The Statutes of the Realm/Volume 1/Introduction/Chapter 3/Section 2

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Introduction, Chapter III, Section I
The Statutes of the Realm, Volume I, Introduction, Chapter III
 (1810)
the Record Commission
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3907721The Statutes of the Realm, Volume I, Introduction, Chapter III
— Introduction, Chapter III, Section II1810the Record Commission

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Sect. II.

Of the Sources from whence the several Matters have been taken.

I. The Sources from which the Materials have been taken for this Collection, are necessarily of a different Character and Description in different Periods of our History.

The earliest Statutes contained in the several Collections are those of Henry III; but no Parliamentary Record of Statutes is now known to be extant, prior to the Statute Roll 6 Edw. I. To this interval nevertheless belong the Statutes of Merton, Marlborough, Westminster the First, and several others, always included in the Printed Editions. For this early Period, therefore, Recourse must be had to inferior Sources for the Text of our Statute Law: And even in subsequent Times, there is not only an Interruption in the Series of Statute Rolls, namely, after 8 Hen. VI, until 23 Hen. VI, inclusive, during which the like Recourse must be had to Sources of an inferior Degree of Authority; but the Statute Rolls themselves do not, within their own Period, contain all the Instruments which have been acknowledged as Statutes. After 8 Edw. IV. the Statute Roll is not preserved; after 4 Henry VII. it ceased to be made up; and ultimately it was succeeded, for practical Purposes, by the Inrollment in Chancery;[1] though during a short Period the Statute Roll and the Inrollment appear to have been contemporary.

The Materials for the several Periods during which no Statute Rolls or Parliamentary Records exist, can only be collected from Records, on which Copies or Extracts of Statutes have been entered; or from other Manuscripts not of Record; or, in Default of other Authority, from the oldest Printed Editions in which such Matters were first inserted. With respect to Entries of Record, in these Periods, That has been judged to be the most authentic Evidence of a Statute, which has been preserved as a Record or authentic Copy from antient Times, in the Custody of the highest Courts authorized for that Purpose. Such are Copies or Extracts of particular Statutes found in the Close, Patent, Fine, and Charter Rolls, being Records of Chancery. Such also are the Red Books of the Exchequer of Westminster, and Dublin. On Failure of these Records, Recourse has, of Necessity, been had to Manuscripts not of Record, preserved in the Custody of Courts of Justice, Public Libraries, or other Public Repositories. Such are some antient Books of Statutes in the Exchequer at Westminster, in the Town Clerk’s Office, London, in the several Cathedrals, in the Public and other Libraries of the several Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, and in the British Museum: When all these Sources have proved deficient, and in such Case only, a Copy has been admitted, from the oldest Printed Edition, with Various Readings from subsequent Printed Editions.

During the Periods in which Statute Rolls or other Parliamentary Records do actually exist, the Authentic Evidence of Statutes, (and of other Proceedings in Parliament, before the Commencement of the Journals,) must be searched for upon Statute Rolls; Inrollments of Acts; Exemplifications of such Statute Rolls or Inrollments; Transcripts by Writ into Chancery for the Purpose of such Exemplifications; Original Acts; and Rolls of Parliament.—These are the only Authentic Sources from whence, during those Periods, a Knowledge can be obtained of the different Occurrences in Parliament, whether important or minute. With the Exception of some Rolls containing Proceedings in Parliament from 18 to 35 Edw. I, which are in the Chapter House at Westminster, ​such of the Original Statute Rolls, Inrollments of Acts, and Parliament Rolls, as are still preserved, are deposited in the Tower of London,[2] or at the Chapel of the Rolls,[3] Places appropriated to the Custody of the Records of the King’s Chancery, which has ever been deemed the proper Repository of the Statutes of the Kingdom.

II. The Nature and Qualities of the several Records and Manuscripts from whence all the Statutes, as well those of an earlier as of a later Period, have been taken for Insertion or Collation in this Work, and the Place where each original Record and Manuscript is kept, will more fully appear from the following Detail.

1. Statute Rolls.—These are Records of Chancery, of the highest Authority, on which were entered the several Statutes when drawn up in Form; for the Purpose of being proclaimed and published; these Statutes being framed upon such Original Petitions and Answers, or Entries thereof on the Parliament Rolls, as related to Public Concerns.[4] The earliest Statute Roll now known to exist, is that which commences with The Statute of Gloucester 6 Edw. I. A.D. 1278. From that Period to 8 Edw. IV. inclusive, A.D. 1468, with an Interruption, after 8 Hen. VI. until 23 Hen. VI. inclusive, the Statutes are preserved in the Tower of London in a regular Series, on Six separate Rolls, each Roll consisting of several Membranes tacked together. The Contents of each Roll are as follows, viz.

Of the Great Roll; Statutes from 6 Edw. I. to 50 Edw. III. But this Roll does not contain all the Statutes which have been printed as of that Period.[5]

Second Roll; Statutes Temp. Ric. II. There is also a separate Roll, of one Membrane, containing a Duplicate of the Statutes 21 Ric. II.

Third Roll; Statutes Temp. Hen. IV. and V.

Fourth Roll; Statutes 1 Hen. VI. to 8 Hen. VI.

Fifth Roll; Statutes 25 Hen. VI. to 39 Hen. VI.

Sixth Roll; Statutes 1 Edw. IV. to 8 Edw. IV. This is the last Statute Roll now known to exist, none of a later Date having been found.

These have ever had the Reputation annexed to them of being Statute Rolls. Some of them are cited by that Name upon the Close and Patent Rolls;[6] and referred to by great Law Writers, Lord Coke, Lord Hale,[7] and ​the Editors of Statutes, Pulton, Hawkins, Cay, &c. There is Evidence also that Statute Rolls have existed of a subsequent Time; for the Statutes after 8 Edward IV, until 4 Henry VII. inclusive, are inserted in the early Printed Editions in a Form manifestly copied from complete Statute Rolls; and they are found in the like Form in Lib. XI. in the Exchequer at Westminster, MS. Cott. Nero C. I, in the British Museum, and in several other Manuscript Collections. But there is reason to conclude, that the making up of the Statute Roll entirely ceased with the Session 4 Hen. VII, as no such Roll of a later Date, nor any Evidence thereof has been discovered; and it is observable that in the next Session, 7 Hen. VII, Public Acts were, for the first time, printed from the several Bills passed in Parliament, and not as part of one general Statute drawn up in the antient Form.

2. Inrollments of Acts of Parliament.—These are Records, containing the Acts of Parliament certified and delivered into Chancery. They are preserved in the Chapel of the Rolls, in an uninterrupted Series from 1 Ric. III. to the present Time; except only during the Usurpation. By the Officers of Chancery they are commonly termed “Parliament Rolls;” and they are variously endorsed, some with the Phrase “Inrollments of Acts.”[8] From 1 Ric. III. to 3 Car. I. inclusive, they comprehend several other Proceedings of Parliament besides the Acts inrolled; (sometimes for Instance, the Commissions for giving the Royal Assent to Bills are found entered on them;[9]) thus partaking of the Qualities of Rolls of Parliament, and including nearly the same Contents: until, the miscellaneous Matters disappearing by Degrees, the Acts inrolled only occur: After 5 Hen. VII. they may be considered in Effect, as coming in the Place of the Statute Roll.[10] To 25 Hen. VIII. they contain all Acts, Public and Private, which were passed in every Session, each with an introductory and concluding Form of their being presented and assented to: From 25 Hen. VIII, to 35 Eliz. several of the Private Acts, and afterwards to 3 Car. I. all the Private Acts, are omitted, their Titles only being noticed. From 16 Car. I. to 31 George II. the Inrollments contain nothing but the Public Acts, and the Titles of the Private Acts, with the several Forms of Assent, without any other Parliamentary Matter. And from 32 George II. their Contents are the same, with the Omission of the Titles of the Private Acts.

At present, after all the Public-General Acts of the Session have received the Royal Assent, a Transcript of the Whole is certified by the Clerk of the Parliaments, and deposited in the Rolls Chapel: On that Occasion the Clerk of the Parliaments sends the Roll, or Rolls, containing such Transcript, apparently in a complete State, engrossed on Parchment, signed, and certified by him as Clerk of the Parliaments; and it is thereupon arranged with the other Records; and thus becomes the Inrollment of the Statutes of that Session of Parliament. For this Transcript the Clerk of the Parliaments is paid every Session out of the Hanaper, on a Receipt by the Clerk of the Records in the Rolls Chapel, stating that the Roll is delivered there.

It may be further observed upon this Subject, that the Proceedings which took Place in the House of Lords in Ireland in 1758,[11] for the better Preservation of the Records of Parliament in that Kingdom, where the Constitution and Law of Parliament were in all essential Points conformable to those of England, afford a strong Illustration of the Practice of certifying Statutes and recording them in Chancery.[12]
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3. Exemplifications; and Transcripts by Writ.—Exemplifications are Copies sent out of Chancery under the King’s Seal; either to Sheriffs of Counties and Cities in England, or to the Chancellor or Chief Justice of Ireland, or to other Courts or Places, for the safe Custody and for the proclaiming or confirming of the Statute; or in other Cases for affording Authentic Evidence of the Statute. In the Tower of London, Copies of the Statutes 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18 and 20 Hen.VI. (for some Years to the Number of two, three, six, or seven Copies) are preserved on separate Skins of Parchment, which appear to have been prepared as Exemplifications, for the Purpose of proclaiming the several Statutes; and these serve to supply the Deficiency of the Statute Roll during that Period. One similar Copy of the Statutes 13 Ric. II. is also preserved in the Tower.[13]

It is not irrelevant to remark, that an Exemplification differs from an Original Grant under the Great Seal, or an Original Act of Parliament, in this; that an Exemplification is a Copy, and can be made only from the Record.[14] At the present Day every Exemplification, being first made out in Form by the proper Officer, is examined with the Record by two Masters in Chancery, who not only subscribe a Certificate on the Exemplification, of their having examined it with the Record, but also sign a Certificate to that effect, addressed to the Lord Chancellor, on a Paper called the Docket, which is left with him before the Exemplification is allowed to pass the Great Seal.

Transcripts by Writ were Copies sent into Chancery in Answer to the King’s Writ or Mandate, calling for a Copy of the Statute from the Officer in whose Custody it was preserved. A Transcript of the Statutes of Wales 12 Edw. I. is preserved in the Tower of London, with the Writ annexed, by which that Transcript was required from the Exchequer at Westminster;[15] where it was entered of Record, according to the Usage which formerly prevailed of sometimes inrolling Statutes in Courts of Justice.[16] Transcripts and Exemplifications of Statutes have also been occasionally found in various other Repositories.[17]

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4. Original Acts.—These, from the 12th Year of Henry VII. to the present Time, with some Interruption, particularly in 14 & 15 Hen. VIII. and 21 Hen. VIII. are preserved in the Parliament Office. Some Petitions and Bills previous to 12 Hen. VII. are in the Tower of London, but in no regular Series. The Original Ats in the Parliament Office consist of the Bills as ingrossed after being brought into Parliament, and in the State in which, after such Ingrossment, they passed both Houses, and received the Royal Assent. Each Act is on a separate Roll numbered; and Reference is made to them from a Calendar kept of the Acts of each Session in the Parliament Office. These are the Materials from which the Clerk of the Parliaments makes up the Inrollments of Public Acts sent by him into Chancery, and preserved there; or certifies Acts into Chancery, when required so to do.[18]

As to the comparative Authority of the Original Acts and the Inrollments in Chancery, it is to be observed, that all the Original Acts are separate from each other; and that they are frequently interlined, defaced, erased, and in many Instances, with great Difficulty intelligible:[19] The Inrollment in Chancery is always fair and distinct; and the Acts are entered in a regular Series, on one Roll or subsequent Rolls, as Part of the Proceedings of a Parliament, the Time of the holding of which is stated at the Beginning of the Roll. In modern Practice, if any Doubt arises as to the Correctness of the Inrollment in Chancery,[20] Application is made to the Clerk of the Parliaments; and the original Act is thereupon produced, and compared with the Inrollment, and an Amendment, if requisite, is made in the Inrollment accordingly.

5. Rolls of Parliament.—These contain Entries of the several Transactions in Parliament; when complete they include the Adjournments, and all other common and daily Occurrences and Proceedings from the opening to the close of each Parliament, with the several Petitions or Bills, and the Answers given thereto, not only on public Matters, on which the Statute was afterwards framed, but also on private Concerns. In some few Instances the Statute as drawn up in Form is entered on the Parliament Roll: but in general the Petition and Answer only, are found entered; and in such Case the Entry, of itself, furnishes no certain Evidence, that the Petition and Answer were at any Time put into the Form of a Statute.[21]

Copies of Petitions in Parliament and Answers thereto, as early as 6 Edw. I. and in various Years of Edw. II. and Edw. III. are among Lord Hale’s Manuscripts in the Library of Lincoln’s Inn. Rolls containing Pleas, Petitions and Answers, and other Proceedings in Parliament, from 18 to 35 Edw. I. and one of Petitions in Parliament 7 Hen. V., are in the Chapter House at Westminster. A Book of Inrollment, called Vetus Codex, in which are entered Proceedings in Parliament, from 18 Edw. I. to 35 Edw. I. and in 14 Edw. II, is in the Tower of London.[22] In that Repository also are preserved Rolls containing Pleas and other Proceedings in Parliament, between 5 Edw. II. and 13 Edw. III; Rolls of Parliament of 9 Edw. II; 4, 5, and 6 Edw. III;[23] and 13 Edw. III; and from thence, to the End of the Reign of Edward IV, in a regular, and nearly uninterrupted, Series. After that Time the Rolls of Parliament are, for a certain Period, supplied by the Inrollments of Acts preserved in the Chapel of the Rolls,[24] and finally by the Journals of the Two Houses of Parliament.[25]
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6. The Close, Patent, Fine, and Charter Rolls, among a Variety of Grants, Recognisances, and other Miscellaneous Matters, concerning the State of the Realm and the Rights of the Crown, recorded in them, include Entries of Statutes, and some Instruments having direct Reference to Statutes wherein such Statutes are recited at length. These Rolls are kept at the Tower, from the Beginning of the Reign of King John to 22 Edw. IV, and from the Reign of Edw. V. to the present Time at the Chapel of the Rolls.

7. Books of Record, containing Entries of Statutes and Parliamentary Proceedings.—Of this Sort is, The Red Book of the Exchequer at Westminster, some of the early Part of which was compiled by Alexander de Swereford, first a Clerk and afterwards a Baron of the Exchequer,[26] in the Reign of Henry III. It seems afterwards to have been considered and used as an authorized Repository by the Court itself; and contains Entries and Inrollments of many Charters and antient Acts of Parliament, as well as other Instruments relating to the King and the Rights of the Crown, from the Time of William the Conqueror to the End of Edw. III.: The Originals of several of these Acts and Instruments are preserved in the Tower of London, and in the Chapter House at Westminster, with References to Inrollments in this Book,[27] or to the Circumstance of the Act being sent into the Exchequer.[28] The Red Book of the Exchequer at Dublin is considered as of the same Authority: It contains Entries of Magna Carta 1 Hen. III. especially granted to the People of Ireland; of the Statute of Westminster the First, 3 Edw. I, (which is not to be found on the Great Roll of Statutes in the Tower of London, being prior in Date to the present Commencement of that Roll,) and also of the Statutes of Gloucester, 6 Edw. I, de Viris Religiosis 7 Edw. I, and Westminster the Second, 13 Edw. I, agreeing in general with the Text of those Statutes on the Statute Roll in the Tower. There is reason to conclude that these Statutes were entered in the Red Book at Dublin, from an Exemplification sent over from England in the 13th Year of Edw. I, as is noticed in a Memorandum on the Close Roll of that Year.[29] A Register Book marked A., preserved at the Chapter House at Westminster, as in the Custody of the Treasurer and Chamberlains of the Exchequer,[30] contains Entries or Inrollments made in the Time of Edward I. Among these are the Statute of Gloucester, 6 Edw. I, and the Statute of Westminster the Second, 13 Edw. I. The Originals of the several Statutes and Instruments, it is stated in the Register, were deposited in certain Chests in the Chapter House; but these Originals have not been discovered.

8. Books and Manuscripts not of Record, containing Entries or Copies of Statutes, are very numerous. In the Court of Exchequer at Westminster are Three Books, marked IX. X. XI. Book X. contains many of the earlier Statutes previous to Edw. III: Books IX. XI. contain the Statutes from 1 Edw. III. to 7 Hen. VIII.

In the Town Clerk’s Office, at the Guildhall of the City of London, are several Manuscript Volumes; in which, among other Matters chiefly relating to the Laws and Customs of the City of London, are Entries of many of the antient Statutes previous to Edward III. The greatest Number, and the earliest Copies are in two Volumes, distinguished by the Appellations, Liber Horn, and Liber Custumarum. It appears from internal Evidence that Liber Horn was compiled about the Year 1311, and Liber Custumarum not long after the Year 1320: Liber Horn is rendered valuable by having been in many Instances corrected, in a later Hand Writing, from Exemplifications of Statutes sent under Seal to the Sheriffs of London. In two other Manuscripts, one called Liber de Antiquis Legibus, and the other Transcriptum Libri Albi, copied from a Volume originally compiled in the Mayoralty of Richard Whityngton A. D. 1419, 7 Hen. V, are occasional Entries of a few antient Statutes. In other Volumes marked G. H. and I. are Entries of some of the Statutes of Edw. III. Richard II. Henry IV. and Henry V; many of them appearing to have been made from Exemplifications sent to the Sheriffs of London for Proclamation.

Of Manuscript Collections of Statutes, preserved in Public Repositories, the greatest Number collected together in any one Place, is to be found in the British Museum. They are distinguished as being of the Cottonian or Harleian Collection; from the Royal Library; Donation Manuscripts; and Lansdowne Manuscripts. The Cottonian Manuscripts Claudius D. II. and Vespasian B. VII. were resorted to by Hawkins and Cay, for Copies of Statutes previous to Edw. III.; and Nero C. I. for Statutes of Henry VI. and Edw. IV. not found at the Tower.

In the Bodleian Library at Oxford, are Rawlinson’s, Hatton’s, and Laud’s Manuscripts. Among the latter is a Roll of Statutes, No. 1036, consisting of Eleven small Membranes of Parchment united together; not much more than Four Inches wide; but each being Two Feet or more in length. This Roll appears to have been written in the Time of Edw. I: It contains no Statute later than the Articuli super Cartas, 28 Edw. I.

At Cambridge several Manuscript Collections of Statutes are preserved in the Library of the University, and in Trinity College Library. In Corpus Christi or Bene’t College Library are the Manuscripts bequeathed to the College by Archbishop Parker.

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Chartularies or Registers, preserved in several Cathedrals, contain Copies of some of the Old Statutes. Such are the Black Book of the Cathedral of Christ Church Dublin, written between the Years 1280 and 1299, and Register A. in Gloucester Cathedral, compiled in 1397.

In Lincoln’s Inn Library, are Lord Hale’s Manuscript Copies of Rolls and Petitions in Parliament: In the Inner Temple Library, Mr. Petyt’s Collection of Manuscripts; among which are several Volumes of the Statutes. In many other Public Libraries also, Manuscript Collections of Statutes are preserved.[31]

Of the several Manuscripts not of Record, an extensive and careful Examination has been made in preparing for the present Edition; and it has been ascertained that, although they differ from each other considerably in their Degrees of Antiquity and Correctness, yet the Credit of no single one is entirely to be relied on; for scarcely any Manuscript has yet been discovered, in any Repository, in which there are not some material Errors, perverting or altogether destroying the Sense of the Text. In some Instances, however, such as Cott. Claud. D II. in the British Museum, and M m. v. 19, in the Library of the University of Cambridge, several of the Instruments contained in the Manuscripts purport to be examined by the Roll. In Liber Horn, in the Town Clerk’s Office, London, several are marked as examined ‘per Ceram;’ ‘per Ceram Gildaule;’ ‘per Statutum Gildaule London in Cera;’ ‘cum brevi cum eisdem in Gildaula adjunct’; all which signify that the Entry in the Book has been examined with an Exemplification of the Statute or Instrument under the Great Seal, sent to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London with or without a Writ for Publication thereof. The Rawlinson Manuscript No. 337. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the Harleian Manuscript No. 5022 in the British Museum, refer to the Inrollment on the Statute Roll, of several Articles inserted in those Volumes, but do not profess that the Articles themselves were examined by that Roll.

III. On a mature Consideration of all the Circumstances before stated, the following Rules of Preference have been adhered to, in the Use of the several Sources for the Text, and for Various Readings of the Statutes, in the present Collection.

During the Periods in which Statute Rolls exist, such Statute Rolls have been considered and used as the highest Authority for the Statutes contained in them; namely, the Statutes 6 Edw. I. to 8 Edw. IV.; with the Omission of the Statutes 9 to 23 Hen. VI. both inclusive.

But for such Statutes as, during the Period of the Existence of the Statute Rolls, do not appear on those Rolls; and for Statutes made in any Period of which the Statute Roll is not now in existence, namely previous to 6 Edw. I.; after 8 and before 25 Hen. VI; and after 8 Edw. IV; and also for the Correction of manifest Errors or Omissions in the Text, whether taken from Statute Rolls or elsewhere, the following Sources have been recurred to in regular Gradation; preference being given to them according to the following Order, but all being used and collated, where necessary: viz. 1. Inrollments of Acts.—2. Exemplifications and Transcripts.—3. Original Acts.—4. Rolls of Parliament.—5. Close, Patent, Fine, and Charter Rolls.—6. Entries and Books of Record.—7. Books and Manuscripts not of Record.—And finally, 8. The Printed Copies; the earliest of which was not published until more than two hundred Years subsequent to the present Commencement of the Statute Rolls.

The following Reasons for Preference among Manuscripts not of Record have been adopted: 1. Their professing to be Authentic Copies from any Records, Exemplifications, or Transcripts: 2. Their Age; the oldest being on the whole the most worthy of Credit: 3. The Uniformity and Regularity of the Series of Statutes, and Instruments in each Collection: 4. Their having been already printed, and received in use, as Evidence of the Text of Statutes; or, if not so printed, their according with the printed Copies, and with each other, so that when the Manuscripts differ, the Majority should prevail: 5. Certain Manuscripts have been holden to be of superior Authority upon some particular Subjects, having special Connection with the Places in which they are preserved: Such as the Books preserved in the Exchequer, for Statutes relating to that Court, or to Accounts, or to Money; Books at the Town Clerk’s Office, London, relating to the Assises of Bread and Ale, Weights, and Measures, &c: 6. In all Manuscripts some Articles are found much more correct than others; a Judgment has therefore frequently been formed from internal Evidence in Favour of a particular Statute or Reading, although the Manuscript in which such Statute or Reading were found, might not, in other Instances, be entitled to Preference: 7. Where it has happened that several Manuscripts agreed in the Text or Reading of any Instrument, and were so equal in their Claims for Preference, that it was entirely Matter of Indifference which should be chosen for a Source of Extract or Quotation, that Manuscript has been used which has been quoted or extracted from for other Purposes, in Preference to one not before quoted; and one which has already been printed from, in Preference to one which has not.

  1. ↑ See post page xxxv. as to Inrollments in Chancery.
  2. ↑ With respect to the depositing the Records of Chancery in the Tower, see Rot. Pat. 9 Eliz. Part 6, on which is recorded a Precept from the Queen dated 1 May, which passed under the Great Seal, to Francis Spilman Esq. Clerk of the Parliaments requiring him to remove all Rolls of Parliament, Petitions, Judgements, Attainders, and other Records of Parliament in his Custody from 22 Edw. IV. to 1 Mary, into the Tower, to be delivered to William Bowyer the Keeper of the Records there: On Part 9 of the Patent Roll of the same Year is recorded a Precept under the Sign Manual, dated 18 June, to Sir William Cordell, Master of the Rolls, for the like Removal of the Parliament Rolls, Patent Rolls, Charter Rolls, Close Rolls, Fine Rolls, and all other Rolls and Records of Chancery for the same Period. In Leland’s Collectanea (Edit. 1770.) Vol. 2. p. 656, is the Copy of a Warrant of Q. Elizabeth, without Date, requiring a like Removal of the Records of the Chancery; Which Warrant is introduced by the following Recital: “Forasmuch, as it is not meet that the Records of our Chancery being accompted as a principall Membre of the Threasure belonging to ourself, to our Corone and Realme, should remain in private Places and Houses, for doute of such Danger or Spoile as heretofore hath happened to the like Recordes in the Time of King Richard the Second, and King Henry the Sixth our Progenitours; but rather to remain in our Towre of London, under the Custody of the Keeper of our Recordes there for the Time being, as not only by due Custome of our Progenitors from Time to Time used may appeare, for that (as wee are informed) all the Records of our said Chancery from the Time of our Progenitour William the Conqueror until the last Year of the Reign of King Edward the Fourth our Progenitour, have been from Time to Time thereunto brought, and now there at this Time doe remain; But also (as wee are informed) the same is by Recorde manifeste and apparante.” The Parliament Rolls, however, as also the Close, Patent, Fine, and Charter Rolls, from the Time of Ric. III. still remain in the Chapel of the Rolls; but many Bundles of Bills, Answers, Depositions, and other Proceedings in Chancery have, at the Instance of the Six Clerks, been from time to time removed from their Record Room to the Tower; and Examinations taken by the Examiners of the said Court have, at their Instance, been also removed to the Tower.
  3. ↑ For Letters Patents, of Edw. III, annexing the Domus Conversorum, now the Chapel of the Rolls, to the Office of the Master of the Rolls, and the Confirmation thereof, by Ric. II, see Rot. Pat. 51 Edw. III. m. 20: 6 Ric. II. Part 3, m. 12.
  4. ↑ See page xxxv note 5.
  5. ↑ Lord Hale, H. C. L. ch. 1. says this Roll “begins with Magna Carta and ends with Edw. III.” This is erroneous: for though part of the Roll antecedent to 6 Edw. I. may have been lost since the time of Lord Hale, there is no reason to conclude that it ever began with Magna Carta: Magna Carta and Carta de Foresta are not entered on this Roll prior to 25 Edw. I. and they are accordingly printed as Statutes of that Year in this Collection. There are not wanting Authorities which seem to consider the Great Charter, as possessing the Validity of a Statute from the 1st or the 9th of Henry III.; before the Confirmation of it by the Statute of Marlborough, 52 Henry III. It is so considered by Coke in 2 Inst. 65, 1 Inst. 43 a, 81 a; in the Prince’s Case, 8 Rep. 19; and elsewhere: by Hale H. C. L. ch. 1; and by Blackstone in his Introduction to the Charters, 4to. pa. xl. 8vo. pa. lxi.: It is also expressly called a Statute by Littleton, sect. 108; but this may be referable to its subsequent Confirmation by Parliament. Hale’s Idea may probably have arisen from supposing it to be on the Statute Roll before 6 Edw. I. And Coke and Blackstone founded their Opinions chiefly upon two judicial decisions cited from Fitzherbert’s Abridgement; (Part 2, fo. 120 b. tit. Mordaunc. pl. 23, and Part 1, fo. 188 a. tit. Briefe pl. 881;) the one as of 5 Hen. III. the other as of 21 Hen. III; to which may be added another of 23 Hen. III. Fitz. Abr. Part 1, fo. 90 a. tit. Assise. pl. 436. These, if of those Years respectively, certainly prove that the Great Charter was then considered as the Law of the Land, but not, absolutely, that it was previously of Parliamentary Enactment. In the Instances of 5 Hen. III. and 23 Hen. III, the Phrase “lestatut de Magna Carta” is merely used incidentally by Fitzherbert in stating the Points adjudged; and there is some ground to think also that the former decision was possibly of a much later Period; See the Year Books 38 Hen. VI. 18. and 39 Hen. VI. 19: In the Instance of 21 Hen. III. the Great Charter is referred to, not as a Parliamentary Act, but as a Grant, ‘concessum’ being the Word used to denote its Authority: which Construction, the Preamble of the Articuli super Cartas, Stat. 28 Edw. I, and the Beginning of Chapter 1. of that Statute, confirm; though in the Confirmatio Cartarum, Stat. 25 Edw. I. c. 1. which passed during the Absence of the King from the Realm, it is recited of the two Charters “les queles furent faites ꝑ cōmun assent de tut le Roiaume.”—In an Admiralty Record, quoted by Prynne (Animad. 120,) as of 23 Hen. VI, the Laws of Oleron are recognised by the Term “Statutum.”
  6. ↑
    		“Vacat̃ quia nō fuerū cōsignate; set alit͛ in rotulo de Statutis.” Rot. Claus. 27 Edw. I. m. 17 d; D’ qibꝫdam articl̵is Magne Carte & Carte de Foresta. See Stat. 27 Edw. I. pa. 126. of this Volume.
    “Le quel Estatut est enroulle en le roulle destatutz.” Rot. Pat. 15 Edw. II. P. 1. m. 17. See Stat. 15 Edw. II. pa. 187. of the Statutes in this Volume, and Note b. there.
  7. ↑ Lord Hale speaks of Statutes extant of Record either “in the proper and natural Roll, viz. the Statute Roll; or entered in some other Roll, especially the Close Rolls or Patent Rolls, or in both.”—Hale H. C. L. ch. 1.
  8. ↑ See Appendix E. subjoined to this Introduction; as also the First Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on the Public Records, Ordered to be printed 4 July 1800, and the Appendix thereto D. i. a. page 84. And further as to Rolls of Parliament, see post pa. xxxvii.
  9. ↑ No Notice is taken, at the present Day, on the Inrollment of Acts in Chancery, of any Commission by which Acts are passed: It is believed that no Instance of the Entry of any such Commission on that Inrollment has occurred since the Time of Charles I. See in Appendix F. subjoined to this Introduction, a further Account of these Inrollments, and a Copy of the earliest Commission for giving the Royal Assent.
  10. ↑ See ante page xxxiii. and Appendix E. subjoined to this Introduction.
  11. ↑ See an Account of these Proceedings in Appendix E.
  12. ↑ The following Minute respecting the Mode of framing Statutes is extracted from the Treatise intituled, ‘Expeditionis Billarum Antiquitas’ quoted in Page xxxii, Note 5.

    The Statute was made by the King and a Council of Judges and others, who were called to assist herein.—“the usual Time for making a Statute was after the end of every Parliament; and after the Parliament Roll was engrossed, except on some extraordinary Occasions.”—“The Statute was drawn out of the Petition and Answer, and penned in the form of a Law, into several Chapters, or Articles, as they were originally termed.”—“The Statute being thus drawn up into divers Heads or Articles, now called Chapters, it was shewn to the King; and upon his Majesty’s Approbation thereof, it was engrossed (sometimes with a Preamble to it, and a Clause of ‘Observari Volumus’ at the Conclusion, and sometimes without any Preamble at all,) and then by Writs sent into every County to be proclaimed.” See Rot. Parl. 14 Edw. III. nu. 7: 15 Edw. III. nu. 42: 17 Edw. III. nu. 19, 23: 18 Edw. III. nu. 12, 23, 24: 22 Edw. III. nu. 4, 30: 25 Edw. III. m. 5. nu. 12, 13; m. 4. nu. 43: 27 Edw. III. nu. 42: 28 Edw. III. nu. 16: 37 Edw. III. nu. 39: 1 Ric II. nu. 56: 2 Ric II. nu. 28: 3 Ric. II. nu. 46, 50: 6 Ric. II. nu. 34, 52: 7 Ric. II. nu. 40: 2 Hen. IV. nu. 21: 7 & 8 Hen. IV. nu. 31, 37, 48, 60, 65: 13 Hen. IV. nu. 17: 2 Hen. V. P. 1. nu. 22: 8 Hen. V. nu. xvi: 9 Hen. IV. nu. 17: 2 Hen. VI. nu. 46: 10 Hen. VI. nu. 17: 15 Hen. VI. nu. 33: Hale H. C. L. ch. 1. and 3 Keble’s Rep. 587.

    “Many Inconveniencies happened to the Subject by the antient Form, in framing and publishing of the Statutes, viz. Sometimes no Statute hath been made, though agreed on; many Things have been omitted; many Things have been added in the Statute; a Statute hath been made, to which the Commons did not assent, and even to which neither Lords nor Commons assented.” See 1 Hale P.C. 394; 3 Inst. 40, 41; 12 Rep. 57; Rot. Parl. 18 Edw. III. nu. 32—39: 3 Ric. II. nu. 38: 6 Ric. II. nu. 53.

    “Les ditz cões prierent a nr̃e s le Roy, q̃ les bosoignes faites & affaires en cest ꝑlement soient enactez & engrossez devant le deꝑtir des Justices tantcome ils les aient en leur memoire; a quoi leur feust responduz q̃ le Clerk du ꝑlement ferroit son devoir pur enacter & engrosser la substance du ꝑlement ꝑ advis des Justices, & puis le monstrer au Roy & as s en ꝑlement pur savoir leur advis.”—Rot. Parl. 2 Hen. IV. nu. 21.

    As to the inrolling of the Statute in Chancery, See Rot. Claus. 12 Edw. II. m. 22 d. where the Proceeding is thus explicitly stated. “Le Roi voet & gaunt - - - q̃ tutes les choses desusescrites soient enroullez en roulle de parlement, & de illoesq̃s envoie en sa Chauncellerie, & illuesq̃s enroullez, & de illusqes per bref de son gant seal envoiez a les places del Escheker & de lun Baunk & del autre, od comandement de enrouller les illoeq̃s & a tenir les & a garder en la fourme avantdite.”

    And in conformity with this proceeding, Statutes made in England and required to be proclaimed and observed in Ireland, were sent to the Chancellor there, to be inrolled in the Chancery of that Kingdom, and thence exemplified and sent to the Courts of Justice, &c.—See Stat. 12 Edw. II. and the Writs at the End thereof, page 179, of the Statutes in this Volume; and
    for other Instances illustrative of thus inrolling Statutes in Chancery in England and Ireland, See Appendix E. subjoined to this Introduction.

    The Distinction between such Bills as were common and such as were particular, or in the more modern Phrase Public Acts and Private Acts, with respect to the Practice of inrolling them, was thus certified by Kirkby of the Rolls, 33 Hen. VI. “Sir, le cours del parlem̄t est tiel - - - - si ascun bill, soit ꝑticuler, ou aut͛ bill q̃ soit primerm̄t delivr̃ a les Comūs, et sil passe eux, ils usent endosser le bill en tiel forme; cest assavoir, ‘soit bail̴l̴ as seigniors;’ et si le Roy et les seigniors agreent a m̄ le bill, et ne voilloit alt͛ ne changer le bill, adonqꝫ ilz ne usent endosser le bill, mes est bail̴l̴ al Clerk del Parlement pour ẽe enrolle; et si ce soit un comē bill, il serra enrolle et enacte; mes si soit un ꝑticuler bill, il ne serra enrolle, mes sera file sur le filac̃ et est assez biē; mes si la ꝑty veut suir pur lētr̃ pour estre le mieux seur, il purroit estre enroulle.”—Year Book 33 Hen VI. 17: Fitzh. Abr. tit. Parliament pl. 1: Bro. Abr. tit. Parliament & Statutes pl. 4. See also Rot. Claus. 6 Hen. VI. nu. 11, for the Proceedings towards the Inrollment of a Particular Bill or Private Act.

    In the 14th Year of James I. Lord Hobart speaking of a Private Act then under Consideration said, “That very Bill is filed with the rest of the Bills, and the King’s Assent unto it, and labelled with the rest, whereunto the Great Seal is set, as the Course is in Private Acts, which are not inrolled without special Suit, as General Acts are; for General Acts are always inrolled by the Clerk of the Parliament, and delivered over into Chancery, which Inrollment in the Chancery makes them the Original Record (as it was resolved in John Stubbs’s Case): But in Private Acts the very Body of the first Bill filed and sealed as aforesaid, and remaining with the Clerk of the Parliament, is the Original Record.” Hob. 109. The following Account, given also in the Reign of James I. by Bowyer and Elsyng, in the written Objections which they made to Pulton’s having Access to and printing the Original Records of Acts in the Tower (See Chap. I. Sect. II. pa. xxviii. of this Introduction,) appears to be more accurate with respect to private Acts than that of Lord Hobart; and agrees with that given by Kirkby in 33 Hen. VI. “At the End of every Session of Parliament, all the Public Acts are ingrossed into one great Roll by Bowyer, as Clerk of the Parliament; and the same Roll, being by him subscribed, he delivereth into the Chapel of the Rolls; which is thereupon there received, and placed among the Records of the Chancery, being the highest Record of the Kingdom, without any other Warrant than his Hand: Which Acts or Statutes so by him transcribed, do bind his Majesty’s Subjects of all Degrees for ever. If any Private Act be at any Time to be certified into the Chancery, a Writ of Certiorari is directed to Bowyer, who thereupon doth certify the same under his Hand; which accordingly is received, without any Allowance or Warrant of any other Person, and is thereby made a Record, and bindeth the Party whom it concerneth, and all others.” MS. Cott. Titus B. V. pa. 69. See further Hale H. C. L. ch. 1., 3 Keb. Rep. 587; Dewes’s Journals of Parliament, 1 Eliz. pa. 35; and the Instances in Appendix E, and F. subjoined to this Introduction.

    All the Statutes passed in each Session are now classed in Three distinct Series: The first Series contains the Public-General Acts, such as in their Nature are Public and General, which are certified into Chancery, and printed by the King’s Printer for general Circulation: The Second Series contains Acts respecting particular Places and Persons: Of these the Road Acts, Canal Acts, and all others by which Felonies are created, Penalties inflicted, or Tolls imposed, have a Clause annexed to each “That the Act shall be deemed and taken to be a Public Act, and shall be judicially taken Notice of as such by all Judges, Justices and others, without being specially pleaded.” Other Local or Personal Acts which are not required to have this Public Clause annexed have each a Clause inserted, at the Suit of the Parties, “that the Act shall be printed by the King’s Printer, and that a Copy thereof, so printed, shall be admitted as Evidence thereof by all Judges, Justices, and others.” All the Acts of this Second Series are printed together in one Collection. The Third Series contains such Local and Personal Acts as are without either of the above Clauses, and are therefore not printed. See Reports of the Committee of the House of Commons on the Promulgation of the Statutes, in 1796 and 1801; and Resolutions of the House of Commons 7 May 1801; and 18, 22, and 24 March 1803.

  13. ↑ See also Rot. Pat. 2 Edw. III. P. 2. m. 15; the Articuli Cleri, 9 Edw. II, exemplified at the Request of the Clergy of Sarum. Rot. Pat. 2 Ric. II. P. 2. m. 20; Assisa Panis, &c. exemplified at the Request of the Bakers of Coventry. Rot. Claus. 5 Ric II. m. 13 d; the Recital and Confirmation in Parliament of the Statute of Wynton, 13 Ed. I. And further the Notes and Writs subjoined to the following Statutes, viz. Stat. Wynt. 13 Edw. I: Stat de Mercatoribus, 13 Edw. I: Stats. 22 Edw. I: 27 Edw. I: 34 Edw. I: 35 Edw. I: 3 Edw. II: 9 Edw. II: 12 Edw. II. As to Exemplifications for particular Purposes at the present Day, see that relating to the Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, in Appendix E. to this Introduction.
  14. ↑ See 3 Inst. 173; and Stats. 3 & 4 Ed. VI. c. 4: 13 Eliz. c. 6.
  15. ↑ See Note and Writ at the End of Stat. Wallie 12 Edw. I.; See also Rot. Claus. 9 Edw. II. m. 11, the Correction of Chapter 12 of the Statute of Gloucester, 6 Edw. I. sent to the Justices of the Bench; and again Rot. Claus. 17 Edw. III. P. 1. m. 7.
  16. ↑ 4 Inst. 43: Rot. Claus. 12 E. II. m. 22 d.
  17. ↑ See Appendix C. subjoined to this Introduction.
  18. ↑ It was one of the Functions of the Clerk of the Parliaments to receive, in the Upper House, the Petitions of the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses: See Rot. Parl. 20 Edw. III. nu. 11. And with respect to the Appointment of the Clerk of the Parliaments, See Rot. Parl. 14 Ed. III. nu. 3: 15 Ed. III. nu. 1: 17 Ed. III. nu. 1: 18 Ed. III. nu. 4: 2 Hen. IV. nu. 21: 4 Hen. IV. nu. 10: 5 Hen. IV. nu. 40.
  19. ↑ See particularly the Act of Uniformity 14 Car. II. printed as cap. 4. of that Session: and being nu. 3. of the Bundle of Acts of that Year in the Parliament Office; and nu. 4. on Part I. of the Rolls containing the Inrollment of those Acts in Chancery. And see Appendix F. for other Instances.
  20. ↑ See Rot. Parl. 6 H. IV. nu. 56. for Amendment of Errors in a Subsidy Act, as entered “en les rolles de la Chauncellarie sr lengrossure del dit ꝑlement,” contrary to the actual Grant by the Commons.
  21. ↑ See Hale H. C. L. ch. 1, and 3 Keb. Rep. 588. That the Royal Assent given to a Petition did not of itself constitute a Statute; see Rot. Parl. 14 E. III. nu. 7: 15 E. III. nu. 42: 17 E. III. nu. 48: 18 E. III. nu. 33, 30: 25 E. III. nu. 12, 13: 37 E. III. nu. 39: 1 Ric. II. nu. 15: 2 Hen. IV. nu. 114: 7, 8 Hen. IV. nu. 60, 66: 13 Hen. IV. nu. 49: 23 Hen. VI. nu. 18, 19: See also ante pa. xxxi note 4; page xxxii note 5; and page xxxv note 5.
  22. ↑ The Contents of this Volume were printed in 1661, by W. Ryley, a Clerk in the Record Office in the Tower, with an Appendix of additional Matter, under the Title of Placita Parliamentaria. The Original Manuscript Volume is referred to in Rot. Pat. 6 Ric. II. P. 2. m. 26, as an Authentic Book of Inrollment, as follows: “D’ Exemplific̃ Tykford. ℞ Om̄ibꝫ ad quos, &c., salt̃m. Inspeximꝰ tenorem cujusdam. p͛cepti dñi E. quondam Regis Angl̵ fil̵ Regis Henr̃ ꝓgenitoris nr̃i, in quodam libro de ꝑliamentis ejusdem dñi E. anno regni sui vicesimo irrotulati in hec verba.” Then follows verbatim the Article ‘De Abbati de Mermonster,’ entered in fo. 36 of the Vetus Codex, and printed in page 102 of Ryley’s Placita Parliamentaria.
  23. ↑ At the Head of these two Rolls are the following Titles or Introductions, viz. At the Head of the Roll 9 Edw. II;

    “Memoranda de ꝑliamento dñi Edwardi Regis Angl̵ filii Edwardi quondam Regis Angl̵, sūmonito & tento apud Lincoln̄ in quindena Sc̃i Hillar̃, Anno regni dc̃i Reg̃ nono; facta ꝑ Wil̴l̴m de Ayremynne cl̵icum de Cancellar̃ p͛fati Reg̃, ꝑ eundem Regem ad hoc nōiatum & specialit͛ deputatum.”

    At the Head of the Roll of 4, 5, and 6 Edw. III.—“Recorda & Memorand̵ de hiis qui fiebant in ꝑliamento sum̄ apud Westm̄ die Lune ꝓx̃ post festum sc̃e Catherine anno Regni Regis Edwardi t͛cii a conquestu quarto, lib̴ata in Cancellar̃ ꝑ Henr̃ de Edenestowe cl̵icum ꝑliamenti.”

  24. ↑ See ante page xxxv: And see also Appendix E. for some Instances illustrative of the Contents of the Parliament Rolls, including the earliest Instances of the opening of Parliament by Authority of the King’s Commission. As a Specimen of the Contents of the several Rolls and Manuscripts, from 6 Edw. I. to 19 Hen. VII. the Six Volumes of “Rotuli Parliamentorum, ut et Petitiones et Placita in Parliamento” printed by an Order of the House of Lords of 9th March 1767, may be consulted: But this Collection does not contain all the Rolls, Petitions, and Parliamentary Proceedings during that Period; and it is by no Means to be relied upon for correctness.
  25. ↑ The Journals of the House of Lords commence in 1 Hen. VIII: But of the Years 4, 5, 14 & 15, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, and 27 Hen. VIII, and of the first two Sessions in 1 Mary, the Journals have not been preserved. In the printed Editions therefore, the Journals for those Years are supplied by Copies of, and Extracts from, what are there termed the Parliament Rolls, being the Inrollments in Chancery mentioned above, and particularly described ante page xxxv. The Journals of the House of Commons commence in 1 Edw. VI.; But until the Beginning of the Reign of Elizabeth they contain merely short Notes of the several Readings of the respective Bills before the House, with a few occasional Entries only of other Proceedings. See further Appendix F.
  26. ↑ Madox’s History and Antiquities of the Exchequer, I. 179, 624; and see also the Dissertatio Epistolaris prefixed to the Dialogus de Scaccario, II. 334, 5, 6, &c.
  27. ↑ See the Statute of Sheriffs, 9 Edw. II. Rot. Stat. m. 32, printed in page 174, 175 of the Statutes in this Volume; at the end of which is the following Memorandum: “Et fait a remembrer q̃ meisme lestatut fu seal souz le gant seal & maunde as Tresorer & Barons del Eschekier - - de fermement garder en tuz ses pointz.” In the Red Book fo. 276 b. the Writ is entered with the Tenor of the Statute, ‘sub pede sigilli,’ as transmitted to the Exchequer according to the Memorandum on the Tower Roll.
  28. ↑ See the Red Book, fo. 318, 319, where two Grants from William de la Pole to Edw. III. are entered; the Originals of these Grants are in the Chapter House, and are there indorsed as inrolled in this Book, with Reference to the above Pages therein.
  29. ↑
    		De Statutis liberatis.
    		Memod qd̵ die Ven͛is in festo Exaltac͠ois Sc̃e Crucis anno &c. xiij° apud Wynton̄ liƀata fu͛nt Rog͛o Bretun Cl̵ico ven͛aƀ pr̃is W. Wat͛ford Ep̃i tūc justic̃ Hiƀn̄ quedam Statuta ꝑ Regem & consiliū suū edita & ꝓvisa, videl̵t Statuta Westm̄ statim post coronac͠oem ℞ edita, & Statuta Glouc̃, & Statuta ꝓ m͛catoribʒ fc̃a ac Statuta Westmon̄ in ꝑleamento Reg̃ Pascħ anno p͛dc̃o ꝓvisa & fc̃a, in Hiƀn̄ deferenda & ibidē ꝓclamanda & obs͛vanda.— Rot. Claus. 13 Ed. I. m. 5. d.
    See also Sir Richard Bolton’s Edition of the Statutes of Ireland, Edit. 1621, Note to Stat. 10 Henry VII. c. 22: where he mentions that he had seen certain antient Statutes, particularly the Statutes Westm. 1, Gloucester, and Westm. 2, exemplified under the Great Seal, and remaining in the Treasury of the City of Waterford. On a diligent Search made for that Purpose at Waterford in 1806, by Two Sub-Commissioners on the Records, no such Exemplification could be found there.
  30. ↑ See Rymer’s Fœdera ii. 172, 210, 336, 380, &c.
  31. ↑ See Appendix C. in which the several Records and Manuscripts in the respective Repositories are particularized.
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