Gatekeepers of eighteenth century law and order
The role of the Justices of the Peace in establishing order and laying down the law was diverse and incredibly discretionary. Sources: 1)https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/kentlj24&div=33&id=&page=. 2)Shoemaker, Robert Brink. Prosecution and Punishment: Petty Crime and the Law in London and Rural Middlesex, C.1660-1725. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.