Assize file, South-Western Circuit (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire,...

Assize file, South-Western Circuit (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire).

Justices: John Martyn and John Cottesmore.

Reconstructed from dispersed file. Most documents relate to Devon, with small numbers appearing for Cornwall, Somerset, Hampshire and Dorset. None appear for Wiltshire. Some writs relate to earlier process, and are directed to Martyn and Cottesmore's predecessors, William Cheyne and William Paston.

(c. 100 mm)

For the related assize roll see JUST 1/1540.

This piece has been reconstructed from various groups of documents found in the unsorted miscellanea. Some of the Devon material was discovered on a modern string, and the position of the filing holes indicates that this probably represented the original filing. The origin of the others, many of which are badly damaged, is less certain, and it is possible that this collection represents more than one original file, and some of the writs to the earlier justices may possibly be strays from a file produced for an earlier session, which does not seem to survive (c.f. JUST 1/1536). However, the damage patterns show that at least some of the earlier and later writs were once together, and it is probable that all once formed part of one large file produced for Martyn and Cottesmore's assize.

For the related assize roll see JUST 1/1540