inhabitants" to the King's dominion. It was desired that the country should be governed with due order to the "honour and praise of God and of Holy Church and the advancement of justice." It was stated that the King having diligently heard, and fully understood "the laws and customs of those parts hitherto in use, had abolished some of them, allowed some, corrected some, and commanded certain others to be added thereto," and that the country was annexed and united unto the Crown of the Realm of England as a member of the same body.
The Statute provided that the Justice of Snowdon was to have the custody and government of the peace of the King in Snowdon, and the lands adjoining, and that he was to administer justice according to original writs of the King "and the laws and customs underwritten." Gwynedd and its appurtenances were divided into the three shires of Anglesey, Carnarvon, and Merioneth, and were collectively put under the Justice of Snowdon, whose seat was to be at Carnarvon, where Courts of Chancery and Exchequer for North Wales were to be established. The district forming the County of Flint was to be obedient likewise to the Justice of Chester. In South Wales the shires of Cardigan and Caermarthen were reorganized, and put under the jurisdiction of the Justice of West Wales, whose Chancery and Exchequer Courts were appointed to be at Caermarthen.
The officers under the existing English shire system, such as Sheriffs, Coroners, and Bailiffs, were introduced into Wales. County Courts summoned by the Sheriff, who was the special representative of the King, were to be held monthly in the newly formed counties to deal with criminal cases and civil causes. Felons and criminals were to be indicted at these courts by the four adjacent townships, whilst the kindred of a dead man (termed "the Welsherie"), and accused persons were to be detained until the next coming on circuit of the King's Justice.
Twice in the year, once after the Feast of St. Michael, and
