Course of Justice there is for the present
obstructed, to the great Damage of the Subject; be it therefore
Ordained and Established, by the Authority aforesaid, That the
former Course of issuing out Writs, Commissions, Precepts, and
Warrants, out of any the Courts at Westminster, directed to the
Chamberlain of Chester, shall be forborn, during the Time that
the said City and Castle of Chester shall continue in the
Enemy's Hands; and that, during that Time, and until other
Order by both Houses of Parliament shall be taken to the contrary, all such Writs, Commissions, Precepts, and Warrants,
henceforth to issue out of the said Courts at Westminster, and
concerning the Matters of the said County Palatine, shall be
immediately sent and directed unto the Sheriff, Escheator,
Feodary, Coroners, and other Officers, of the said County of
Chester respectively, and shall be by them executed, in such
Sort, Manner and Form, as is usually done in like Cases unto
and by the Sheriffs, Escheators, Feodaries, Coroners, and other
Officers of other Counties not Palatine, within the Realm of
England; and further, that, during such Time of the Enemy's
Possession of the City and Castle as aforesaid, the Subjects of the
said County shall and may sue and be responsal in the Courts of
Justice at Westminster, and that the King's Writ shall there
run as is used in the other Counties, any Law, Usage, Statute,
Privilege, or Custom, to the contrary notwithstanding: And it
is lastly Ordained and Declared, That as well the said Sheriff in
the Execution of his said Place and Office, as also all other
Officers and Persons that shall do any Thing by Virtue, and in
Execution and Pursuance, of this Ordinance, and of the Power
therein contained, and according to the Directions of the same,
shall be kept indemnified by the Authority and Power of both
Houses of Parliament: Provided, That nothing herein contained
shall, for Time to come, be interpreted to the Disadvantage or
Prejudice of the ancient Rights, Privileges, Usages, and Customs,
of the said County Palatine, or of the Inhabitants of the same.