John Shakespeare elected as constable, as recorded at Stratford-upon-Avon’s manorial court

John Shakespeare was elected constable of Stratford-upon-Avon, as shown here, on September 30, 1558. One of the constables’ main duties was to oversee the watch “for the good governement of the Towne” (Minutes and Accounts, i, p. 68) although it is clear, from reports of various offences committed within the town, that they also had a general responsibility for maintaining law and order. Presumably John Shakespeare carried out his duties satisfactorily as, on October 6, 1559 (Minutes and Accounts, i, p. 101), he was re-elected for the following year.

Before Stratford-upon-Avon’s charter of incorporation was granted in 1553, a manorial court, held twice yearly before the lord of the manor’s stewards, had managed most of the town’s affairs. For many years Stratford’s manorial lordship had been vested in the bishops of Worcester but by the time King Edward VI had granted the town its charter in the summer of 1553, the lordship had passed to John Dudley, duke of Northumberland. However, on the king’s death later that same summer, Dudley was arrested and executed for his attempt to put his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, onto the throne. Dudley’s estates, including the Stratford lordship, lapsed to the crown and the town’s manorial court was thereafter held theoretically in the crown’s name until 1562 when Elizabeth I restored the lordship to Dudley’s son, Ambrose earl of Warwick. The manorial court’s proceedings overlapped with the new Corporation’s activities to the extent that a series of early court rolls are now to be found in the borough archives.

The election of the borough officers was ratified at the manorial court’s autumn meetings. Shown here are the proceedings of the court held on September 30, 1558, at which John Shakespeare was sworn as one of the manorial court’s jury. At the conclusion of business, the officers for the following year were sworn in, including John Shakespeare as constable.

John Shakespeare’s service as constable indicates that he had become part of a body of well-to-do business men  involved in the town’s governance. The Corporation, as defined in its 1553 charter, was made up of fourteen aldermen , named in the charter, and fourteen capital burgesses  to be chosen by the aldermen. The charter also allowed for the election of constables, but no number was specified. However, we know that four were chosen annually from October 1554.

The names of the early capital burgesses are known only from lists of 1555, 1556, and 1557 in which John Shakespeare does not feature. These lists do indicate, however, that usually the constables were already capital burgesses , suggesting that John Shakespeare may have been elected to that position by the time he was first appointed a constable in September 1558.  However, he does not occur as a capital burgess in the written record until late August 1564.