426
Constitutional History.
[chap.
Precepts for
borough
elections.
Penalties for
non-observ-
ance.
nisance of the justices of assize and established the penalty of
Xioo on the sheriff, and forfeiture of wages as the punishment
of the members Undulyreturned1; the act of 1413 2 enforced
residence as a qualification of both electors and elected ; and
that of 1427 gave the accused sheriff and knight the right to
traverse the decision of the justices3. The act of 1430i, be-
sides establishing the forty shillings freehold as a qualification
for electors, gave the sheriff power to examine on oath the
persons who tendered their votes, as to the extent of their
property; and that of 1432 ordered that the freehold qualifying
the elector should be situated within the county5. By the act
of 1445 it is further ordered that the sheriff shall send to the
magistrates of the several cities and boroughs within their
counties a precept for the election to be made by the citizens
and burgesses and returned by indenture between them and the
sheriff' ; the penalty on the negligent sheriff is £100 to the king
ɪ See above, p. 264 ; St. ɪɪ Hen. IV, c. ɪ ; Statutes, ii. 162.
2 St. ɪ Hen. V, c. i ; Statutes, il. 170.
3 St. 6 Hen. VI, c. 4 ; Statutes, ii. 235. There is a good example of the
form of the precept in Prynne, iii. 291.
4 St. 8 Hen. VI, c. 7 : ‘que les chivalers des countes deins Ie roialme
D’engleterre a esliers a venir a les parleɪnentz en apres a tenirs, soient
esluz en chescun counte par gentz demeurantz et receantz en icelles dount
chescun ait frank tenement a le valu de xls. par an al meins outre les
reprises ; et que ceux qui serront ensy esluz soient demeurantz et receantz
deins mesmes les countes ; et ceux qui ount le greindre nombre de yceulx
que poient expendre par an xls. et outre, corne desuis est dit, soient
retournez par les viscontz de chescun countee chivalers pur le parlement
par endenturs ensealles parentre les ditz viscontz et les ditz elisors ent
affaires ; et eit chescun vicont d’Engleterre poair par auctorite suisdite
examiner sur les seintz Evangelies chescun tiel elisour corne bien il poet
expendre par an;’ Statutes, il. 243.
5 St. 10 Hen. VI, c. 2 ; Statutes, ii. 273.
6 The statute of 1445 states that of late divers sheriffs have not made
due election, or returned good and true men ; sometimes no return has
been made of the persons really chosen, but persons have been returned
who have not been chosen ; and the returns of the boroughs have been
altered by the sheriffs ; they have sent no precept to the boroughs, and
the penalties were not sufficient to insure obedience. And this neglect has
resulted from the use of the words in the writs i quod in pleno Coinitatu tuo
eligi facias pro comitatu tuo duos milites et pro qualibet civitate in comitatu
tuo duos cives et pro quolibet burgo in comitatu tuo duos burgenses? It
will appear probable that on the use of these words was based the custom of
electing town members in the county court, noticed on the following page.
See St. 23 Hen. VI, c. 14 ; Statutes, ii. 340. Compare the petition of 1436,
below, p. 429. Unfortunately, for the election of 1445, the returns of
only one county, Norfolk, are forthcoming ; Return of Members, p. 334.
XX.] Jiorouglb Elections. 427
and Xioo to the offended party, on the negligent mayor or
bailiff £40 to each; the hours of the elections are fixed between
eight and eleven in the morning ; the persons to be elected are
not to be of or below the degree of yeoman1 ; and these direc- Exclusion
σ , of yeomen
tions are to be inserted in the writs. If we may argue from the from Wng
. _ . 1 returned.
later indentures none of these regulations made much change in
the form of the proceedings : the same class of men seal the
returns before and after the act of 1430, and the same class of
men are returned before and after the legislation of 1445.
422. The variations of the process of city and borough city and
, , . borough
elections are, if not more extensive, at least more intelligible elections,
than those of the county elections ; the electoral bodies were
more definitely constituted and the factors more permanent.
Yet the historical difficulties of the subject are very great,
and the materials for a trustworthy conclusion very scanty.
As it would seem certain that the formal election of the borough
members took place, in some instances, in the county court2, and
as the returns were made in the same document as those of
the Imights of the shire 3, the causes which disturbed the regular
and orderly elections of the latter, influence, custom and faction,
would also affect those of the former ; and to these was added
the fact that many towns felt a great reluctance to send
members at all, and so to put themselves to the cost of their
wages and acknowledge themselves liable to the higher rate
of taxation. Accordingly in tome of the earlier returns it is Powerof
° j t . . , the sheriff
possible that the sheriff, or the persons who joined with himtoomitɪ
in electing the knights of the shire, elected the borough mem-
bers also4 ; that both were elected ‘ in pleno Comitatu ’ in a very
1 In 1447 the indenture for Surrey is in English, and the sealers say
that they l as notable squires and gentlemen,’ have elected : Sussex makes
a 1 ke return in Latin ; Prynne, Reg. iii. 173, 174.
2 Dr. Riess, Geschichte der Wahlreclits zum Englischen Parlament, has
clearly pointed out that this was not the rule, p. 59 : cases in which it was
done are given in Prynne, Writs, iii. 175 sq., 255 sq. Prynne1S conclusion
is that in sundry counties it was the usual custom; ib. p. 252: he gives
instances of the usage in Hunts, Cambridge, Devon, Dorset, Somerset,
Surrey, Sussex, and Warwick, pp. 255-261; Cumberland, Gloucester,
Kent, and Wilts, pp. 176-118.
3 See the form of return of the reign OfElizabeth ; Prynne, ii. 136-138 :
and cf. iii. 175 εq. ; Acts of Privy Council, 1559 ; vol. vɪi. p. 41.
1 Returns made by the bailiffs of places where the bailiffs had the