Chief Bailiff of Hereford

The office of Chief Bailiff of Hereford, in Hereford, England, was a feudal appointment instigated by the feudal vassalage owed by an oath of fealty to the overlordship of the King of England. The Bailiwick of Hereford was created after the Norman Conquest in the ancient Anglo-Saxon jurisdiction of the shire. Deriving from Normandy French baillieu, the word is a combination of the two concepts of bail and lieu, referring to payments made to courts leet. It was the first imposition on the city of Hereford of a two-tier feudal jurisdiction, creating a civic officer of the king's court (loi civile) along Roman law lines. The Chief Bailiff's principal duty was as the Lord Paramount of the city burgesses. This title is usually used in the records. Each county had an escheator, whose main role was to collect fines, customs, duties, and levies owed to the Crown.

In order to raise money for the Third Crusade, Richard I sold the township to its citizens on 9 October 1189. The Chief Bailiff became the Lord of the city and the king's representative in his absence abroad for the whole shire county.[1] The Office of Chief Bailiff was first recorded in 1261, following the Provisions of Oxford, and the arrest of a number of Oxford men in Hereford. The defeat of Simon de Montfort ended the provision of Magna Carta for rule by Parliament. After the Lord Edward (later Edward I) escaped from the town's gaol, where he had been taken by baronial rebels, and where he almost died in 1268, he compelled his enemies to sign a truce at Westminster by 1270. The office of Bailiff was eventually superseded by a Mayor, but the legalistic character of the office at least offered an appellate forum.

As an officer of the king's court, the Bailiff also passed judgement on cases in camera, commissioned investigations, and enforced collection. These cases were mostly inquisitions into inheritance, alienation of lands, and rights of wardship, with the Escheator as an inquisitorial presiding judge. For example, by 1291 Reginald Moniword had been made a judge.[2] However historians have noted his lack of real power.

List of Bailiffs of Hereford

Bailiffs of Hereford
Date Name
1268Richard Bisse
1269Adam Swaine
1270Adam Swain
1271Walter le Wanter
1272John Seym
1273Hugo Seward
1274Reginald Moniword
1275Richard Moniword
1276Reginald Moniword[3]
1277John de Pyon
1278Thomas
1279John Werrour
1280John Catchpol
1281John le Gaunter
1282Hugo Doreward
1283John le Sutton
1284John le Gaunter
1285William Franklyn
1286William Goudry
1287John le Gaunter
1288John le Gainter
1289William Framelyn
1290John le Gaunter
1291John le Gaunter
1292Roberto de Dik.[4]
1293Roberto de Dik
1294Hugo Frouse
1295John Suton
1296John Moniword
1297Hugo Grovey
1298William Vomaller
1299John de Stretton
1300William de Smey
1301William de Smey
1302Nicholas Iwayn
1303Richard Moniword
1304Hugh Froue
1305vacant
1306vacant
1307Richard Moniword
1308Richard Moniword
1309Richard Moniword
1310Richard Moniword
1311Henry de Orleton
1312Richard de Cruse
1313Thomas de Tope
1314William de Orleton
1315Richard Thurgin
1316Richard Thurgin
1317Thomas Tope
1318Richard Moniword[5][6]
1319Philip de Werrour
1320Philip le Worror
1321Philip le Worror
1322William de Orleton
1323William de Stanton
1324William de Orleton
1325John de Lansale
1326William Horeman
1327Thomas Cope
1328Robert de Hompton
1329Robert de Hompton
1330Robert de Hompton
1331Robert de Hompton
1332Robert de Hompton
1333Robert de Hompton
1334John de la Barre
1335Thomas Thorpe
1336Walter le Catchpole
1337Roger Colling
1338Walter le Catchpole
1339Walter de la Barre
1340Walter de la Barre
1341Robert de Hompton
1342Robert de Hompton
1343Nicholas de Bromyard
1344Richard Aubrey
1345Richard Aubrey
1346Nicholas de Bromyard
1347Nicholas de Bromyard
1348Nicholas de Bromyard
1349Richard de Bromyard
1350Richard de Bromyard
1351Richard Hamond
1352Henry Catchpole
1353John le Bailiff
1354John le Bailiff
1355John Field
1356Bartholomew le Clerk
1357Henry Catchpole
1358John le Clerk
1359Walter de Ailmeston
1360John Field
1361Batholomew le Clerk
1362Walter Ailmeston
1363Thomas Don
1364Walter de Ailmeston
1365Richard Elliot
1366John Bailiff
1367John Blod
1368William Colling
1369Henry Catchpole
1370Richard Elliot
1371John Blod
1372Richard Elliot
1373William Colling
1373John Goldsmith
1375Henry Catchpole
1376William Delamere
1377Richard Falke
1378Hugh Osborne
1379Richard Falke
1380Richard Palmer
1381Richard Falke
1382Richard Falke
1383Thomas Benger

[7]

Notes

    References

    1. Long Ago, vol.16, issue 11 (1874), p.98
    2. 1Hereford Corporation, 13th report, part 4, Court Rolls to 1509, pp.292-302
    3. Court Rolls, pp.292-302, 4th part, 13th Report of Wyelands and Hereford Corporation. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/hist-mss-comm/vol31/pt4/pp292-302
    4. Court Rolls to 1509, pp.292-302
    5. the Moneyword family were the best known wool merchants in the county. John was MP in 1322, Richard in 1326, and another John in 1384.
    6. Lloyd, The English Wool Trade in the Middle Ages (1977), 299; W.R. Williams, The Parliamentary History of the County of Hereford 1213-1896 (1896), 745, 79.
    7. Johnson's Customs of Hereford is heavily criticised by modern historians as inaccurate. but it is the only source for the above list.

    External links

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