The English warrant to apprehend
When a person was charged upon oath before a justice of the peace with an indictable offence, the justice signed and sealed a warrant to the constable of the place and to all other peace officers of the county, commanding them in the Sovereign's name forthwith to apprehend him and bring him before a justice, to answer the charge. The Indictable Offences Act, 1848 printed its words in the Schedule as Form (B.).
Bearer prints the form's words, the Sovereign's name set as His Majesty for the reigns of George V, Edward VIII and George VI; the layout is ours.
Bearer makes an investigator's papers for Call of Cthulhu and any 1920s or 1930s tabletop campaign: the passport a consul would have filled in, with the visas and frontier stamps a campaign leaves in it, and the permits, certificates and tickets of the period, to print or to share.
An example
Open this example in the office
The paper
| Offered | from 21 October 1920 |
| Printed in | English |
| Sheets | 1 |
| How it is known | read off a document of the period |
Parts reconstructed
- the Sovereign's pronoun: the form of 1848 reads 'Her Majesty', and a warrant of 1920 to 1939 is set in 'His Majesty's' name; the layout is ours
The same paper elsewhere
Still to be confirmed
- the forms of the Act of 1848 governed the warrants of the period with the amendments made since, which have not been found. What would settle it: a warrant to apprehend of 1920 to 1939.
- England and Wales. What would settle it: nothing: a choice of scope.
Sources
- Parliament of the United Kingdom; text at legislation.gov.uk, Indictable Offences Act, 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 42), Schedule, Form (B.): Warrant to apprehend a Person charged with an indictable Offence, To the Constable of … and to all other Peace Officers in the said [County] of …; Whereas A.B. of … [Labourer] hath this Day been charged upon Oath before the undersigned, [One] of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace in and for the said County of …, for that he on … at … did [stating shortly the Offence]: These are therefore to command you, in Her Majesty's Name, forthwith to apprehend the said A.B., and to bring him before [me], or some other of Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace in and for the said [County], to answer unto the said Charge, and to be further dealt with according to Law. Given under my Hand and Seal, this … Day of … in the Year of our Lord … at … in the [County] aforesaid. J.S. (L.S.) (read directly)
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