| Administrative history | Richmond, an ancient borough with a borough court of record, received a grant of a separate court of Quarter Sessions under a charter of Charles II of 1667/8. There was a fresh grant in 1838 after the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 and a petition by the borough. This privilege was retained until 1 October 1951, when the borough once again became subject to the jurisdiction of the North Riding Justices. The burgesses of Richmond also claimed privileges of freedom from county rates and from serving on juries outside the precincts of the borough. They were said to have enjoyed the first from 1559 to 1815 and they still claimed the second even after the extinguishment of their separate Quarter Sessions in 1951. It was then said that they had enjoyed this since the 13th century and that it had been confirmed by charters of Elizabeth I and Charles II.
The records relating to Richmond in this section are largely concerned with the attempt of the borough to extend the jurisdiction of the Court of Record to cover the ancient Liberty of Richmond and Richmondshire (that is the wapentakes of Gilling West, Gilling East, Hang West, Hang East and Hallikeld) between 1837 and 1840. The Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses presented a petition to the North Riding Justices in 1837 asking for support for a petition to the Queen for this extension. Notices that this would be considered at Quarter Sessions in 1838 and 1840 were given but this came to nothing. The Court resolved at Easter 1840, that it was inexpedient to extend the jurisdiction of the borough of Richmond to any part of the Riding not already annexed to the borough. Richmond's petition was therefore unsuccessful and its jurisdiction remained that of the borough co-terminous with the parish and township. |