A Civic Society for Romsey, Hampshire UK and surrounding villages

2. The charter begins thus:

JAMES, BY THE GRACE OF GOD King OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc., to all to whom this present charter will come, greeting. Whereas our town of Romsey Infra in our County of Southampton is an exceedingly ancient and populous town, and the inhabitants of the same town, through various individual names, have had, from time immemorial, diverse liberties, customs, freedoms, immunities and distinguishing privileges, and they have used and enjoyed [them] by reason of diverse rights created by the passing of time, rights of possession, and customs used and accustomed in the same town as of old, And whereas our beloved subjects, the Mayor and inhabitants of the aforesaid town, have humbly beseeched us that we may be graciously willing to show and apply, in this regard, our royal favour and bountifulness for the better rule, government and improvement of the same town, and that we may deem worthy to make, ordain, constitute, register and create anew the said Mayor, Burgesses and Inhabitants of the said town in one body corporate and politic under the description of the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the town of Romsey Infra in the County of Southampton

This first paragraph of the charter affirms that the king acknowledged the request of the mayor and inhabitants to be recognised as a body corporate. There is no problem about the mention of an existing mayor - the office of mayor of Romsey is older than the town’s borough status. There are various references in late medieval documents to the mayor of Romsey, with a very revealing one in 1507 referring to John Pecy as mayor and prepositus. This latter title is the Latin for reeve or steward and suggests that the mayoralty arose under the authority of the Abbess as lord of the manor.

Recognition of the town as ‘one corporate body politic in matter, deed and name, …’ enabled the borough to behave in law as a free person

The charter granted that Romsey Infra ‘should remain from henceforth for ever essentially a free town’ and ‘that under the same description they may have perpetual succession’. This freed the borough from overlordship, such as had existed under the abbey. It also allowed a degree of autonomy from county administrators.

Specifically, the charter gave the right to make bye-laws.
AND that the Mayor, Aldermen and Chief Burgesses …, may have, and by [these] presents shall have, full liberty, authority, facility and power for granting, constituting, ordaining, making and maintaining from time to time such laws, institutions, rights, ordinances and constitutions which shall seem to them, or the greater part of them, to be good, beneficial, useful, honest and necessary, according to their sound discretion, for the good rule and governance of the aforesaid town.

There was of course the major restriction, namely
Provided nevertheless that such laws, rights, statutes, ordinances, institutions and constitutions, fines, imprisonments and amercements may be reasonable and may not be contrary to, or opposing, the laws, statutes, customs or rights of our kingdom of England.

A common seal was authorised ‘for legal causes and their business matters whatsoever …’ and the borough used the ‘portcullis’ badge that can be dated to 1578 at least. So far as we can see, the Borough never found a need to change its seal as the charter allowed.

So much Status demanded public recognition. A town hall was needed. The first one was at the eastern boundary of historic Romsey Infra (No 23 Market Place, currently White’s the opticians). The Corporation met upstairs. Furthermore, the Borough had the power to punish those who broke the laws made by fines or imprisonment. Fines, incidentally, were sometimes used for the poor and sometimes allocated for mayoral expenses. More immediately, the corporation needed a gaol, and this was on the ground floor room of the town hall, adjacent to the stream, with the constable’s room next to it.

1 » 2 » 3 » 4 » 5 » 6 » 7 » 8 » 9