GENUKI/Devon: Exeter - Municipal Corporation

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

Exeter has, from time immemorial, enjoyed many privileges and immunities. At the Norman survey it was found to be exempt from paying taxes. Since then it has received many charters and grants, from different monarchs. Henry 1. confirmed its prescriptive privileges, which were further confirmed by Henry II. and Richd. I. In the time of King John, ''Isabel, his consort, held Exeter in dower, with a fair thereunto belonging." In the third year of this monarch, the burgesses paid a fine of 110 marks for a confirmation of their charters; and about the same time (A.D. 1200,) the city, which had previously been governed by port-reeves and bailiffs, was incorporated, and had a mayor for its chief officer, though the corporation claimed it to be so by prescription. In the reign of Edward I., the citizens pleaded that their city was an ancient demesne, and that they held it in fee-farm of the crown, at the yearly rent of £39. 15s. 3d. To support this claim, they referred to the charter of Henry III., made to his brother Richard, whereby they further claimed return of writs, a gallows, pillory, &c., and a fair of four days besides three weekly markets, which liberties they certified they had. enjoyed since the time of the Conquest, "upon which they were allowed." Hy. VII. gave the citizens a sword and cap of maintenance, and granted them a charter in 1497, which recognizes a mayor, 4 bailiffs, 24 common council-men, and 4 serjeants-at-mace; and settles the mode of their election. A recorder and town clerk are also mentioned in this charter. In 1627, Charles I. confirmed the city charters, and granted many additional privileges. In 1683, this charter was surrendered to Charles II., who granted a new one in the following year, under which the corporation was made to consist of a mayor, 8 aldermen, 15 common council-men, a recorder, &c. In 1770, George III. granted the city a confirmatory charter, and instituted some new regulations for the administration of justice in the city. Henry VIII. constituted Exeter a distinct county of itself, thus rendering it independent of Devon, of which it is nevertheless the capital. This privilege was confirmed by Act of Parliament in the reign of Edward V1. Originally the limits of the city and county of the city were not the same, but they were afterwards made co-extensive, except for certain purposes. The Parliamentary limits were extended by the Reform Act of 1832, as already noticed at page 49. Exeter is said to have been one of the first cities that sent representatives to Parliament; and it certainly has returned two members regularly since the time of Edward I. Before 1832, the right of election was in the freemen and resident freeholders, of whom there, were about 1200. The number of names on the register in 1836 was 3488, of whom 460 were freemen, 952 freeholders, and 2076 occupiers of houses of the yearly value of £10 or upwards; but as many of these were entered in two or more parishes, as occupiers and owners, as well as in the list of freemen, the total number of voters was only about 2800, as it still remains. The sheriff is the returning officer, and the present Members of Parliament for the city and county of the city are Sir J.T.B. Duckworth, Bart., and Edward Divett, Esq. Exeter Castle is a polling place, and the principal place of election for the Southern Division of Devon, though the city, being a county of itself, is not a part of that division.

By the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, Exeter has been divided into six wards, and placed under the government of a Town Council, consisting of a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 36 councillors, with a recorder, town clerk, and other officers, and a number of borough magistrates. The latter are appointed by the Lord Chancellor, who, in February, 1849; issued a new commission of the peace for the city. The style of the corporate body is still the Mayor, Bailiffs, and Commonalty of the city of Exeter, and the city is comprehended in Schedule A of the Municipal Reform Act, among the boroughs in which the old municipal boundaries are to be retained, until altered by Parliament. The Provost Court, the Mayor's Court, the Sheriff's Court, and the Court of Requests were the four civil courts held by the members of the old corporation. The court of requests was established by an act of the 13th of George III., and was held every Tuesday, for the recovery of debts under 40s., but it has lately given place to the COUNTY COURT, established a few years ago, under the Small Debts Act, for Exeter District, which comprises not only the city and county of the city, but also all the 49 parishes in St. Thomas's Union. This court is held at the Castle several times a month. Being a county of itself, Exeter has separate assizes and courts of quarter sessions. The recorder is judge of the Provost Court, which has cognizance in all real or personal actions to any amount, arising within the limits of the ancient glacis without the walls. The mayor and provosts, or bailiffs, hold the Mayor's Court, which has a concurrent jurisdiction with the above in personal actions. In this court the masters and wardens of the 13 trading companies of the old corporation were sworn in. Eleven of these companies, in the order of their foundation, are as follows: - Merchants, Tailors, Cordwainers, Brewers, Cappers, Hatters and Haberdashers, Weavers and Tuckers, Skinners and Glovers, Smiths and Cutlers, Coopers and Helliers, Butchers, and Bakers. The net income of the corporation for 1839 was £12,882; and their principal items of expenditure in the same year were, "principal paid off, and interest, &c., £7392; on public works, repairs, &c., £1569; on police and constables, £1215; administration of justice, prosecutions, &c., £533; and on the gaol, maintenance of prisoners, &c., £513. The borough expenditure for the half-year ending Michaelmas, 1849, was £1897. The heavy debt transferred by the Old to the New Corporation in 1835, has been considerably reduced, and much property which the former had long held, as trustees, for charitable uses, has been restored by the present Town Council, as will be seen at subsequent pages.

The GUILDHALL is a spacious structure, in High street, remarkable for the massiveness and variety of its architecture. The upper story, which projects beyond the line of houses in the street, is supported by an arcade of heavy moorstone columns. Beyond the vestibule is a lofty and spacious common hall, with an arched roof, supported by grotesque figures of beasts. The city assizes, sessions, &c., are held in this extensive court room, and its walls are wainscotted, with carved mouldings. In the cornices are a number of small shields, with the arms of England, France, the city, and the different incorporated trades, and also of various mayors and recorders. At the upper end are the magistrates' bench and two jury galleries, and from the centre is suspended a brass chandelier. The walls are decorated with many valuable portraits, among which are General Monk and the Princess Henrietta Maria, by Vandyke; George II., Chief Justice Pratt, John Tuckfield, Esq., founder of an hospital here; J.R. Walters, Esq., M.P.; Benjamin Heath, Esq.; Henry Blackall, Esq., (three times mayor;) and Alderman Phillips. Above stairs are the grand jury room, council chamber, and other apartments. The Guildhall has, from time immemorial, occupied the same site, and was rebuilt in 1464. A chapel, dedicated to St. George and St. John the Baptist, stood in front, and is supposed to have been taken down in 1593, when that part of the hall which projects into the street was erected. The building was thoroughly repaired and beautified in 1720.

The CITY PRISON is pleasantly situated without the walls, at the junction of Queen street and Northernhay street. It was erected in 1819, and has since undergone some judicious alterations, but it still does not admit of a complete system of classification. It is in three divisions, called the debtors' ward, the felons prison, and the bridewell, or house of correction; and comprises 36 cells, 7 wards, 8 day-rooms, and 6 airing yards, all enclosed by a lofty outer wall. It has room for about 80 inmates, but its average number is about 50. Previous to its erection, the old City Prison was in South st., attached to the ancient South Gate. The annual expense of maintaining this prison establishment is about £730, of which about £250 is repaid by government for the maintenance of prisoners and removal of convicts, and £293 is for salaries. It is in contemplation either to enlarge and alter this, or to erect a new city prison, on the plan of the model prison at Pentonville; or otherwise to arrange for the reception of the city prisoners in the Devon County Gaol and Bridewell.

Brian Randell, 21 Oct 1998

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