Politics and the Bench by W. J. Jones

Author:W. J. Jones [Jones, W. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Great Britain, Stuart Era (1603-1714), Modern, 17th Century, General
ISBN: 9781000207835
Google: tt38DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-10-27T16:01:00+00:00

It was said that the Prothonotaries of this court and their clerks drew pleadings at ‘an extraordinary length’. The price for the first three sheets was supposedly 8d a sheet and less for subsequent sheets, but it was alleged that I2d was being charged throughout. The sheets were described as small, the margins large, the lines few, and the number of words to a line even fewer. Complaints of this nature against a myriad of officials, such as those responsible for equity pleadings and enrolments in Chancery and other courts, are common across the decades. The relationship between administrative practice and legal proceedings was easiest to pin down and most open to attack. Most criticisms of Chancery and Common Pleas raised themes which were common to current methods of administration (Doc. 17). Spelman claimed that, because of vile writings and poor skins, a grant to the city of London consumed 155, skins of parchment whereas 90 would have sufficed in 1568–9. In consequence, he said, the cost was increased by £272 15s. Whether or not Spelman was right, and he probably was, the difference is staggering.57

56 In PRO, Chancery Masters’ Exhibits, C. 108/63.

57 PRO, E. 215/2/147. Jean S. Wilson, ‘Sir Henry Spelman and the Royal Commission on Fees, 1622–1640% Studies Presented to Sir Hilary Jenkinson, ed. J. Conway Davies, London, 1957, p. 466.

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