The article examines the work of Northumberland and Cumberland local government in 1528-1536. It was a very eventful period in the history of the royal policy in relation to Anglo-Scottish borderlands. It included the restoration of the power of aristocratic families of Percy and Dacre, war with Scotland, removing of William, Lord Dacre from the post of Warden of the West Marches. These events influenced the work of commissions of the peace, the backbone of Tudor local government. The subject of this article is to study changes in the personnel and the scope of the commission of the peace of Northumberland and Cumberland. It follows from our analysis that the number of justices of the peace rose to 36-39 in Northumberland and to 25-31 in Cumberland. There were different groups in the commission of the peace: officers of the central and border administration, justices of assizes and local nobility and gentry. The members of Duke of Richmond’s Council included a significant part of justices of the peace. The personnel of peace commission demonstrated the strong positions of Henry Percy, the 6th Earl of Northumberland and his entourage not only in Northumberland, but also in Cumberland. William, Lord Dacre, didn’t acquire the same degree of authority and influence as his father, Thomas, Lord Dacre of Gillsland. The predominance of non-locals in the commissions of the peace of border shires lead to the scarcity of justices who could attend sessions and deal with local problems on a regular basis. Our research shows that the changes in royal policy in relation to methods of government of borderlands did not modify the ultimate characteristics of local commissions of the peace: irregularity of renewal, scarcity of local personnel among justices of the peace, a lot of justices who were named to the commissions of the peace from other shires and central administration.
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