1806.

MOSELY

versus

STONEHOUSE.

ral and respective township, wholly distinct and independant of each other, and that each and every person elected constable hath exercised the office of consta ble within and for that township only for which such person was so elected, and that no person, who during all that time, &c. hath been elected, &c. hath served the office, within or for the parish of Manchester at large, or any where within the said parish of Manchester, out of the respective township or townships for which he was elected, and that the said election of the said defendant, to be a constable of Manchester aforesaid, was an election of him to be a constable of the township of Manchester aforesaid; and that the defendant by virtue of that election, was confined to serve the said office of constable within the said township of Manchester, and ought not nor could, by virtue of that election, serve or exercise the said office of constable within or for the said parish of Manchester at large, or any where within the said parish of Manchester, except within the said township of Manchester; without this, that the said office of constable for which the said defendant was so elected as aforesaid, was a parish office within the said parish of Manchester, &c.

DEMURRER and JOINDER in DEMURRER.

WOOD, for the defendant, in support of the demurrer. "By the statute 10 and 11 W. III. c. 23, s. 1, a certificate is granted certifying the parish or place where the burglary is committed, which certificate may be once assigned over, and the original proprie tor or the assignee of the same shall, by virtue thereof be discharged from all manner of parish and ward offices within the parish and ward where the felony was committed. The only case upon the subject, is The

1806.

MOSELY

versus

King v. Darbyshire. There the appointment of the constable was for the manor of Birmingham, that manor comprehending the town of Birmingham, and the hamlet of Deritend. The question was, whether! STONEHOVAZ the certificate was a discharge for the parish of Birt mingham, and it was held that, as the manor was more extensive than the parish, the certificate did not extend to it, being only for the parish; and the constable was not in that case a parish officer. But Denison J. says there, that if it had been co-extensive, it might have been a parish office within the exception. Here the functions of the office are confined within the parish; for they are confined within the township, which is a part of the parish; and if this is not a parish office within the meaning of the 'certificate, it cannot be of any use in the northern counties of England; for in those counties there. are no parish officers for the whole of a parish, but for separate townships within very extensive parishes; which townships have separate church-wardens and other officers as all parishes in other parts of the kingdom."

Lord ELLEN BOROUGH, C. J. "The church-wardens are elected for the parish, although they may execute the duty by agreement between themselves, for a particular district of a parish; as for a certain chapelry."

To shew that constables are parish officers, he cited the statute 13 and 14 C. II. c. 12, s. 15, in which statute they are evidently classed with other parish officers; for by s. 16, 'The constables and headboroughs of every parish that shall not apprehend rogues and vagabonds, shall be fined as therein mentioned;' and in the statute 18 Geo. III. c. 191, the expression is used constable, tithing-man, and head-borough of the said parish.

Burr. 1182.

1806.

MOSELY

versus.

LITTLEDALE, Contrà. "The word parish is

used

in the statute adjectively, and coupled with the word office, to denote the office of one who has jurisdic STONEHOUSE. tion over the whole of the parish: But the constable, in this case has no jurisdiction beyond the township, and is therefore, not a parish officer. The word ward corresponds with a hundred in a county; Adams v., Hilks.* In the former part of this section of the statute 10 and 11 W. III. c. 23, the words are that the certificate shall certify the parish or place wherein the offence was committed. This must imply the whole parish. Then when it comes to mention the exemption from all parish and ward offices within the paIrish and ward wherein the felony was committed,' the word parish must have the same latitude of construction as in the former part, and must, therefore, mean all offices extending over the parish and ward. So by the statute 5 Ann. c. 31, s. 1, as a further reward, a certificate is to be made, certifying the conviction, and in what parish the burglary was committed, and that the burglar was taken by the person claiming the reward; and on tendering such certificate the sheriff is to pay 401. This also applies to the whole parish, and the case of the defendant is whether by accident or otherwise omitted. And he insisted, that the con stable being appointed for the manor and by the Jeet was not a parish officer within the meaning of the

act."

Lord ELLENBOROUGH, C. J. "The simple question in this case is, whether the defendant is exempt ed from the office to which he has been elected by the effect of the certificate; and that depends upon the construction which is to be given to these words in the statute, importing that he shall be discharged from all manner of parish and ward offices within the parish and ward where the felony was committed.' Is

Cro. Car. 164.

then this word parish office to be construed so strictly as to apply only to a parish office strictly so called, and an office elected by and exercised over the parish; and which will probably exclude many offices which are exercised in the parish, but the limits of which as in this case are not co-extensive with the parish ? It is clear, however, that in the statutes cited for the plaintiff, as in the 13 and 14 C. II. c. 12, and the 18 Geo, III. c. 19, the legislature in several instances speaks of the headborough, tithing-man, and every other parish officer, although there is not a constable, headborough, or tithing-man, properly so called, being strictly a parish officer; but only one who exercises his office in the parish and for the parish. In that sense, the legislature used the words in this statute. Otherwise, a great part of the kingdom would be deprived of the full benefit of this act. It has been attempted to explain the words parish and ward officers by a strict construction, as applying only to officers for the whole parish, o for a ward, that is, an hundred in the parish. But that construction is not to be relied upon; for it would comprehend in that case only the head constable."

GROSE, J. The question is, what construction shall be put upon the words "parish and ward offices.' Now this was an act of parliament made for the bene fit of the public, in order to reward persons apprehending felons, and we may fairly construe such a statute liberally, according to common language. In the statutes which have been cited, the legislature has considered a constable as a parish officer, and it is a fair thing for us to consider that the intention of the legislature in the statute 10 and 11 W. III. c. 23, was to give the exemption to a person who by serving the office of constable, deserved so well of the public, as a parish office."

1806,

MOSELY

versus

STONEHOVAR

1806.

MOSELY

versus

STONEHOUSE.

LAWRENCE, J. "I think that this act of parliament was intended to have a general operation, and not to be narrowed by a strict construction of technical terms. And it would be very mischievous with respect to the northern counties, where the appointment of officers is for a township, and not for a parish, that the overseers and surveyors of the highways, and other officers, should not be exempted by this act, the same as in other counties. If the word parish office is to be taken in its strict sense, this is not a parish office, for the election is at the leet or the sheriff's torn, the jurisdiction of which is not confined to the parish. But as the word constable is used in the acts of parliament which have been cited, it is clear that in a more lax sense a constable may be considered as a parish officer; and in Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. i. p. 356, it is said, the petty constables are inferior officers, in every town and parish, subordinate to the high constable of the hundred, first instituted about the reign Edward III.' So that we find by a writer of considerable eminence, that they are con sidered as parish officers. With respect to the case of The King v. Darbyshire, it seems that Mr. WOOD has given the true construction to it; namely, that the certificate shall extend to exempt from all offices in a parish, but not from offices extending over the rish and beyond; and that, therefore, as this is within the parish where the felony was committed, this certificate extends to the office in question. In the case cited, there was an attempt to extend the exemption beyond the limits of the place where the felony was committed."

pa

LE BLANC, J. "From the similar words which are used in other acts of parliament, although the office of constable is not in the strict legal sense of the word a parish office, yet we are warranted in such

• Ubi Supra.