The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-11 00:00:00

CORPORATE OFFICERS.

34. The duties intrusted to the several officers of the
corporation vary so much, in consequence either of pre-
scriptive usage, by-laws, or the express directions of the
charters, that the following account must be taken to re-
present that form of constitution only which is found to be
most prevalent. The chief officers in most corporations,
besides the mayor and recorder, are a town clerk, a coroner,
and a chamberlain or treasurer. In those cities and towns
which are counties there are also sheriffs. The mayor, re-
corder, town clerk, and sheriff, often have power to appoint
deputies, to exercise in some cases the whole, in others a
part only of their duties. Besides these principal officers,
there is a great variety of subordinate officers, into the de-
tails of whose elections and functions it does not appear
necessary to enter in a general view of the system of cor-
porations.

35. Many corporations have an officer called the high
steward, whose legal connection with them is entirely hono-
rary. He is generally elected by the common council ;
sometimes his election must be confirmed by the Crown.
He is usually a nobleman, and seldom resident in the bo-
rough ; the office probably originated in the desire of the
corporation to secure a patron, in connection with the me-
tropolis and court, to whose protection they might betake
themselves in cases of difficulty or danger to their privi-
leges. In those boroughs which have a patron, in the
sense usually attached to the word in more recent times,
he is commonly found in the person of the high steward,
and sometimes in that of the recorder.

36. The mayor or head of the corporation, under what-
ever name, besides being (either in person or by deputy)
the president of the common council, as already stated, is
the chief magistrate and executive officer of the corporation.
The manner of his election has been already mentioned. In
almost all boroughs returning members to Parliament he is
the returning officer, except in those 'boroughs or cities
which are counties. This duty is there usually exercised
by the sheriff, as in the shires of the realm. The mayor
usually presides at the quarter sessions for the borough, and
is often a judge of the court of record, where such a court
exists ; but the actual conduct of the business of the latter
court generally devolves on other functionaries. He is
often coroner ex officio, but many boroughs have a distinct
officer for those duties. He is generally clerk of the mar-
kets, and sometimes keeper of the gaol ; he is occasionally
treasurer of the corporation. In those boroughs which have
local acts for the purposes of police, paving and lighting,
&c., the mayor is usually a commissioner ex officio, and
without other qualification. In a few ports, as at Roches-
ter, he is the admiral, to the exclusion of the Admiralty of
England ; in others, as at Southampton, he has by charter
a concurrent jurisdiction of that nature. He is often con-
servator of the rivers and waters adjoining the city or bo-
rough of which be is mayor.
In numerous instances the appointment of the inferior
officers of the corporation rests chiefly; or entirely with the
mayor, and in many small places he practically unites in his
person almost all the authority of the whole body. He com-
monly receives a salary. In some small boroughs, as at
Buckingham, the whole of the corporate revenue is taken by
him without account ; more usually a fixed sum is paid to
him, besides tolls, which are often collected exclusively in
his name and on his behalf. He is generally expected to
exercise hospitality towards the other members of the corpora-
tion and distinguished visitors of the town ; and on the whole
it is probable that more is expended in this manner than is
realized from the ordinary emoluments of the office. In some
boroughs no salary or emoluments of any kind belong 4.3
37. The recorder, sometimes called the steward, is
elected in most cases by the common council ; in many
others by the aldermen ; in some cases by the general body
of the burgesses or freemen. Occasionally the consent of
the Crown is requisite to his appointment. By the terms of
most of the charters in which a recorder is named, he is re-
quired to be learned in the law. This condition is some-
times considered to be complied with by electing a peer of
the realm, who being a judge by the constitution of Parlia-
ment, has been held to come within that technical descrip-
tion. Sometimes recorders have been chosen, notwithstand-
ing such a provision in the charter, who were neither peers
nor educated to the legal profession. It has been stated that
this office is sometimes filled by the individual who is com-
monly styled the patron of the borough. In most -of such
cases, either there are no real functions to be exercised by
the recorder, or he has the power of appointing a deputy,
by whom most of his duties can be performed.
38. The recorder generally holds his office during good
behaviour. He is the principal legal adviser of the corpo-
ration. His other duties are chiefly 'magisterial and judi-
cial. He is commonly a magistrate within the borough,
and a judge of the courts of quarter session and record,
where those exist. In some places the recorder is only as-
sessor to the justices. At Hull, Newcastle, Preston, and
some other tows, be is not a judge of the court of record.
He is seldom required to be resident in the borough.
The deputy is sometimes a barrister ; but in numerous in-
stances the town-clerk practically officiates as deputy re-
corder, as will be noticed again when speaking of that offi-
cer. The salary attached to the office of recorder is, in the
majority of cases, so trifling, as to be altogether nominal ;
in many instances it has not been received for several years.
In other cases the office has a large salary attached to it.
39. The office of Sheriff in a corporate town is the same
as that exercised under the same name in the shires of the
realm, and is found only in those cities and boroughs which
are counties. In London the sheriffs are chosen by the li-
verymen from two lists, consisting of the aldermen and the
nominees of the mayor ; besides which, any
,elector may
name a candidate. At Carmarthen and Poole they are
chosen by the freemen from among themselves ; at Bristol,
Exeter, and Gloucester, by the common council, from
themselves ; in Canterbury, by the mayor and alder-
men, from the citizens ; at Haverfordwest, by the
freemen, from the nominees of the common council ;
in Hull, by the freemen, from • two persons nominated
by the common council ; in Southampton, practically
by the common council, from those whe have ,served
the subordinate office of bailiff ; in Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
by the mayor ; in Lincoln, one is chosen by the common
council, the other by the mayor elect ; both from the free-
men who have served the office of chamberlain. In no case
is the sheriff of a corporate town nominated by the Crown.