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Local government

The Queen was responsible for ensuring that people throughout the country could live in peace and good order. However, it was obviously difficult for central government in London to communicate with the rest of the country at a time when travel and communications were very slow. Therefore there was a well-established system of local government whose role was to ensure that the laws of the land were carried out and that peace was maintained.

The situation in Wales

Wales had a slightly different administrative system from England. Following Henry VIII's Acts of Union in 1536 and 1543, Wales was formally under the political control of England. However, Wales had a slightly different administrative system. The Council of Wales and the Marches was the body responsible for running Wales and was led by a Lord President, whose headquarters was in Ludlow.

During Elizabeth’s reign the two most prominent Lord Presidents were:

• Sir Henry Sidney (in office 1560-86)
• Henry Herbert, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke (in office 1586-1601)

A Deputy Lieutenant and a council of 20 members assisted the Lord President and were responsible for two areas of local government – administration and justice. It was the highest court in Wales, hearing cases such as murder, piracy and so on.

Below the Deputy Lieutenant, at a more local level, were the sheriff and then the Justices of the Peace (JPs). Every county had a sheriff whose job was to deal principally with legal affairs, although by Elizabeth’s reign the post had lost some its medieval importance.

The Justices of the Peace in England and Wales were very important at a local level and their workload increased under Elizabeth. There were usually between 30 and 60 in each county and the roles were usually filled by wealthy country gentlemen, since the post was unpaid. It did provide these men with influence and power in the community and they undertook tasks such as:

• dealing with criminal offences
• supervising the work of those who looked after the poor
• making sure that royal proclamations and laws were carried out

JPs were supported by junior officials such as Parish Constables, Overseer of the poor and Night Watchmen. Elizabeth made full use of JPs to ensure that law and order was maintained, but also to try and reduce the power of the noble families in the counties. She wanted to make sure that her rule and the Queen’s Peace extended all over the country.