Magistrates / Justices of the Peace (Unreformed)

• Magistrates, Justices of the Peace, JPs

• Magistrates / Justices of the Peace (Unreformed); 1300s-1835

The petty sessions in York were presided over by the Lord Mayor, aldermen and sheriffs from 1392, and aldermen also made up the Justices of the Peace for the Quarter sessions. York included several liberties such as the Liberty of St Peter and Davy Hall which were outside this jurisdiction. The Municipal Corporations Act setup a new Commission of the Peace and transferred this function out of the corporation in 1835.
Function transferred to Commission of the Peace in 1835.

Original duties centred around guarding the peace and providing justice, via the petty and quarter session courts. They were responsible for the keeping of both national and local laws and regulations. Matters covered included alehouse licensing, vagrancy, the poor law, sewers, paving, employment disputes, wages, markets and absentees from church. They also oversaw the traditional parish constable system.

The petty sessions in York were presided over by the Lord Mayor, aldermen and sheriffs from 1392, and aldermen also made up the Justices of the Peace for the Quarter sessions. York included several liberties such as the Liberty of St Peter and Davy Hall which were outside this jurisdiction. The Municipal Corporations Act setup a new Commission of the Peace and transferred this function out of the corporation in 1835.

International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa

VCH York, JBM How York Governs Itself.