Aldermen of the City of London: Bridge ward without

BRIDGE WARD WITHOUT.

Bridge Ward Without, comprising the Borough of Southwark, was created by the Court of Aldermen in May, 1550, in consequence of the Charter of Edward VI. (April 23, 1550), which enacted that the town and borough of Southwark should be under the government of the Lord Mayor and officers of the City of London. An Act of Common Council, July 31, 1550, provided that at future elections the inhabitants of the Borough should nominate four freemen of the City from whom the Court of Aldermen should choose one, but this provision was altogether ignored at the next ensuing elections in 1553 and 1556, when the Court nominated the four from whom the final selection was made, and it was repealed by a further Act of June 16, 1558, which gave the Court the right, which on these occasions it had assumed, and this course was followed until the Act of 1711 established the custom which has prevailed from that time to the present day.

[By the Act of Common Council of September 20, 1711, it was enacted that at future vacancies the office of Alderman of this Ward should be offered to the senior Alderman for the time being, who had held the Lord Mayoralty, and in case of refusal to those next in seniority successively, until one accepted it. In case of refusal by all the Aldermen who had passed the Chair, the election was to be made by the Common Council]

Note A.—The election of W. Alleyn appears to have been set aside, as he was not sworn and no further reference to it is to be found. It is expressly stated that the election of his successor (Harper) on June 21, was in accordance with the Act of Common Council of June 16, which legalized the procedure adopted at Alleyn's election as well as at the two previous ones in 1553 and 1556. It seems natural to infer that the technical informality of Alleyn's election was recognized and that it was consequently regarded as void.

Note B.—There have been 27 removals to Bridge Without since the passing of the Act of 1711: on 16 of these occasions the Senior Alderman who had passed the Chair has accepted the Ward. The Wards of Bread Street, Castle Baynard, Dowgate, Langbourn, Lime Street, Portsoken, Vintry and Walbrook, have each contributed two Aldermen; those of Aldersgate, Aldgate, Bassishaw, Billingsgate, Bishopsgate, Bridge Within, Broad Street, Candlewick, Cheap, Coleman Street and Tower, one each. No Alderman has, within this period, been transferred from Cordwainer, Cornhill, Cripplegate, Queenhithe, or either of the Wards of Farringdon. Of these Cornhill and Queenhithe are the only ones which have never had an Alderman of sufficient seniority at the time of a vacancy to have an opportunity of removal to Bridge Without.
Sir H. Master (Coleman Street), who was actually senior Alderman in 1745, and Sir J. Hankey Langbourn) and W. Baker (Bassishaw), who were the two senior Aldermen in 1758, had not passed the Chair.]