Charter 750

Later Charters

Click on the thumbnails for a larger image:

Charter of Henry VII, 1487
This is the first charter to refer to the Mayor of Reading. As well as reciting earlier charters it grants specific powers to the Mayor to supervise cloth making in the town. Although this is the first charter to mention the office of Mayor, the title had been in use since at least the early 14th century. The first Mayor recorded in the Borough archive was John Le Goldsmyth, who is mentioned in a lease of 1324, though we know from other sources the names of at least four earlier Mayors. The 1254 agreement between the Gild and the Abbey made reference to the Warden of the Gild and this title and that of Mayor were interchangeable from the late 13th century.
Document reference: [R/IC1/5]
 
 

Charter of James I, 1604
This beautifully illustrated charter actually does little more than confirm a charter granted by Elizabeth I in 1560. Elizabeth’s charter had constituted a 22 member council. It allowed the Borough to take over the Abbey’s annual fairs and also granted much of the Abbey stone to the Borough for bridge repair. It was also the first charter to define the borough boundary – from the middle of Caversham bridge, to the confluence of the Kennet and the Thames, to roughly the start of the Shinfield Road, around through Coley Park and Battle Farm.
Document reference: [R/IC1/9]
 
 

Charter of Charles I, 1638
This charter remained the principal governing document for the Borough until the reforms of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The Council was increased to 25 members, and gained additional powers to prevent subdivision of dwellings, the use of thatch, and for the first time, to levy rates to pay for ‘any burden [which] shall hereafter fall on the Borough’.
Document reference: [R/IC1/10]