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rebuilding the town, which had been burned by his ene-
mies. Queen Elizabeth, in the 11th of her reign (1569),
on a representation of the inhabitants that they had lost
their letters patent in the disturbances and persecutions
of rebels and enemies, by which they were deprived of
the enjoyment of their franchises, granted a charter of
incorporation conferring on them, besides several special
immunities, all such other privileges and jurisdictions as
the corporation of Drogheda possessed; and ordaining
that they should hold the borough of the king, as of his
castle of Knockfergus, at an annual rent of 10s., payable
half-yearly, until the fortifications should be repaired
and a grant of lands made, and then at a rent of £40
per annum. The grant of lands was conferred by charter
of the 44th of Elizabeth, founded on an inquisition
issued to ascertain the quantity which had previously
belonged to the corporation, James I., in addition to
the charter of the 7th of his reign, before noticed,
granted others in the 10th and 20th, the former of
which is now the governing charter, and the latter
created fourteen persons and their successors a corpo-
ration, by the style of the “Mayor, Constables, and
Society of the Merchants of the Staple.” In the “new
rules” of the 25th of Chas. II., for regulating corpora-
tions in Ireland, it was ordained that the appointment
of the mayor, recorder, sheriffs, and town-clerk should
be subject to the approbation of the lord-lieutenant and
privy council.
The corporation, under the style of “the Mayor,
Sheriffs, Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Town of
Carrickfergus,” consists of the mayor (who is an alder-
man), 16 other aldermen, two sheriffs (who are bur-
gesses), 22 other burgesses, and an indefinite number of
freemen, assisted by a recorder and town-clerk (who is
also clerk of the peace), two coroners, three town-ser-
jeants, a water-bailiff, sword-bearer, and other officers.
The charter of the 10th of Jas. I. granted a guild merchant
within the town, and ordained that all the merchants
should be a corporation, by the name of the “Two
Masters and Fellows of the Guild Merchant of the Town
of Knockfergus,” the masters to be elected annually from
and by the merchants of the guild, on the Monday after
the feast of St. Michael, with power to make by-laws and
impose fines. The guilds now remaining are those of
the Hammermen, Weavers, Carters, Taylors and Glovers,
Butchers, Trawlers and Dredgers, Hookers, and Shoe-
makers or Cordwainers, incorporated at different periods;
but their restrictive privileges in trade have been aban-
doned as impolitic or useless, and they are now kept up
only in form. The mayor is elected annually from
among the aldermen, at an assembly of the corporation
at large, on the 24th of June, and by the charter must
be sworn before the constable of the castle, or, in his
absence, before the vice-constable, and in the presence
of the mayor for the preceding year, on Michaelmas-
day 5 he has power, with the assent of a majority of the
aldermen, to depute one of that body to be vice-mayor
in his absence. The aldermen, who may be from 8 to
16 in number, are chosen, on vacancies occurring, from
the 24 burgesses by the remaining aldermen, and are
removable for misbehaviour by a majority of the body.
The sheriffs are eligible from the free burgesses by the
mayor, sheriffs, burgesses, and commonalty, annually
on the 24th of June: they are sworn on the feast of St.
Michael before the mayor and burgesses, and are remov-
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able for cause. The burgesses, who are not mentioned
by any of the charters as a definite class in the corpora-
tion, and were formerly unlimited in number, have been
restricted to 24, and, according to practice, are elected
in an assembly of the mayor, sheriffs, and remaining
burgesses, neither freedom nor residence being requisite
as a qualification, and are supposed, like the aldermen,
to hold during good behaviour. The freemen are ad-
missible, in courts of the whole corporation held by the
mayor, by the right of birth extending to all the sons of
freemen, also by marriage, apprenticeship to a freeman
within the county of the town, and by gift of the corpo-
ration: among other privileges granted by charter to
the freemen, of which most have been long disused, it
was ordained that no person should be attached or
arrested in the house of a freeman, except for treason or
felony. The recorder is eligible by the mayor, sheriffs,
burgesses, and commonalty, to hold his office either for
life, for a term of years, or at the will of the corporation,
as may be deemed expedient, but is usually elected for
life: he may, with the consent of the mayor and a
majority of the aldermen, appoint a deputy to execute
the office. The town-clerk is eligible by the whole body,
and holds his office during pleasure; and the coroners,
by the charter, are eligible by the mayor, sheriffs, bur-
gesses, and commonalty, from the inhabitants, annually
on the same day with the mayor and sheriffs, or any
other deemed more expedient, and are removable for
cause; but in practice it is considered that they ought
to be elected from the freemen, and they appear to hold
office for life or good behaviour. A treasurer, who was
formerly the mayor for the time being, is now appointed
by the assembly, and is usually an alderman. The
“assembly” is composed of the mayor, aldermen, sheriffs,
and burgesses, who manage all the affairs of the corpo-
ration; they assume the power of making by-laws, and
of demising the property of the corporation. The char-
ters of Elizabeth and James confirmed to this borough
the right of sending two representatives to the Irish
parliament, which it continued to exercise till the Union,
since which period it has returned one to the Imperial
parliament. The elective franchise was vested in the
mayor, aldermen, burgesses, and freemen of the town,
and in the freeholders to the amount of 40s. per annum
and upwards in the county of the town, amounting, in
Jan., 1832, to about 850 5 but by the act of the 2nd of
Wm. IV., cap. 88, the non-resident freemen, except
within seven miles, have been disfranchised, and the
privilege has been extended to the £10 householders
and the £20 and £10 leaseholders for the respective
terms of 14 and 20 years; by this act the 40s. free-
holders retain the franchise for life only. The number
of voters registered at the close of 1835 was about 1200:
the sheriffs are the returning officers.
The mayor (as also his deputy or vice-mayor) is a
justice of the peace within the town, and is further
(without mention of the vice-mayor) constituted a justice
of the peace throughout the county of the town, being
empowered, with the recorder, to hold courts of session
and gaol delivery: he is admiral of the liberties, which
extend northward to Fair Head and southward to Beer-
looms, about 40 miles in each direction, with the excep-
tion only of Bangor and the Pool of Garmoyle; and may
issue attachments against ships and cargoes, or against
persons on board, for the recovery of debts wherever