The Summonister Rolls are interesting in that they record the names and 
addresses of hundreds of Ulster folk in the period 1611 through to 1684. An 
informative blog concerning these records by Bobby Forrest can be found here 
Summonister court records 
(ulstergenealogyandlocalhistoryblog.com)<http://www.ulstergenealogyandlocalhistoryblog.com/2017/07/summonister-court-records.html>
 I have been fortunate to find an ancestor, Robert Arbuckle, fined for 
non-attendance at court recorded as residing at Loughneas,  Leckpatrick parish 
in 1633.
Regards,
Len Swindley, Melbourne, Australia

________________________________
From: dm60--- via CoTyroneList <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, 12 September 2023 7:20 PM
To: CoTyroneIreland.com Mailing List <[email protected]>
Cc: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] Re: New Content - Summonister's Roll, County 
Tyrone, Northern Ireland July 1630

Dear All.

Thanks Jim and Len for uploading these wonderful snippets.

A question for our learned colleagues ......

Who played what role on the Summonister Rolls ....?

Let me start by suggesting a definition.  Is this correct, or can we improve on 
this?

"A summonister may be described as a court officer who called people to attend 
a court hearing, or who collected the fines payable by folks who failed to 
attend when summoned, or who were fined for any other non-attendance or 
misdemeanour."

Now let's look again at the Summonister Roll snippets that Len has so kindly 
transcribed ...

  *   Some men were described in polite terms, viz.  Esq. [Esquire], J.P. 
[Justice of the Peace], Provost of Strabane, even as High Sheriff.
  *   Others were admonished with "fined for non-attendance", or described as 
"felon" ....   (Ouch!)

So who were the "good guys" (e.g. doing jury duty) and who the bad guys?   
(Just as well no "yellow card" and "red card" systems in those days for 
chirping the ref. or colliding head-on in a tackle.)

What interests me also is the impression I get that some of the J.P.'s (for 
example) were able to draw their stipends for 2 days and offset these income 
receipts against fines payable by them, or vice versa -- which smacks of 
fudging the fiscus in some way!   Is this a fair conclusion?

Warm regards


Dave Mitchell









________________________________
From: "James McKane via CoTyroneList" <[email protected]>
To: "CoTyroneIreland.com Mailing List" <[email protected]>
Cc: "James McKane" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 11 September, 2023 14:40:18
Subject: [CoTyroneMailingList] New Content - Summonister's Roll, County Tyrone, 
Northern Ireland July 1630

Summonister's Roll, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland July 
1630<https://www.cotyroneireland.com/criminals/summonister1630.html>
Thanks again to Len Swindley for another great addition to CTI!

Jim McKane
Kitchener, Ontario


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