>Under a statute of Henry VIII, commissions of sewers could be appointed
>who could make orders for land drainage and the preservation (at least) of
>navigable rivers. Does any one have experience of studying these?
In 1976 I wrote an MPhil thesis on "The History of the Law and Procedure on
the Compulsory Purchase of Land from 1066 - 1845". It was never published
as a whole but bits and pieces of it appeared as articles. I suppose a
copy might still be rotting away in Nottingham University's library. The
thesis contained a good deal about river improvement legislation and
something about the Commissioners of Sewers. If you want to know more or
have photocopies of some relevant bits, please contact me (directly, not
via the list, would be best).
>I have a published reference to an order by a commission in 1575
>concerning the river Severn, but would like to find out about the
>surrounding circumstances. For example, was there a procedure by which a
>county applied for a commission?
My thesis says nothing about this! But I would guess it was much like
similar ad hoc organisations and that anyone - or any group of people -
with an interest in the matter applied to the Crown for a commission. The
applicants would not have needed to belong to any formal grouping. The
same applied, for instance, to Town Improvement Commissioners.
>If so, where will I find records of this? Were the orders registered or
>enrolled centrally; if so where?
I would guess that there must have been at least a central copy of each
commission but I have never heard of a single register of all of them. I
agree that the PRO would be the best place but country record offices may
have copies of commissions relevant to their area. A search on a2a might
come up with something.
> I think a good deal is known of their use for land drainage in the fens
> and so on, but I would like to know more about their application to
> rivers. My interest is primarily in the river Severn, but work that any
> one has done on almost any river ought to enable me to find the
> equivalent material for the area that I am interested in. I presume that
> the answer is in one or more PRO classes.
Same again - PRO and local record offices.
>Also Willan, River navigation cites a work called Law of Sewers. Does any
>one know what this is?
"The Reading of the Famous and Learned Robert Callis Esq. upon the Statute
23 H.8 Cap 5 of Sewers, as it was delivered by him at Grays Inn in August,
1622" is its full title. The first printed edition was 1674 but there have
been several other editions afterwards. It being a reading upon a statute
it is a kind of legal fireworks display but it is useful. I no longer have
a copy. You might have to make a trip to the BL.
Frank Sharman
Wolverhampton
01902 763246
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