Bailiffs Law Volume 1 and 2: A Lawful Trespass and Persons of No Value

The law relating to distress and execution is a much neglected area of study, despite the fact that bailiffs regularly appear in literary works and their activities are a constant feature of court rolls. This two-volume work aims to provide a detailed and comprehensive history of both the development of the law and the profession of bailiff. The work chronicles the growth of enforcement law from Anglo-Saxon times, tracing the continuity in the common law and examining the intervention of statute. The seizure of goods by bailiffs was a familiar aspect of life in earlier times and this work sets their legal powers into their legal, social and economic context. Key themes are explored throughout both volumes: the protection given to certain essential goods, the efforts to regulate the conduct of bailiffs and the gradual shift of emphasis from promoting the rights of creditors to enhancing the protection of debtors.

VOLUME ONE Preface Chapter 1 Aspects of early English distress Chapter 2 De capiendis namiorum: nam and the emergence of common law distress and execution Chapter 3 Privileged from seizure: the common law exemptions of farm stock from distress Chapter 4 The foundations of Semayne: the mediaeval law on rights of entry for the purposes of distress and execution Chapter 5 "For the common utility of the realm": an analysis of goods privileged from distress at common law Chapter 6 "Distresses shall be reasonable": the Statute of Marlborough (1267) Chapter 7 The legacy of Semayne: the sources of the present law on bailiffs' rights of entry Chapter 8 "A complex and anachronistic set of rules": the history of the present laws of distress and execution since 1601 Appendix 1 The origins & nature of distress Appendix 2 Distress for market tolls VOLUME TWO Preface Chapter 1 "It not being a very agreeable occupation": popular views of bailiffs Chapter 2 "A remnant of feudalism": the campaign to abolish Distraint Chapter 3 "For the avoiding of grievous vexations": the Impounding Act 1554 Chapter 4 "To the evil example of other ill-disposed persons":the offences of rescue and poundbreach Chapter 5 "All those locusts who prey": extortion by sheriffs (1590-1840) Chapter 6 The Distress Statutes (1689-1737) Chapter 7 "Benevolent intentions to those suffering great inconvenience": the statutory protection of goods before 1880 Chapter 8 "Very great hardship and evil": the statutory protection of goods after 1880 Chapter 9 "An unsuitable class of persons": the regulation of bailiffs Chapter 10 "A rapacious class of men": the control of bailiffs' charges Appendix 1 The Avowry Acts Appendix 2 The Right of Sale of Distress