Papers concern Marten v Jenkin (KB?) c 1740, disputed election of Mayor of Winchelsea

The papers relate to the disputed election of the Mayor of Winchelsea that took place on 7 April 1740. The contest was between Henry Jenkin and William Marten, both Freemen and Jurats of the town. The dispute centred on the eligibility of people to become Freemen and the election of Jurats. This was not an isolated dispute, there being similar ones in 1753 and 1767

The dispute began during John Jenkin's term of office as Mayor (1739-1740) when on 1 May 1739 William Marten and others successfully claimed their freedom by birthright, and Marten was sworn as a Jurat. The three Jurats who had been sworn at the start of Jenkin's term protested and denied their right to be Freemen. They then periodically boycotted several of the towns court meetings thus making it difficult for the mayor to carry out his duties. To overcome this he attempted to have other Freemen and Jurats elected, but the Town Clerk refused to swear them in because this was against custom. At a latter occasion the Mayor and Jurats successfully elected new Freemen, but the dispute was not solved

Matters came to a head on 1 April 1740 when Henry Jenkin was elected a Jurat, and six days later beat William Marten to become the new Mayor

However, in the Michaelmas term 1740 a judgement of ouster was obtained against Henry Jenkin and seventeen other Freemen who had been admitted and sworn illegally. On 9 February 1741 William Marten was sworn in as Mayor for the remainder of the term

The papers are mainly extracts from the court books of the town, of which nubmers 1, 9 and 10 are now missing (the remainder were deposited as part of the Winchelsea Corporation Records numbers 51-55, 58 and 60)

Numbers nine and ten covered the period of the dispute

The above was drawn from WIN/435, a book containing the names of mayors, jurats and freemen. See also Winchelsea Corporation Records, a catalogue edited by R F Dell

Documents given 19 November 1985 (ACC 4754)