The Charters
Bewdley was given a Charter by Edward IV in 1472. He also granted
a coat of arms to the Town (the fetterlock was his personal badge).
Henry VII gave one in 1509, Henry VIII in 1525, James I in 1606,
James II in 1685 & Queen Anne in 1708.
We have here those for 1472 (incredible that it has been so well
preserved for over 500 years) 1606 and 1708. The first of these
(1472) was discovered by Mrs. Florence Pritchard in a wooden box
lying in the open air in the Shambles (now the Museum yard).
At a time when everything, literally everything, was owned by the
Crown, a charter was invaluable to a town. Because it obtains its
independence - with the right to raise its own income, to manage
& police itself - in exchange for loyalty to his Majesty.
The 1509, 1525 and 1685 Charters were surrendered and/or superseded.
That of 1685 was found to have been invalid & was replaced by a legal
one in 1708 but it did mean that for a time there were two Bailiffs,
& two Corporations attempting to run the town, and two M.P.'s from the town, each
fulminating against the other.
The 1472 Charter made the Town independent & permitted its Burgesses
to be free of any tolls or taxes anywhere in the Kingdom.
The 1606 Charter gave Bewdley's Burgesses the right to elect one of
themselves to Parliament and the right to be the ruling body of the
town. They were to comprise a Bailiff and 12 Capital Burgesses with
the sole right to elect anyone to keep up their own numbers (so long
as that person was not employed by a nobleman) and with wide ranging
powers for running the town. So they were self perpetuating. It also
set up the Grammar School (to be called the Free Grammar School in
Bewdley of King James of England) and gave the Burgesses power to
punish offenders.
Many attempts were made by the Crown, particularly Charles II, to
have Charters annulled and new ones granted more favourable to the
Crown (for example by giving the King the right to dismiss burgesses
and re-appoint those who were more politically acceptable to him)
inducements were, for example, the offer of a new Charter giving the
right to claim tolls for any vessel passing under Bewdley Bridge.
As the 1685 Charter was invalidated, so Queen Anne granted the 1708
Charter which confirmed the King James Charter, named 12 inhabitants
of Bewdley to be Burgesses and Samuel Slade to be Bailiff from that
date until "the Thursday next before the feast of St. Michael the
Archangel next ensuing" and thereafter until another Bailiff was
elected by the Burgesses and created the posts of Steward, Recorder
and Deputy Recorder.