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Bradshaws of Bradshaw in Derbyshire, a family of considerable respectability, which formerly married into the families of Foljambe, Eyre, Shallcross, &c. &c. Henry, the elder brother of the Judge, was a Justice of the Peace, and had a command in the Parliament army, and resided for some time at Wibbersley, where he was born in the year 1600; and baving married Mary, the daughter and heir of Mr. Barnard Willes, of Hope in Derbyshire, he became possessed, in her right, of Marple-hall, to which place he removed, and where a descendant in the female line now resides, the male line of this branch of the family being extinct.

Blomefield, in his History of Nor folk, mentions having seen an antient pedigree of the family of the Hollands of Lincolnshire, which he states to have been collected by George Holland in 1563, and continued since to 1601, the title of which he gives in the following words:

"Estoving-ball.-Here ensueth the Pedigree of the Hollandes of the House of Estoven hall in the parts of Holland in the countie of Lincolne, and do dwell there without alteration or change eyther of house or name by xiijth descent before the Conquest."

Henry Hollaud, a descendant of this family, in Midsummer 1563, Blomefield says, proceeded Master of Arts in Gouvile-hall, Cambridge, at which time Christopher Holland was a student in Pembroke-hall, and in 1601 Edward Holland, his son, was also a student in Cambridge.

If any of your Readers can give information concerning this pedigree, and particularly where it now is, the communication will oblige a descend, ant of the Lancashire branch of this family, and A GENEALOGIST.

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stracted from any opinion or wish to substantiate Annual Parliaments or Universal Suffrage, the result may tend to elucidate parts of the discussion.

I. As to Universal Suffrage.-It does not appear by the antient records, that this was at any time the practice or law of this kingdomeven in the simplicity of early times, when the numbers of men were every where much smaller, and all could readily be seen and known-when the Country was divided into tithings and decennaries; and no one could pass from one to the other without being sought out and questioned. The antient View of Frankpledge took Cognizance of every man within its jurisdiction:--The Act of 8 Hen. VI. c. 14. restrained the right of voting for knights of the shire to freeholders of 40s. per annum in lands or tenements, because of the very great outrageous and excessive number of people dwelling within the county. These, it may be presumed, came to the full County Court. The freeholders were inhabitants, and freeborges or landowners; for those who were not such were of an inferior class, villeins and labourers. The freeborges were burgesses, or frank-pledgers in their respective tithings and hundreds, which afterwards became incorporated into burghs. Co. Lit. 209.

In the great annual courts of frankpledge, every householder was incorporated with nine other neighbouring householders (the titled men excepted), which constituted tithingsall others attended the Court to be sworn to arms and allegiance, yet the ten householders or freeborges, who pledged all the rest and had a fixed habitation, and paid scot and lot, being deciners, were suitors at the County Courts, since become vested in the landowners.-The citizens of borough-towns now incorporated derive their title from the freeborges who so pledged one another in their tithings, and, being deciners, gave title also to householders paying scot and lot; which burgage tenure is now the title by which Westminster, Southwark, and many other towns, vote al elections-paying an annual rent, (Littleton, 109. b.) and none else had the privilege. It is thus clear that Universal Suffrage was not the custom of this realm. (See Gr. Sharp on

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Congregational Courts, No. 2.) And this will appear more especially, if we consider that these meetings, or great councils, were composed of the wise men---the Wittena. There was some mode adopted by which the selection from the whole people was made; hæc sunt Instituta quæ Edgarus Rex concilio sapientum suorum instituit-and also, bæ sunt Institutiones quas rex Edmundus et episcopi sui cum sapientibus suis instituerunt; and their duty, even according to the modern usage and design of Parliament was novis injuriis emersis nova constituere remedia. (Fleta, 1. 2. c. 2.)

This Common Council of the Realm is recognised as existing at the time of K. John's Charter, which declares, ne scutagium vel auxilium ponatur in regno, nisi per commune concilium regni, &c.; that no Escuage [War Tax] or aid shall be laid upon the kingdom, but by the Common Council of the kingdom; articles upon which the great Charter was framed. (Bishop Burnet's MS copy, art. 29.) In the original great Charter, in French, article 18, the above is much enlarged; and the following words are the foundation of Parliament, and of its mode of meeting at this day; "Et aient le Commun Conseil," &c. "And as for coming to the Common Council of the kingdom, and for assessing aids (except in the three cases aforesaid), and as for the assessing of escuage [the helmet or war-tax], we will cause to be summoned the Archbishop, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, and the greater Barons, each in particular, by our Letters; and moreover we will cause to be summoned in general by our Sheriffs and Bailiffs all that hold of us in chief at a certain day, to wit, 40 days after at least, and at a certain place; and in our said Letters we will express the cause of the summons; and when the summons shall be so made, business shall go on at the day assigned by the advice of such as are present, though all that are summoned do not appear." Hence it is fair to conclude, that in the earliest times of the British history the three estates of the realm consisted of the King, or monarchical bead, who could not make laws without the aid of his Council assembled, consisting of the principal men, or aristocratical assistants of the Crown, and the freeborges, liberi tenentes, who were chosen and called

by summons to represent themselve and all the rest of the people, in grand Gemote or Common Council of the realm: chosen, as above stated by those who paid an annual rent as householders. (Lit. 109. b.)

II. As to Annual Parliaments.~ Parliaments must be allowed to be of very great antiquity, coeval with the British Constitution. The Wittenagemote amongst our Saxon ancestors means the same thing, and differed little from a Folkmote, only that the last was annual, and chiefly sat about the standing affairs of the Nation; the other was called at the King's pleasure, upon emergencies of the State, and to make Laws. (Speim. Gemotum.) The Folkmote was introduced by King Arthur, and met yearly on the kalends of May, as we find in the Laws of King Edward the Confessor, Quod Artherus Rex inclytus Britanum invenit. At this yearly Folkmote or Parliament, met once a year the Princes of the realm (Peers were so called), Bishops, Magistrates, and Freemen; all the Laymen were sworn in the presence of the Bishops into a mutual covenant with each other, into their fealty to the King, and to preserve the rights of the kingdom, and to consult of the common safety, of peace, of war, and of promoting the public profit. (Spel. 315.) This part of their functions had at least the authority of Parliament. And as a proof that this Folkmote made all the laws, the coronation oath of Richard II. (taken twice) may be adduced: Concedis justas Leges et Consuetudines esse tenendas; et promillis per le esse prolegendas et ad honorem Dei corroborandas quus Vulgus elegerit secundum vires tuas 2 Respondebit, Concedo et promitto, 1 Hen.IV. membr. 20 inter Decem Scrip. tores, p. 2746. Do you grant that the just laws and customs which are of the folks chusing shall be kept; and do you promise that they shall be protected, and, to the honour of God, receive affirmance by you to the utmost of your power? The King shali answer, I grant and promise.

The statutes and writs are our first authority. But, upon the authority of Horne's Mirror, in the time of Edward I. and II. we learn that Alfred caused the Counties to meet; and or dained it for a perpetual usage, what had already been the custom during the Heptarchy (Glan. l. 13, c. 32.-

1. 9. c. 10. Co. Rep. 9.---2 Inst. 52. b.) that at two times yearly, or oftener, if need were, in time of peace, they should assemble at London to sit in Parliament. And he states, as the second abuse of the law, that Parliaments did meet but seldom, and at the King's will, for aids and gatherings of treasure; and that the King made ordinances instead of the Parliament. Thus then the case stood till Edward I. A. D. 1272.

But we may refer back to 1235, 20 Hen. III. when we find in the preamble to the statute of Merton, made upon the assembly there for the marriage of Henry with Queen Elinor, that this law was made, as well by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops, Earls, and Barons, as by the King himself, and others. It cannot be supposed that this Parliament could have been composed of any other than the personages named with these others; and that they were the original Freeborges of the realm, and Decennaries.

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In 1266, the St. 51 Hen III. seems from its language to be an Ordinance of the King, until s. 3, which is introduced by the words, "By consent of the whole realm," the assize of flour, &c.-And from this date writs are preserved, which have been issued to summon knights, citizens, and burgesses, to Parliament.

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In the following year, 1267, the statute of Mariborough is faced by these words:- "The more discreet men of the realm being called together, as well of the higher as of the lower Estate:" which lower Estate, it is fairly to be presumed, consisted of the same persons as are above mentioned,

In the preamble to the Statute of Westminster, 1 Edw. I. A. D. 1275it is with the assent of the Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Earis, Barons, and all the Commonally of the realm, being thither summoned.

The friends of Universal Suffrage have here a claim to the extensive meaning of the term Commonalty; but, if the above explanation of the Freeborges who were called to the County Courts on view of frank pledge can be supposed to have prevailed, the same must have constituted this Commonaity, and not the whole people at large, which is, and always must have been, impracticable.

In Edward I.'s Letter to the Pope,

there is a testimony to the practice of Parliament meeting twice in a year well worthy of our observation; it relates to a yearly tribute of 1000 marks, which the Popes, from the time of King John, exacted, and of which there were at this time some arrears. The King's excuse to the Nuncio was, that from the pressure of business, and his own sickness, he had not come to any resolution in his Parliament, which he had accustomed to hold at Easter; but, by common advice, he would give him an answer in his Michaelmas Parliament; thus speaking of them both as customary.-Pro firmo scituri, pie Pater et Domine, quod in alio Purliamento nostro quod ad festum Michs, prox. futur. intendimus, dante Domino, celebrare, habilo et communicalo concilio cum prelatis et proceri bus memoratis, vobis super premissis ipsorum consilio dabimus responsionem." Know for certain, pious Father and Lord, that in our other Parliament, which we design to hold at the next feast of St. Michael, with God's permission, we and the Prelates and Peers aforesaid, in council had thereon, will, by their advice, give you an answer on the premises."(See Clause Rolls, 3 Ed. I. m. 9. Scedula.-Prynne, p. 158.) It no where appears that prorogations and any length of adjournments were practised in those days; and the law being that Parliaments should be held twice or oftener, this record is a complete proof that there were two Parliaments in that year.

The sitting of Parliament was usually 40 days, so low as King Richard I.; and if they were longer detained, the subject of the wages of the knights and burgesses came into dispute: and Knyghton, p. 2682, has preserved a memorable record of this fact, Dicunt etiam, &c. "In short, they say, that they have an antient statute, whereby, if the King wil fully absent himself from his Parliament, not having any infirmity or other cause of necessity, but per immoderatam voluntatem protervè, &c. 40 days, and not caring for the vexa tion of his people, and their heavy expence, it shall then be lawful for them all to withdraw from the domi gerio regis, and return to their own homes.

It is supposed by Lord Coke, that until 8 Hen. IV. the whole Parlia ment sat together, because at that date

date they ordered their Speaker to pul his Seal to their Act concerning the successionto the Crown; previous to which date there is no such instance; but, on the contrary, at the Parliament of 28 Edward I. in the letters then sent to the Pope, the concluding teste is, In cujus rei testimonium sigilla nostra tam pro nobis quam pro tola communitate pred. Regni Angliæ præsentib. sunt appensa. Certain it is, that at the first both houses sat together, as it appears in the Treatise De modo tenendi Parliam. and in the Parliament Rolls of 5 Edward III. nu. 3, and in 6 Edward 111. in divers places; and that the Commons had no continual Speaker; but, after consultation had, they agreed Upon some one or more of them that had greatest aptitude for present bu siness, to deliver their resolution, which wrought great delays of proceeding, and thereupon the Houses divided; and the surest mark of the time of the division of them is, when the House of Commons at the first had a continual Speaker, as at this day it hath. After the division the Commons sat in the Chapter-house of the Abbot of Westminster (Rol. Par. 50 Ed. III. nu. 8.—4 Inst. 2.) until I Edward VI. 1547, when the sta'ute of that year, ch. 14, having vested in the Crown the Colleges, Chapels, and Chauntries, of monastic foundation, the King became possessed of the antient and beautiful free Chapel of St. Stephen, founded by King Stephen; and since that time it has served for the House of Commons. (4 Inst. 255.)

In these early times it does not appear how these Parliaments were accus. tomed to assemble, nor whether they met in one or in different assemblies; but in Richard II. who began his reign in 1377, and reigned till 1399, they sat in two houses; and this was the case at the Parliament holden at Eltham. Moreover, in Cotton's Abridgment of the Records in the Tower, 5 Edw. II. A. D. 1312, it is ordained, that a Parliament shall be held one or two times a year: On which it may be noted, that the original rule of once year is now changed into once or twice.

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36 Ed. III. A. D. 1363. For maintenance of the said articles and statutes, and redress of divers mischiefs which daily happen, a Parliament

shall be holden every year; as another time was ordained by stat. 4 Ed. III. c. 14. It is ordained, that a Parliament shall be holden every year once, and more often if need be.

50 Ed. III. A. D. 1377. The Parliament's demand of petition is, that a Parliament may be holden every year; the Knights of the Parliament may be chosen by the whole counties; and that the Sheriff may be without brokage in court. The King's answer is,-To the Parliament there are statutes made therefore; to the Sheriffs there is answer made; to the Knights it is agreed, that they shall be chosen by the common consent of every county.

R. II. The petition was, p. 163,— That a Parliament may be yearly holden in convenient place, to redress delays in suits, and to end such cases as the Judges doubt of. To which the King's answer was, - It shall be as it hath been used.

And in 2 Rie. II. The reason for opening the Parliament was stated to be,--secondly, for that it was enacted, that a Parliament should yearly be held.

This law remained for a space of 262 years, till 16 Car. I. when that King, having discontinued Parliaments for 12 years, the Nation found a necessity of having a Cautionary Parliament every third year, to secure their Annual Parliaments for the two years immediately foregoing. This is said to be the true reason of the Act for a Triennial Porliament. A. D. 1640. The first enactment of this statute was, that the laws for a Parliament to be holden at least once a year shall hereafter be duly kept and observed. (Scobel, Collect. 16 Car. I. c. 1.)

This Act was afterwards repealed by 16 Car. II. c. 1. which in its preamble denounces the Act of Car. I. as in derogation of his Majesty's just rights and prerogative inherent to the Impe rial Crown of this realm, for the calling and assembling of Parliaments; and may be an occasion of manifold mischiefs and inconveniences, and much endanger the peace and safety of his Majesty, and all his liege people of this realm. And after having esacted, in s. 2, the repeal, it proceeds, s. 3, to declare the law to be, that because by the antient laws and statutes of this realm (made 4 Ed. III.

c. 14, and 36 Ed. 111. c. 10), “Parliaments are to be held very often," that hereafter the sitting and holding of Parliaments shall not be interImitted or discontinued above three years at the most; but that within three years from the determination of that Parliament, and so from time to time within three years after the determination of any other Parliament, or, if there be occasion, more often, the King and his successors should issue writs for calling, assembling, and holding another Parliameat, to the end there may be a fre quent calling, &c. once in three years at the least.

Thus the Parliamentary Law coutinued until 1694, 6 Will. and Mary, c. 2, when the last statute was reenacted; but in s. 3 it was further declared, that no Parliament whatsoever that should at any time thenafter be called, &c. should have any continuance longer than for three years only at the farthest from the day of meeting specified in the sum mous; and that that Parliament should cease on 1 Nov. 1696, unless sooner dissolved.

There was a dissolution, and a new Parliament began on 22d of November, 1695, at Westminster. And by an Act in 1696, c. 25, for regulating elections, the qualification of voters is, freehold lands or hereditaments of the yearly value of 40s.

The period of Parliaments having thus crept on, continued 21 years upon the last statute, when in 1715, 1 Geo. I. it was further extended, ch. 38, to a term of seven years, and no longer, not only for that but for all future Parliaments, unless sooner dissolved. It is stated in the pream ble, that it had been found by experience that the Triennial Act had proved very grievous aud burdensome, by occasioning much greater and more continued expences in or der to elections, and more violent and lasting heats and animosities amongst the subjects of the realm, than were ever known before that clause was enacted; and that the provision, if it should continue, might probably at that juncture, when a restless and Popish faction were designing and endeavouring to renew

the rebellion within the kingdom, and an invasion from abroad, be destructive to the peace and security of the government.

This Bill originated with the Duke of Devonshire in the House of Lords, and was much opposed by the Earls of Nottingham, Abingdon, and Paulet, on the grounds that frequent Parlia ments were required by the fundamental constitution of the kingdom, ascertained in the practice of many ages; and that the Members of the Lower House were chosen by the body of the Nation for a certain term of years, at the expiration of which they could be no longer representatives of the people, who, by the Parliament's protracting its own autho rity, would be deprived of the only remedy which they had against those who, through ignorance or corrup tion, betrayed the trust reposed in them; and that a long Parliament would yield a greater temptation, as well as a better opportunity to a vicious Ministry, to corrupt the Members, than they could possibly have when the Parliaments were short and frequent. (2 Smoll 330.) The Bill passed in the Upper House by a majority of 35, there being 96 in the affirmative, and 61 in the negative; and 30 Lords entered a strong protest against it. In consequence of this proceeding, various Petitions were presented to the House of Commons from different parts of the kingdom, declaring that the people looked upon it as an attempt to overturn the Constitution: but it passed by 264 against 121. (Hist. Mag. Ch. XXXVIII.)

From these testimonies it appears that Annual Parliaments, and sometimes two Parliaments within the year, were the custom of the Realm; but that theLegislature afterwardsthought fit to extend their duration to three years; and the same high authority in later times further extended them to seven years. But it does not any where appear that Universal Suffrage was ever the right of the people, for a qualification, and that free burgesses, and a rent of 40s. gave this privilege to the few who held some tenure of that value, over those who held got any property to qualify them for more than labour. A. H.

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