The Justice of the Peace in England, 1680-1761

FAIN: FT-13903-78

Norma B. Landau
Regents of the University of California, Davis (Davis, CA 95618-6153)

To study the office of justice of the peace in England, 1680-1761, in order to ascertain the attractions of this unpaid position for the gentlemen who held it and to analyze the manner in which attractions altered as the office was transformed. By analyzing the manner in which the interaction of changes in the structure of politics, the organization of local government, and the composition of the bench altered the activities and the ambitions of the justices of Kent, the study will depict the justice of the peace at an intermediate stage in his transition from gentry justice to gentleman bureaucrat.