Right of the Crown and the Custos Rotulorum in Regard to the Appointment of Clerk of the Peace : Harding, Plaintiff in Error, against Pollock and Another, Defendants in Error. Decision of the House of Lords on June 10, 1829. An Original Trial Report from the Reports of State Trials, New Series.
London: Reports of State Trials, New Series, HMSO, 1889. Softcover (Booklet - Unbound Pages). Very Good. Item #359043
In Harding v. Pollock and Another, decided by the House of Lords on 10 June 1829, the Court examined a constitutional dispute over the appointment of the Clerk of the Peace, a key administrative and judicial officer in county governance. The case centred on whether the right of appointment lay with the Crown or with the Custos Rotulorum, the principal keeper of the county records and often a figure of local influence. Harding, the plaintiff in error, challenged the legitimacy of an appointment made under royal authority, arguing that the Custos held the prerogative by longstanding custom. The Lords' decision clarified the delicate balance between royal prerogative and local autonomy, reaffirming the Crown's ultimate authority while acknowledging the historical role of the Custos in county administration. It was a judgment that touched on the evolving nature of patronage, governance, and the machinery of justice in early 19th-century England. 19 pages, printed in double columns. Published in the decades following Cobbett's original series, the State Trials, New Series extend the archive of British courtroom history into the 19th century, preserving landmark cases from the Georgian and early Victorian eras. These volumes continue the tradition of recording verbatim proceedings, arguments, verdicts, and judicial reasoning, with the same forensic detail and constitutional significance. Printed in the mid-19th century, each report is a direct witness to the legal and political tensions of its time: reform, sedition, press freedom, and the evolving machinery of justice. These are not facsimiles or modern reprints, but authentic period printings rarely encountered outside institutional holdings. This particular trial report has been removed from a volume of the State Trials and is now preserved in a modern card cover for practicality, an unassuming but serviceable presentation that favours function over finery. Size: 15 x 25 cms. Category: State Trials; State Trials::New Series;.
Keywords: BZDB395 "Clerk of the Peace, Crown Appointment, Custos Rotulorum, Harding v Pollock, House of Lords, 1829" State Trials; State Trials::New Series; CROWN OR CUSTOS? THE 1829 DECISION ON CLERK OF THE PEACE APPOINTMENTS Right of the Crown and the Custos
Price: £15.95