Government in Tudor Shrewsbury

Who controlled Tudor Shrewsbury?

There were several layers of Government. At the top were the two bailiffs, who were a bit like the Mayor today. They were mostly rich merchants because they had to be worth £100 a year to become one. People had to take off their caps whenever they met them.

Below them were twelve aldermen and twenty four assistants who were like town councillors today. They were chosen by each other and liked to choose their own friends and relatives! They met in the Chamber of Concord which lay to the right of the Booth Hall in the Square.

Burgesses, who could become aldermen and bailiffs, were ‘freemen’. To become a burgess you had to be the son of a burgess or be able to pay a lot of money. One of the perks of being a burgess was that your son was allowed to go to Shrewsbury School more cheaply.

Lots of people were part of Shrewsbury’s government, which helped to keep it reasonably fair. Poor people like servants and beggars took no part and had no say.

Law & Order

The most common crimes in Tudor Shrewsbury were burglary, pick-pocketing and theft. Most detective work was done by the victim and neighbours not by the town officers. There were three constables for each of the three wards that the town was divided into. They made arrests and collected fines. A victim of crime could take someone to court, or straight to the bailiffs if it was urgent. They would decide whether it needed looking into further by the town magistrates. The magistrates could lock people up ready for the next criminal court.

Serious crimes were tried twice a year by two visiting judges at the "county assizes". Less serious ones were tried in the ‘borough sessions’. The Council in the Marches, which had a base at the Council House near the Castle, made sure that the bailiffs carried out their duties properly.

Prisons were only used to hold people ready for a trial or for people who owed money, not as a punishment. Each of the three town wards had its own prison, e.g. the Stone Ward’s prison was in the Stone Gate on the English Bridge. Prisoners had to be fed by family or charity. Lesser punishments include whipping, ducking, cutting bits off the body or being put in the stocks – there was a set of these in The Square.

More serious was hanging and burning although the last was very rare. Criminals were put to death in public and great crowds would gather at Old Heath or Kingsland to watch.

Public Health

Many dangerous diseases could be caught in Tudor Shrewsbury, of which the most dangerous was the Plague, which struck in 1526, 1536, 1576, 1604, 1631 and 1650. The worst outbreak was in 1604 when 10 per cent of the population died. Not understanding the reason for the Plague the Council ordered that all pigs, dogs and cats be killed, which just made things worse because they would have killed the rats that actually carried the disease.

Another dangerous disease was ‘sweating sickness’, where people felt giddy and often wanted just to sleep before dying. The 1551 outbreak, which affected the whole country, was said to have started in Shrewsbury, but there is no evidence of this. Even worse was the 1587 outbreak of typhus.

It was thought that smelly living conditions caused disease and so attempts were made to keep streets clean and to provide clean water. From 1555, when new conduits were built, Shrewsbury people no longer had to rely solely on the river and wells for drinking water. In 1579 Richard Gardener built a conduit head at Nobold, just outside the town, to channel spring water along wooden pipes into the town.

However, sewage still ran down gutters in the middle of Shrewsbury’s streets and flowed into the River Severn at Mudholes near Mardol Quay.

Diet was limited as to what was in season and could be grown in their gardens. Meat and bread were the main foods and fish was eaten every Friday for religious reasons.

Shrewsbury School took the precaution of building a house for its’ pupils at Grinshill in 1617 as a country retreat in times of Plague.