burgesses of Queensborough (a town and castle named the Queen's borough) was granted an exemption from murage dated 10/5/1368.
Wording
Whereas the king out of care for his subjects and realm and their protection has lately founded and fortified in a suitable place in the island of Shepeye where there is a broad and deep arm of the sea convenient for ships to put in at, a town and castle which he has named the Queen's borough, in order that men may take heart more readily to come and live there;
grant to the inhabitants of the borough aforesaid, for their greater security and quiet, of the following liberties, to wit:-
that the said town shall be a free borough and the men free burgesses with all liberties and free customs appertaining;
that the said burgesses shall choose out of their number yearly on the feast of St. Michael a mayor and two bailiffs to keep and govern the borough and its liberties, who after election shall make corporal oath before the constable of the castle aforesaid to discharge faithfully their duties to the king and the borough;
that they shall have two weekly markets, one on Monday and one on Thursday, in their said borough and two yearly fairs there, one on the feast of St. James the Apostle, in the month of July, and the five days following, and one on the fourth day of March and the seven days following;
that they shall not plead or be impleaded save within the borough before their mayor and bailiffs concerning any internal tenures or any trespasses or contracts done or made within the said borough;
that they shall have infangenethef and outfangenethef and do judgement thereof and shall be quit throughout the king's realm and power of toll, pontage, pavage, murage, kaiage, pikage, gwyndage, lastage, stallage, wharvage, hidage, ryvage and wreck of sea, of shires and hundreds and of all customs concerning their goods (rebus) and merchandise;
that they, their heirs and successors shall not be placed upon assises, juries and recognitions by reason of their lands or tenements without the borough, or of any trespasses, contracts, agreements or other matters without the borough which may arise before the king's justices or other ministers, so long as they remain as burgesses living there; and that foreigners shall not be placed with them the said burgesses upon assises, juries, recognitions or inquisitions concerning any matter of lands or tenements or of trespasses, contracts or agreements or other matters within the borough, unless such matter touch the king or his heirs or the commonalty of the borough;
that they and their heirs and successors inhabiting the borough aforesaid shall be quit of all manner of tallages, aids, tenths and fifteenths and other sums in respect of their goods;
that the mayor and bailiffs shall have cognisance of all pleas concerning contracts, debts, agreements and trespasses occurring in the borough and the execution of the same so long as they do not touch the king or the commonalty of the borough;
that they shall be quit of the king's right of prise in respect of their wines, to wit of a cask before and a cask behind the mast;
that the warden and barons of the king's Cinque Ports shall not meddle at all in the concerns of the said borough nor of the burgesses or their possessions or goods in the borough or their ships; nor shall the burgesses themselves be charged in any way in the matter of the services which the said warden and barons have to render to the king in respect of their ships. By K.
Granted by Edward III. (Regnal year 42). Granted at Westminster. Grant by By K..
Primary Sources
Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1916,
Calendar of Charter Rolls 15 Edward III - 5 Henry V 1341-1417 Vol. 5. 211-12 (HMSO) p.
view online copy
Record created by Philip Davis. This record created 03/03/2009. Last updated on 19/01/2013. First published online 6/01/2013.
