Underground Parliamentary Protections vs. Royal Judicial Writs
Evaluating the 1628 anonymous treatise Priviledges and Practice of Parliaments, its two template writs (pages 20–23), the 1640 Edward Bradshaw counterfeiting scandal, and the contrast with the 1738 George Cooke Yorkshire Sheriff writ.
Priviledges and Practice of Parliaments (1628)
Published anonymously on the eve of the Petition of Right. Attributed variously to Henry Elsynge, antiquarian Ralph Starkey, or the John Selden / Dudley Digges constitutional circle.
Edward Bradshaw's Forgery Ring (April 1640)
The House of Lords uncovered that Edward Bradshaw was manufacturing counterfeit parliamentary protections using the exact template from pages 20–21 of the 1628 book, selling them for £3 apiece under Lord Morley’s name!
Sir George Cooke & Baldwin's Attachment of Privilege
Your 1738 document is an Attachment of Privilege (Breve de Privilegio) issued by Sir George Cooke, Chief Prothonotary of Common Pleas at Westminster, on behalf of attorney John Baldwin (signed "Radcliffe for Baldwin").
Did the Official Journals Ever Print the Protection Template?
The Commons NEVER authorized or printed a standing template for written protections.
Instead, the Commons repeatedly condemned written protections as an engine of fraud. On 14 November 1640,26 April 1641, and 17 January 1641/2, the Commons entered landmark resolutions:
The Lords entered individual protections into their manuscript registers, but not as universal printed templates.
In response to scandals like Edward Bradshaw's, the Lords instituted a strict register in the Parliament Office. Peers were limited in the number of servants they could protect, and in 1705 and 1724, the Lords finally passed Standing Orders declaring all written protections void.
Exact Transcriptions of the Two Templates in the 1628 Book
"The forme of a Protection to be made by any person of eyther House of Parliament, vnto such of their Servants as may stand in danger of Arresting in time of Parliament."
"Whereas by the ancient Priviledges, Lawes and Customes of this Realme heretofore used and approved... I being a Baron and Peere of the Realme (or Knight, or Burgesse)... I understand notwithstanding, that you or some of you, haue now in your hands some Processe, Writ or Warrant, to molest, arrest, imprison I. B. my houshold Servant in ordinary..."
"These are therefore to Charge and Command you... both to Withdraw the same Processe... As also... presently set him at Libertie, as you or any of you Will answere the contrary. Given under my hand and Seale the 16. day of February, 1627."
"The forme of a Letter to bee directed to the Sheriffe of L. for discharge of a Seruant that is Arrested vpon Execution... notwithstanding his Protection."
"Mr. Sheriffe, Whereas I was to bee attended to the Parliament, I wanted one of my houshold seruants, a Gentleman of mine, called B... I understand hee is in the Custody of the Sheriffe of Middlesex... upon an Execution of 1000. pounds, And that hee doth detaine him and will take no notice of my priuiledge under my hand and Seale..."
"...expecting your answere and the release of my Seruant, otherwise, I purpose not to loose the priuiledge of a Peere of the Realme... in sending for them and the Plaintiffe by a Serjeant at Armes, Or to conuent them before the Lords for their contempt."
The Jason Peacey Collection: Bishops, Triers of Petitions & The Enforcement of Protections
From medieval Parliaments through the 1640s, the Crown appointed "Triers of Petitions" (Triatores Petitionum) at the opening of every session. This statutory committee consisted of Archbishops and Bishops alongside senior judges and peers.
Because Bishops held both equitable conscience-jurisdiction and hereditary seats in the Upper House, humble citizens, servants, and debtors viewed Bishops as institutional protectors against rapacious common-law process, exorbitant under-sheriff fees, and bailiff violence.
Unlike ordinary common law where a writ required monetary pledges (plegii de prosequendo), a Parliamentary petition operated as anindependent judicial surety invoking the supreme equitable jurisdiction of the High Court of Parliament.
When an aggrieved party or protected servant submitted their petition, the House examined the complaint: if true, the House immediately issued a Writ of Habeas Corpus cum Causa to liberate the prisoner and sent the Serjeant to arrest the arresting officer as a Delinquent!
The 1738 Cooke Writ: Runs strictly in the King's style ("George the Second by the Grace of God...")—a royal command paper commanding the Sheriff of Yorkshire to attach bodies for trespass in Common Pleas.
The 1628 Parliamentary Protection: Issued under the private seal of a Peer or MP. It did not invoke royal prerogative; it warned the sheriff that defying the Member was a Breach of Privilege punishable by the Serjeant at Arms.
Westminster bailiff ignores Bishop's livery and refuses 4 bails:
"Most humbly sheweth unto your lordshipps, that beinge suerty for one Anthony Porter for a debte of tenne poundes, he was upon Munday the last day of Aprill arrested by one John Gillett an under-bayliffe of Westminster to whom he signified diveres tymes that he was servant to the Lord Bishop of Rochester, and soe knowne in all Westminster where he dwelt; and att that instant did weare the said Lord Bishop his livery... but the said bayliffe refused to admitt of the privilidge... and delivered the said Bird to the gaoler with all despite."
Solicitor to Toby Matthew, Archbishop of York, arrested by London serjeants-at-mace:
"Humblie sheweth to your Honors that whereas by the laudable and ancyent priviledges and customes of this Realme of England the servant and sollicitor of any the lordes spirituall or temporall assembled in the High Courte of parliament are and ought to be protected and freed from arreaste and imprisonment... The peticioner being servant and sollicitor unto the most reverend father in god Tobie Lord Archbishop of Yorke was synce the begining of this parliament arrested by Richard Reynoldes and Robert Wright sergeantes at mace to the Shereifes of London..."
Peer's testimonial rejected with "contemptible and despightfull wordes":
"And whereas likewise your suppliant did then and there pleade that he was your lordships servant particularly appointed to attend your lordship, and to that purpose produced your lordships testimonyall under your lordships hand and seale; which being refused and rejected with contemptible and despightfull wordes... your suppliant was forthwith convayed by the saide bayliffes unto Northampton gaole, where the sheriffe was ready with an execution upon the same bonde..."
Protection entered in Sheriff's office, yet servant detained in Newgate & Fleet:
"That your petitioner was a domesticke servant to the said Lord Mohun in the time of the last Parliament and had the protection of his said lord under his hand and seal which he produced and shewed to the sheriffe of Middlesex and had an allowance theirof at the sherriffes office where the same was entred as also had like allowance theirof with the bailiffe of Westminster nevertheless... was arrested by a warrant of the sherriffe of Middlesex... and hath thereupon bene detained a prisoner in Newgate and the Fleet ever since..."
Due Process of Law, Article 5 of the 1688 Bill of Rights & The Black Act 1723
Originating directly "At the Request of the Commons by their Petitions":
"ITEM, At the Request of the Commons by their Petitions put forth in this Parliament, to eschew the Mischiefs and Damages done to divers of his Commons by false Accusers... It is assented and accorded, for the good Governance of the Commons, that no Man be put to answer without Presentment before Justices, or Matter of Record, or by due Process and Writ original, according to the old Law of the Land: And if any Thing from henceforth be done to the contrary, it shall be void in the Law, and holden for Error."
Constitutional Truth: The foundational statutory barrier against arbitrary royal detention came from a Commons Petition! The King's Council could not haul citizens in on secret accusations without an original writ of record.
"That it is the Right of the Subjects to petition the King, and all Commitments and Prosecutions for such Petitioning are Illegal."
Protection Without Arrest Power: Under Article 5, you have absolute constitutional immunity from punishment for petitioning. But petitioning grants you NO right to arrest, detain, or attach anyone!
Coercive detention requires an Act of Parliament (granting sheriffs lawful powers) or a Speaker's Warrant / House Order executed by the Serjeant at Arms. No private citizen or petitioner could lawfully imprison another without statutory or royal warrant authority.
The exact 1720s statutory framework reconciling Westminster jurisdiction with local custody:
Charles, 4th Baron Mohun (1677–1712)—infamous duelist, twice tried for murder by the Lords:
Privilege by Title Alone: Unlike commoners who needed writs and bonds, a Peer of the Realm needed only to prove WHO HE WAS (his hereditary nobility). His title conferred sacred inviolability upon his person and his domestic retinue.
Armed Defiance of Sheriffs: Lord Mohun became notorious for violent, armed showdowns with local sheriffs and bailiffs. When creditors and bailiffs tried to arrest his servants (like Joseph Bastard), Mohun threatened them with bodily violence and parliamentary retribution. If an under-sheriff dared ignore his hand and seal, the House of Lords stepped in with the Serjeant at Arms!
The Doctrine of Non-Obstruction: Contempts Against Petitioners & Excused Misdemeanours
"Petitioners and other persons soliciting business before either House or its committees, e.g. counsel, agents and solicitors, are considered as under the protection of the High Court of Parliament, and obstruction of, or interference with such persons in the exercise of their rights or the discharge of their duties, or conduct calculated to deter them or other persons from preferring or prosecuting petitions or bills or from discharging their duties may be treated as a breach of privilege."
While a petitioner cannot personally arrest others, the petitioner holds an absolute, ancient rightNOT to be obstructed, deterred, sued, or molested while invoking the jurisdiction of the High Court of Parliament.
The 1368 statute (42 Edw. III c. 3) forbids taking the body of the accused without due process ("accused Persons, some have been taken"). It never prohibited taking evidence, procuring papers, or compiling testimony to place before Parliament.
Section 45, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988:"Copyright is not infringed by anything done for the purposes of parliamentary or judicial proceedings."
Petitioners, solicitors, and witnesses are protected from civil arrest while going to (eundo), staying at (morando), and returning from (redeundo) either House.
Bringing an action against petitioners for an alleged libel contained in a petition to the House of Commons was declared a breach of privilege, and the plaintiff was committed to custody.
Casting aspersions on persons for petitioning, or threatening petitioners having bills depending with punishment, is punished summarily by the House as an attempt to stifle parliamentary inquiry.
Assaulting, insulting, or challenging a solicitor or petitioner to a duel on account of observations made addressing a parliamentary committee resulted in immediate committal to Newgate prison.
The Petitioner's Shield: "As in Duty Bound", Democratic Sovereignty & The Speaker's Petition
The ancient formula "And your Petitioner, as in duty bound, shall ever pray..." is not mere servile etiquette. It is an invocation of a reciprocal constitutional covenant:
Just as a police officer's badge carries state authority within a local county bailiwick, the petitioner's oath cloaks the citizen in the inviolable shield of the High Court of Parliament. Their cause is not narrow or local; it invokes the overarching sovereignty of Church, State, and Law.
The foundational democratic premise is that the voters police politics through their ultimate power to remove MPs at the ballot box:
- The MP: A full-time constitutional fiduciary, carrying the representative burden for all citizens and all causes.
- The Petitioner: A private citizen with an ordinary livelihood, who steps into the High Court of Parliament for their specific cause as an indispensable civic auditor of the realm.
At the State Opening of every Parliament, the Speaker appears at the Bar of the House of Lords to present the Speaker's Petition to the Monarch: