THE HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON'

THE burgesses of Northampton profess no respect for ancient or aristocratic institutions ; yet, like most Radicals, they are as proud as can be of the antiquity and completeness of their own archives. They elect Mr. Labouchere as their Member of Parliament, and publish two thick volumes fall of their Royal Charters, cherished privileges and ancient customs. We do not quarrel with this inconsistency, for the two volumes are of most remarkable interest. Too high praise cannot be • The Records of the Bo, ough of Northampton. 2 vols. Published by order of the Ctni,u.atiJa. [11, .1

bestowed on the diligence and learning which have been dis- played in selecting the materials and annotating them. The first volume, which consists chiefly of Royal Charters and Letters Patent, from Richard I. down to the present day, has been edited by Mr. Christopher Markham. It contains, also,

the Liber Custumarum, or book of the ancient customs of the borough, which is, perhaps, the most valuable and interesting

of the town muniments. This record was compiled about the amiddle of the fifteenth century by an unknown hand, and treats of the usages and laws then existing in the town. "The original documents from which the book was first com- piled have been destroyed, some probably intentionally as being of no farther use after the clerkly transcript was made about 1460, some probably in the Great Fire of 1675 when the Guildhall was partially burnt, and many of the Corpora.

tion records were lost." The second volume, by Doctor Charles Cox, deals with the minute internal affairs of the town down to 1835, when the old Assembly, called into being in 1489, was swept away by the Municipal Reform Act. Want of space prevents our giving more than a general idea of the contents. The subjects of civic govern.

ment, town property, public health, trades, charities, churches, defences, and many more are treated in the most interesting manner, and the actual documents are transcribed wherever possible. The book is a storehouse of materials for the antiquarian and historian of town- life. " Title-deeds," said Lord Westbury with much truth, "are difficult to read, disgusting to touch, and impossi- ble to understand." We may thank the Corporation for having made their archives accessible to all and agreeable to consult.

Mr. Ryland Adkins, a local barrister, has contributed a lucid sketch of the position of Northampton in English history. The town emerges from obscurity soon after the Norman Conquest, and for nearly three hundred years it was one of the chief centres of the Kingdom. It was the first fortified town of importance on the road from London to the North, and a commodious castle and adjacent Royal forests attracted the Sovereigns. Northampton was selected by successive Kings as a place of resort midway between Winchester (the ancient capital), York, the Welsh border, and the East Coast. Under Henry IL it was the meeting- place of several Councils :—

" The important year. however, of this reign for the history of the borough is 1184. In that year died Simon, the last of the St. Liz, Earls of Northampton, and the shrewd burgesses seized the chance to buy from the King the right of holding the town of him in capite. This is the true beginning of municipal life. Freed by this means from dependence on the Sheriff, and so made separate from the county, no longer having a local Earl to overawe them, the burgesses of Northampton had the King, and the King only, to deal with, and were launched on the stream of local independence which naturally led to their gaining, five years later, from Richard I. their earliest charter by which they could choose their own reeve, and be free as tenants on the royal domain from tolls and exactions throughout the kingdom."

It is interesting to remember that Northampton to-day

might have been one of our University towns. In the middle of the thirteenth century a number of students from Oxford and Cambridge settled there, and a Univer- sity was actually founded under Royal sanction, which attracted some thousands of scholars. It came to an end (1262) owing to the pressure which Oxford, as a Royalist centre, put upon the King to close this new rival. Succeeding

Kings confirmed the original Charter, and extended fresh privileges to the town. The burgesses received the coveted right of keeping dogs in the vicinity of the Royal hunting-

grounds without expeditating them, a regulation which had been vigorously enforced to prevent their hunting in the Royal preserves. In Edwardian times the town reached the zenith of prosperity. The houses had increased so much as to encroach on the open space which, in medimval cities, was always left between the walls and the houses. Three hundred Jews were executed for clipping the coin of the realm, and Were probably brought to Northampton (as a central place) from the surrounding districts. When David, the last of the Welsh Princes, was executed (1284), Northampton was honoured by receiving one of his quarters to exhibit on the the town gates. All four orders of Friars (the Grey, White, the Black, and the Austin) had settlements there :-

" A thoughtful burgess of the time might well think that his town was destined to be permanently one of the capitals of the country. It had municipal privileges shared by few ; it boasted

of a royal castle, and had three Parliaments held there in twelve years. A little later one of the royal heralds took his title from Northampton. The great religious orders chose it for their head quarters, of the trade in wool it had its full share, and a seal of a great interest bearing the head of Edward I. is one of a cloth subsidy, denoting that Northampton manufactured cloth for ex- port and that the duty had been paid thereon."

We have indicated the causes of its prosperity; we must now trace the period of its decline. The importance of Northampton had depended on its geographical position.

With the Hundred Years' War the centre of interest in political affairs was shifted across the Channel. The defences of Northampton fell into decay, and Monarchs discontinued their visits to the castle or the hunting-palaces in the en- virons. From the time of Crecy only one Parliament met there. With the accession of the house of Lancaster the history of Northampton becomes almost purely municipal. It is with this municipal history that the two volumes before

us deal, and at this most interesting period the Liber Custamaruni, before mentioned, was pat together. For the

details of civic life the reader must be referred to the book itself. It must not be supposed that the volume entrusted to Dr. Cox is a mere dry transcript of accounts and records. A vast amount of historical material has been digested and pre.

rented to the reader under different heads. The Bishop of London in a short preface dwells on the importance of pub- lishing municipal records. " It gives," he says, "a great stimulus to the accurate study of local history, and affords a strong incentive to that sentiment of civic duty on which our local self-government must ultimately rest. At the same time it is of importance to all students of English institutions; for they can only be fully understood when a great mass of material has been collected in an available form."

The shoemaking trade, which is now the chief industry of Northampton, first appears as important in 1640, when two thousand pairs of shoes were ordered for the soldiers of Charles I. in the Irish rebellion. A few years later the Parlia- mentary Army was largely shod by the inhabitants of Northampton. The great development of this trade and a certain prominence acquired by the notoriety of some of its Members in the House of Commons have made Northampton a place of some consequence again. It is a local boast that a greater percentage of its inhabitants own their own dwellings than in any other English town.