English legal history in detail
Warrant to sheriff of Essex County, England, for a case tried before William Lord Mansfield and clerk's listing of cases assigned to judges.
Cholinsford, England: 1772.
Price: $400.00
About the item
1 parchment leaf and one paper leaf. English legal history in detail. Ink on parchment, with a black ink seal in left margin. Docketed on verso in a contemporary hand and signed by three persons named on recto. Paper leaf lined vertically in red, with eight blind stamps reading "shilling" and showing a coat of arms.
Item #318099
This warrant describes the crimes of several named persons, including Daniel Halls, convicted of felony and burglary against Elizabeth Wilson, widow, to the sum of twelve shillings and eight pence.
This legal document describes the course of redress for a theft in some detail, including a reward of forty pounds for the apprehension of housebreakers, divided among Elizabeth Wilson, Daniel Wilson, and James Button.
The note on the verso records the payment of the reward and includes the signatures of Elizabeth Wilson, Daniel Wilson, and "the mark of James Button" (a shaky X). Interestingly, it appears that Elizabeth Wilson was literate enough to write her own name.
This note is interesting for its legal history, but also its association with William Lord Mansfield, who was associated with the reform of the English legal system in his time.
Together with a paper leaf that appears to be a clerk's listing of cases filed with their assignments to judges, annotated in the border. Several of the cases are signed by Lord Mansfield.
