PETTY SESSIONS CLERK - What was this?

[jaylay]

Hi all 

Can anyone clarify for me what a 'Petty Sessions Clerk' would have been?  I have a Richard Huggard who was a solicitor in Tralee, in Kerry, Ireland, and have come across what just might be the same Richard, listed as a Petty Sessions Clerk.  Did one have to be a solicitor to be a Petty Sessions Clerk, or are they completely separate occupations?

Any advice or info would be great!

Jaylay

[pharmakon]

The clerk of the court keeps the show on the road! Legal training was needed - he wasn't a clerical assistant. With lay magistrates, he'd play a significant role in providing legal advice.

[behindthefrogs]

Petty Sessions were the lowest level of British Courts introduced  in their final form at the beginning of the 19th century to take the load off the Quarter Sessions.  They were run by a chairman and two other Justices of the Peace (magistrates) without a jury and dealt with minor items like licensing of beerhouses.  Their functions were eventually divided beween the county councils and the magistrates courts.

A clerk to the court would be responsible for organising the court, advising th JPs and collecting the fines, licence fees etc.  They would thus not need to be legally qualified to the level of a solicitor but would need a thorough understanding of the workings of the Petty Sessions and so would have a background of working in a legal environment.

David

[jaylay]

Thank you both - I think now that this Richard Huggard must be a different person, because the one in my family was definitely a solicitor (have his admission papers from the Kings Inns in Dublin)

Thanks again for your quick replies!
Jaylay

[behindthefrogs]

Did your family member complete his training and manage to practise as a solicitor?  If he didn't quite make it he would have been an ideal candidate for the clerk's job.  He could even have done it before getting a place in a practice.

David

[jaylay]

Great minds think alike David!  I was just thinking that... and then went back over his obituary, which states that he was admitted a solicitor in 1827 (five years after he was admitted to Kings Inns, in 1822).  The Richard Huggard who is the Petty Sessions Clerk, is listed as such on his daughter's marriage certificate in 1851.  I have so many legal people in my family, I'm going around in circles trying to separate them all (not having any legal knowledge myself!).

Jaylay

[stanmapstone]

A Bill to Regulate the Office of Clerk of the Petty Sessions in Ireland 1859
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0365/
Stan

[pharmakon]

Court clerks have to be qualified lawyers.

http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/profiles/profile853/

When did it change?

[behindthefrogs]

It appears that clerks to the Petty Sessions had to have a legal qualification from 1828 although it seems that they did not have to be fully qualified lawyers.

The Petty Sessions had in fact existed in some form from about 1600.

David