| Description | These documents are the sheriff's returns or 'Calendars' of those summoned to attend the general sessions of the peace 1558-1870.
At their fullest, 1761-1828, the Liber Pacis gave the names of the justices of the peace, the coroners, bailiffs and high (or chief) constables of the hundreds, the master of the houses of correction and the gaoler. In addition, a very few names of prisoners in the houses of correction or the gaol may be found in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and the names of the jurors 'ad inquirend' were once given (in the Calendar for Michaelmas Sessions 1 Anne [1702]).
In the 16th century and for about three-quarters of the 17th century, the calendars were much smaller, without name or heading, and are either undated (16th century) or dated only by session and year (17th century). They usually consist of the names of the coroners, bailiffs and high constables only and were presumably inside the bundles; the place of meeting was sometimes given.
The earliest surviving of the larger, more formal calendars is that for Epiphany sessions 26 Charles II [1675]. It is the first known to have a formal heading in which it is styled a calendar and which gives the place of meeting and a full date of day, month and year. (The calendar for 1650 has a fuller heading than any other before 1675 but is not styled a calendar). All of the calendars thereafter follow this style.
At different times they give different information but at their fullest from 1761 to 1828 they list the coroners, the justices, bailiffs and high constables of the six hundreds, the gaoler and masters of the houses of correction (small local prisons).
There were four general sessions of the peace each year, held near the feast of Epiphany, Easter, the feast of the translation of Thomas the Martyr, and Michaelmas. In practice, they were held normally in early January, April, July and October. In the mid-17th century, some sessions were 'Margaret' sessions, presumably being the midsummer sessions, as there are two feasts of Saints Margaret in July (8 and 20 July).
The seven surviving 16th c calendars (1558-1589) are dated only by 19th c pencilled years. Each contains the names of 2 coroners and 7 or 8 bailiffs of hundreds or liberties. (Scarsdale once and Wirksworth 5 times were called wapentakes). The hundreds were High Peak, Scarsdale, Wirksworth, Repton, Gresley, Morlestone and Litchurch, and Appletree, with the addition sometimes of the liberty of the Soke of Sawley.
No calendars survive from James I's reign, and the earliest from Charles I's reign is that for Epiphany Sessions 9 Ch I [1634]. It contains the names of 2 coroners, 6 chief constables of hundreds (High Peak, Scarsdale, Wirksworth, Repton and Gresley, Morlestone and Litchurch and Appletree) and of 7 bailiffs of hundreds (as for chief constables, but with Repton and Gresley separate). From 1648/9 there were 6 bailiffs and 6 chief constables (or high constables) named in each calendar, until changes in the 19th c.
An additional coroner was named in the calendar for Epiphany Sessions 26 Ch II [1675] and one of the three was for the liberty of Lancaster. In Midsummer Sessions 28 Ch II [1676], the number increased to four, two for the county and one each for the liberties of the hundred of Scarsdale and the Duchy of Lancaster. Thereafter, the number varied generally being three or four but rising to five in 1840, at which number it remained. The April 1752 and October 1759 calendars were the last in which the coroners' areas were specified.
The masters of the houses of correction were first named in the calendar for Midsummer Sessions 28 Ch II [1676]. There were three, for Derby, Ashbourne, and Chesterfield, until at Michaelmas 1711 one for Tideswell was added, and at Epiphany 1728/9 a fifth unspecified one completed the number. It was probably for Wirksworth, judging from the calendars of Michaelmas 1733 onwards. Sometimes, the hundred rather than the town was given (Appletree instead of Ashbourne, High Peak for Tideswell and Scarsdale for Chesterfield).
Headings for the names of prisoners in the gaol and/or the houses of correction first appeared in the Calendar for Michaelmas 32 Ch II [1680], but usually no names were given. When they were, the names of the committing magistrates and the offences in general terms were also given. The last heading was in the calendar for Michaelmas 1759, but no names had appeared under the heading for some years.
The justices of the peace were first named in the Easter Calendar 5 W & M [1693] (unless they appeared in the missing calendars between midsummer sessions 1689 and the 1693 calendars). Thereafter, it was unusual for them not to be listed.
The gaoler was first named in the Epiphany Calendar for 1761.
In the 19th c, there were some changes: the masters of the houses of correction were last listed at Easter 1828, from and including April 1848, the high constables were normally only named in the Autumn calendars (and for 3 years, 1865-7, were not mentioned at all) and by the Autumn of 1854 one man had absorbed the office of bailiff for all the hundreds.
From the time of the larger calendars (1675) it is possible that they acted as wrappers for the sessions bundles.
Files of Sheriff's Returns from 1760-1870 are almost complete |
| Administrative History | The origin of the term Liber Pacis is unknown. |