Conway, wherein you gave an account of the late successe wherewith
God hath beene pleased to blesse the forces under both yor commands
and conductes in yor late expedition into Carnarvonshire, against Sir
John Owen and his rebellious crewe, wch I have imparted to the house,
and hath beene there read. Yor good and faithfull service in that
expedition is soe well represented, that I am comanded, as from the
house and in their name, to returne thanks for the same, wch hereby I
doe, and you are desired to do the like to those officers and
souldiers under the charge and comand wch God hath beene pleased to
make instrumentall in the obteyning of such a seasonable mercy, and
withall to represent to the house what course (like to be effectual)
may bee taken for remunerating ye officers and souldiers for their
good service. This beeing all I have in comand at present, I shall
only add that I am
Yor assured loveing freind,
WM. LENTHALL, SPEAKER.”
“June the 13th, 1648.”
Lenthall, the Speaker, was profuse, as we have shewn, in compliments, but
still no substantial mark of favour upon General Mytton was bestowed.
The Committee to whom the appointment of Governor of Shrewsbury Castle
had been referred had long before found “reasons of weight to put
another” in that office, after having held it in their own hands for some
time. In 1647 the Governorship was filled by Humphrey Mackworth, Esq.,
of Betton, a Presbyterian, and Colonel in the army, who occupied the post
till his death, in 1654, and having been one of Cromwell’s Privy Council,
was buried in Henry VII.’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey, on the 26th
December, with great magnificence. He was succeeded in office at
Shrewsbury by Thomas Hunt, Esq., representative of the town in
Parliament, and a Colonel in the army. Mytton retired to London, from
what immediate cause there is no record to show; but some writers assert
that he resigned his command. In 1651 we find that the Parliament again
solicited Major-General Mytton’s services, the following letter having
been forwarded to him by the President Bradshawe. The kingdom was
disturbed at this period by the Scottish Covenanters, under the nominal
command of Charles II.:—
“Sr,
The Scotts army being now entred into England, and bending their
course towards those parts where wee know you have a good interest,
wee conceive your presence there may bee of use for the service of
the Commonwealth; wee therefore desire you forthwith to repaire into
the Countie of Salop, and there, with the rest of your fellow
Commissioners, doe your best endeavour, and put out your interest
there for the raiseing of what force of horse and foot you can, for
the service of the Commonwealth in this present exigency of affaires.
Signed in the name and by order of the Councell of
State, appointed by authority of Parliament,
JO: BRADSHAWE, PRSIDT.”
“Whitehall, 14th August, 1651.”
“For Major General Thomas Mytton.”
Most probably by this time General Mytton had grown tired with the hard
toils of intestine warfare, and become disgusted with the faithlessness
of the men whom he had so ardently and faithfully served; for we do not
find that he complied with Bradshawe’s letter, or took any further part
in public affairs. He died in the metropolis in the year 1656, and his
body was taken down to Shrewsbury, and interred in St. Chad’s Church
there.
THE RESTORATION.
It is unnecessary here to do more than merely advert to the unhappy close
of Charles I.’s reign, the triumphs of Cromwell, and the bold and manly
efforts made by Charles II. to obtain the Crown which had been so
violently wrested from his father. Although Cromwell had made himself
Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, yet he reposed not on a
bed of roses. “Every party in the kingdom soon became disgusted with
Cromwell’s dominion. The royalists were indignant to see the ancient
monarchy usurped by an upstart who had no hereditary claim upon their
allegiance; the republicans were mortified to see all their blood and
efforts, which had been spent for the setting-up of the Commonwealth,
lavished only for the support of a government which, in everything but
the name, was a most despotic monarchy; the Presbyterians were chagrined
at the favour of their rivals, the Independents, and at a general
toleration of every religious denomination (except the Church of
England).” Conspiracies and plots were hatched in many parts of the
land; and the Protector was kept on the alert by daily intelligence that
the exiled king would challenge the usurper, and claim the British throne
as soon as a favourable opportunity presented itself for so bold an
enterprise. Cromwell, however, after various struggles with the royalist
forces, was summoned to “the house appointed for all men living.” He was
succeeded, for a brief period, by his son Richard, who speedily retired
from public life. General Monk, who had been an intrepid commander both
of the royalist and the parliamentary forces, and who possessed powerful
influence in the country, on the death of the Protector Cromwell wisely
threw the weight of that influence into the royalist scale, and adopted
measures at once to bring back Charles II. from France to England. Upon
that joyful event all ranks hastened to return to their allegiance, and
on the 29th of May, 1660, Charles II. set his foot again upon British
soil, and immediately assumed the functions of sovereignty.
During the events to which we have been adverting the town of Oswestry
suffered much privation and distress by the feuds and divisions into
which all classes of men were thrown. A letter from Mr. John Griffith to
Major-General Mytton, dated January 7th, 1650, shows that Oswestry was
enduring much hardship. The letter, which is copied from the Halston
MSS., is as follows:—
“Honor’d Sir,
I receaved a note from * * * * to write unto yor honor concerning our
sufferings. I presume yor honor knowes the maner of our sufferings,
and how we may be releeved is better known to you then to us. The
Baylifes and the rest of the sufferinge people of Oswestree depende
much upon your assistance, and hope yor honor will have a fitt
opportunity to doe this poor towne good. * * * I shall make bould to
put yor honor in mind of your promise to draw a petition to the
Parliament wth yor owne handes, wch we all hope you will doe before
yor returne, and then yor honor shall further ingadge the whole towne
ever to pray for yor honor, and especially
Yor servant,
JOHN GRIFFITH.”
“Osw., the 7th of January, 1650.”
“To the Honrable Major Generall Mytton, at London.”
There are no records extant showing precisely the position of civil and
military affairs, as regards the town of Oswestry, in the struggles of
Charles II. for the Crown. The parliamentary party held firm possession
of all towns which they had taken, and against Charles they fought as
fiercely as against his murdered father. Whatsoever the position of
Oswestry was at the period to which we are referring, that of a valiant
neighbour, Sir Thomas Myddleton, of Chirk Castle, was dangerous and
deeply painful. In 1659, upon the royalists of Cheshire, headed by Sir
George Booth, declaring in favour of Charles, the venerable old man, then
eighty years of age, decided in favour of the ancient constitution,
believing monarchy to be indispensable to the settlement of the nation,
and proclaimed Charles II. at Wrexham. For this act he suffered
severely, but was named afterwards as Commander-in-chief of the Counties
of North Wales, and as Governor of Shrewsbury, although this latter
nomination seems to have embarrassed Sir Edward Hyde, Chief Minister of
Charles II., as likely to clash with the views of his friend Lord
Newport, who had ever been a staunch friend to the royalist cause.
The events of public interest that occurred in connection with the town
subsequent to the Restoration were “few and far between.” The most
important act in Charles II.’s reign was his grant in 1673 of a Charter,
which, looking at the privileges it confers upon the town, is considered
by some to be the Magna Charta of Oswestry. Its importance to the
borough, as its provisions are still acted upon in the leading Law-Court
of the town, justifies us in giving a correct abridgment of it:—
The Charter
was granted
“to the ancient Borough and Corporation of Oswestry, alias
Oswaldstrey, in the County of Salop: That they be encorporated by the
name of THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN, COMMON-COUNCIL-MEN, AND BURGESSES OF
OSWESTRY; and that they are empowered to purchase lands to them and
their heirs for ever, and to give and bequeath or otherwise dispose
of the same: That the said corporation may have one common seal for
dispatching of all business concerning the said borough; and to
change and make new their same seal, as often as they shall think
convenient: That there be Twelve Aldermen and Fifteen
Common-council-men; whereof one of the said aldermen is to be
Steward: and that whoever is chosen steward, must come in as an
alderman. And that there shall be chosen a discreet person for
Recorder, well learned in the law, who must be one of the
Common-council-men: That the said borough may have one house of
meeting, to be called the Guild-hall of the said town; and that the
mayor, aldermen, common-council-men, steward, and recorder may meet
there, or in any other convenient place within the said borough, for
making, establishing, &c. any laws, orders, &c. for the better
government of the said corporation; and to declare in what manner the
said mayor, &c. may manage themselves in the negociation of the said
borough: and that the said mayor, aldermen, &c. or the greatest part
of them, may imprison the bodies or impose fines or otherwise, upon
all such as shall offend against the said laws, &c. and that the one
moiety of the said fines to be levied for the use of the said mayor,
aldermen, &c.; and the other moiety to the use of the lord of the
manor: provided, such laws, &c. be not repugnant to the laws of the
land, or contrary thereto, or prejudicial to the lord of the manor:
That Richard Pope, first mayor, continue in his mayoralty from the
day of the date hereof, until the next Friday after the feast of St.
Michael, the Archangel, 1674, and until another be sworn in his
stead. Sir John Trevor, knt.; Morgan Wynne, esquire; Edward Owen,
Richard Edwards, Richard Lloyd, the aforesaid Richard Pope,
gentlemen; Gabriel Edwards, woollen-draper; Hugh Price,
woollen-draper; John Jones, mercer; Richard Jones, John Blodwell,
gentlemen; and John Lloyd, mercer, to be the first aldermen; and to
continue in their office during life, unless for just cause any of
them shall be removed by the mayor, aldermen, common-council-men, &c.
or the greatest part of them.—Richard Price, brewer; Richard Jones,
mercer; John Glover, tanner; Richard Jones, glover; Edwd. 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, brasier, to be
the first common-council-men; and to continue in office during life,
unless removed as aforesaid. The mayor, &c. to meet on the next
Friday after Michaelmas, yearly, and to choose at that time, out of
the common-council-men, a new mayor; and to swear him in then, if
present, or within twenty-one days next after such election, before
the old mayor or (in his absence) before two or more of the aldermen
of the said borough. If the mayor happen to die, or be removed out
of his place for not well demeaning himself, or for any other just
cause, before the expiration of the said year, that then and in such
case, the aldermen, and common-council-men, &c. or the major part of
them, shall elect and choose another mayor for the executing the said
office of mayoralty during the remainder only of the said year. And
upon the decease of any aldermen or common-council-men, to choose
others to make up the number; administering to them their oaths for
the executing of their places: and that they shall be sworn in the
presence of the mayor, or (in case of his absence) of the aldermen,
common-council-men, or the major part of them. In case the mayor be
sick or absent, that the mayor may constitute and appoint one of the
aldermen to be his deputy; and that being duly sworn, he may
officiate the place of mayoralty during such sickness or absence, as
fully and effectually in every respect as the said mayor might or
could have done personally. When Morgan Wynne, the present Recorder,
dies, or should happen to be dismissed, that the mayor, aldermen,
&c., choose another, able and experienced in the law, within one
month after such decease or dismission. The mayor, coroner, steward
and recorder, during the time and term of holding their places, shall
be Justices of the Peace, &c., and that each and every of them are
Clerks of the Market, to settle weights and measures, and all other
laws and ordinances incident thereto; and to officiate the same as
fully and effectually as any other of his Majesty’s justices of the
peace might or could do. Sir John Trevor, knight; Robert Owen, and
Edward Kinaston, esquires, or any of them, to swear the first mayor;
and that the mayor being sworn, he is to swear the coroner, steward,
recorder, &c. That the mayor, steward, and recorder, or any two of
them (whereof the mayor to be one) may keep a Quarter Sessions for
all offences, as fully and effectually as the justices of the said
county of Salop may do; and that any one of them may commit to the
common gaol of the said county any person accused of treason, murder,
man-slaughter, or felony, whatsoever: and that the justices of the
said county have no power to intermeddle with the said borough upon
any cause whatsoever. That the mayor (for the time being), shall
choose any inhabitants of the borough, Constables; and to swear them
in accordingly. The mayor to choose two Sergeants, to attend upon
him or his deputy, when required; and to continue for one year (if
they well demean themselves): and that the said sergeants shall carry
two maces with his Majesty’s and successors’ arms, and the arms of
the lord of the manor thereon, in their hands or upon their shoulders
bare-headed, before the mayor, when required: and that the said
sergeants shall be sworn by the mayor, for the due executing of all
precepts, warrants, &c. The last mayor to be Coroner, who shall have
as full power to officiate as any other coroner in any of his
Majesty’s counties hath, or may have; and not to execute his power
before he be sworn before the mayor or his deputy: and upon the death
of any coroner, the mayor, aldermen, &c., to choose another. A Court
of Record to be kept every Friday, at the guild-hall, before the
mayor or his deputy; and to try all actions and causes whatsoever, as
fully as the bailiffs and burgesses formerly did, or as fully as any
corporation in his Majesty’s kingdom do, or did formerly: and that
the mayor, &c. shall have to their use the one moiety of the issues,
amerciaments, &c.; and the other moiety thereof, to the use of the
lord of the manor. John Morral to be Common Clerk of the Borough,
and Clerk of the Court; and may have a deputy, to be appointed by the
steward: that the common clerk to be nominated by the lord of the
manor, and to be sworn, as well as all other officers by the mayor:
that if he shall not reside in the said borough, then he shall
employ, in his absence, an honest and able attorney of the said
court, to be approved of by the steward: and the said attorney shall
officiate in the time of his absence.—Six Attornies to be of the
court: whereof four to be chosen by the mayor, and two by the
steward. One Marshal, or Crier to be chosen by the mayor. The
mayor, aldermen, &c. to have within the borough a Gaol or Prison, for
detaining of all prisoners, committed by the mayor, steward, or
recorder, or any of them: and that the mayor, recorder, clerk of the
market, common clerk, marshal, keepers of the prison, and sergeants
(for the time being) shall receive such Fees, &c. as the bailiffs,
&c. of Ludlow, and the said borough, have hitherto received. [Ludlow
fees are half of the Common Pleas.] All burgesses and other
inhabitants of the said borough to pay scot and lot, and to be
assessed for the maintenance, good order, and further profit of the
same; and in default of payment, distresses to be laid upon their
goods.—The mayor, &c. to have power to elect persons who have served
seven years’ apprenticeship, or that have been householders (paying
scot and lot) seven years within the said borough, Burgesses: and
with the approbation of the steward, to make any other person burgess
of the said borough; and so continue, unless for any just cause he be
expelled by the mayor, &c. No Stranger or Foreigner shall exercise
any Trade in the borough (except it be in time of fair) unless he be
a burgess; nor keep any shop, without special licence from the mayor,
aldermen, &c. or the major part of them: the mayor, &c. to punish
such foreigners and strangers by fines, and to distress upon their
goods, in default of payment. The mayor and corporation, and
burgesses, Exempt from serving on Juries out of the borough, at
assizes or quarter-sessions. The corporation to have return of
writs; and all which returns to be made by the mayor. No
high-sheriff, or any of his officers, to enter the liberty, unless in
defect of the mayor for the time being. The mayor or clerk to
receive recognizances, according to form of Statute Merchant, or
Acton Burnell; and to make execution, &c. as fully as any other town
can do, by virtue of the said statute: and that there shall be a seal
for the sealing of those recognizances. The mayor and corporation
may purchase lands, &c. not exceeding £50 a year, but such as are not
held _in capite_ or knight’s service. The said borough is to enjoy
two Markets weekly, for ever; that is, one on Wednesday and the other
on Friday. To have a Fair on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th days of March,
yearly; and the fairs on the 1st and 2nd of May, the 4th and 5th of
August, and the 29th and 30th of November, to be continued as
heretofore. And if any of the said fairs shall fall upon the
Lord’s-day, then the same to be kept on the Monday following. The
mayor, &c. may hold a Court of Pie-poudre at the time of the fairs;
and to take the usual tolls of markets and fairs—all rights, &c. of
the lord of the manor excepted.”
The privileges secured to the inhabitants of the borough by this Charter
must, at the time of its being granted, have been very valuable, and no
doubt contributed greatly to the good government and prosperity of the
town, during subsequent times. Some of such privileges have been
superseded by the provisions of the Municipal Corporation Act, 5 & 6,
William 4th, cap. 76, entitled “An Act to provide for the Regulation of
Municipal Corporations in England and Wales,” and other modern
enactments; but others still remain, although the value and convenience
of them appear in some degree to be overlooked. The Charter secures some
peculiar privileges with respect to trade which may not probably
harmonize with modern views and notions; but the privileges of trying at
Quarter Sessions all offences, except felonies, committed within the
borough, and of suing for debts, unlimited in amount, in the Court of
Record, ought not to be regarded otherwise than as precious relics of
byegone times. It is true, that the Court of Quarter Sessions has been
constantly and regularly held by the most able Recorder, J. R. Kenyon,
Esq.; but the Court of Record has of late years been so seldom resorted
to, that on a late occasion, when a cause was tried before it, a local
newspaper referred to it with special wonder, hinting its surprise that,
in a place where the weapons of legal warfare were so easily obtained,
the inhabitants should so long have ceased to use them, and to remain in
peace amongst themselves, without any legal strife in a Court of Record.
Although, however, debts without limit, as regards amount, may be sued
for, the final process of the Court is confined to the borough, and
cannot be put in force beyond its boundary; and this circumstance,
connected also with the facilities for the recovery of debts afforded by
the Small Debts Act, has rendered resort to the Court of Record less
frequent than, under other circumstances, it doubtless would have been;
still, to have it is a privilege, as is also the exemption from serving
on Juries at the Assizes, or County Quarter Sessions, secured by the
Charter.
The RESTORATION brought with it, of course, the ascendancy of loyal
subjects and monarchical principles in all parts of the realm. Charles,
however, did not make the wisest use of the power and influence he had
newly acquired; and the closing hours of his life proved that his
religious principles, unfixed and vacillating, were ill adapted to the
requirements of the age. Howsoever much other parts of the kingdom were
disturbed during this reign, the town of Oswestry would seem to have
resumed a tranquil position: the injury and damage sustained in it during
the many years of disquietude and war were partially restored; the
ancient Church was gradually repaired; but the Castle, so dilapidated and
broken down, was permitted to lie in ruins; the crown made no effort to
restore it; and by degrees its shattered walls and fallen columns were
carried away by nocturnal depredators, until at length the vestiges of
the fortress consisted of little more than the mound still left in our
sight.