Publication Rights.
The publication, The Liberties and Privileges of the Town of Derby. The 1378 Confirmation of King Richard II, and Other Royal Grants, and the summary text ‘The Inspeximus of King Richard II of the royal charters for Derby, 15 March 1378’, researched and written by Dr Simon J. Harris, were commissioned by The Freemen of the City of Derby (hereafter ‘The Freemen’) and Derby City Council (hereafter ‘The Council’). The right of the author Simon J. Harris to be identified as author of these works has been asserted in accordance with section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The author has granted full licence for the works to be used by The Freemen and The Council for all educational, publicity, promotional and display purposes relating to the history and development of the town and subsequently the City of Derby, and the furtherance of the understanding of the same. The Freemen and The Council are at full liberty to release electronic copies in PDF format, or other appropriate electronic form, or to produce the work in print form, but undertake that the author should always be clearly identified, and copying by third persons is strictly prohibited without the consent of The Freemen and The Council.
The Freemen and The Council also undertake that the work will always be reproduced in its full written form, and no alterations or abridgements should be made without the written consent of the author. The author agrees to make all reasonable and appropriate revisions that The Freemen and The Council might request.
21 December 2020.
The larger group in the Commons were 222 Burgesses, two from each town allowed to return representatives, known as a Borough. Another 12 joined after 1536 when Wales was united to England.
The selection of burgesses depended on the will of the King. He could make a town into a parliamentary borough through a royal charter. This could be granted to any settlement, regardless of its size or importance, and also set out the ways in which representatives were elected for each borough: that is, who had the franchise. In some, only the mayor and town governors, perhaps only ten people, would elect the representatives, while in others the right to vote was extended too.
Pocket Boroughs
A statute of 1413 stated that burgesses should inhabit the boroughs for which they were elected. Already by that time this law was of little use, for, just as peers and landowners influenced the selection of knights of the shire, so they were also invading the boroughs, and tried to get their own followers elected, even if they had no connection with the place. By 1422 one-quarter of the burgesses did not live in the borough for which they were elected and over the centuries aristocrats increasingly influenced elections, sometimes choosing members for both seats themselves.
This system, which could give tiny villages the right to return Members to Parliament while the huge growing cities of the industrial revolution had no representation, provided for inconsistent methods of election, and allowed aristocrats to place their non-resident followers in parliamentary seats. This was one of the principal targets in the agitation for reform of Parliament in 1832.
To be a FREEMAN was an exclusive and cherished right. Never to be undertaken lightly and involving great responsibility.
The town was run by its freemen until 1835, and in earlier days was headed by well to do merchants who formed the Guilds.
Before the Norman Conquest 243 Freemen existed, but north of the Trent stood against William the First and suffered great losses, William was ruthless, and destroyed all who stood in his way.
Derby was not destroyed like some towns, but went into decline. Twenty years after the Normans there were only 140 Freemen left in existance.
There were over 100 houses empty, the water mills were nearly 50% in ruins. Sadly a near derelict town of cowed people. Even the religious side of Derby was run by French monks from St. James Priory :- Now St. James Street, in spite of this the monks did organise an annual fair held around the site of the present General Post Office.
For a week all trade within 10 miles of Derby had to be held at the fair, it was not a market, it was a time for buying and selling of luxury goods, such as silk, furs, silver, spices, these being bought with the lead ore, wool, corn grain, cattle and other livestock. Once people got into the habit of coming to Derby they continued to trade at the Fair.
Freemen brought their cornet sell in the Cornmarket, which was in turn bought by the Bakers of St. Marys Gate. The yeast left over from breadmaking into the making of Beer brewed from Barley, this was also sold in the Cornmarket. This was recognised as the finest in the Midlands, until taken over by Burton.
Cattle went for meat and leather, the leather being worked by the Freeman Merchants of Saddlergate. Smiths of Irongate shod the horses of the traders and the mule train beasts bringing in the lead ore from Wirksworth or coal from Derbyshire.
The mills around the Markeaton Brook and the Derwent turned once more, grinding corn, and working forge bellows to smelt lead and iron.
Wealth began to accumulate once again and with the wealth Freemen had additional freedom.
The countryside around the towns owned by a few Norman Lords, prominently the Ferrers of Duffield who owned most of the county that time. There were less important Normans who owned parcels of land, all had one thing in common they were warriors, and had to fight, to fight meant having to buy weapons, horses and provisions. They needed credit and favourable terms and prices. this meant they had to keep on good terms with townsfolk.
So the town Freemen persuaded their Norman Lords to help them get Royal Charters or persuade the King to allow them to found religious orders which would suit them better than the French Monks of St. James Priory. It was the baker Freemen of St. Marys Gate who were the main movers behind the founding of the priories of St. Helens, Darley Abbey & Dale Abbey. It was hoped the Abbots would give the town strong support whenever it was needed.
The Royal Charters had to be paid for by the town. The Charter fees went directly to the King. It was King John's Charter of 1204 which gave a boost to the town especially its Textile trade. This Charter said that the town could hold its own markets on Friday and Saturday. All dying of cloth was forbidden within 10 miles of Derby, which meant further trade for the town. Merchants were allowed to form Guilds to regulate trade.
All serfs living in Derby a year and a day could become Freemen, even if they were fugitives. The true Hereditary Freemen however being jealous of their power and rights, made sure that they were not usurped, by providing to the Reeve (or Mayor) the whereabouts of any serfs in hiding. This is a right jealously guarded to this day, an admitted Freeman must still be the true son of a Hereditary Freeman. This is different from Honorary Freeman which is granted to men of outstanding ability for their lifetime only, which cannot be passed on i.e. Sir Winston Churchill - Prime Minister of Great Britain.
As Freemen they could travel up and down the river Derwent without paying bridge tolls, at this time the river was known to be the best for salmon fishing. As all ferries across the Derwent paid tolls directly to Derby, a Reeve or Bailiff was appointed to handle the towns finances and laws. He would be selected by a group of Freemen appointed by the other Freemen. They were the forerunners of the Mayor and Corporation. Once the Corporation were appointed they held the office for life. When one died then the Corporation selected another Freeman from outside thier ranks, often these were relatives. Although to be fair all Freemen were related. Certainly all the county Lords and Gentry were interrelated.
As centuries passed and the population grew it became plain that Darley Abbey did not care very much about the wishes of their founders the Freemen. There was a love/hate relationship between Town & Abbey. The Abbey was extremely wealthy, they owned hugh amounts of property in Derby and were its major landlords. This came about by citizens on their deathbeds or in times of trouble giving houses and land to the Abbey for the good of their souls. So we find nearly 100 years after Darley Abbey was founded it owned and rented out houses in every street in Irongate. Rents for a town house with a long garden were usually three shillings per annum plus 2-4 chickens.
When the Friary was built in Friargate the Friars also owned Derby houses and shops. They also ran the equivalent of a luxury hotel at the Friary for VIPs. Some Derby Lords had permanent apartments there, a decent place to stay meant more visitors to the town and this included a large number of Kings, the last being Richard the Third. All these folk needed food and drink, their horses shod and stabled. The Friars drove har bargains with the townsfolk, but usually each side was well pleased. It was only when the Friars started cutting down trees for fuel from land owned by Freemen, that the townspeople and Friars actually came to blows.
As for Darley Abbey there was much dissatisfaction as more and more land became Abbey lands. So much in the way of fertile fields given to Freemen over the years was centred just outside the town in the area west of the Wardwick and Friargate. The monks built a huge barn to hold all the harvests at the top of the road we know as Abbey Street.
Meanwhile Derby had formed its Guilds made up of the most important Freemen in town, bakers, farriers, weavers, fullers, woolcombers and merchants. Some Guildsmen became petty tyrants. Their greed actually lost the town its charter in 1283 and had to pay heavily to get it back again. Amongst their misdemeanours was forcing new Freemen to pay heavily to receive any privileges and charging exorbitant tolls bridges, ferries and market stalls. At one time they insisted that an outsider bringing goods for sale at Derby Market not only had to pay high tolls, but if challenged by a Guildsman, had to sell his goods at the price demanded by the Guildsman or leave the town with unsold goods. The Guildsman could then sell on his own stall at any price he chose i.e. in other words a compulsory middleman Freemen were independent and acted independent.
The town council could pass laws on this, that, and the other, but usually ignored by them i.e. every householder had to sweep away the rubbish front of his dwelling every day, and so he did, he swept it on to his neighbours bit, who swept it onto his neighbours and so on. Citizens were suppose to take it in turns to fulfil public offices i.e. constables, night watchman, tax collector for Royal taxes, road surveyor etc.
Some jobs were very popular, other were very unpopular, but if you refused to do it, why then the town could pull your house down around your ears for not fulfilling you civic duties. Some appointments were very popular i.e. market toll collectors. By 6am the locals had set up thier toll free stalls, at 8am a bell was rung so that outsiders could enter to set up their stalls. Then they had to pay tolls to the toll collectors. He kept some for himself, some went in the town coffers, but the largest amount went to the top Freeman, the Reeve or Bailiff of Derby.
Tolls and taxes levied by the King on the townspeople were collected by the Sheriff's men. The Sheriff of Derby was also the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Sheriff's visit was a time of great lamenting. This was when they carried out public hangings and executions.
Sometimes County Gentry cam to town and brawled with each other, usually over land and inheritance disputes. Blood was shed, Lords and their servants fought in the centre of the town, but not for long, Derby belonged to the Freemen, not to some 'riff raff' Knights and Lordlings. A bell was installed in the market place which rang at the sound of trouble. Then the Derby Freemen armed themselves with cudgels and would beat the living daylights out of the intruders, the Meynells of Kirk Langley offended several times and always regretted it.
The monks & friars were watched to see if they overstepped the law, and if they did, Derby Freemen rushed off to the Law and had them fined i.e. digging holes in King Street. to mend Abbey roads, putting fishing traps in the Derwent, causing blockage for boats in the river. By the end of the middle ages we had a small wealthy town, and small because the Black Death killed one third of its people in the mid 14th century of which the survivors inherited their businesses. Survivors began to question establish religion, because the plague killed good and bad indiscriminately, questioning but deeply religious regarding private piety, but also very anti clerical.
In 1538 Darley Abbey and all religious houses were disbanded by King Henry VIII. He claimed the Abbey and its immediate surroundings for himself, much of the rest mostly property once belonging to the Freemen of Derby was given back to them for a price. This included fields in an area covered by St. Helens House to the Children's Hospital, Chester Green, Nuns Green which is the West End area, Bradshaw Way DRI area and Six Mills mostly along the Derwent, also one at the bottom of St. Marys Gate, Bold Lane Car Park now on the site. Cluster of mills on the Derwent around the site of Bass recreation ground and the Old Silk Mill, it included the area known as Castlefields.
Over the years some of the lands stolen by prominent Freemen, some was legally sold and some remained to be used by the Freemen to grow their hay and graze their beasts.
The town continued to remain small, intimate and rich until the 19th century when it was no longer essential to be a Freeman to have a say in the towns affairs, thanks to the municipal reform. We don't know anything about the life of those who were not Freemen, or even that of poor Freemen. They seem to have kept their heads down.
At the end of this true power in the 19th century, there were still only enough Freemen to fit comfortably in the Guildhall where the Mayor counted raised hands on election days, and quite often refusing to see those who were in opposition or refusing to give well documented and proven Freemen their voting papers.
On the whole the Freemen of Derby did a very good job. They kept the town out of assorted civil wars and uprising. They were polite to everyone from Kings to Roundheads. Indeed they were mostly Roundheads, but were good monarchists when times changed. After William the Conqueror nearly ruined the town, the Freemen came back and hauled themselves up, so the town did not decline.
Long ago Derby was part of the Kingdom of Mercia with the capital at Repton, but Repton declined and Derby kept going, it could have been the other way.
The year was 1645 with the Civil War in progress, at that time Derby was almost a solidly Roundhead town and had been since the commencement of the Civil War. It had become a Garrison town with armed soldiers posted on top of All Saint's Tower night and day. The soldiers were a mixture of Derby men, outsiders, plus a large body of Wirksworth men. The Garrison Governor was Sir John Gell of Hopton Hall.
The Fortifications of the town consisted of the River Derwent which was a natural moat for the East side of Derby, while the West was protected by the embankments and the Markeaton Brook. To the South at the Spot was a watch tower looking out for Caveliers from the South of the Trent. On the North boundary along the line of Bridgegate a ditch had been excavated and a rampart built. Wile St. Mary's Bridge which was in existence was adapted and made into a drawbridge.
Sir John Gell was an obnoxious individual, he was a vicious bully, a cheat and notorious bragged and inveterate liar. All his relatives were on the payroll. They in turn helped themselves to the taxes and to Lead which was locally mined, making themselves very wealthy in the process. His opponents and their homes and businesses raised to the ground, and then they were thrown out of town.
Many of the Derby soldiers were formerly merchants and craftsmen of the town, and they hated Sir John Gell, but were not in a position to do anything against him. As he was the Commander he could have them shot for mutiny.
The Market with was held in Derby was ruined as Gell's soldiers plundered people and goods coming and going from the town. His soldiers stole property without ever being punished, and he held people ransom.
Gell's brother Thomas was his favourite, and made sure Thomas had all the best Posts available. He made him a Colonel, although he was useless as a soldier, next he became Town Clerk and Recorder, once more he proved a hopeless Lawyer.
In September 1645 there was a vacancy for a Member of Parliament in Derby, The Speaker of the House of Commons issued an Election Warrant. Sir John Gell put up his brother Thomas as candidate and did not expect any opposition. But the Freemen of Derby put up their own man, Captain Robert Mellor a Mercer who lived in Babbington House, Babbington Lane. Mellors father had been the First Mayor of Derby, and they both hated Gell.
Robert had been called up at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was a far better soldier then Sir John Gell. On the eve of the election Sir John Gell ordered Robert Mellor to Garrison Chatsworth House, so that Robert could do no canvassing. Robert Mellor and his fellow Freemen protested to Gell, but he raised his stick and threatened to beat them. He Court Marshalled Mellor for refusing to obey and order. So Captain had no choice, he had to go to Chatsworth to the Garrison. Sir John Gell then turned on Captain Mellors election supporters, Alderman Youle was arrested and imprisoned at Wingfield Manor, but Alderman Dunnage hid from them and was not found. Alderman Dunnage had once had his nose broken by Gell for refusing to give him a horse, and Dunnage was known to be a loyal Roundhead.
The Mayor of Derby complained about the situation of the election, but was laughed and jeered at. Mayor Whittington said he would send a man to Oliver Cromwell to complain about Gell. The outcome was that the election was temporarily postponed. By the end of September there was a new Mayor Gervase Bennett who tried to hold the election.
Captain Mellor returned to Derby from Chatsworth in good time for the election but was immediately ordered to go to Newark. When Mayor Bennett read the election Writ in Derby Market Place, he added "Neighbours and Freemen I will have you know that I support Captain Mellor to represent us in Parliament, and it is good for you to do so too." Mellors canvassing was done by his brother in law Nicolas Wilmot of Chaddesden. One of Captain Mellors supporters said of Thomas Gel, the rival candidate, "He who stands for Gell stands for the Devil, for he is a worthless man, and untrustworthy." They that give a vote a vote for him damn themselves to the Pit of Hell."
On the 12th November 1645 the election was held in the Guildhall in the presence of the Mayor & Alderman. Sir John Gel came in with armed soldiers and sat at the door writing down electors names & addresses and trying to frighten Mellor's supporters. Once ex Mayor Mr Fletcher was struck for voting for Captain Mellor. There was a system of postal votes for absent soldiers and Freemen, 60 of these came in. At noon a drum beat Tattoo, and Gell's soldiers completely surrounded the Guildhall, guns at the ready and matches lit, and all pointed at the voters. The votes were counted in the afternoon, before the count was completed Thomas Gell ordered the Mayor to declare him elected. Mayor Bennett refused until all votes were counted, and Gell stormed out in rage. The official count was Melllor 209 votes and Gell 107, Mellor duly voted and elected Member of Parliment.
A paper without the official seal was setoff to Parliament by the Gell's, declaring Thomas Gell to be the elected Member of Parliament. The Mayor & Sheriff sent off the official result and seal declaring Captain Mellor the elected Member of Parliament. So the House of Commons had two elected Members of Parliament. They debated this for two years and then declared Thomas Gell Member of Parliament. One of the Members of Parliament Mathanial Hallowes was a crony of the Gell's and was on their payroll. The Freemen of Derby bombarded London with complaints of the situations, even though they suffered for it. Gell was eventually relieved of his post, and Parliament was abolished by Oliver Cromwell. Robert Mellor became Mayor of Derby. Sir John Gell lived to a ripe old age, keeping all his ill gotten gains. He died in London in 1671, where he had been living for some time. He is buried in Wirksworth Church.
When Parliament was duly restored again it was particularly keen on as fair election as possible could be staged at that time. They detested tyranny of all kinds, and the bravery of voters on that election day 12th November 1645 was an example to all.