MayorsPew StPetersChurch Barnstaple Devon

The Mayor of Barnstaple together with the

Corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

long governed the historic

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, in North

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England. The seat of government was the Barnstaple Guildhall. The mayor served a term of one year and was elected annually on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August) by a

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...

of twelve. However Barnstaple was a mesne boroughHistory of Parliament, Barnstaple and was

held Held may refer to: Places * Held Glacier People Arts and media * Adolph Held (1885–1969), U.S. newspaper editor, banker, labor activist *Al Held (1928–2005), U.S. abstract expressionist painter. *Alexander Held (born 1958), German television ...

by the Mayor and Corporation in chief not from the king but from the

feudal baron of Barnstaple From AD 1066, the feudal barony of Barnstaple was a large feudal barony with its caput at the town of Barnstaple in north Devon, England. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed in the Middle Ages. In 1236 it comprised ...

, later known as the lord of the "Castle Manor" or "Castle Court". The Corporation tried on several occasions to claim the status of a "free borough" which answered directly to the monarch and to divest itself of this

overlordship An overlord in the English feudal system was a lord of a manor who had subinfeudated a particular manor, estate or fee, to a tenant. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually military service or serjea ...

, but without success. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

was not recognised as such by the monarch, but merely as the

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

of the feudal baron. The powers of the borough were highly restricted, as was determined by an inquisition ''

ad quod damnum ''Ad quod damnum'' or ''ad damnum'' is a Latin phrase meaning "according to the harm" or "appropriate to the harm". It is used in tort law as a measure of damage inflicted, and implying a remedy, if one exists, ought to correspond specifically an ...

'' during the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377), which from an inspection of evidence found that members of the corporation elected their mayor only by permission of the lord, legal pleas were held in a court at which the lord's steward, not the mayor, presided, that the borough was taxed by the county assessors, and that the lord held the various assizes which the burgesses claimed. Indeed, the purported ancient royal charter supposedly granted by the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

King

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first ...

(d.939) (

King of the Anglo-Saxons This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself King of the Anglo-Sax ...

from 924 to 927 and

King of the English This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Kingdom of Wessex, Wessex, one of the heptarchy, seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled ...

from 927 to 939) and held by the corporation, from which it claimed its borough status, was suspected to be a forgery. Since 1974 Barnstaple has been a civil parish governed by a town council.

List of mayors

An incomplete list of the mayors of Barnstaple between 1303 and 1793, was compiled by

Benjamin Incledon Benjamin Incledon (1730–1796) (pronounced "Ingledon") of Pilton House, Pilton, near Barnstaple in North Devon, was an English antiquarian and genealogist. He served as Recorder of Barnstaple (1758–1796). Origins Incledon was baptised at ...

(1730–1796) of Pilton House, Pilton, near

in North

, an

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

and genealogist, and was published in 1830 within Joseph Besly Gribble's work "Memorials of Barnstaple". A list of mayors from 1301 to 2002 was more recently published in Lois Lamplugh's 2002 work ''Barnstaple: Town on the Taw''.

List

The following were mayors of

, England: *1406 Thomas Holman *1407–12 Thomas Hooper *1413 Thomas Walsh *1414–19 Thomas Hooper *1420 Thomas Holman *1421–22 Thomas Hooper *1423 William Hertescott *1424 Thomas Hertescott *1425 William Hertescott *1426 John Goldsmith *1427 Thomas Hooper *1428 John Goldsmith *1429 Thomas Hooper *1430 John Goldsmith *1431 Richard Bowden *1432 William Hertescott *1433 William Bedwin *1434 Richard Bowden *1435 John Hutchen *1436 William Hertescott *1437 William Bowden *1438 William Rowe *1439 John Mules *1440 Richard Bowden *1441 John Mules *1442 Richard Norris *1443 William Bedwin *1444 John Mules *1445 Walter Hayman *1446 Richard Rowe *1447 Walter Hayman *1448 William Hertescott *1449 Richard Newcombe *1450 John Widon *1451 Nicholas Bovey *1452 William Upcott *1453 Richard Pickard *1454 John Widger *1455 Walter Gaynock *1456 William Charnier *1457 Walter Gaynock *1458 Richard Newcombe *1459 John Widger *1460 John Bowdon *1461 John Smith *1462 John Collins *1463 John Widger *1464 John Collins *1465 John Widger *1466 John Bowden *1467 John Widger *1468 John Pugsley *1469 John Bowden *1470 John Widger *1471 John Squire *1472 John Widger *1473 Philip Stigan *1474 John Pugsley *1475 John Collins *1476 John Hart *1477 Philip Stigan *1478 John Branton *1479 John Bowden *1480 Thomas White *1481 John Hart *1482 Richard Crews *1483 Robert Symons *1484 John Smith *1485 Walter Nicholls *1486 William Dallington *1487 William Hart *1488 Philip Warington *1489 Robert Symons *1490 John Salisbury *1491 William Dallington *1492 Roger Colmer *1493 John Smith *1494 Robert Symons *1495 Arthur Merryfield *1496 John Salisbury *1497 Roger Colmer *1498 Richard Parminter *1499 William Cosby *1500 John Salisbury *1557-8: William Salusbury. *1607: Richard Beaple (1564–1643)Lamplugh, Lois, Barnstaple: Town on the Taw, South Molton, 2002, p.156, List of Mayors *1611:

Pentecost Dodderidge Pentecost Dodderidge (died c. 1650) of Barnstaple in North Devon, was three times Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1621, 1624 and 1625. Origins Dodderidge was a son of Richard Doddridge, merchant, of Barnstaple. His elder brother was ...

*1620: John Penrose (1575-1624) *1621: Richard Beaple (1564–1643) *1627:

*1629: Gilbert Paige (c.1590–1647) *1632:

Richard Ferris Richard Ferris (died 1649, aged 67) was a wealthy merchant from Barnstaple in Devon, England who served as a Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1640 and served twice as Mayor of Barnstaple in 1632 and 1646.Lamplugh, p. 156. He founded th ...

(1582–1649) (1st of 2 terms) *1635: Richard Beaple (1564–1643) *1640: Thomas Horwood (1600–1658) *1641: Gilbert Paige (c.1590–1647) *1646:

(1582–1649) (2nd of 2 terms) *1637:

*1650:

Thomas Matthew Thomas Matthew was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons in 1640. Matthew was a merchant of Barnstaple and became a burgess of the town. In April 1640, he was elected Member of Parliamen ...

*1653: Thomas Horwood (1600–1658) *1667:

*1712:

Robert Incledon Robert Incledon (1676–1758) of Pilton House, Pilton, near Barnstaple in North Devon, was a lawyer of New Inn, London, a Clerk of the Peace for Devon, Deputy Recorder of Barnstaple and was twice Mayor of Barnstaple, in 1712 and 1721. ...

*1721:

*1902-03: H. Barrett, Liberal

References

{{Lists of mayors in the United Kingdom