The Bridgwater Court of Record - Bridgwater Heritage Group

Guide to use of the Index

By the eighteenth century a Court of Record was held in Bridgwater at 9 o’clock every Monday morning throughout the year to consider civil cases such as detention of cattle, trespass upon the case and debt. Eight manuscript books listing cases between 1729 and 1847 are among the Bridgwater Borough Archives stored at the Somerset Heritage Centre.

SHC references___First and final dates_____Index Numbers
D/B/bw/34/1/1 06.10.1729 – 31.05.1736 0001 – 0762
D/B/bw/34/1/2 11.10.1736 – 01.10.1744 0763 – 1693
D/B/bw/34/1/3 08.10.1744 – 01.10.1753 1694 – 2345
D/B/bw/34/1/4 08.10.1764 – 08.08.1774 2346 – 2881
D/B/bw/34/1/5 15.08.1774 – 04.10.1784 2882 – 3273
D/B/bw/34/1/6 17.12.1804 – 25.12.1820 3274 – 3454
D/B/bw/34/1/7 01.01.1821 – 14.05.1832 3455 – 3674
D/B/bw/34/1/8 20.05.1832 – 19.03.1847 3675 – 3852

Although entries continue until 1847, the court ceased to be held regularly after 1836. Note that there are many other documents relating to this court including some listed under Quarter Sessions, for which see the Somerset Heritage Centre online catalogue.

Arrangement of the Index in Columns

Column 1: contains entry numbers 0001 – 3852.
Column 2: is a transcript of the first entry of each case, or a translation of the Latin entry before 1733, together with any editorial comment in square brackets. This column also lists court officials, and placeholders.
Column 3: notes the initial nominal value of each claim, often under £2 or under £5. Some court charges were based on the nominal claim.
Column 4: gives the first entry of each case followed, within square brackets, by the date of the final entry if different. The date format is DD.MM.YYYY.

Slocombe, I.M., “The Bridgwater Court of Record in the Eighteenth Century”, SANHS Vol 111 (1967), pages 38-50 for an account of the local court practices based on those of national courts.
Dunning, Robert W., A history of the County of Somerset, Vol. 6 (1992) VCH. See pages 223-228 for information on the post medieval administration and governance of Bridgwater. Available online here.
Goddard, Richard and Teresa Phipps eds., Town Courts and Urban Society in Late Medieval England, 1250-1500 (2019) discusses similar courts in other towns and has an extensive bibliography.

Acknowledgements – I wish to thank Bridgwater Town Council as owner of the Bridgwater Borough Archives, and the staff of Somerset Heritage Centre for help during the Covid pandemic restrictions. – J.P. Polak. December 2022

entries per page

Search:

Index Number	Transcription of the First Entry - with editorial comments in brackets	Claim Value	First and Last Entries
1	Court Officials. Joel Gardner esquire mayor, Thomas Palmer esquire recorder, John Gilbert esquire deputy recorder, William Prior esquire alderman, Samuel Smith receiver, Thomas Yates bailiff, Thomas Quarle bailiff, John Webber protonotary and common clerk, John Page water bailiff, John Prance serjeant at mace, John Popham serjeant at mace, John Lewis cryer.	----	Page before 06.10 1729
2	Robert Cox complains of John Walters otherwise Hosier [John Hosier] of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [30.03.1730]
3	John Mascoll gentleman complains of Robert Fisher of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [30.03.1730]
4	Thomas Starr complains of John Fry of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [30.03.1730]
5	Thomas Starr complains of John Hayes junior of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [30.03.1730]
6	Matthew Mills complains of John Lewis of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [15.12.1729]
7	John Keen complains of Robert Butcher of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [16.10.1732]
8	Thomas Burd complains of John Booby of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [30.03.1730]
9	Thomas Marten complains of John Whittock of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [30.03.1730]
10	Robert Bobbett and Elizabeth his wife [Elizabeth Bobbett] administrators etc of Robert Nurton deceased complain of William Anstice of a plea of trespass upon the case	----	06.10.1729 [13.10.1729]

Showing 1 to 10 of 3,852 entries

Guide to use of the Index

Arrangement of the Index in Columns

Further Reading