VII. CLERKS OF THE PEACE.
The Office of Clerk of the Peace did not exist in Dover until the new Commission of the Peace was issued in the summer of 1836. The preparation for proceedings in the Dover Courts was anciently arranged by the Bailiffs, and, later, by the Clerks to the Mayor and Jurats. Since the date of the new Commission only three Clerks of the Peace have been appointed : —
1. George William Ledger was appointed Clerk of the Peace in 1836, and he continued to hold the office until the first week of January, 1879, when his death occurred at Boulogne, where he had resided some years. For a long time he had taken no active part in Dover affairs, and for nearly twenty years his Deputy Clerk of the Peace had been Mr. Wollaston Knocker, Town Clerk.
2. Thomas Lewis, solicitor, of Castle Street, son of Mr. Lewis, surgeon, of Snargate Street, was elected Clerk of the Peace by the Town Council on the 30th January, 1879. The filling of the vacancy caused some keen interest, because parties in the Council were then nearly evenly divided, and the Town Clerk having been many years acting as Deputy, there was a strong party in favour of his having the office, but after all possible supporters had been brought up on the day of election, it was found that the show of hands would be in favour of Mr. Lewis, therefore opposition was abandoned, and Mr. Lewis was elected unanimously. Mr. Lewis was at that time a Town Councillor, but he, by accepting this office, vacated his seat automatically. He discharged the duties of his new post with great credit until his death, which occurred on the loth February, 1908, in the thirtieth year of holding the office.
3. Mr. Ernest Pain, a Dover solicitor, had, for several years been in partnership with Mr. Lewis, and although there were other Dover soliritors qualified and willing to accept the office, the Town Council concluded that the best tribute that they could pay to the memory of Mr. Thomas Lewis, who, for his good works, was highly esteemed in the Borough, was to allow the appointment to go to Mr. Ernest Pain, his partner, who was then unanimously elected, and is the present Clerk of the Peace.