| Description | From 1538, the names of the freemen of Chester are contained in a series of rolls which record little more than a freeman's name and trade, listed annually under the name of the mayor. However,from 1865 onwards registers of freemen give extremely full information: name, address, basis of claim and by whom the candidate's identity was proved. An index to the rolls and registers dates from 1747. Since the mayor still admits freemen in a ceremony known as the pentice court, this is an ongoing series of records. |
| Administrative History | The origin of the freemen of Chester is uncertain, although the city's earliest rights and privileges were undoubtedly granted to a restricted body of persons: to the burgesses, citizens or simply, to the 'earl's men of Chester'. Earl Ranulph III's charter of c.1190-93 confirmed his citizens' guild merchant (CH/5) and the mayors' books (MB) which commence in 1392 contain admissions to the guild merchant, each person paying a fine 'for his freedom'. From 1453, the mayor made admissions to the liberties and franchises of the city in ''pleyn portemote'' Later references to admissions to the guild merchant seem to relate to trade. By 1506, the freemen were recognised as the select body from which the mayor and Corporation were chosen. Prior to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, there were four qualifications for the freedom of Chester; birth; apprenticeship; gift of the Assembly; and purchase. Birth was recognised as early as 1453 when freemen's sons paid 101/2d. as opposed to the category which paid 26s.8d.; apprenticeship and purchase were recognised by the Assembly in 1557. From the sixteenth century, the Assembly exercised control over admissions and made adjustments to the rules governing apprenticeship, gift and purchase. Being free gave a man extensive privileges. The custom delivered in Chester that a man had to become free before becoming a full member of the appropriate company or guild. It also gave him rights in the election of the mayor, sheriffs, aldermen and common councilmen (although these rights were frequently ignored) and the right to vote for the two members which Chester returned to parliament. The freemen of Chester retained voting rights until 1918. From 1538, the names of the freemen of Chester are contained in a series of rolls which record little more than a freeman's name and trade, listed annually under the name of the mayor. However, from 1865 onwards, registers of freemen give extremely full information: name, address, basis of claim and by whom the candidate's identity was proved. An index to the rolls and registers dates from 1747. Since the mayor still admits freemen in a ceremony known as the pentice court, this is an ongoing series of records. The Rolls of the Freemen of the City of Chester 1392-1805, incorporating material from the mayors' books (MB) as well as the freemen's rolls were edited by J.H.E. Bennett and published by the Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire as volumes 51 and 55 in 1906 and 1908. |