His immediate ancestors had been constables of the kingdom of Cyprus for the Venetian republic since 1464.
In general, each county has from three to seven commissioners - the number is fixed by county laws - elected on a general ticket of each county for a term of from two to six years, entrusted with the charge and control of property owned by the county, empowered to appoint constables, judges of elections, collectors of taxes, trustees of the poor, and road supervisors, to levy taxes, to revise taxable valuations of real property, and open or close public roads.
It became desirable that the horse patrol and constables allotted to the several.
The proportion of police constables to the inhabitants is one to 436.
This state of affairs appears to have continued until the accession of James I., and in 1595 the bailiff and constables of Hexham were removed as being "infected with combination and toleration of thieves."
