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History of the AssizesIn the 12th century, King Henry II introducedthe court circuit system, where Judges of theKing’s Court and the King’s Bench travelledthroughout the country holding courts calledAssizes.

The name Assizes is derived from the Latin word‘assideo’, meaning to sit together.

The court, which consisted of 12 male Judges, mettwice a year in each county in Lent and Summer.

By the 19th century, a third winter circuit wasintroduced to cope with the number of cases.

In those days, Judges did not hear evidence. Instead,their verdict consisted of a statement of facts basedon their own knowledge.

Each sitting tended to last about four or five days, butcould last as long as three weeks.

The Assizes dealt with the more serious criminaloffences (as well as some civil actions) that were notnormally handled by the local court of QuarterSessions.

Quarter SessionsQuarter Sessions dated back to 1363 when Keepersof the Peace were called Justices and empowered tomeet four times a year:

n Epiphany (early January)

n Easter / Lent

n Midsummer

n Michaelmas

Quarter Sessions dealt with both criminal andadministrative matters, although many of theadministrative functions ceased in 1868 when countycouncils were introduced.

Some of the more minor cases and routine businesswas later taken over by Petty Sessions, which wereregional divisional meetings organised by magistratesto alleviate the burden on Quarter Sessions.

From 1848, Petty Sessions sent details of fines,depositions and case papers to Clerks of the Peace at

the County Quarter Sessions. Under the JuvenileOffenders Act of 1847, juvenile convictions were alsomade in Quarter Sessions.

In the 12th century and for centuries afterwards,travellers were not safe from attack, robbery or evenmurder on the highways. A Judge would not journeyon these routes unless special measures were takenfor their protection.

Armed escorts were charged with protecting theKing’s Judges whilst they were in a county. The Sheriffwas the district’s representative of the King, so thisresponsibility fell to them, as well as maintaining theKing’s authority by managing the military forces. It wasthe Sheriff who provided the county’s quota of menfor the King’s army.

Until the advent of the railways, the Judges had totravel by road. The Sheriff would meet the Judge atthe boundary of the county and take over the escortduties from their neighbouring Sheriff. This affordedJudges continuous protection.

By the end of the 16th century, most of the Sheriff’sformer powers had been delegated and the positionno longer bore any military responsibilities.

Assize Duty

King Henry II, who ruled from 1154-1189

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However, the Sheriff remained responsible for theprotection of Judges, which became more difficult tostaff with no military command.

Instead, Sheriffs began providing guards from theirown team or hiring men especially for the role. Inboth cases, Sheriffs had to foot the expense for boardand lodgings as well as livery, uniforms and arms.

As a result, the office of High Sheriff became aposition sought after by the wealthy.

By the beginning of the 19th century, escorts hadbecome a tradition rather than a necessity. The heavyarmour and arms of the soldier had given way to thesolitary pike-like weapon called a ‘javelin’, whobecame known as the ‘javelin-men’.

The Need for ReformBy the 1840s, criticism was surfacing innewspapers about the costs of javelin-men andtheir comparative uselessness, particularly withkeeping order in the Courts.

There is no doubt that the cost was unnecessarilyhigh. This was partially due to the need forexperienced men. Although the Sheriff changed eachyear, these guards didn’t, and they knew how to makethe most of their free lodgings, ale and food.

The duration of Assizes was so unpredictable, whichcaused further embarrassment to Sheriffs.

This is evident in a newspaper item dated March1848, which reported:

However, the main reason for the desire to dispensejavelin-men was undoubtedly their lack of disciplineand inefficiency in comparison with members of thenewly introduced police force.

The Glamorgan Constabulary The tall, smart policemen in their blue and whiteuniforms of blue completely outshone the oftennon-descript javelin-men.

The police officers stood aloof and didn’t assist thecourt ushers and officials with maintaining order, oftenvainly, in court. The police saw no reason to help thepaid workers, and were probably very amused by theunskilled efforts of the part-time officials.

In 1845, the matter was discussed at QuarterSessions.

Mr Lewis of Bridgend had an official application tomake to the magistrates, namely, that police officersshould be instructed to assist the Sheriff’s officers topreserve peace in court.

At that time, police often looked on listlessly whilstjavelin-men struggled to end disturbances inside oroutside the court. The town’s police and countypolice all declined to interfere or offer any assistanceto the Sheriff’s officers.

Javelin-men were unaccustomed to duty, so assistancefrom police officers in court would have beenvaluable, particularly as the employment of moreJavelin-men would incur more expense for the Sheriff.

Mr Lewis said that during the Spring Assizes, hewitnessed a great uproar outside the court, but ratherthan help deal with the disorder, police quietly lookedon. It was suggested that the Magistrates form aSheriff’s Club and have a standing corps of Javelin-men.

The Deputy Chairman said that whatever the positionmight be at Assizes, police men should understandthat part of their duty is to help keep order atQuarter Sessions.

Captain Napier’s PositionIt is clear that Chief Constable Captain Napierhad no desire for his men to assist at QuarterSessions or Assizes, and with a small force of 34 men covering the whole county, he couldn’tafford them to.

As far as he was concerned, his men only attendedthese courts as witnesses. Half his men were regularlyin court on the same day so the Chief Constable’sonly aim was to get them back on patrol as quickly aspossible.

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Javelin-men pictured in the early 19th Century

"At the last Assizes the Court sat for 10and a half hours, busy all the time, onceor twice from 8am to 11pm. The HighSheriff had to maintain his expensiveretinue for 13 days."

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This was difficult to achieve. After their cases hadconcluded, some officers tried to extend the timethey could claim for allowances. It was understandablethat officers should try to take advantage of the fewhours off duty they could claim, as they had no restdays or annual leave entitlement.

Officers were instructed to parade half an hour beforecourt commenced for the Superintendent’sinspection, then the Superintendent was responsiblefor trying to get the cases from distant parts of thecounty listed earlier. This meant that where possible,officers could return to their areas on the same day.

Later, two General Order were sent to theSuperintendent to follow through.

The first insisted that aSergeant wasoccasionally posted topatrol the localpublic houses, tocheck whether anyconstable wasdrinking during orimmediately afterthe court sessions.

The second was topost an officer tothe courtentrance, sothey couldrecord thetimespoliceofficersleft, andtheirconditions.

The purposewas to keeppolice witnessessober and

encourage them to go back to their patrol areasstraight away.

After Mr Lewis complained in 1845, it seems CaptainNapier instructed constables who were attendingcourt as witnesses to help keep order, although thereis no direct evidence of this.

However, Captain Napier made no attempt to offerthe support of his men at the Assizes.

This may be because he felt the Cardiff and Swanseapolice should help at the Assizes, considering they

were based in their areas. Or, perhaps he felt thejavelin-men should earn their pay.

When the South Wales railway started operating in1850 however, Captain Napier did make provisionsfor county constables to escort Judges along theshorter routes to and from stations.

The following passage from a newspaper articledescribes the ceremony that opened the Assizes atCardiff in 1859:

Whatever the government might have felt aboutpolice adopting javelin-men duties, no statutory actionwas taken before 1857, when police forces wereintroduced in all counties.

In 1859, an Act of Parliament permitted QuarterSessions to use police to keep order at Assizes, soCaptain Napier was under more pressure to oblige.

The matter was raised at Quarter Sessions for the countyin January 1860. The following letter from Captain Napierto the Clerk of the Peace clarified his position:

"At a quarter past eight a procession was formed,headed by a posse of police which proceeded toRoath Court, the seat of the High Sheriff, whoreceived his friends in the most cordial manner andthen expressed his thanks for the marked expressionof their respect. The procession left the court andproceeded through the town to meet the 12.59express from Carmarthen in the following order:Town police under the charge of Inspector GiffardCounty Constabulary under the charge ofSuperintendent Thomas (Pontypridd)Superintendent Stockdale on horsebackTwo trumpeters on horsebackJavelin-men on horseback180 gentlemen on horsebackThe High Sheriff in his State CarriageAldermen and members of the Cardiff TownCouncil in carriages and with maces and otherinstruments of officeCarriages containing County magistratesAbout 50 carriages containing principal tradesmenof the townOn the arrival of the express train the Mayorreceived Mr Baron Channel, and conducted him tohis carriage, when the procession again formed andwended its way to the Town Hall, where the RoyalCommission was opened."

Chief Constable Captain Napier

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"I have delayed replying to your letter regarding myopinion on the expediency of abolishing the attendanceof javelin-men at the Assizes, and putting the duty onthe County Constabulary. The number of constablesthat it would entail would put a considerable expense onthe county. The number of constables bound over toappear at Assizes varies very much and while attendinghave quite enough to occupy them in looking after theirwitnesses and waiting to appear before the Grand Jury,without the additional duty of keeping the Court.

“I was examining the Court yesterday and we were of theopinion that it would require twelve men and a sergeantto keep the Court and have reliefs. As we have no reserveforce in the county the constables would have to bebrought from their stations, which would be left withoutprotection for some length of time, as they would have toremain during the trials of civil as well as criminalcauses. The cost of conveyance to and fro and the usualallowances for these men whilst absent from theirstations would entail a heavy expense. If an increase inthe force were made to meet this demand it would entaila permanent expense of four or five hundred pounds."

Pressure on the Police IntensifiesWhen the matter was raised before Sessions,the Chairman said that Captain Napier’sobjection lost weight considering the HighSheriff would still bear the expenses.

He could not understand why the police could notkeep order at the Assizes when they already helpedto keep order at Quarter Sessions. He argued that thejavelin-men added to the show, but were largelyineffective. This was illustrated by the higher level ofdisorder at Assizes in comparison to Quarter Sessions.

It was suggested that one or two police officers mightbe enough, but the Chief Constable said there wouldhave to be an officer at every door.

Mr Bruce thought it was a pity that the Act did notchange the practice for Sheriffs having to bearexpenses, believing it was very unfair to saddle oneindividual with all the costs. However, he supportedthe motion because six police officers were sufficientto do the job and that new staffing arrangementwould already reduce costs.

If the motion had not supported the Sheriff bearing allcosts, then it would have undoubtedly been defeated.Most of the magistrates sought confirmation on thispoint before voting.

The decision for police to adopt Assize duty with thecosts borne by the High Sheriff was taken by amajority of fifteen to seven. "Thus," said thenewspaper, "the javelin-men of the county have beendone away with."

The OutcomeTo say the javelin-men were done away withwasn’t entirely true, as in reality, police officersbecame javelin-men. The police escort and court duty men were furnishedwith livery by the High Sheriff and carried the pikes or‘javelins’ of their civilian predecessors. It isn’t clearwhen the police started to do the duties in their ownuniforms, but it was probably in the late 1870s. The Assize Courts were abolished in 1971 when theywere replaced by Crown Courts.The South Wales Police Museum has a silver trumpetand banner on display, recording the Shrievelty ofThomas Edward Morel, the High Sheriff of Glamorganfrom 1933-1934.

The Glamorgan Constabulary on Assize Duty, c1950

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