RootsChat.Com
Some Special Interests => Occupation Interests => Topic started by: Arvanitakis on Friday 01 December 17 19:26 GMT (UK)
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Dear all,
I have found a reference potentially to an ancestor of mine in a will (a semi-rare name in Wales at the time) but it refers to him as a 'clerk' so I am unsure if it is the same man. I know he was definitely not a clergyman/'clerk in holy orders' and have only seen 'Clerk' used in this period as meaning that.
I have a copy of a letter which he wrote in his capacity of high constable for the hundred but not sure if this qualifies him as a 'clerk'. He is described elsewhere as 'gentleman'.
Would be interested to hear what people think....
Thank you in advance,
A.
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According to the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, besides cleric (or lay reader) it also meant a scholar or man of book learning. In mediaeval times the two would have been almost synonymous, and such a person transacted all matters involving writing -- hence the later meaning of an officer in charge of records and correspondence, who conducts the business of a court or corporation, or perhaps of a society or some other body.
Since then the term has rather come down in the world.
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If he was a "High Constable of the Hundred" then he could have been a "Clerk of the Peace". A Clerk of the Peace kept records of the Quarter Sessions and framed presentments and indictments. A High Constable of the Hundred was responsible for law and order.
Stan