Record revealed
The proclamation of Ned Ludd
This note threatens death upon anyone talking to the authorities about the Luddites, textile workers protesting against new, labour-saving technology.
Series
Chancery and Lord Chancellor's Office: Crown Office: Circuit Fiats
Catalogue reference: C 189
What's it about?
C 189
This series is a collection of fiats (authorisations) signed by the lord chancellor as keeper of the great seal to secure commissions for assizes, and of royal warrants nominating judges to go on circuit.The commissioners range from the lord...
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- C 189
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Title (The name of the record)
- Chancery and Lord Chancellor's Office: Crown Office: Circuit Fiats
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1689-1900
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series is a collection of fiats (authorisations) signed by the lord chancellor as keeper of the great seal to secure commissions for assizes, and of royal warrants nominating judges to go on circuit.
The commissioners range from the lord chancellor himself to county magistrates, with serjeants-at-law and king's counsel prominent. The commission was to 'hear and determine' (oyer and terminer) indictments presented to the assizes, and to clear the gaol (gaol delivery).
The special circuit fiats relate to trials of urgent public concern such as those involving riots, and to the bringing forward of assizes in counties where the number of indictments was multiplying.
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Arrangement (Information about the filing sequence or logical order of the record)
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Arrangement
The documents are arranged by assize term.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English and Latin
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
- 24 files and volumes
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Public disorder
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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
- In 1839, while in the Crown Office in Chancery, the records were described as 'fiats from the Lord High Chancellor for the several circuit commissions from 1705 to the present time', included in '11 books containing the warrants appointing the serjeants and others to the several circuits'. In 1909 they were due for transfer from the Crown Office to the Public Record Office in twenty volumes from 1705 to 1900, but there seems to have been a delay in their move until 1912. Some special fiats were received in 1973.
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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Two visitations a year by the assizes had been the rule since the fifteenth century, except for the North of England, which was visited once a year until the early nineteenth century.
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Publication note(s) (A note of publications related to the record)
- For a detailed analysis, see J S Cockburn, A History of English Assizes 1558-1714 (Cambridge Studies in English Legal History, Cambridge, 1972).
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C3724/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
1,513,580 records
Within the department: C
Records created, acquired, and inherited by Chancery, and also of the Wardrobe, Royal...
You are currently looking at the series: C 189
Chancery and Lord Chancellor's Office: Crown Office: Circuit Fiats
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