ABSTRACT
The customs centred round mayoral and civic procedure were once numerous and intricate. Some have disappeared, or been simplified in modern times, while there have been from time to time suggestions made for the abolition of certain long-established practices such as, for example, the wearing of gowns by members of the Corporation of Cambridge at meetings of the City Council. Payments for the hoods worn by the Bailiffs occur in the Town Treasurers’ Accounts. The cost of the Mayor’s robes were charged to the Town Accounts, which show that, in the past, fairly considerable sums were regularly expended on them. The Alderman’s diary throws many sidelights on seventeenth-century municipal customs. On Christmas Eve the Town Treasurers usually presented gifts to the Mayor. In Alderman Newton’s day, the Mayor, Bailiffs, Aldermen and Councillors paid a ceremonial visit to the Assize Judge when he came to Cambridge.
