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A Town Crier was appointed by a town or borough to make public announcements,
often using a bell and traditional colourful dress to attract the attention of the public.
The main source of information that I found for Town Criers in Dorset were trade
directories issued from 1790 to 1939. (follow link above)
Have you heard the term ‘Cryer of the Court’ ? Mike Russell from the Dorchester
OPC website said he had just found the term, it being new to him, and it was
completely new to me too, so I thought I would investigate more.
Prior to 1800, the Cryer of the Court was, I believe, appointed by the Clerk, and
some times later by the Justices, of the County Court, to make proclamations and
announcements on behalf of the Court, to summon juries, and to pay
disbursements due to prosecutors and witnesses that may be due at the end of
each trial.
Later on I have noted a couple of examples where one person fulfilled both roles.
The County Court would sit four times a year, rotating the venue each time, with the
records kept in the Quarter Sessions Order Books, and it was in them that I found
some records relating to Cryers in Dorset.
An examination of Quarter Session books from 1772 to 1796 failed to find any
mention of the job of Cryer of the Court. This is, I believe, because in that period,
and probably earlier too, the Cryer was appointed by the Clerk of the Peace to the
Court, so no appointment or payment details were included in Justice’s Court
minutes. This is also the suggestion of research staff at the Dorset History Centre.
So the first mention of Cryer to the Court that I found was in the Quarter Session
held at Blandford in January 1796, Page 482, noting that the Cryer was to be paid
One Guinea ( £1. 1s. ) a quarter. It recorded his duties to include “ paying
prosecutors and witnesses at the end of each trial such expenses as are due, with
such expenses to be repaid by the Court Treasurer.”
An affidavit held at the Dorset History Centre ( Ref. D-D/4689 ) dated 17th March
1813 notes that a James BRENSON Snr. aged 74, a cordwainer (shoemaker ) was
“ for near 30 years, former Bailiff of Hampreston Manor and Cryer of the Court.” He
was born at Hampreston to John and Hannah BRENSON in June 1739, was
apprenticed to John BUTTLER as a shoemaker in October 1756, and on 28th
November 1775 married Mary PURBECK at Christchurch Hampshire. He is listed in
Apprentice’s Indentures several times in the 1770’s and 1780’s taking on trainee
shoemakers. He died at Hampreston in June 1827 aged 88.
I could find no mention of him in Quarter Session books to show when he was
appointed or served as Cryer, so was that in Dorset ? If so, I suspect that was
because it was before 1796.
Matthew BAKER was born at Charminster in 1753 to Sydenham and Sarah
BAKER. On 19th February 1776 at Milborne St. Andrew Matthew (of Dorchester
St Peters ) married Elizabeth LUCAS, and then in 1791 he is listed as an
auctioneer in a trade directory living in South Street, Dorchester. I failed to find his
appointment as Cryer, I suspect it was also before 1796 - the first mention that I
found of Matthew as Cryer to the Court was in October 1797(1), where he was being
paid one guinea a quarter as Cryer. This was raised to six guineas a year ( £1. 11s.
6d. a quarter ) in July 1801(2), and later to eight guineas a year by Easter 1811(3).
Regular quarterly payments continued, and the last record I found for him as Cryer
was in April 1820(4). He died at Dorchester in November 1821 aged 68.
At the Quarter Session held at Dorchester in December 1821(5), the Clerk of the
Court was instructed to advertise for a new Cryer of the Court to replace the late
Matthew BAKER, and he was successful.
Matthew BAKER’s nephew Mark BAKER was appointed Cryer to the Court in the
next Quarter Sessions held at Blandford in January 1822(6) at a salary of eight
guineas a year. Mark was born at Piddletrenthide in 1791 son of Luke and Mary
BAKER. He was also an auctioneer like his Uncle, and married Susannah ALLEN
at St Peter’s church Dorchester on 17th November 1823. Jury lists have him living
in South Street, Dorchester, and it appears that he served as Cryer for forty years,
before he died in February 1862.
The Quarter Session held at Dorchester in April 1862(7) appointed James Robert
England CURTIS as Cryer “to replace the late Mark BAKER “. James was born at
Dorchester to Thomas and Susannah CURTIS in September 1811, and he married
Frances GREENING at All Saints church Dorchester on 24th March 1833. He is
recorded as a master tailor living in High West Street, Dorchester, and also acted
as Assistant Cryer in the 1850’s, and for the Dorchester Town Council as Sergeant
at Mace from 1874 to 1891 - he died there in March 1891.
James VINCENT was appointed Assistant Cryer of the Second Court at the Quarter
Sessions at Dorchester in June 1886(8) to replace James BARGE deceased ( see
below ). James was baptised at St George’s church, Fordington on 11th March
1846, son of Isaac VINCENT, a carpenter, and his wife Louisa CHALKER. James
though was a shoemaker, and married Emily CARTER at Christchurch West
Fordington on 13th August 1867. On 29th June 1886 he was also appointed
Dorchester’s Town Crier - a role he held until he died at Dorchester on 29th May
1910.
Although the clerk writing up the Session books from 1886 to 1910 listed regular
quarterly payments of £1 a day to the Crier of the Court, no individual’s names were
listed, so I assume James VINCENT also served later as Cryer until just before he
died in 1910.
In the Quarter Session held at Dorchester in January 1910, C.B. GRASSBY is
listed as Acting Cryer of the Court - no doubt to replace James VINCENT. Then in
January 1912 he is listed as Cryer, with regular ongoing payments of £1 a day.
Clinton Benjamin GRASSBY was son of Benjamin and Mary Ann GRASSBY, born
at Dorchester on 27th December 1872. On 8th January 1896 at Christchurch in West Fordington, he
married Mary Bradley Ethel HARVEY (1873 - 1954), and worked as part of the family of
GRASSBY Monumental masons. In the 1911 census he lists himself as steward of
the Dorchester Conservative Club, and in July 1915 was Acting Sergeant No.
11317 in the Dorset Regiment. In the 1939 pre war census he is again listed as a
monumental mason, and he died at Dorchester on 27th October 1949.
It seems Clinton’s role of Cryer ended before 1915 as, in January 1915, C.S.
Merchant is paid £1 a day as Acting Cryer, with that role continuing until April 1920,
when he is finally listed as Cryer but, again, no appointment is recorded.
Charles Samuel MERCHANT was born at Pontypool, Monmouthshire in 1866. He
was son of Samuel, ( 1823 - 1873 ) a farm labourer, and his wife Ann NEWTON. It
appears he joined the Army at a young age as he is missing from the census of
1881 and 1891 - in 1901 he was listed as an Army Sergeant living at the
Dorchester Depot barracks with his wife and 3 year old son Herbert. He was
discharged from the Dorset Regiment No. 1823 on 19th November 1904.
On 16th February 1897 at Bradford Peverall he had married Agnes Emma DAVIS
and, in the 1911 census, lists himself as caretaker at the Shire Hall, Dorchester,
whilst Agnes is Housekeeper for the Judge’s lodgings. In 1921 they were living in
Albert Road, and regular quarterly payments continued to be paid to him, the last
being noted in October 1926. Charles died at Dorchester in October 1927.
J. DAVIDGE was first mentioned being paid as Cryer to the Second Court in
January 1922, when he was also noted as Assistant Bailiff, continuing regularly
through to January 1927, when again, he was acting also as Bailiff.
J. DAVIDGE was John Dimmer DAVIDGE born on 28th February 1870 to George, a
farm labourer, and his wife Harriet DIMMER at Ashmore, North Dorset. On 28th
July 1890 at Ashmore he married Charity Annie Gibson nee Pike, he was aged 20
she a widow aged 23. In 1901 and 1911 he was listed as a wine merchant’s carman
in Bournemouth, but in 1939 was a caretaker in Dorchester where he died at 58
High West Street in May 1947.
In the Quarter Session book of July 1928, J.T. PITMAN was noted as Cryer with
J.DAVIDGE, a pairing which continues quarterly until October 1939, when J.
DAVIDGE was listed alone as Cryer.
Joseph Thomas PITMAN was born at Bridgwater, Somerset on 23rd January 1900
son of Joseph, a labourer, and his wife Louisa. In July 1922 he married Annie
Agnes QUINION ( 1899 - 1980 ) at Dorchester. Joseph appears as Cryer with J.
DAVIDGE, being still paid £1 a day through until October 1939. After that, Joseph
PITMAN only appears as Cryer with J.DAVIDGE in April 1940, then jointly again in
October 1940 through to January 1942, being the last appearance of Joseph
PITMAN. Joseph died in Weymouth on 16th February 1983.
J. DAVIDGE then appears as Cryer alone paid £1 a day until his last entry on April
1946, having served for 24 years, when E.A. LEGG was listed alone as Cryer. The
latter only appears for just over one year, his last entry being in July 1947. Who was
E.A. LEGG ? Was he Ernest A. LEGG who married Penny J. Goodge in Dorchester
in 1946 ? Even so, Ernest A. LEGG was quite common, so I cannot say for sure.
In October 1947, F. J. PARKES was listed as Cryer, still being paid £1 a day and he
continued as Cryer until April 1951, the last record available. Frederick J. PARKES
was born in Weymouth on 29th October 1915, son of William J. PARKES ( a prison
officer in Dorchester in 1939 ) and his wife Amelia HANSFORD. Early in 1940,
Frederick married Ada. M. MILLER at Dorchester, and he died there in April 1997.
In examining the Quarter Sessions books from 1822 onwards, there was frequent
mention of payments to an Assistant Cryer or Cryer to the Second Court for
appearing for one to four days. The first mention was to William Kendall in the
Quarter Sessions of January 1822 on Page 136. The Second Court seems to have
been established when needed to deal solely with the sentencing and affairs of
prisoners. Entries only sometimes mention a Cryer’s name, and payments to the
Assistant Cryer range from a low of five shillings in 1822 up to the usual rate of one
pound a day even as late as January 1942 when reference of payments to a
second Cryer ceases.
With the exception of William Gray BRYER ( below ) I found no record of
appointments of Assistant Cryers being recorded in the Session Books, so assume
they were also appointed by the Clerk to the Court.
Names that are mentioned in Session Books as Assistant or Second Cryer of the
Court that I found were -
William KENDALL - paid from five to twenty shillings for attendance as Cryer at an
additional Court from Jan. 1822 to Jan. 1824. KENDALL was a common name so I
could not pin him down with certainty to find more detail about him.
Thomas MEADER was paid five shillings in July 1823 and April 1824 as Assistant
Cryer to the Court, but I cannot pin him down - there was no likely death registered
at Dorchester around that time that might be him.
John FOOT received regular payments as Cryer to Second Court for 1 - 4 days of
£1 per day from Oct. 1825 to July 1851. I think John born 1789 was son of John
FOOT ( 1762 - 1831 ) and his wife Elizabeth BAKER. On 16th August 1818 he
married Sarah GILL at All Saints church, Dorchester, and was listed in the 1841
and 1851 census as an Auctioneer in Fordington. He died living at Blandford Road,
Fordington on 14th September 1851 aged 63.
Thomas Foot appears just twice in Quarter Session records in July 1850 paid £2
and March 1851 paid £1, but there was no Thomas FOOT in Dorchester in the
1851 census. It was a very common name - am unsure whom he might be.
James Robert England CURTIS - took over from the late John FOOT so regular
payments paid to him of £2 or £3 from October 1851 through to when appointed
Cryer in April 1862 - see above.
William Gray BRYER - was appointed Assistant Cryer at the Quarter Sessions in
April 1862, which was the only mention of him that I found. He was born in
Dorchester in 1819 to William ( a schoolmaster ) and Ann BRYER, and he married
Jane DOREY at All Saints church, Dorchester on 18th May 1841. He was a clock
and watch maker in 1841, an auctioneer at Back South Street in the Post Office
Trade Directory in 1859, and Sheriff’s Officer ( 1851 and 1861 ) and High Bailiff of
the County Court in the census from 1851 to 1871. He died at Dorchester on 1st
April 1875.
John LOVELACE was appointed Assistant Cryer of the Second Court at the
Quarter Sessions at Dorchester in June 1875, on the recommendation of the
Finance Committee. John was born at Charminster in 1813, where his father was a
carpenter. He was also a joiner / carpenter, and in 1835 married Amelia PAUL in
Dorchester. In addition to his appointment as Assistant Cryer, he was also noted in
Kelly’s trade directories as the Town Crier for Dorchester from 1875 to 1885, when
he died at Dorchester.
James BARGE was appointed Assistant Cryer of the Second Court at the Quarter
Sessions at Dorchester in October 1885 to replace John LOVELACE deceased. It
was noted that James had been “ an officer at the County Prison for 30 years. “ In
fact he had worked there as a Cook and Baker, and in the Quarter Sessions at
Dorchester in January 1880, a letter from the Home Office confirmed a pension for
him of £57. 16s 8d per annum, after some earlier errors were corrected.
He had been baptised at Holy Trinity Dorchester on 12th October 1823 son of
William BARGE, a tailor, and his wife Mary, and had married Ruth GOULD, who
was a servant and under age, at St George’s church Fordington on 9th September
1844. In the 1881 census James was listed as a Prison Pensioner, and he died at
Dorchester in April 1886.
James VINCENT - appointed Cryer of the Second Court in June 1886, and later
assumed to be the Cryer - see above.
In October 1911 it was noted that a member of the staff of the Clerk of the Peace
acted as Cryer of the Second Court.
E.W. RIGGS was first mentioned as Cryer to the Second Court at the Quarter
Sessions of October 1913. He only appears recorded again in that role from July
1921 when living at 17 Colliton Street to October 1922. RIGGS is a very common
name locally, but I think he was Edward William RIGGS born at Fordington son of
William Toogood and Dorcas Riggs ( widow of Thomas Riggs nee Brine ) on 6th
June 1876. In 1901 he was a printer’s compositor living with his mother before, on
17th April 1902 at All Saints church, Dorchester, he married Alice Maud Mary
SHAVE, whilst in 1911 he was listed as caretaker of the County Offices, Dorchester.
He still had that job in 1939, when he was also a special constable, and he died in
the town on 15th May 1954.
J. DAVIDGE - appointed Cryer of the Second Court January 1922 - see above for
full history.
The Session Books were discontinued in 1951 by order of the Clerk to the Court,
thus ending my source of research information.
Richard Smith - orchidgrower@btinternet.com
17. 8. 2024
Genealogical Notes:-
(1) Quarter Session Order Books 1783-1797 (QSM 1/11) - Image 519 of 533 Ancestry.com heading - Cryer of the Court Salary - Matthew.BAKER 1st entry 4 guineas pa.
(2) QSO Books 1798-1806 (QSM 1/12) - Image 193 of 386 Ancestry.com heading - Cryer of the Court Sal: - Mat.Baker 6 guineas pa
(3) QSO Books 1806-1812 (QSM 1/13) - Image 263 of 333 Ancestry.com heading - Cryer of the Court - Mat Baker 8 guineas pa
(4) QSO Books 1819-1827 (QSM 1/15) - Image 47 of 379 Ancestry.com heading - Cryer of the Court - Mat Baker last entry 8 guineas
(5) QSO Books 1819-1827 (QSM 1/15) - Image 129 of 379 Ancestry.com heading - Cryer of the Court to be advertised in room for Matthew Baker
(6) QSO Books 1819-1827 (QSM 1/15) - Image 137 of 379 Ancestry.com heading - Appointment of Mark BAKER as Cryer of the Court vice Matthew Baker Deceased. 8 guineas pa
(7) QSO Books 1858-1865 (QSM 1/20) - Image 179 of 331 Ancestry.com heading - Mr. Jas R.E. Curtis appointed Crier of the Court
(8) QSO Books 1886-1905 (QSM 1/24) - Image 81 of 395 Ancestry.com no heading left page appt James Vincent as Crier 2nd Court owing to death J Barge {Note: James Barge was a retired prison warder but also cook and baker for the prison - buried at the Civic Cemetery Dorchester 14th June 1886 aged 61]
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