I find the concept of tythingmen one of the most pernicious aspects of censorship ive ever encountered. Ive had ancestors were who tythingmen and I hope they weren't the biggest hypocrites in the community. Interesting article. Jack -----Original Message----- From: CTNEWLON-L-request@rootsweb.com [mailto:CTNEWLON-L-request@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Steve and Maggy Wilcox Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 2:00 PM To: CTNEWLON-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [CTNEWLON-L] Tythingman The Old Sturbridge Village Online Resource Library lists the duties of New England town officers. *Tythingmen *-are responsible for the general morals of the community, more specifically for the observance of the Sabbath. Inspect all Inns and Public Houses licensed to sell liquor and report all disorders; report on idle or disorderly persons, profane swearers or cursers and Sabbath breakers. Also stop unnecessary travel on The Lord's Day. In most towns, Tythingmen were much less active in the 1830s than they had been around 1800. Here's another definition from http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news_info/info/museum/history1.htm *Tythingmen and the 'hue and cry' *Males between 12 and 60 were organised into groups of ten families, or 'tythings', with a headman called a 'tythingman'. Not unlike a police officer today, part of a tythingman's role was to catch criminals with the help of his community. Anyone witnessing a crime shouted for help, known as 'raising a hue and cry'. The tythingman then organised the pursuit and capture of the criminal, and brought them before a 'moot' (a kind of Anglo Saxon court.) Ten tythingmen were responsible to a 'hundredman', and all the county's hundredmen in turn reported to the local 'shire reeve' (later known as the sheriff), the king's deputy responsible for keeping order in the county. And, yet another explanation from http://www.klis.com/allsaints/pnotes.htm: It was under King Alfred the Great that a type of internal police force evolved. Alfred decreed that the various "thanes" or landowners throughout his kingdom were responsible to police his territory, deliver criminals to the King and to settle civil litigations. The people or "freemen" under each thane became concerned that the thane mighty abuse or even exceed his power, and banded together in a "tything" which consisted of 10 families. This group would meet regularly to discuss common concerns and mutual protection. But more importantly, the tything served as a "surety", or guarantee, that criminals within the family units would be delivered to the thane for disposition. They served as a guarantee that those who committed criminal acts would be brought forth. In addition, the tything often set in place neighborhood-watch type of patrols in which they kept an eye on each others' properties as a method to guarantee that no damages would occur. The head of this group was referred to as a "tythingman". As the concept spread, the process evolved to the point that 100 tythingmen set up an organization known as the "hundred". The hundred met once a year and elected one tythingman who was called a "reeve". The reeve was responsible for the organization of a court which handled complaints from within the shire and handled civil matters or disagreements between two or more people. Later the reeve of the shire became known as a sheriff. Under this system, there was a very close bond established between the "laws of the land" and the local people. This whole notion of "grassroots" justice would continue throughout the evolutionary process of English law. When other odd words show up in your research, try Googling. It's amazing what you can learn these days from just sitting in your own home at the computer! You can see the difference between the British concept and New England version. Maggy CHenley29@aol.com wrote: >Hello, Listers, > >In the 1884 New London City Directory on pg. VI, under City Government of >New London, there is a list of tythingmen. Can anyone tell me if that is a tax >collector or something else? Thanks in advance. > >Charlotte > > > > ==== CTNEWLON Mailing List ==== New London Co GenWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ctnewlon/ Archived List Messages: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/CTNEWLON-L/ Create yourself a user name and password, and search!