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watchmen, and a rate levied over the whole parish instead of only
upon those able-bodied residents who desired to be relieved from
the obligation of personally performing the duties of watchmen.
At the same time the salary of the beadles was fixed at not less
than £25, nor more than £45, according to the trouble and
attendance required; this salary was a charge on the watching
rate.
No alteration in the rules of the burgesses appears to have been
made since 1720.
By an Act passed in 1756, a Leet Jury were authorised to appoint
eighty constables for the City and Liberties of Westminster,
fourteen of them being assigned to the Parish of St. James.
Persons appointed as constables and refusing to serve were liable to
a fine of £8, but the same person was not to be appointed a
constable more frequently than once in seven years. A high
constable was to be appointed, and for this office an innkeeper or
retailer of spirituous liquors was ineligible; no person was to serve
for more than three years together, and any person appointed and
refusing to act was liable to a fine of £20.
The same Act provided for the appointment of an Annoyance
Jury, to consist of not more than 48 persons, for the purpose of
preventing nuisances, defective pavements, obstructions, unlawful
weights, and similar matters. The penalty for refusing to serve on
this jury was 40s., and the penalty for possessing unlawful weights
was not to exceed the like sum. No person was to be required to
serve on the jury more than once in three years. All fines imposed
by the Act were to be applied in aid of the Poor Rate, but amerciaments
imposed by the Annoyance Jury were to be divided between
the High Bailiff and the Court of Burgesses.
In 1757, a further advance was made in the local government of
Westminster; for an Act passed in that year required all pavements
to be repaired by the occupiers of houses abutting thereon, or
by the persons disturbing the pavement. Hoardings were not to
be erectcd without the consent of the Court of Burgesses, and
weights and measures were to be tested and marked by the proper
officer before being recognised as lawful. Persons 63 years of age