Catalogue description Court of King's Bench: Crown Side: Supplementary Affidavits

The labels on some of the bundles, of the yellow type used at Carlton Ride during sorting work in the 1840s, that they were taken 'before the master' may be explained by the fact that from the 1730s and possibly earlier some decisions concerning the award of costs and damages in cases in which the defendant's guilt had been established were referred to James Burrow, then the king's coroner and attorney in King's Bench, for determination of damages and costs. Typically, they were assault cases initiated by indictment. Burrow presumably needed to refer to the affidavits in the course of his work. It was very likely Burrow who was being referred to as the 'master', since he is known to have had the title of 'Master of the Crown Office'. This would explain why these affidavits survived separately from those in KB 1, but whether the cases in bundles not marked 'before the master' were following the same procedure is not clear.