E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Lady Magistrate.
Lady Berkley was made by Queen Mary a justice of the peace for Gloucestershire and appointed to the quorum of Suffolk. Lady Berkley sat on the bench at assizes and sessions, girt with a sword. Tony Lumpkin says of Mr. Hardcastle—
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“He’ll persuade you that his mother was an alderman and his aunt a justice of the peace.”—Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer.
