Until the late nineteenth-century, the most common form of local government in rural England and the British Empire was administration by amateur justices of the peace: the sessions system. Petty Justice uses an unusually well-documented example of the colonial sessions system in Loyalist New Brunswick to examine the role of justices of the peace and other front-line low law officials like customs officers and deputy land surveyors in colonial local government.

Using the rich archival resources of Charlotte County, Paul Craven discusses issues such as the impact of commercial rivalries on local administration, the role of low law officials in resolving civil and criminal disputes and keeping the peace, their management of public works, social welfare, and liquor regulation, and the efforts of grand juries, high court judges, colonial governors, and elected governments to supervise them. A concluding chapter explains the demise of the sessions system in Charlotte County in the decade of Confederation.

Paul Craven is an associate professor in the Department of Social Science at York University.

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‘Craven’s book is a compendious analysis of archival material that reveals the day-to-day workings of the magistracy system in Charlotte County… It is heartening to see excellent research bringing important questions into the spotlight.’

Acadiensis vol 44:02:2015

‘Craven has effectively made accessible a wealth of knowledge and a unique glimpse of Canada’s Legal history.’

American Review of Canadian Studies vol 46:01:2016