estates of which they had taken possession were recovered by the Welsh, either by composition with the kings of England, or by the power of arms. In the Marches bordering upon England the frequent disputes between the Welsh and English occasioned implacable hostilities, and produced lamentable effects, until the abolition of the regal jurisdiction in the Lords Marchers. Henry VII. who had been peculiarly attached to the prosperity of Wales, as well on account of his birth and education in the county of Pembroke, as of his near descent from that county, applied himself to effect, what he did effect in part, and what his son Henry VIII. completed, the junction of these lordships with the property of the crown, and the happy incorporation of Wales with England.

The court of the President and Council of the Marches was erected by King Edward IV. in honour of the Earls of March, from whom he was descended, as the court of the Duchy of Lancaster had been before by King Henry IV. in honour of the house of Lancaster.g

e Warrington's Hist. of Wales, 3d ed. vol. i. p. 378. f Owen's Brit. Rem. p. 20.

g Mr. Dovaston's MS.

The court acted by commission and instruc tions from the king, from the time of its institution till the making of the statute in the twentyseventh year of Henry VIII. by which "the do"mynion, countrey, and pryncipalitie of Wales, " and divers Marches, were divided into xii shires, " whereof viii were antient counties, and iiii new "made counties. And the statutes, an. 31, 33, 34, " and 35 Hen. VIII. are recitals and declarations "of that statute, viz. That there shall be and re<< mayn a Lord President and Counsaill, &c. with "all officers and incidents, &c. in manner and "forme as it had been before that tyme used and "accustomed.i" There had been also the seal of the Marches, which was laid aside by statute 4th Hen. VII. whereby it was enacted, that all grants and writings pertaining to the Earldom of March should be under the broad seal, and not under a special seal; for this had been a privilege annexed to the estate and possessions of the Mortimers,

1 See Cambria Triumphans, fol. 1661, p. 347.

i Sidney State Papers, vol. i. p. 1. Sir Henry Sidney's Collections" touching the Antiquitie, Aucthoritie, and Ju"risdiccion of the Lord President and Councell of the "Marches of Wales."

Earls of March, from whom Edward IV. was descended, and was then abrogated. Beside the officers of the court, there is extant a list of the knights and esquires appointed by Henry VII. in the Marches of Wales "to gyff attendance with "soche nombre of hable persons defensibly, as

66

they may make to assist the King's Commission

ers at Lodelow, from tyme to tyme, and to have "such fees as hereafter ensueth." For the county of Salop, Sir Robert Corbet, Sir Tho. Leighton, Sir Tho. Cornwall, Sir Tho. Blount: the fee of each was 67. 13s. 4d. Tho. Skreven, Tho. Kynaston, Tho. Mylton, Wm. Leighton, Geo. Mainwaring: the fee of these was 100s.l

Amongst other instructions in the 44th year of Queen Elizabeth to Edward Lord Zouch, Lord President, is the following. "And further her "Majesties pleasure is, that there shall be one "learned minister allowed, being a graduate in

divinity, or a master of arts, and not haveing

any benefice with cure of souls, to preach and "read the common prayer for the Lord President "and the whole household, and shall be always "resident with the said Council, and shall have

"the yearly fee of 50%. with diet for himself and 66 one servant, and not to be absent to serve any 66 cure or function."

The Lord President had an allowance to live in great state and grandeur, and had a numerous household to attend him. The other officers of the court had fees and salaries suitable to their several ranks."

This court" was dissolved by act of parliament in the first year of William and Mary, at the humble suit of all the gentlemen and inhabitants

m Mr. Dovaston's MS. And see Sidney State Papers, vol. i. p. 5, 6, where "the Fees annually allowed to the "Cownsell and Commissioners, and the Officers Waiges," An. 3 Edw. VI. are set forth.

n The Court consisted of the Lord President, Vice-President, and Council, who were composed of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Treasurer, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, Lord Treasurer of the King's Household, Chancellor of the Exchequer, principal Secretary of State, the Chief Justices of `England, and of the Common Pleas, the Chief Baron of the Exchequer, the Justices of Assize for the counties of Salop, Glocester, Hereford, and Monmouth, the Justices of the Grand Session in Wales, the Chief Justice of Chester, Attorney and Solicitor General, with many of the neighbouring Nobility; and with various subordinate officers. See Mr. Hodges's Hist. Account of the Castle, p. 67, 68.

of the principality of Wales; by whom it was represented as an intolerable grievance. The first Lord President was the Lord Rivers,° 13 Edw. IV. and the last was the Earl of Macclesfield.

Mr. Dovaston's MS. See also noted in p. 5, in which the Bishop of Worcester is called Lord President. Lord Rivers perhaps might have vacated the Presidentship in the 17th year of Edward IV. The following list of Lords Presidents contains all whom I have hitherto found appointed to that office.