Aston juxta Budworth, Aston juxta Sutton, Appleton, Antrobus, Astmore,
Barnton, Bartington, Bexton, Budworth (Great), Comberbach, Cotton,
Church Hulme (Holmes Chapel), Cogshall, Crowley, Daresbury, Halton,
Hatton, Kekewick, Lymm, Millington, Newton juxta Daresbury, Preston
o’th Hill, Sutton, Stretton, Seven Oaks, Toft, Tabley (Over), Weston,
Walton Superior, Walton Inferior, Whitley Superior, Whitley Inferior.
A jury is appointed, and sworn in by the deputy steward, and a
constable and two burleymen are appointed.
The following is the form of oath administered to the foreman and rest
of the jury:--
“You as foreman of this inquest, with the rest of your fellows, shall
duly inquire and true presentment make of all such matters and things
as relate to the present service, wherein you shall spare no man for
fear, love, favour, or affection, nor present any man out of malice or
hatred, but according as things here presentable shall come to your
knowledge, by information or otherwise, so shall you make thereof true
presentment without concealment. So help you God.”
Before the opening of the court by the deputy steward, the bailiff
makes the following proclamation:--
“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All manner of persons who owe suit and service to
this Court Leet and view of Frankpledge and Court Baron of His Most
Gracious Majesty the King, as Duke of Lancaster, Baron of Halton, and
paramount Lord of this Manor and Fee, draw near, give your attendance,
and answer to your names.”
No business is, of course, transacted, and the proceedings finish up
with a dinner, over which the deputy steward presides.
As before stated, the court must have had jurisdiction over a wide
area, as the jurors are summoned from Barnton, near Northwich, and
from Toft and Tabley, near Knutsford, and also from Holmes Chapel. It
is also evident from the extracts from Mr. Beamont’s book that minor
courts were held in connection with the Halton Court at a variety of
places, and it is also to be noticed that the jurisdiction of the court
extended across the river Mersey into Lancashire, and that courts were
held at Widnes and Farnworth. In fact, there is the Manor of Widnes,
comprising land on the Lancashire side of the river, which also belongs
to the Duchy of Lancaster, and of which the King is the lord, and it is
presumed the jurisdiction of the court would extend over the area of
this manor.
In some remarks on the last Court Leet, held in December 1908, the
_Warrington Guardian_ stated:
“That the Widnes or Farnworth Leet, which was subject to Halton,
had the power to mete out only four punishments. These included
the pillory, an ignominious punishment; and the cuck-stool or
ducking-chair, for punishing a scold, of whose unruly member it was
said:
‘Of members the tongue is the worst and the best,
And an ill tongue sows often the seeds of unrest.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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