A Civic Society for Romsey, Hampshire UK and surrounding villages

9. High Steward / Property holdings / Second Charter / Borough Status

The most senior office created in 1607 was that of High Steward, and appointments were made for life. The first high steward was the 3rd Earl of Southampton. The charter decreed that after his death
It may and shall be truly lawful for the Mayor, Aldermen and Chief Burgesses of the town aforesaid for the time being, or to the greater part of them of whom we will the Mayor of the aforesaid town for the time being to be one, to elect and appoint one other outstanding man to be about to be and to be High Steward of the town aforesaid during his natural life.
The town has had a succession of men who fit that description as high stewards.

The respect given to both High Stewards and Court Recorders preserved in the wooden panels depicting the arms of various gentlemen who have served in one or other office. Latham saw and described them 200 years ago, so they are amongst the town’s antiquities. Today they are on the walls of the Court Room and Council Chamber.

Property Holdings

In 1607, Romsey, like other corporate bodies, was granted the right to hold property in mortmain. This was a concession from the Crown for it meant that the recipient did not have to pay an inheritance fee as individuals did on inheriting property. Amongst its earliest property was the first town hall (White’s the optician). The upper Council Chamber, as described by Dr Latham featured
‘an elevated seat for the corporation etc a distinguished one in the middle for the mayor, and a table covered with cloth for the clerk etc to transact business’.

However the charter put a limit of £20 annual value on the holdings of Romsey Corporation. This was quite adequate in 1607, but was insufficient when John Kent wished to make a substantial bequest at the end of the century.

Second Charter

It was for that reason that a second charter was sought from William III in 1698, and the annual value put on the town’s corporate holding was raised to £500. The almshouses, the object of John Kent’s bequest are to be found to this day at the lower end of Middlebridge Street. He endowed them with a substantial farm at Pollard’s Moor in Eling. Until the early years of the 20th century the corporation had an annual picnic there to inspect their property, and photographs have survived of the town council on its annual outing.

James I had granted the 1607 charter without demanding a fee - a valuable concession as money from granting letters patent was part of the sovereign’s income. By contrast, William III charged £6 6s 8d [10 marks] for his charter. We do not know how much the people of Romsey paid for their first charter in legal and allied fees, nor who provided the money. The provision of the second charter was overseen by Mr Dummer of the Middle Temple. His bill came to £261 18s 6d, of which Mr Shory paid £70, leaving due £191 18s 6d. This money was still outstanding in 1711 as there was a dispute about it, which was referred to the Duke of Bolton, the town’s high steward. Even that did not produce payment and Mr Dummer served a writ on the corporation to appear in the Court of Common Pleas – not a good financial start to the 18th century after the excitement of 1607.

Borough Status

Romsey Coat of Arms

As mentioned, the repeal of the Test Acts in 1828 and the introduction of elections with the 1835 Corporations Act gave Romsey a much more representative civic authority. Later, its powers and duties were extended. The town had long had fire-fighting arrangements and by the 1880s there was a committee responsible for the town’s fire brigade. William Roles in his diary of 1888 remarked on one occasion that The Fire Brigade Committee reported that the engine hose and other materials were in good condition, that two fires had been attended since the last report and that Mr Edward Newman had been appointed to a vacancy as fireman.

After borough expansion in 1876, the council became the urban sanitary authority with yet wider powers. Road widening was initiated, and a form of drainage was introduced, mostly storm drainage I think. Roles comments of one meeting that it lasted from 6.30 to 8 o.c. – too long. He also said that the Drain in Bell Street would ‘never do, the run will not be sufficient. Try the level of the pump trough.’ Since he was a plumber by trade, his comments cannot be dismissed lightly. His other numerous complaints about fellow councillors are more difficult to judge. But his diary does indicate that antagonism within the Council was much the same as in the early 1600s when need for the regulations of 1625 had become imperative.

All problems aside, Romsey undoubtedly benefited from having borough status. It meant that the town could manage its own affairs in its own way. It meant that concerned or interested burgesses had a legally recognised degree of control over their environment – a novelty in 1607.

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