Law and order in Somerset: Williton’s constables and tithingmen, 1615-1706

This book is a result of a letter sent to the archivist at Petworth House, who kindly sent back a box list of some uncatalogued papers relating to the Wyndhams of Somerset. In that list was a description of one particularly interesting item, a ‘Tithing Book’, which on the face if it is not very inspiring. I was astounded to find that this ‘Tithing book’ contained the longest (almost) unbroken run of constables’, tithingmen’s and beadles’ accounts for a tithing or parish in Somerset during the seventeenth century. This survival is all the more remarkable when compared to the list of accounts for other parts of Somerset in Appendix One. However, the contents of the ‘Tithing book’ offer a unique window into the seventeenth-century world that has hitherto lain undiscovered. This publication now makes this wonderful resource widely available. It is hoped this unique volume will be of benefit to many different types of historian interested in a range of subjects during the period 1615 to 1706.

Nationally, studies of the office of constable have received attention from scholars such as Professor Martyn Bennett. His description of constables’ accounts, published as number 26 in the Historical Association Short Guide to Records series, contains a useful summary of the key elements of the office. More detail can be found in Joan Kent’s ‘The English village constable 1580-1642: The nature and dilemmas of the office’ in Journal of British Studies 20:2 (Spring 1981), 26-49. However, the offices of constable, tithingman and beadle in Somerset during the seventeenth century are not very well understood, or documented, mainly due to the dearth of records. Even less is known about the type of man, or woman, who served these important offices that helped underpin and deliver law and order across the county.