The Marshalsea Court (or Court of the Marshalsea, also known as the Court of the Verge or the Court of the Marshal and Steward) was a court associated with the Royal Household in England. Associated with, but distinct from, the Marshalsea Court was the Palace Court, which came into being in the 17th century. Both courts had jurisdiction within a geographical area known as the Verge of the court, which was fixed by statute of Richard II as extending 12 miles from the King's palace or place of residence. The Marshalsea and Palace Courts were both abolished on 31 December 1849.

The Marshalsea Court

The Marshalsea of the King's House was a

court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written record ...

held by the Steward and

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

of the Royal Household, to administer justice between the sovereign's domestic servants "that they might not be drawn into other courts and their service lost". It was considered to be one of the most ancient courts of the realm; it sat by prescriptive right and was adjudged to be coeval with the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

of the land. In the middle ages the court was held in the

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

of the King's palace, and 'followed the person of the King wherever he should go'. Originally the jurisdiction of the court was general and extensive: 'it comprehended all actions, real,

personal Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

and mixed, and all pleas of the crown within the verge'. In 1300, however, a statute was passed limiting the court's jurisdiction. Subsequently it dealt with cases of

trespass Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person (see below), trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery ...

committed within the verge, if one party was in the sovereign's service; and with

debts Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

contracts A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

and covenants, where both parties belonged to the royal household, in which case the inquest was composed of men from the royal household only. Over time the criminal jurisdiction of the court fell into disuse (being superseded by commissions of

oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French , which literally means 'to hear and to determine') was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the commission was also ...

and gaol delivery which were known as commissions of the verge), though it continued to exercise civil jurisdiction. Associated with the court was the

Marshalsea Prison The Marshalsea (1373–1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark, just south of the River Thames. Although it housed a variety of prisoners—including men accused of crimes at sea and political figures charged with sedition—it became known, ...

. Originally the prison of the Court of the Marshalsea and known from about 1300, it was on a site in Mermaid Court,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

until relocated to an adjacent site off Borough High Street in 1811. Here it largely functioned as a

debtor's prison A debtors' prison is a prison for Natural person, people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, L ...

until 1842 when its role was taken over by the Queen's Bench Prison. Up until 1801, the meeting place of the Court was co-located with the prison; in 1373 Edward III had issued instructions for the Marshalsea court and prison to be rebuilt 'in our royal street' (i.e. King Street) in Southwark. Later the same courtroom was used by the Palace Court.

The Palace Court

In 1630 Charles I created by

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

(renewed by Charles II in 1665) a new court, the Court of the Palace of the King at Westminster, to be held by the Steward of the Household and Knight Marshal, and the steward of the court or his deputy, and having jurisdiction to hear all kinds of personal actions between parties within twelve miles of

Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, ...

(the jurisdiction of the Marshalsea court, the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, and

Westminster Hall Westminster Hall is a medieval great hall which is part of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. It was erected in 1097 for William II (William Rufus), at which point it was the largest hall in Europe. The building has had various functio ...

being excepted). It differed from the Marshalsea court in that it had no jurisdiction over the sovereign's household, nor were its suitors necessarily of the household. The privilege of practising before the palace court was limited to four counsel. In some cases, the counsel practising before both the Marshalsea Court and the Palace Court overlapped, as was the case with the Lincoln's Inn barrister Levett Blackborne, grandson of Sir Richard Levett, former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

. Blackborne served as steward of both courts, as did several other barristers.

Later history

Latterly the Palace Court was held weekly together with the ancient Court of Marshalsea (allegedly 'for many years no legal business was transacted in the Marshalsea Court, though it continued to be opened and closed with the same legal formalities as the Palace Court, the judges and other officers being the same in both'). By the end of the 18th century the court building in Southwark had become very dilapidated, and in 1801 the courts moved into new purpose-built premises in

Great Scotland Yard Great Scotland Yard is a street in Westminster, London, connecting Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall. By the 16th century, this "yard", which was then a series of open courtyards within the Palace of Whitehall, was fronted by buildings used ...

. The Court Office, however, was to be found in

Clifford's Inn Clifford's Inn is the name of both a former Inn of Chancery in London and a present mansion block on the same site. It is located between Fetter Lane and Clifford's Inn Passage (which runs between Fleet Street and Chancery Lane) in the City of ...

; (as noted by Hatton in his ''New View of London'', 'none except members of Clifford's Inn may practise attorneys">Attorney_at_law.html" ;"title="s Attorney at law">attorneysin this court'). The Marshalsea Court and Palace Court were both abolished in 1849, whereupon the building in Scotland Yard was transferred to the Metropolitan Police (whose headquarters were opposite), and it served as a police station until 1891 (when the police relocated to Norman Shaw Buildings">New Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

The Marshalsea Court

The Palace Court

Later history

Officers of the court

References