| Description | This sub-fonds relates to the appointment, qualification, and oaths of the Justices of the Peace. It consists of records relating to Commissions of the Peace, including:
- Commissions of the Peace for 1736, 1758, 1762, 1780, 1803, 1820, 1837, 1843, 1852, 1856, 1858, 1859, and 1878. These are in the form of letters patent under the Great Seal giving the names, and sometimes style and abode, of the Justices. From 1820, the names are in schedule form [1736-1878]
- draft and copy commissions, with lists of names for insertion [1780-1859]
- correspondence and papers relating to the commission and to the insertion of new names [1843-1887, and 1910] |
| Administrative history | New commissions were formerly issued on the accession of a new sovereign and at intervals in between. The current commission is sent to the Lord Chancellor annually for new names to be added. In the North Riding the commission for 1878 was in use until 1956, when a new one was issued which has in turn been superseded. |