Criminal Cases, Part 2

Sometimes the "punishment" was more of a restriction. Take the case of Thomas Welford, who sold salted herring. He had a ship docked at Queenshithe filled with salted herring. He was a wholesaler, and sold to retailers called "hucksters"; in this case he sold them 5 herrings for a penny.

The hucksters would then sell 4 herrings for a penny,. Burt this did not give them very much profit. They complained to the mayor and aldermen that Welford's price was too high. Welford claimed that he could not afford to sell at a lower price.

It turned out, however, that he had sold 600 herrings at the rate of 10 to a penny. The buyer, William Botild, was brought forward and admitted that he had paid that price. Welford was forced to sell 9 for a penny, so that the hucksters could then sell 5 for a penny and receive a decent profit. This was applied to all herring sales in the city of London at the time (1382).

Speaking of fishmongers, five days after the previous case, the mayor and aldermen decided to make a more sweeping statement on the selling of fish. lamenting that many people ignore the ordinances of the City of London "as to the buying and selling of fish."

A citizen by the name of Adam Carlelle had gone to where the fishmongers all ply their trade and had,

in a haughty and spiteful manner, cursed the said strangers, saying aloud, in the hearing of all, that he did not care who heard it or knew of it, but that it was a great mockery and badly ordained, that such ribalds as those should be selling their fish within the City.

It was deemed that his behavior was an insult not only to the fishmongers but to the City Ordinances themselves. Adam was from henceforth forbidden to hold any office in the City, or "wear any vestment of a suit belonging to any office." Violation of this would mean "losing his freedom of the same city, and of forfeiting all things which unto the city aforesaid in future he might lose or forfeit."

Regarding clothing, harlots were forbidden to wear hoods of fur or anything fancy, ordered by the mayor and aldermen.

Tomorrow we'll look at a few more decisions of the aldermen.