The second granted to them freedom from arrest, (except in certain peculiar cases,) the return of all writs touching Southampton and its liberty, with permission to choose their own coroners, subject to the justices in Eyre. Many other charters were granted by subsequent kings, that of the 25 Hen. VI. being chiefly worthy of note, on account of the license given in it to the citizens to purchase lands, notwithstanding the statute of mortmain, and of the statement that Portsmouth was at that period within the liberty of Southampton.
The corporation is very rich in documents, rolls, and registers, and of these the following may be enumerated as the most deserving of notice.
The first, entitled "Liber Niger," commencing 16 Rich. II. A.D. 1393, and ending 1620, contains enrolments of private charters, with a deed for a free grammar school in the town.
The second, entitled "Liber Bemembranciarmn villæ Suthamptoniæ," A.D. 1455, is full of miscellaneous matters of considerable value to the student of the local antiquities of the town, but of little comparative interest to the general reader.
The third is entitled "A Book of Fines, Amerciaments, &c. from A.D. 1489 to A.D. 1593."
The fourth is a book endorsed, "Entry of Burgesses from 1496 to 1704," at the end of which is a census of the population, taken Sept. 20, 1596, from which it appears that the total number of residents at that period was 4,200, of whom 784 are rated as able men, while the aliens and their families amount to 297.
The fifth is entitled "A Book of Remembrances" for the town of Southampton, from 5 Hen. VIII. to 1601; the information, however, contained in it is of a purely local nature.
Besides these, which are perhaps the most important, there are many other volumes containing a vast amount of miscellaneous information, relating to the medieval history of the town, such as Enrolments of the Statutes Merchant from 39 Eliz. to 2 Jac. II., the Steward's Book of accounts from 1432 to 1699, Journal of the Corporation Proceedings from 1602 to 1642, Books on the Brokage and Assize of Bread from 1440 to 1694, and others belonging to the Linen and Woollen Halls from 1552 to 1576. There are also the Muster Books for the years 1544, 1555, 1567, 1579, 1583, 1589, and one without date, at the end of which is a census of the inhabitants able to bear
