Historians of the early modern period have not sufficiently considered the variety of local heritable jurisdictions that continued from the middle ages into the nineteenth century. The central roles of these jurisdictions and their courts in local government, law-enforcement and civil litigation have thus been overlooked. This study first describes the extent of the major liberties in the West Riding in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their legal and administrative significance. The existence both inside and outside these major liberties of a second tier of liberties that held sheriff’s tourns without the sheriff is then discussed. This tier not only included six wapentake courts, but also parallel courts for distant parts of those wapentakes, alongside other private liberties, whose extents interlocked. Collectively they performed an exclusive role in appointing the law-enforcement officers in every township and in providing local and central oversight of them, even where the county sheriff had no jurisdiction. It is important to emphasise the long continuity of these liberties, notwithstanding many changes in ownership, from the thirteenth century (and before) into the nineteenth century. The study suggests that similar long-lasting institutions may have existed in other counties.

中文翻译：

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警长的巡回赛，wapentakes 和西部骑马的自由

近代早期的历史学家没有充分考虑从中世纪延续到 19 世纪的各种地方继承管辖区。这些司法管辖区及其法院在地方政府、执法和民事诉讼中的核心作用因此被忽视。这项研究首先描述了 18 和 19 世纪西骑的主要自由的范围及其法律和行政意义。然后讨论在这些主要自由的内部和外部是否存在第二层自由，这些自由在没有警长的情况下举行警长的巡回演出。这一层不仅包括六个 wapentake 法院，而且还包括那些 wapentakes 遥远部分的平行法院，以及其他私人自由，其范围互锁。总的来说，他们在任命每个乡镇的执法人员以及对他们进行地方和中央监督方面发挥着独特的作用，即使在县治安官没有管辖权的地方也是如此。重要的是要强调这些自由的长期连续性，尽管从 13 世纪（及之前）到 19 世纪所有权发生了许多变化。该研究表明，其他县可能存在类似的长期机构。