The Fire Court: A gripping historical thriller from the bestselling author of The Ashes of London (James Marwood & Cat Lovett, Book 2)

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More work of this kind is planned. In the end we should have a much fuller picture of the way property law and practice played out, not just in the rebuilding of London after the Fire but also in ‘steady state’ market conditions. I published ‘The City of London in the 18th century: corporate pressures and their implications’ in an Oxford University Press volume honouring one of my History tutors, Paul Langford. The essay draws together much of my previous research. This series are the fair copy, parchment rolls which were exhibited in the Orphans' Court. They are catalogued individually by the name of the deceased citizen. Dates given are approximate dates of death. d. Remembrancia, 1579–1664. These are books of copies of correspondence, petitions, etc., principally to and from the Lord Mayor and Court of The Court of Judicature or 'Fire Court' was created by statute to settle disputes as to boundaries, old foundations, encroachments etc. in connection with the rebuilding of the City after the Great Fire of 1666.

Fire of London Disputes Act 1666 - Wikipedia Fire of London Disputes Act 1666 - Wikipedia

This oak table was used by the Fire Court at Clifford’s Inn. The Fire Court was set up to deal with property disputes after the fire. The style of the table dates it from around 1660 – 1710 and it’s likely that the table was supplied to Clifford’s Inn as new shortly after the fire. London had two Sheriffs who each held a court at his compter which also served as a prison for debtors and other prisoners. The Sheriffs' Courts handled cases of small debts and personal actions arising within the City. An Act of Parliament in 1785 empowered the City of London Corporation to pull down the Poultry and Wood Street Compters and to build a new compter in Giltspur Street. Prisoners were moved from Poultry to Giltspur Street Compter in about 1791 where separate sections were known as the Poultry and Wood Street Compters and the courts held by the two Sheriffs continued to be known as the Poultry Compter and Wood Street Compter. These courts were later transferred to the Guildhall and united into the City of London Court in 1867, finally being amalgamated with the Mayor's Court in 1921 to form the Mayor's and City of London Court. The survival of the records of the Sheriffs' Courts is poor, probably because the Sheriffs retained custody of the rolls of the court during their year of office when they left office as they could be personally accountable if the administration of justice was called into question. They have been published as London Possessory Assizes: a calendar ed. Helena M Chew (London Record Society, 1965) 60.9 LRS on open access in Information Area, available online at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=569 The City of London in the 18th Century: corporate pressures and their implications’, in Revisiting the Polite and Commercial People, eds. P. Gauci and E. Challus (2019) The Court of Husting was the supreme court of the medieval and later City of London. It is the oldest court in the City of London and, at one time, was the only court for settling disputes between citizen and citizen. The more efficient and popular forms of law practised by other courts which had initially been set up to take some of its work-load were eventually to result in its demise.The Assize of Buildings prescribed a view by the Mayor and 12 elected men of land and tenements for which the assize of nuisance had been demanded; and, more specifically, to deal with party and boundary walls, gutters, windows overlooking a neighbour's land, and cess-pits about which complaint had been made. The 12 elected men were originally aldermen, but sworn masons and carpenters, seem to have been associated with the assize of nuisance from at least the beginning of the 14th century and, joined by tilers in the 16th century, acted as viewers for the City. By the 16th century the court in which the certificates were presented, and any further action taken may have been the Mayor's Court. Alternatively the certificates may have been presented in the Court of Aldermen. Contain details of the gross worth of an estate, deduction of debts and division of the remainder between widow, orphans and other recipients of bequests made by the testator. It may be possible to find an entry to an orphan here, even if an inventory (for which, see below) does not survive, but it is only a summary and does not give the same detail. They are also indexed (see below). I am currently analysing the Fire Court decrees with a view to understanding the London property market before and after the Great Fire in 1666.

Sources: Corporation of London | British History Online

The conservation of the River Thames was entrusted to the citizens of London by a charter of 1197 and was exercised by the City of London Corporation until 1857. Their jurisdiction extended from the River Colne near Staines to Yantlett Creek, Kent and included parts of the Rivers Medway and Lea and all streams and creeks of tidal waters within these bounds. In 1857 jurisdiction was transferred to the Thames Conservators. The records of the Courts of Conservancy 1646-1857 include sessions held in London, Essex, Middlesex, Kent and Surrey for breaches of regulations covering encroachments, wharves, fishing, obstructing or fouling the river and similar offences. Contain bonds and deeds relating to orphans' estates. Listed alphabetically under the surname of the deceased freeman. From the reign of Edward III onwards, files of actions or cases, heard in the Mayor's Court were kept, giving the declarations of plaintiff, with short notes of the proceedings, judgements and executions. Very few rolls survive prior to reign of Elizabeth I, but they are numerous for the 16th and 17th centuries. They are of particular interest owing to the full inventories of goods and chattels on which executions were made. The Great Refusal” Why does the City of London only govern the Square Mile?’, The London Journal, 39 (2014) The Mayor's Court became the pre-eminent court in the City, as there was no monetary limit on actions that could be heard there, whereas the Sheriffs' Courts were confined to the recovery of small debts. It was popular because of this, because of the speed with which suits could be dealt with in comparison to other courts of the time, and was far cheaper than recourse to the royal courts at Westminster.They had been sitting by the Thames in Barnes Wood. She had let down her hair, which was brown but shot through with golden threads that glowed in the sunlight.