Neville, Salisbury, and the Jury and Churchwardenship Exemption Project, 1607/8
The jury and churchwardenship exemption project
Sourced Facts
The letter is calendared as 1 January 1607/8, not simply “1607.” The Hatfield calendar identifies it as Cecil Papers 120/1, Henry Neville to the earl of Salisbury, from Dacre House. A probable related item is Cecil Papers 124/100, concerning Welden, Day, exemptions, and patent form.
The scheme Neville describes
Neville, ill with a cold and unable to attend Salisbury, discusses using approaching Quarter Sessions to “sound mens dispositions.” He asks:
- whether to approach only gentlemen or also men of inferior quality;
- what minimum price should be charged to each group;
- whether exemption from churchwardenship should be joined to exemption from jury service;
- whether rates should be uniform;
- whether one principal man in each shire should receive an exemption gratis “so to draw on the rest.”
He reports Mr Welden willing to give £10 and presses for a patent before the Tuesday after Twelfth Day.
Quoted Source Text
Neville asks whether he may:
“taste them about the exemption from the church wardenship likewise, & try what they will give for both.”
For recruitment, he proposes giving an exemption gratis to a principal man in every shire “so to draw on the rest.”
Interpretation boundary
The letter documents planned marketing and county rollout of an exemption scheme. It does not yet establish that the patent passed, that payments were collected, or that a purchaser obtained a legally effective exemption. Price and gratis show a revenue or patronage mechanism, but its Crown authority and beneficiaries remain unidentified.
Research route
Collate 120/1 and 124/100; search patent, signet, and privy-seal records; identify Welden and Day; and inspect Quarter Sessions for offers, payments, objections, or enrolled exemptions.
Citations
- HMC, Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House, vol. 20, Cecil Papers 120/1 and 124/100, British History Online volume.
Notes on Access
British History Online provides the public calendar. The quotations follow the project transcription of Cecil Papers 120/1 and should be checked against the manuscript image before diplomatic publication.