Recorder of Barnstaple

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Framed list of the Recorders of the Borough of Barnstaple, displayed in the mayor's Parlour, Barnstaple RecordersOfBarnstaple Devon FramedList Mayor'sParlour.PNG
Framed list of the Recorders of the Borough of Barnstaple, displayed in the mayor's Parlour, Barnstaple

The recorder of Barnstaple was a recorder, a form of senior judicial officer, usually an experienced barrister, within the jurisdiction of the Borough of Barnstaple in Devon. He was usually a member of the local North Devonshire gentry. The position of recorder of any borough carried a great deal of prestige and power of patronage. The recorder of a borough was often entrusted by the mayor and corporation to nominate its Members of Parliament, as was the case with Sir Hugh I Pollard (fl. 1536, 1545), Recorder of Barnstaple, who in 1545 nominated the two MP's to represent the Borough of Barnstaple. [1] In the 19th century a recorder was the sole judge who presided at a Quarter Sessions of a Borough, a "Court of Record", and was a barrister of at least five years' standing. He fixed the dates of the Quarter Sessions at his own discretion "as long as he holds it once every quarter of a year", or more often if he deemed fit. [2]

Contents

List of recorders of Barnstaple

"14 Jan. At his seat, Cross, near Torrington, Thomas Stevens, Esq. recorder of Exeter, Barnstaple, and Torrington, and a major in the North Devon regiment of Yeomanry cavalry. Educated for the bar, he early displayed talents of a superior order, and in 1826 he was elected by the chamber of Exeter to fill the honourable and responsible office of recorder of that city. On Monday, January 9, Mr. Stevens sat in the court of quarter sessions in Barnstaple; and on Tuesday, at the quarter sessions in South Molton; and, on each of those days, he complained of indisposition in his head. A tumultuous assemblage of people at Torrington on the following days, called forth his active exertions both as a magistrate and an officer, and probably increased the excitement which disease had previously begotten in his mind. On Friday evening he wrote a letter to a gentleman, which bore strong indications of great mental agitation. In this perturbed state he retired to his room on the evening of Friday. In the morning (...) was heard from the dressing room, which induced Mrs. Stevens to hasten thither; and, on entering she caught her husband in her arms, deluged in blood flowing in torrents from a wound inflicted in his throat, which caused his death within a very short period".

List of deputy recorders of Barnstaple

Sources

Related Research Articles

References

  1. History of Parliament biography of George Rolle (d.1552) of Stevenstone, MP
  2. Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th Edition, Vol.20, p. 159 "Quarter Sessions"
  3. Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII , ed. James Gairdner, vol. X, no. 416; Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, Appendix 8: The Sheriffs of Devon since the Conquest, p. 12.
  4. Hawkyard, A.D.K., biography of George Rolle (d.1552), MP, published in History of Parliament: House of Commons 1509-1558, Vol.3, London, 1982
  5. Hawkyard, A.D.K., biography of Carey, Robert (c.1515-87), of Clovelly and Exeter, Devon, published in History of Parliament: House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
  6. As he stated his residence in his will
  7. W[illiam] R[etlaw] Williams (1898), The Parliamentary History of the County of Gloucester, including the Cities of Bristol and Gloucester, and the Boroughs of Cheltenham, Cirencester, Stroud, and Tewkesbury, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, 1213–1898, Hereford: Private printing for the author by Jakeman and Carver, pp. 116–117.
  8. Dodderidge, Rev. Sidney E., Pedigree of Dudderigge alias Dodderidge, of Dotheridge, South Molton, and Barnstaple, Co. Devon, Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, vol. 3, no. 5, (1905) pp.166-169
  9. Dodderidge, Rev. Sidney E.
  10. Cruickshanks, Eveline & Hanham, Andrew A., biography of Hopper, Nicholas (1654-1731), of the Inner Temple; Barnstaple and Braunton, Devon published in History of Parliament: House of Commons 1690-1715, ed. D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley, London, 2002.
  11. Art UK
  12. death notices in the 1832 Annual Register, quoted in
  13. Heralds Visitation of Devon, Moore; Lysons (Magna Britannia, Vol.6, 1822, Gentry) on the other hand states Thomas Stevens to have acquired Winscott "by the bequest of the late John Cleveland, Esq."
  14. "Stalking Dead People: Thomas Moore (1782-1832)". February 2011.
  15. See also: http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I43421&tree=Nixon
  16. dates per: http://stalkingdeadpeople.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/thomas-moore.html
  17. Heralds Visitation of Devon, p. 109, Moore
  18. "Stalking Dead People: The Diaries of Sophia Stevens". 5 February 2012.
  19. Heraldic Visitation of Devon, ed. Vivian, footnote
  20. Quoted in: http://stalkingdeadpeople.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/thomas-moore.html
  21. Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 498.
  22. Lamplugh, Lois, Barnstaple: Town on the Taw, South Molton, 2002, p. 15.
  23. Reed, Margaret A., Pilton: Its Past and Its People, Barnstaple, 1985, p. 143; Listed building text