The is an historic area of
England that is traditionally associated with the City of
Peterborough and
Diocese Of Peterborough , but considered part of
Northamptonshire . It was also described as the
Liberty of Peterborough, or ''Nassaburgh''
Hundred and comprises, besides Peterborough, about 30 parishes.
During the
Saxon period the lord of the hundred had the power, or liberty, of holding a court and administering justice within its boundaries, and this system was subsequently continued by the
Abbots of Peterborough, who either enforced in person, as lords, the observance of the ancient
Socage laws and customs, or appointed a deputy to act for them. On the establishment of
Quarter Sessions in 1349, the separate jurisdiction of the Soke was still maintained as distinct from that of the county of
Northampton ; and, except for parliamentary purposes and matters relating to the militia, it was entirely independent of that county. Quarter Sessions for the liberty were held at the Sessions House in Peterborough, and
Petty Sessions at the same place.
The civil government of the liberty was vested in the
Marquess Of Exeter , as Lord Paramount of Peterborough and
Custos Rotulorum ; around 40
Magistrate s appointed by the crown; and a high bailiff of the city appointed by the
Dean and
Chapter of
Peterborough Cathedral .
Lewis, Samuel ''Topographical Dictionary of England'' (Vol. III) S. Lewis & Co., London, 1831 The Soke had its own magistrates, who were appointed by the Lord Paramount, acting under a commission of
Oyer And Terminer , and gaol delivery, as well as under the ordinary commission, and the magistrates for the liberty retained the power of hanging a criminal in cases of murder, which in fact they exercised so late as the year 1812. The
Local Jurisdictions Act 1820 , though giving the liberty bench the power to commit (for murder only) to the county
Assizes , did not abridge their full rights of gaol delivery. The Soke had also a separate
Rate , out of which all payments were made, and a separate police force, the Liberty of Peterborough Constabulary, appointed by and under the control of the magistrates of the Soke. In the provisions of the
County And Borough Police Act 1856 , the
Weights And Measures Act 1878 and the
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878 , the Liberty of Peterborough, like that of the
Isle Of Ely , was in each instance treated as a separate county.
Peterborough with Longthorpe and Newark ''Kelly's Directory of Northamptonshire'' (pp.233-244) Kelly & Co., London, 1903
The liberty justices in Quarter Sessions had long held powers in excess of those of most other Quarter Sessions. They could try and decide many serious crimes, including treason and murder, which normally could only be heard and determined in a Court of Assize, and in view of the special powers of the liberty justices, a Judge of Assize had no power to act in the Soke of Peterborough. Until the time of the
Dissolution Of The Monasteries , the abbot had been empowered to appoint
Justices Of The Peace for the Hundred, or Liberty, of Nassaburgh. When Peterborough Monastery was dissolved in 1539 Abbot Chambers was made the first
Bishop Of Peterborough , and the following year
Henry VIII granted three Commissions of the Peace to the coterminous Liberty of Peterborough. They were:
- The Commission of the Peace for the appointment of Justices to sit in Petty Sessional Courts and exercise the ordinary duties of the magistracy;
- The Commission for Gaol Delivery, and
- The Commission of Oyer and Terminer, that is to hear and determine, which empowered the Justices of the Liberty to hear assize offences at Quarter Sessions.
The last commission gave to the justices of the liberty, power to enquire more fully "... by the oath of good and lawful men of the Liberty of Peterborough, by whom the truth of the matter may be better known and by other ways, means and methods by which they shall or better know, of the treasons ... insurrections ... rebellions, counterfeitings, clippings, wastings, false comings ... murders, felonies, manslaughters ... and many other grave offences mentioned therein which in other counties are only triable by a Judge of Assize, and the Justices are commanded at days appointed for this purpose to make diligent enquiries into and to hear and determine the above mentioned offences."
In 1877
Queen Victoria confirmed these commissions and endorsed the ancient privileges of jurisdiction of the liberty justices and at the same time excluded the
High Sheriff of the County of Northampton from exercising his authority in the Soke. The commissions of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery were not renewed by the monarchs immediately succeeding Queen Victoria and in 1920 the
Court Of Criminal Appeal squashed a conviction recorded at Peterborough Quarter Sessions. It was held that three of the liberty magistrates adjudicating at the hearing were not in order, as the assize authority of the court then derived from commissions granted during the reign of Queen Victoria. The three justices in question had been appointed to the commission of the peace subsequent to her death and only justices appointed during her reign were in order in adjudicating at such a court. This resulted in a renewal of the commissions in continuation of the ancient assize jurisdiction, and an announcement was made at the Easter Quarter Sessions in 1921 that "whatever may have happened as a result of a recent case in the Court of Criminal Appeal by authority of this Commission now granted, this Court will continue to exercise this ancient jurisdiction in the same manner as it has done under similar commissions since the days of
Charles I ." In fact, the justices of the liberty did not exercise their full powers, although they were always jealous of their special and historic privileges.
In 1949, the
Marquess Of Exeter moved an amendment in the
House Of Lords to the
Justices Of The Peace Bill . This was necessary to safeguard the special position of the liberty jurisdiction as the new Bill provided there should be a separate commission of the peace for every administrative county and
County Borough and not for any other area. Accordingly, an amendment was accepted by the
Lord Chancellor and the following paragraph was included in the Act:—
:SAVING FOR SOKE OF PETERBOROUGH: The Justices for the Soke of Peterborough shall, by virtue of the Commission of the Peace and without any further commission, have within the county the same jurisdiction as before the coming into force of Section 10 of this Act the Justices for the Liberty of Peterborough had within the Liberty by virtue of the commissions of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery customarily issued to those Justices, but as respects any matters within their competence as Justices of the Peace, shall act as such and not as Justices of Oyer and Terminer or Justices of Gaol Delivery.
In accepting the amendment the Lord Chancellor said that in murder cases this ancient jurisdiction had survived all these years only because it had never been exercised and he added, "if the justices ever appear to act upon the powers they possess, I shall be the first to come and remove those powers for them."
The Soke of Peterborough and the Liberty Quarter Sessions ''Commemorating 100 years of service of the Peterborough Police 1857 - 1957'' (pp.6-8) Peterborough Combined Police Force,
23 May 1957 . See also Gaches, Louis Bingham ''History of the Liberty of Peterborough and the jurisdiction of the justices of gaol delivery for the Hundred of Nassaburgh'' a reprint of articles published in ''Fenland Notes and Queries'' Geo. C. Caster, Peterborough, 1905
The Courts of Assize and Quarter Sessions were eventually abolished in
England and
Wales by the
Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent
Crown Court .
Under an amendment by in 1930 and various
Town Planning and housing responsibilities from 1949.
The Soke county council was granted a
Coat Of Arms by the
College Of Arms in 1950.Granted and assigned by
Letters Patent sealed by Garter, Clarenceux and Norroy & Ulster Kings of Arms dated
10 November 1950 The design placed the crossed keys of
Saint Peter from the arms of the
Diocese Of Peterborough on the silver and blue barry field of the arms of the Cecil family, Marquesses of Exeter, who held the chairmanship of the council for most of its existence. The crest was an ermine lion from the Cecil arms rising from a
Mural Crown emblematic of local government. The lion held two wheatears, symbolising agriculture. The
Latin Motto adopted by the council was ''Cor Unum'', part of the Cecil motto ''Cor Unum, Via Una'' or ''One Heart, One Way''.
Scott-Giles, Charles Wilfred ''Civic Heraldry of England and Wales'' (2nd ed.) J.M. Dent & Sons, London, 1953
The
2007 ) was as follows:
Because of the
Second World War , there was no census taken in 1941. However, following the passage into law (on 05 September) of the
National Registration Act 1939 , a population count was carried out on 29 September, which was, in effect, a census.
The Soke had a very small population for a county and so, in 1965, the administration was merged with that of the neighbouring small county of
2007 )
In 1998 the City of Peterborough became a , ''Final Recommendations for the Future Local Government of Cambridgeshire'', October 1994 and ''Final Recommendations on the Future Local Government of Basildon & Thurrock, Blackburn & Blackpool, Broxtowe, Gedling & Rushcliffe, Dartford & Gravesham, Gillingham & Rochester upon Medway, Exeter, Gloucester, Halton & Warrington, Huntingdonshire & Peterborough, Northampton, Norwich, Spelthorne and the Wrekin'', December 1995 Because of intervening development and a
New Town project in Peterborough, the present district has a much larger population than the Soke had.
For
Parliamentary purposes, the city formed a
Parliamentary Borough returning two
Members from 1541, with the rest of the Soke being part of
Northamptonshire parliamentary county. The
Great Reform Act did not affect the borough, while the rural portion of the Soke was included in the northern division of Northamptonshire. The borough's representation was reduced to one member under the
Redistribution Of Seats Act 1885 . In 1918 a new
Borough Constituency was formed including the whole of the Soke and neighbouring parts of the administrative county of Northamptonshire. In 1948 the boundaries of the
Constituency were adjusted to correspond to those of the Soke and they remained much the same until 1970.Youngs, Frederic A. ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'' (Volume II: Northern England) Royal Historical Society, London, 1991
In the unreformed widened suffrage by abolishing practically all property qualifications for men and by enfranchising women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications. This system, known as
Universal Manhood Suffrage , was first used in the
1918 General Election .
