English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

, the term headborough, head-borough, borough-head, borrowhead, or chief pledge, referred historically to the head of the legal, administrative, and territorial unit known as a

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or ...

, which sometimes, particularly in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, was known as a ''borgh'', ''borow'', or ''borough''. The office was rendered in Latin documents as ''capitalis plegius'' (''chief pledge'') or ''decennarius'' (''tenner''). In the Anglo-Saxon system of

frankpledge Frankpledge was a system of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early Middle Ages and High Middle Ages. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected in tithings. This unit, un ...

, or ''frith-borh'', the headborough presided over the borhsmen in his jurisdiction, who in turn presided over the local tithingmen. Frankpledge was a system that existed to create an incentive for a tithing to police itself, and consequently, the headborough was effectively obliged to police his tithing, as well as dealing with more administrative matters. By the early 16th century, the office had evolved into the position of

parish constable A parish constable, also known as a petty constable, was a Law enforcement agency, law enforcement Police officer, officer, usually unpaid and part-time, serving a Civil parishes in England, parish. The position evolved from the ancient ''headboroug ...

, a

parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a ...

officer subordinate to a hundred-

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

. Although the parish constable and hundred-constable share the term, the two roles had different functions, and origins. While the hundred-constable originated from senior military officers enforcing civil order, the parish constable had a wide range of civil administration functions in addition to a recognisable policing role. It is the hundred-constable which originated the term ''constable'', and the parish constable acquired it by comparison; where the term ''headborough'' or ''chief pledge'' is used in contrast to a ''constable'', the term ''constable'' is likely to refer specifically to the role of a hundred-constable. In the sense of parish constable, the term is found in the induction to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'' (written c. 1590–92), when the Hostess of an alehouse, arguing with a drunken troublemaker, declares, "I know my remedie, I must go fetch the Headborough" (Induction, i); and again in ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' (written c. 1598–9), where the

dramatis personae Dramatis personae (Latin: 'persons of the drama') are the main characters in a dramatic work written in a list. Such lists are commonly employed in various forms of theatre, and also on screen. Typically, off-stage characters are not consider ...

describes Verges as a Headborough, subordinate to Constable Dogberry (Act 3, scene 5).

Notes

References

* * * ''Bouvier's Law Dictionary''. Revised 6th Ed. 1856. Anglo-Norse England Law enforcement in England and Wales Medieval English law Region-specific legal occupations Police ranks in the United Kingdom {{law-enforcement-stub