The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 1/2Griffiths, Arthur
History
The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 1/2
Griffiths, Arthur
Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England); Prisons -- England; Punishment -- Great Britain
In 1327 a further point was gained. The support of the citizens had been
freely given to Queen Isabella and her young son in the struggle against
Edward II. On the accession of Edward III. a new charter, dated in the
first year of his reign, was granted to the city of London. After
confirming the ancient liberties, it granted many new privileges; chief
among them was the concession that the Mayor of London should be one of
the justices for gaol delivery of Newgate, and named in every commission
for that purpose. The king’s marshal might in future hold no court
within the boundary of the city, nor were citizens to be called upon to
plead beyond them for anything done within the liberties. No market
might be kept within seven miles of London, while the citizens were
permitted to hold fairs and a court of “pye powder” therein; in other
words, a court for the summary disposal of all offences committed by
hawkers or pedlers, or perambulating merchants, who have _les pieds
poudrés_, or are “dusty-footed.”[17] Other privileges were obtained from
the king during his reign. A second charter granted them the bailiwick
of Southwark, a village which openly harboured “felons, thieves, and
other malefactors,” who committed crimes in the city and fled to
Southwark for sanctuary; and a third guaranteed them against the
competition of foreign merchants, who were forbidden to sell by retail
in the city, to keep any house, or act as broker therein. Again, the
election of the mayor was established on a more settled plan, and vested
in the mayor and aldermen for the time being. Another charter conceded
to the Corporation the honour of having gold and silver maces borne
before the chief functionary, who about this period became first
entitled to take rank as Lord Mayor. The vast wealth and importance of
this great civic dignitary was to be seen in the state he kept up. The
Lord Mayor even then dispensed a princely hospitality, and one eminent
citizen in this reign, Henry Picard by name, had the honour of
entertaining four sovereigns at his table, viz. the kings of England,
France, Scotland, and Cyprus, with the Prince of Wales and many more
notables. This Picard was one of the Guild of Merchant Vintners of
Gascony, a Bordeaux wine merchant, in fact, and a Gascon by birth,
although a naturalized subject of the English king. The Vintners gave
the city several lord mayors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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