Courts

As one of their first tasks, the Twixt Thistle and Rose volunteers catalogued our 17 bundles of posters and letters received by the Berwick Police Force between 1880 and 1900. Whilst checking their work for mounting on our electronic catalogue, I came across these two documents in a bundle – a memo and telegram.

They were both dated Christmas Eve 1895 and were sent to Superintendent Garden of Berwick from Inspector Jackson of the Roxburghshire Constabulary in Kelso concerning George Henderson.

Kelso 3.21 pm sent, received 3.26 pm 24 Dec 1895

Find out quickly if Whitehead of Houndridge is in Berwick. Henderson Red Lion can give you description and some information, Hotels likely, anxious.

Jackson

This was followed by :

Roxburghshire Constabulary

Kelso, 24^th Decr 1895

Memorandum to Mr Supt. Garden, Berwick

Sir,

Re Geo Whitehead

This is a young farmer who is going

through his life and his means at the gallop.

His agent here , our Procurator Fiscal was aware of

His having been at Red Lion Hotel prior to 16^th and leaving

on that date but he has been told that Whitehead

has returned to Berwick and was drinking at one of the

Hotels probably confined to bed. If you have not

enquired at other Hotels besides Red Lion will you kindly have

Enquiry made and let me know result. Wishing you

The Seasons Compliments.

Yours truly

E Jackson, Insp

I was intrigued by the concern of Inspector Jackson of Roxburgh Police for the “young farmer” and his taking the trouble to send this handwritten memo to the Berwick Police. I decided to see if I could find out anything further about him. The telegram mentioned he came from Houndridge in Ednam and so I checked the 1891 census for this property. I discovered a George Whitehead, farmer, head of the household, aged 19 living there with a servant. Agnes Douglas, aged 45. There was no reference to his parents and so where were they ? On checking the 1881 census for Houndridge, George was there, aged 9 with his mother and father – William, a farmer, aged 61 and Elizabeth, aged 51. William was described as a farmer of 247 acres, all arable, employing 6 men and 4 women.

George’s parents must have died between 1881 and 1891 and so, I checked deaths on Scotlandspeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk ) and found that William died in 1881, aged 61 and Elizabeth died in 1885, aged 55. Therefore George was an orphan by the time he was a teenager.

Did George’s lack of direction from parents lead him to drink or was he easily influenced ? Why did he come to Berwick and was known to the publican at the Red Lion Inn

I have been unable to find anything further on George despite searching the newspapers online and the census. He just seems to disappear after 1895. He wasn’t at Houndridge in 1901.

Does anyone know what happened to him ? Did he emigrate or change his ways ? If anyone has further information on him, please let the TTAR team know.

The Manorial Documents Register (MDR) records documents produced in the honour courts. An honour is an administrative unit based on a number of manors, the tenants of which owed suit to an honour court in addition to, or in place of, the normal manor court. As explained in one of our earlier blogs the two main types of manor court are the Court Baron and the Court Leet. However there were other smaller courts dealing with specific types of business, these are not recorded on the MDR but it is useful to be aware of their function.

The Forest Court had jurisdiction over woodland and was sometimes called the Woodmote or Swainmote Court. The Court of Pannage dealt with the business of releasing domestic pigs into the forests to feed on acorns, beech mast and chestnuts. This was often a right or privilege given to local people or in some places pigs were customarily presented to the lord of the manor. In some areas of the country a unit of administration existed between the shire and parish, this was called a Hundred and had its own court. In Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire the Hundred Court was referred to as the Wapentake Court.

ZHE 2/2, reference to the Piepowder court highlighted.

The Court of Piepowders was held in a borough on the occasion of a fair or market.

This document from the Allendale papers mentions a Court of Piepowder in 1685. The court had unlimited jurisdiction over events taking place in the market and tended to deal with disputes between merchants, theft, and acts of violence. The court was held in front of the mayor and bailiffs of the borough or the steward, if the market or fair was held by a lord. The jury comprised of three or four men and punishment ranged from a fine to the pillory. Trials were short and informal. If the court ruled against the defendant and the defendant could not pay his property could be seized and sold to cover the costs.

These courts existed to administer speedy justice over people who were not permanent residents of the place where the market was held. The name referred to the dusty feet (in French, pieds poudrés) of travelers and vagabonds, and was only later applied to the courts which dealt with such people. Court members themselves also wandered around the fair rather than sitting on a bench often getting their feet dusty in the process. In modern French, the word pied-poudreux is still occasionally used for travelling beggars.

“ A young farmer who is going through his life and his means at the gallop” – George Whitehead

Domestic pigs and dusty feet: the smaller courts of Pannage, Woodmote and Piepowder.