WEXFORD TOWN CHARTER

The first charter to Wexford on record is that of Adomar de Valence in 1318, already noticed, which was confirmed and extended by that of the 12th of Henry IV., in 1411, and again confirmed by Elizabeth in 1558. The act of the 28th of Henry VIII. for vesting the estates of absentees in the crown, under which that of Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was confiscated, was followed by another specially confirming the liberties and privileges of the corporation of Wexford. A third charter was granted by James I., in 1608, which is the latest now in force; that subsequently granted by James II., in 1688, having been annulled after the revolution.

The corporation is one of those subjected to the new rules of the 25th of Charles II. By the charter of James I. the ground within the ancient limits of the town and its suburbs was made a free borough corporate, by the name of "the Town or Free Borough of Wexford," to consist of a mayor, two bailiffs, free burgesses and commonalty, and the body so incorporated was called "the Mayor, Bailiffs, Free Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Town or Borough of Wexford;" the mayor to be a justice of the peace within the borough and county, also to be escheator, coroner, clerk of the market and master of the say; and a court to be held every second Monday before the mayor and bailiffs, with civil jurisdiction to any amount. It also grants a guild of the merchants of the staple, of which the retiring mayor and bailiffs are to be mayor and constables for the ensuing year.

At present the mayor appoints a deputy; there are 23 other burgesses; no recorder has been appointed for many years and the mayor's court has fallen into disuse; but that functionary still exercises occasionally a right to attach the property of persons about to go beyond the limits of his jurisdiction. The corporation still possesses large portions of its original lands; but as many of them are let on long leases or in perpetuity, at very low rates, the income from this source does not exceed £270 per ann.; tolls were levied to the average amount of £900 per ann., but the demand for them has been discontinued for some years, in consequence of the right being disputed.

A court of conscience is held by the mayor every week for debts under 40s. Irish; imprisonment for two months by this court cancels a debt under 20s. and for four months one under 40s. The mayor regulates the assize of bread. The assizes for the county are held in the town, and also the Epiphany and Midsummer general sessions for this district of the county, at which the mayor takes precedence of all the other county magistrates on the plea of his commission bearing date from the granting of the governing charter: petty sessions are held weekly and special road sessions twice in the year.

Two minor corporations have been formed under an act of the 34th of George III.; these are the Quay Corporation and the Bridge Corporation. The Quay Corporation, composed of the mayor, bailiffs, burgesses, town-clerk, port collector, and the members for the county and town, with 36 others elected by a majority of the persons attending (seven to be a quorum), is a corporation with power to levy rates on the vessels entering the port, to be applied towards making, maintaining, and improving the harbour, quays, and passages to them; it has also the regulation of the pilotage and of the supply of pipe water, and is invested with certain powers towards the cleansing and economy of the town. Under this authority the avenues to the quay are kept in repair by this body, and a pilot establishment has been formed, consisting of two smacks with a sail boat and row boat attached to each; the pilot station is near Rosslare fort.

The receipts of the corporation, in 1834, were £2686; the expenditure £2677. The borough corporation repaired the streets up to the period of the interruption of the collection of tolls, since which the streets have been neither cleaned nor repaired; all the thoroughfares up to the town are kept in order by the county grand jury. The Bridge Corporation consists of the subscribers to the fund for building the bridge across the Slaney at Wexford, who are empowered to levy tolls thereon for defraying the expenses of its erection and repairs, and to divide the surplus revenue among the subscribers rateably. The courthouse, situated on the quay, opposite to the end of the bridge, is a neat structure, erected at the expense of the county, and consists of a centre and two wings, with its entrance under a pediment supported by two columns.

The county gaol and house of correction stands at the entrance of the town from New Ross, enclosed by a wall from 16 to 20 feet high, with an entrance between two turnkeys' lodges. It consists of a centre and two wings: the interior contains 58 sleeping-cells, 12 day-rooms, and 16 airing-yards, with a detached hospital: the male prisoners are employed at breaking stones or at the treadmill; the females in washing, spinning and knitting. The borough returned two members to the Irish parliament by a prescriptive right exercised without interruption from 1374 till the Union, at which period the number of its representatives was reduced to one, whom it continues to return under the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 88: the mayor is the returning officer.

The present number of electors is about 330: the limits of the electoral boundary are fully detailed in the Appendix. The environs contain a number of handsome houses and neat villas, the residences of the gentry connected with the town. Within the last few years new roads have been opened between Wexford, Duncannon Fort, New Ross, and Enniscorthy, the last-named of which is now the mail coach road: a new approach to the town from the Carrigg bridge road is contemplated, as is the formation of a short canal of four miles to the bathing village of Curracloe.

County Wexford | Wexford Town | Wexford Town Topography | Wexford Town Manufacturing | Wexford Port | Wexford Charter | Wexford Union | Wexford Schools | Wexford Town Antiquities

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