Borough

The constitution of Tudor Norwich was based on two early 15th-century charters, one of 1404 incorporating it as a county under the name of the citizens and community, and another of 1417 setting out the arrangements for civic elections. The mayor and two sheriffs were assisted by 24 aldermen and by a common council of 60, chosen annually by the city’s four wards. There were a town clerk, a recorder and several lesser officials, and a number of lawyers of local birth were retained as counsel. The civic records for the period survive almost intact.Recs. Norwich, ed.

The town of Bishop’s Lynn had been founded in the late 11th century by the bishop of Norwich at the suit of traders settled on the western border of his manor of Gaywood. In 1204 Bishop John de Gray gave the town a charter by which its burgesses were to enjoy the same liberties and privileges as those of residents of Oxford.

Henry III’s charter to Yarmouth of 1272 underwent later revision and the version of 1494 was confirmed in 1518 and 1554. Although not incorporated, the borough was governed by two bailiffs assisted by an inner council (the Twenty-Four), a common council (the Forty-Eight) and several municipal officers. The two councils made up the assembly, of whose proceedings the town clerk kept a minute book which partially survives for the early 16th century, with other borough records.

The castle, manor and chase of Rising had belonged to the duchy of Cornwall until 1544, when Henry VIII exchanged them and two other manors with the 3rd Duke of Norfolk for lands in Suffolk. On the duke’s attainder in 1547 they escheated to the crown but after his restoration in 1553 he recovered them by Act (1 Mary st. 3, no.14). On his death a year later the lordship passed to his widow, who survived until 30 Nov. 1558 when the 4th Duke inherited it.

Situated at the junction of the rivers Wye and Monnow, the manor, town and borough of Monmouth belonged to the duchy of Lancaster. In 1536, when Monmouthshire was created by the Act of Union, the parts of the town on the English side of the two rivers were included within it. Monmouth became the shire town, although the county court was held alternately there and at Newport. Like many border towns Monmouth had suffered from the lawlessness which prevailed before the Union, and in 1544 it was included in the Act (35 Hen. VIII, c.4) for the re-edification of certain towns.

Westminster was given the status of a city by the letters patent of December 1540 which reconstituted the former abbey as a cathedral, but neither then nor later was it incorporated. Between 1540 and 1550 the bishop exercised the powers, including the right to appoint a steward (otherwise under steward) of Westminster, which earlier had been vested in the abbey, and after the suppression of the bishopric these were transferred to the dean and chapter of the collegiate church set up by Edward VI.

Like other market towns in Lincolnshire, Stamford suffered from the decline of the wool trade and in 1542 it was included in an Act (33 Hen. VIII, c.36) for decayed towns. The castle, manor and town belonged to the crown as part of the duchy of York, and formed part of the jointure of each of Henry VIII’s consorts. In 1462 the borough had been incorporated as the alderman and burgesses. Edward IV granted a second charter in 1481 modifying and extending the earlier one. Three years later Richard III confirmed the charter of 1481 and in 1510 Henry VIII confirmed both.

By the 16th century Lincoln was in full decline. The departure of the wealthier merchants formerly resident there left less influential citizens to administer the city. Houses fell vacant as the population continued to fall—in 1540 it was estimated to be less than 2,000—and churches became redundant. The city was exempted from payments towards the subsidies of 1512, 1513 and 1515; it was included in the Act of 1540 (32 Hen. VIII, c.18) for the re-edification of towns and in 1549 it secured an Act (2 and 3 Edw. VI, no.48) for the reorganization of its parishes.

Since the early 15th century the haven at Grimsby had been silting up, while the draught of ships had been increasing; the resultant loss of trade was so severe that a commission was appointed in 1490 to investigate the town’s poverty. The decay of the port led to an exodus of many merchants and thus to a decrease in the town’s ability to resist the influence of the crown, the earls of Westmorland and local gentlemen.E. Gillett, Grimsby, passim.

The borough of Grantham had been incorporated by Edward IV in 1463 as the alderman and burgesses. The alderman was elected annually from a body of 13 comburgesses holding office for life and forming the alderman’s court; vacancies among the comburgesses were filled by election from among the freemen. There were various municipal officers, including by the early 16th century a recorder, who was often a member of the Thorold family. The charter was slightly modified in 1484 and confirmed in 1504, 1510 and 1547. No municipal records survive for the period.