Staff
The Quarter Sessions in each county were made up of two or more justice of the peace, presided over by a chairman, who sat with a jury. County boroughs entitled to their own Quarter Sessions had a single Recorder instead of a bench of justices.
Every Quarter Sessions had a clerk called the clerk of the peace. For county Quarter Sessions, this person was appointed by the custos rotulorum of the county – the Justice of the Peace for the county charged with custody of its rolls and records. There was a large fee income for the clerk, and he was usually a friend or relative of the custos. The clerk rarely discharged the duties of the office himself, but appointed a solicitor to act as his deputy in return for a share of the fees. After 1852, payment by salary was gradually brought in instead of fees.
In some counties there were multiple Quarter Sessions, quite apart from the urban areas: for example, Yorkshire had its North Riding, West Riding, and East Riding; whilst Northamptonshire's Soke of Peterborough was administered separately. These divisions were carried on to the administrative counties that county councils covered.
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