ABSTRACT
The study of early settlements by archaeologists, historical geographers and demographers has led in recent years to the concept of studying people from the perspective of the land. A major problem that has confronted English legal history in general is that far too much importance has been placed, individually, upon the central criminal court of Assizes, the common law courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, the prerogative court of Star Chamber, the equity court of Chancery, and local county Quarter Sessions. Seldom has anyone made an attempt to relate the litigation and results of these courts across their jurisdictional boundaries, even when legal actions often cut across them. By the seventeenth century, this region had become the wealthiest of the county, supporting fields of grain, fruit orchards, market and hop gardens. With regard to the usefulness of historical demography in explaining litigation, civil and criminal, we can explore the relationships, and seek their meaningfulness.
