Municipal and Civil Government.
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The Corporation of Oswestry is of great antiquity. Its civic honours, primitively, flowed from its Barons or Lords, who, exercising themselves the power of petty sovereigns, appointed Bailiff’s and other officers to superintend the civic affairs of the borough. Its first assumption of civic dignities appears to have been in the reign of Henry II., when William, Earl of Arundel, granted to the town a short charter (called by the Welsh “Siarter Cwtta”), denominated also a Charter of Protection. A clause in this ancient document sets forth that “I (the Earl of Arundel) have received in Protection my Burgesses of Blanc-Minster” (Oswestry). Richard de Chambre was Constable at this period. Here was subsidiary power given to the inhabitants of Oswestry, for the government of the town; but in the reign of Richard II., August 14th, 1399, that monarch granted to Oswestry its first royal charter, incorporating the Burgesses by the name and title of “The Bailiffs and Burgesses of Oswestry, infra Palatinatum Cestriæ, in marchia inter Angliam et Walliam.” In 1407, as heretofore noticed, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, granted a comprehensive and valuable charter, showing that still the exercise of power, in his lordship or barony, for the good government of the burgesses, &c., was fully recognized by the crown.
The rights and privileges granted by Richard II. seem to have been strictly guarded and maintained by the inhabitants down to the reign of Elizabeth, when they were confirmed by that sovereign. It would appear, however, that subsequently “divers doubts and ambiguities” arose concerning the ancient liberties, franchises, &c., of the borough, and in the reign of James I., 1616, the king granted a charter to the town, extending its liberties and privileges, and confirming the Bailiffs, Burgesses, &c., as a body corporate, by the name of “The Bailiff and Burgesses of Oswestry, in the countie of Salop.” The charter of Charles II., granted January 13th, 1673, to “the ancient borough and corporation of Oswestry, alias Oswaldstrey, in the county of Salop,” enacted “That they be incorporated by the name of the Mayor, Aldermen, Common-Councilmen and Burgesses of Oswestry.” This charter, it will be seen, was the instrument which first called into existence the offices of Mayor, Aldermen, Common-Councilmen, and Recorder. That charter was immediately acted upon, and Mr. Richard Pope was elected the first Mayor of Oswestry. Sir John Trevor, Knight (afterwards speaker of the House of Commons, and Master of the Rolls), Morgan Wynne, Esq., Edward Owen, Richard Edwards, Richard Lloyd, the before-mentioned Richard Pope, gentleman; Gabriel Edwards, woollen-draper; Hugh Price, woollen-draper; John Jones, mercer; Richard Jones, John Blodwell, gentlemen; and John Lloyd, mercer, were chosen as the first Aldermen. Richard Price, brewer, Richard Jones, mercer, John Glover, tanner, Richard Jones, glover, Edward Evans, apothecary, John Jones, glover, John Muckleston, shoemaker, Thomas Edwards, gentleman, Thomas Edwards, baker, Nathaniel Jones, brewer, Hugh Edwards, shoemaker, Timothy George, mercer, Thomas Vaughan, chandler, William Price, butcher, and Thomas Felton, brazier, were the first Common-Councilmen. Morgan Wynne, Esq., was the first Recorder of the town, and John Worral, Esq., first Common Clerk of the Borough, and Clerk of the Court. It may be mentioned as a fact worth knowing, that Sir John Trevor was the second Mayor of Oswestry, under the charter of Charles II. Sir John was an eminent man, and his history, connected as he was with the borough of Oswestry, is worthy of brief record in these pages. He was the second son of John Trevor, Esq., of Brynkinalt, in the county of Denbigh, by an aunt of Sir George Jeffreys. He was born about the year 1637, and it is supposed never received educational advantages beyond those furnished by a village school. He was sent to London to his uncle, Arthur Trevor, a leading barrister, who employed him as his clerk in his chambers in the Inner Temple. The Rev. Robert Williams, in his careful and elaborate “Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen,” says of him, that—
“On his first arrival he displayed very lively parts, although his manners were rather uncouth, and he could not speak a sentence of correct English. His diligence, however, was so great, that being entered a student of the Inner Temple, he rendered himself well versed in all branches of his profession, and soon acquired extensive practice. Through the interest of his cousin, Sir George Jeffreys, he was made a king’s counsel, in 1678, and he obtained a seat in the House of Commons. Here he acquired considerable influence among the members, and such was his reputation as a high prerogative lawyer, that at the meeting of James II’s. parliament in May, 1685, he was elected Speaker. In October of the same year he was appointed Master of the Rolls, and in July, 1688, he was sworn a Privy Councillor. On the accession of William and Mary, Sir John Trevor was dismissed from the office of Master of the Rolls. In the Convention Parliament he sat for Beraldstone, and opposed by every means in his power the measures of the Government. In the next Parliament, called in 1690, he made his peace with the Court, and was unanimously elected Speaker. In May, 1691, he was made first Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal, which office he held until May 2nd, 1693, and in January, 1693 he was restored to his office of Master of the Rolls. Such was his talent for managing party, and of recommending himself to the Government by his bold and dexterous measures, that had it not been for his great indiscretion, he would probably have reached the great object of his ambition, which was to become Lord Chancellor, and to be created a peer. In 1695 a violent outcry was raised against bribery, and a committee was appointed by the House of Commons, to inquire into the charges, which were made against members, and it reported that Sir John Trevor had received a bribe of a thousand guineas for furthering a bill called the ‘Orphan’s Bill,’ promoted by the City of London. Accordingly, March 12th, 1695, he was subjected to the unparalleled humiliation of putting the resolution from the chair, and declaring himself guilty. He then resigned the chair, and was expelled from the House. Receiving money for voting in parliament was in those days so common, that his offence was not regarded in a very serious light, and he was permitted to retain his high judicial office of Master of the Rolls, for the long period of twenty-two years after his expulsion from the House of Commons. By the death of his elder brother he succeeded to the paternal estates of Brynkinalt, which, with large possessions of his own acquisition, have descended through his only daughter Anne to the present Viscount Dungannon. Sir John Trevor died May 20th, 1717, being nearly eighty years of age, at his house in Chancery Lane, and was buried in the Rolls Chapel.”
Yorke, in his “Royal Tribes of Wales,” relates a droll anecdote of Sir’ John, which is worthy of transplantation.
“Among his other virtues,” says Yorke, “Trevor was an economist. He had dined by himself one day at the Rolls, and was drinking his wine quietly, when his cousin Roderic Lloyd was unexpectedly introduced to him from a side door. ‘You rascal,’ said Trevor to his servant, ‘and you have brought my cousin Roderic Lloyd, Esquire, Prothonotary of North Wales, Marshal to Baron Price, and so forth, and so forth, up my back stairs. Take my cousin Roderic Lloyd, Esquire, Prothonotary of North Wales, Marshal to Baron Price, and so forth, and so forth; take him instantly back, down my back stairs, and bring him up my front stairs.’ Roderic in vain remonstrated, and whilst he was conveyed down one, and up the other stairs, his Honor removed the bottle and glasses.”
Trevor had an obliquity of vision, or, in plainer words, he squinted abominably! When he was expelled from the House of Commons for bribery, pasquinades were issued against him, in one of which it was wittily said, that “Justice was blind, but Bribery only squinted.”
The charter of the 25 Charles II. (which was the governing charter previous to the passing of the Municipal Reform Act,) granted to the Borough of Oswestry a general Court of Quarter Sessions, to be held before the Mayor, the Steward, and the Recorder, or any two of them, of whom the Mayor was to be one. On the passing of that Act the Government refused to renew the grant of a separate Quarter Sessions, although strong and unanimous petitions from the town were presented in favour of this privilege. In 1842, however, when the Ministry of Sir Robert Peel was in office, Sir James Graham being Secretary of State for the Home Department, the application was renewed, and was ultimately complied with. The grant is dated the 27th May, 1842, and under it John Robert Kenyon, Esq., was appointed Recorder. The first Quarter Sessions, under this grant, were held on July 8th in the same year. Mr. Kenyon has ably and impartially discharged the duties of Recorder since that period; and to his legal acumen and zealous interest for the borough the inhabitants are indebted for many advantages.
The Corporation are chosen from the respectable and enterprising classes of the borough, so that all men who by perseverance and success in trade or commerce, in the learned profession of the law, or medical science, or who move in the quieter and more elevated ranks of life, where the otium cum dignitate is to be seen in perfection,—if to be seen anywhere,—are in the legitimate path to Magisterial authority and Aldermanic greatness.
The Municipal Act came into operation in Oswestry in January, 1836. James Edwards, Esq., was elected Mayor of the borough in 1834, and held office, pursuant to the new Act, until January 1st, 1836, on which day John Croxon, Esq., was elected the first Mayor under the Municipal Reform Act, and continued in office till November 9th, 1836, when Francis Campbell, Esq., was elected as the second Mayor of the borough under the same Act.
The Hon. Thomas Kenyon (second son of the celebrated Lord Kenyon, and father of the present Recorder of Oswestry) was appointed High Steward of the Borough in the year 1823. Mr. Richard Jones Croxon (who had succeeded Mr. Lewis Jones to the Town-Clerkship in 1834) was appointed Town-Clerk under the Municipal Act, and has continued to perform the duties of that office to the present time, with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the town.
Under the New Corporation Act the borough was divided into two Wards, viz., the East Ward, comprising 148 burgesses, and the West Ward, numbering 166 burgesses.
The Corporation of Oswestry, for the year 1854–5, consists of the following gentlemen:—
G. H. WILLIAMS, Mayor.
Aldermen:
Thomas Longueville Longueville, Peploe Cartwright, Thomas Hill, Thomas Rogers, Edward Morris, Thomas Minshall.
Councillors:
William Hodges, William Edwards, Edward Wynne Thomas, David Lloyd, George Morrall Bickerton, William Hayward, Francis Roberts, George James Saunders, Thomas Edwards, James Thomas Jones, William Isaac Bull, William Morris, Richard Kyrke Penson, John Lacon, John Minshall, John Phillips, John Roberts.
Town-Clerk:—R. J. Croxon.
Clerk of the Peace:—Robert Simon.
Coroner:—John Miles Hales.
Treasurer:—George Cooper,
We subjoin a full List of the Mayors of Oswestry, from the earliest period, with the names also of the entire body of other Corporate Officers, Aldermen, and Common-Councilmen, elected under the Municipal Reform Act:—
1673 Richard Pope, first Mayor
1674 Sir John Trevor, Master of the Rolls
1675 Richard Edwards
1676 Richard Lloyd, Ford
1677 John Blodwell
1678 John Lloyd Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Edward Owen
1679 Richard Price
1680 John Glover
1681 Peter Griffiths
1682 Humphrey Foulks
1683 William Price Appointed instead of Thomas Edwards, who died before he was sworn
1684 Hugh Jones
1685 Phillip Ellis
1686 Sir Robert Owen, Porkington
1687 Roger Edwards
1688 Morgan Powell
1689 Thomas Jones
1690 Thomas Powell, Park
1691 Thomas Pritchard
1692 John Muckleston
1693 John Price
1694 David Lloyd
1695 Richard Jones
1696 Sir Robert Owen (second time)
1697 John Skye
1698 Nathaniel Edwards
1699 Peter Jones, Llanfyllin
1700 Francis Tomkies
1701 William Jones
1702 Humphrey Davenport, Hayes-Gate
1703 Roger Green
1704 Thomas Powell, Park (second time)
1705 Robert Lloyd, Aston
1706 John Davies
1707 Edward Lloyd, Trenewydd
1708 Thomas Tomkies
1709 Thos. Kynaston, Maesbury
1710 John Price (second time)
1711 Richard Jones
1712 John Skye (second time)
1713 Roger Green (second time)
1714 John Davies (second time)
1715 Thomas Warter
1716 George Edwards
1717 Robert Lloyd, Aston (second time)
1718 Owen Hughes
1719 Thomas Edwards
1720 John Evans
1721 Richard Payne
1722 Richard Maurice
1723 Nathaniel Price
1724 Peter Povall Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Owen Hughes
1725 John Kyffin
1726 Richard Thomas
1727 Edward Lloyd, Llwynymaen
1728 Watkin Williams Wynn
1729 Charles Lloyd, Trenewydd
1730 William Owen, Porkington
1731 John Huxley
1732 John Mytton, Halston
1733 Nathaniel Kynaston
1734 Richard Powell
1735 Robert Williams
1736 Robert Barkley
1737 Thomas Jones
1738 John Burgess
1739 Corbett Kynaston Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Thomas Tomkies
1740 William Price
1741 John Jones
1742 John Hughes
1743 John Mort
1744 Peter Williams
1745 David Morris
1746 Richard Lloyd
1747 Richd. Williams, Penbedw
1748 Vincent Phipps
1749 Nathaniel Jones
1750 John Griffiths
1751 John Williams
1752 John Griffiths
1753 Edward Price
1754 Thomas Jones
1755 John Jones
1756 Thomas Rathbone
1757 Edward Evans
1758 John Basnett
1759 Nathaniel Price
1760 Edward Evans
1761 Robert Lloyd
1762 Richard Price
1763 John Edwards
1764 Richard Jones
1765 John Gregory
1766 William Griffiths
1767 Richard Morrice
1768 John Evans
1769 John Lloyd
1770 Watkin Williams, Penbedw
1771 John Mytton, Halston
1772 Robert Godolphin Owen, Porkington
1773 E. Thornes
1774 Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart., Wynnstay
1775 William Griffiths
1776 Francis Chambre
1777 Joseph Richardson
1778 John Croxon
1779 Noel Hill, Shrewsbury
1780 Edward Brown Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Nathaniel Price
1781 Thomas Vernon
1782 Edward Wynn Evans
1783 John Kynaston, Hardwick
1784 Richard Bickerton
1785 Thomas Howell
1786 Richard Salisbury
1787 Wm. Mostyn Owen, Woodhouse
1788 Lewis Jones
1789 John Gibbons
1790 John Lovett
1791 John Probert
1792 John Mytton, Halston
1793 Rev. Turner Edwards
1794 Arthur Davies
1795 Rev. John Robert Lloyd
1796 Owen Ormsby
1797 Thomas Lovett
1798 Robert Lloyd
1799 John Jones
1800 Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart.
1801 Richard Croxon
1802 Lawton Parry
1803 Richard Jebb
1804 Thomas Skye
1805 Rev. James Donne
1806 Robert Cartwright
1807 Thomas Longueville Jones
1808 William Lloyd
1809 Robert Roberts
1810 John Sheppard Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Thomas Hilditch
1811 Edward Edmunds
1812 John Croxon
1813 Rev. Charles Arthur Albany Lloyd
1814 Hon. Thomas Kenyon
1815 Thomas Morris
1816 S. Leach (R. Salisbury, Deputy)
1817 Rev. George Lloyd, Selattyn (Mr. Cartwright, Deputy)
1818 Thomas Netherton Parker
1819 H. W. W. Wynn (Mr. Salisbury, Deputy)
1820 W. Lovett (J. V. Jones, Deputy)
1821 John Bonnor, Brynygwalia (Robert Roberts, Deputy)
1822 Henry Pinson Tozer Aubrey
1823 W. Ormsby Gore
1824 John Mytton (Thomas Hilditch, Deputy)
1825 John Jones (second time)
1827 Rev. Turner Edwards
1827 Roger Mercy Cockerill
1828 Robert Morrall
1829 Peploe Cartwright
1830 Thomas Lovett
1831 Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart. (second time) (Dr. Donne, Deputy)
1832 Thomas Longueville Longueville
1833 John Jones, jun.
1834 James Edwards
1835 John Croxon
1836 Francis Campbell
1837 Charles Thomas Jones
1838 G. Dorset Owen
1839 Griffith Evans
1840 Thomas Penson
1841 John Hayward
1842 W. Williams
1843 W. Williams (re-elected)
1844 W. Price
1845 Thomas Rogers
1846 John Miles Hales
1847 Thomas Hill
1848 John Jones
1849 Edward Morris
1850 Edward Morris (re-elected)
1851 Thomas Minshall
1852 William Hodges
1853 Thomas Edwards
1854 George Harvey Williams
ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN.
ALDERMEN—1835:
John Jones Richard Croxon Thomas Morris Peploe Cartwright T. L. Longueville John Jones, jun.
COUNCILLORS—1835:
EAST WARD. John Croxon Francis Campbell George D. Owen Francis Lucas Griffith Evans James Howell Richard Bill William Price William Roberts WEST WARD. John Hayward Thomas Rogers Edward D. Bennion Charles Thomas Jones John Jones, jun. Charles Sabine William Williams James Williams Thomas Penson
COUNCILLORS—1836:
Thomas Penson John Miles Hales Robert Edwards John Croxon Francis Campbell George Dorset Owen Francis Lucas Griffith Evans James Howell Edward Edwards (in the room of James Williams, deceased) William Williams John Tomkies John Hayward Thomas Rogers Edward David Bennion Charles Thomas Jones John Jones, jun. Charles Sabine
1837:
Francis Lucas Griffith Evans James Howell Thomas Penson John Miles Hales Robert Edwards John Croxon Francis Campbell George Dorset Owen Charles Thomas Jones Thomas Jones Rogers John Davies Edward Edwards William Williams John Tomkies John Hayward Thomas Rogers Edward David Bennion
ALDERMEN—Re-elected in 1838: Peploe Cartwright, T. L. Longueville, and John Jones, jun.
COUNCILLORS—1838:
George Dorset Owen David Thomas William Smale Francis Lucas Griffith Evans James Howell Thomas Penson John Miles Hales Robert Edwards John Hayward Thomas Rogers Nathaniel Minshall Charles Thomas Jones Thomas Jones Rogers John Davies Edward Edwards William Williams John Tomkies
COUNCILLORS—1839:
Thomas Penson John Miles Hales Robert Edwards William Price (in the room of G. D. Owen, deceased) David Thomas William Smale Francis Lucas Griffith Evans Richard Salter (in room of James Howell, deceased) William Williams John Tomkies Edward Edwards John Hayward Thomas Rogers Nathaniel Minshall Charles Thomas Jones Thomas Jones Rogers Richard Cross (in the room of John Davies, deceased)
1840:
Francis Lucas Griffith Evans Richard Salter Thomas Penson John Miles Hales Robert Edwards William Price David Thomas William Smale Richard Powell (in the room of Thomas Jones Rogers) Richard Cross Thomas Hughes (in the room of Charles Thomas Jones, appointed Alderman) John Tomkies William Williams Edward Edwards John Hayward Thomas Rogers Nathaniel Minshall
ALDERMEN—1841:
Thomas Penson (in the room of John Croxon, who had left the borough) Charles Thomas Jones John Jones
COUNCILLORS—1841:
John Miles Hales William Price David Thomas William Smale Francis Lucas Griffith Evans Richard Salter Robert Edwards Charles Osburn (in the room of Thomas Penson) John Hayward Thomas Rogers Nathaniel Minshall Richard Cross Thomas Hughes Richard Powell William Williams John Tomkies Edward Edwards
COUNCILLORS—1842:
John Miles Hales Robert Edwards William Price David Thomas Griffith Evans William Smale Richard Salter Charles Osburn Pryce Morris (in the room of Francis Lucas) William Williams John Tomkies Edward Edwards John Hayward Thomas Rogers Nathaniel Minshall Richard Cross Thomas Hughes Richard Powell
Henry Hughes appointed Coroner June 20th, 1842.
1843:
Griffith Evans Richard Salter Charles Osburn John Miles Hales Thomas Hill (in the room of R. Edwards, deceased) Pryce Morris William Price David Thomas William Smale Richard Cross Thomas Hughes Edward Williams William Williams John Tomkies Edward Edwards John Hayward Thomas Rogers Nathaniel Minshall
ALDERMEN—Re-elected November, 1844: T. L. Longueville, Peploe Cartwright, and John Jones, jun.
COUNCILLORS—1844:
John Broughall (in the room of David Thomas) William Smale Griffith Evans Richard Salter Charles Osburn John Miles Hales Thomas Hill Thomas Minshall (in the room of Pryce Morris) Thomas Rogers John Hayward Nathaniel Minshall Thomas Savin (in the room of Richard Cross) John Jones (in the room of Thomas Hughes) Edward Williams William Williams John Tomkies Edward Edwards
1845:
Thomas Hill John Miles Hales William Williams William Price Edward Morris (in the room of John Broughall, who had left the borough) William Smale Griffith Evans Richard Salter Thomas Minshall John Phillips Edward Edwards Charles Humphreys Thomas Rogers John Hayward Nathaniel Minshall Thomas Savin Edward Williams John Jones
1846:
Thomas Edwards Thomas Minshall William Isaac Bull William Williams John Miles Hales Thomas Hill William Price Edward Morris William Smale John Jones Edward Williams Edward Edwards James Weaver (in the room of Charles Humphreys, deceased) John Phillips John Hayward Nathaniel Minshall Thomas Rogers Edw. Wynne Thomas (in the room of Mr. Savin, deceased)
ALDERMEN—Elected November, 1847:
John Hayward, Thomas Penson, and William Williams.
COUNCILLORS—1847:
Edward Morris William Price Jeremiah Jones Thomas John Lacon (in the room of W. Williams, Alderman) David Lloyd Nathaniel Minshall Thomas Rogers
1848:
John Lacon Thomas Hill William Hodges Edward Roberts George Morrall Bickerton David Jameson
John Miles Hales appointed Coroner, and Robert Simon Clerk of the Peace, April 27th, 1848 (in the room of Henry Hughes, deceased).
1849:
Thomas Minshall William Isaac Bull Walter Edwards John Jones Edward Williams Edw. Wynne Thomas
ALDERMEN—Elected November, 1850:
T. L. Longueville, Peploe Cartwright, and Thomas Rogers.
COUNCILLORS—1850:
Edward Morris Jeremiah Jones Thomas William Edwards Thomas Jones David Lloyd William Morris
1851:
John Lacon William Roberts William Hodges George Morrall Bickerton Thomas Edwards George Harvey Williams
1852:
William Isaac Bull Thomas Minshall Walter Edwards Jackson Salter Francis Roberts William Hayward
ALDERMEN—Elected November, 1853: Thomas Hill, John Jones, and Edward Morris.
COUNCILLORS—1853:
Edw. Wynne Thomas William Edwards William Morris James Thomas Jones David Lloyd William Morris
1854:
John Lacon William Roberts William Hodges Benjamin Churchill (in the room of Walter Edwards, resigned) Thomas Edwards George Morrall Bickerton George Harvey Williams
[For the above List of Aldermen and Common-Councilmen, up to and including 1846, we are indebted to the Representative of a gentleman who filled the Civic Chair, and who for many years recorded the changes in the Municipal Body. The subsequent List is from the Corporation Poll Books.]