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The Assize of Buildings prescribed a view by the Mayor and 12 elected men of land and tenements for which the assize of nuisance had been demanded; and, more specifically, to deal with party and boundary walls, gutters, windows overlooking a neighbour's land, and cess-pits about which complaint had been made. The 12 elected men were originally aldermen, but sworn masons and carpenters, seem to have been associated with the assize of nuisance from at least the beginning of the 14th century and, joined by tilers in the 16th century, acted as viewers for the City. By the 16th century the court in which the certificates were presented, and any further action taken may have been the Mayor's Court. Alternatively the certificates may have been presented in the Court of Aldermen. The Great Refusal” Why does the City of London only govern the Square Mile?’, The London Journal, 39 (2014)
The Fire Court (Thorndike Press Large Print Mystery) Library The Fire Court (Thorndike Press Large Print Mystery) Library
Marwood is soon caught by the fall-out of these and other murders and swept into the dark goings-on surrounding the Dragon Yard case, being tried at the Fire Court in Clifford’s Inn, in which two men with rival claims to a plot of land just north of Cheapside in the devastated City of London compete for the lucrative contract to redevelop it. Overlooking the gardens, the conservatory – or orangery – was one of the most impressive in England. It originally had a domed glass roof modelled on Crystal Palace, and was heated by a coal furnace to create an oasis of tropical plants. Although it survived the fire, the glass and lead were stripped out and not much is left. But it’s still a good spot to look out over Witley Court gardens, which have been restored with some of the original planting. A Survey of Documentary Sources for Property Holding in London before the Great Fire. Originally published by London Record Society, London, 1985. The Court of Husting now only meets occasionally for the enrolment of the Corporation of London's own trust deeds, but has not met since 1978.In 1921 the City of London Court (formerly the Sheriffs' Courts) amalgamated with the Mayor's Court to form the Mayor and City of London Court, which still exists. All lines converged on the Dragon Yard case and the Fire Court at Clifford’s Inn.” But in Andrew Taylor’s second book in the James Marwood and Cat Lovett series, set in London just after the Great Fire, those lines tangle and twist fiendishly before coming together, writes Frances Owen.
The Fire Court; Painter to the King; Mercury Book reviews: The Fire Court; Painter to the King; Mercury
As it evolved more recognisably into a county court, with Mayor, Sheriffs and Aldermen acting as judges, its business was divisible into: The City’s Estate in Conduit Mead and the Authorship of The City-Secret’, Guildhall Studies in London History, 2 (1976) In the 11th century the Court of Husting in London was a general-purpose, governing assembly which dealt collectively with all kinds of administrative and judicial work like the shire and hundred courts. The Aldermen met weekly in the Court of Husting and it is generally considered that the Court of Aldermen developed from the administrative side of this Court.The early records of the court are incomplete, but occasionally some proceedings are preserved amongst the series of Letter Books (COL/AD/01/001-050) which have been calendared and published. They are however valuable as a source on an important period of the City's development, and throw considerable light on ancient municipal law and legal custom. Mayor's Court Original Bills: Index to Persons (plaintiff, defendants and garnishees) appearing in the Mayor's Court Original Bills A-J (1 vol.) K-Z (1 vol.) (kept in Enquiry Office) Wood Street and Giltspur Street Compters: Index to minutes of actions and rolls 1760-1841 – CLA/025/WS/03/001-035 The Court's probate jurisdiction, claimed for beneficiaries of property within the City of London since 1230, also declined. The last recorded enrolment of a will was in 1688, but enrolments had been in decline for some years prior to this. The rolls have been published as London assize of nuisance 1301-1431: A calendar ed. Helena M. Chew & William Kellaway (London Record Society, 1973) 60.9 LRS on open access in Information Area, available online at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=155
Wikipedia Andrew Taylor (author) - Wikipedia
After Dudley married banking heiress Rachel Gurney, Witley Court hosted a string of shooting parties, with famous attendees including the Prince of Wales. It took a staff of 100 butlers, footmen, housemaids, cooks, gardeners and stablehands to keep the place running. But Dudley was burning through his fortune at a rate, foreign competition was hitting his businesses and when his wife drowned in an accident in Ireland, he decided to sell up. Preservation works inside Once English Heritage took over Witley Court, they repaired the damage and stopped it getting any worse (to see what it was like before, Procol Harum’s shot the video for A Whiter Shade of Pale at Witley not long before it was taken over). But it hasn’t been rebuilt – the house is still a shell, but a walk around the ruins and gardens makes a great day trip.Andrew Taylor (born 14 October 1951) is a British author best known for his crime and historical novels, which include the Lydmouth series, the Roth Trilogy and historical novels such as the number-one best-selling The American Boy and The Ashes of London. His accolades include the Diamond Dagger, Britain's top crime-writing award. I published ‘The City of London in the 18th century: corporate pressures and their implications’ in an Oxford University Press volume honouring one of my History tutors, Paul Langford. The essay draws together much of my previous research.
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