The Notebook of Robert Doughty 1662 to 1665 c1989 Volume LIV

Description

Robert Doughty of Hanworth, held office as a justice of the peace under Charles II for less than five years from late 1660 until October 1665. A member of a lesser Gentry family from North East Norfolk, he was placed on the Commission of the peace in December 1660. His name appears on parliamentary tax commissioners for Norfolk beginning in 1652 and he may have performed judicial service late in the Commonwealth. His delayed appointment to the magistrate six months after the restoration perhaps indicates that the central government initially hesitated because of his political past, then named him to the bench because of his prior experience. While his notebook provides an incomplete account even of his judicial activities, Robert Doughty nevertheless noted therein the four occasions during his tenure on the bench when he delivered the charge to the quarter sessions grand jury.