Thus the court of king's bench (curia regis de banco) was founded, and the foundation of the court of common pleas was provided for in one of the articles of Magna Carta.
Its founder was a Norfolk lawyer, William Howard or Haward, who was summoned to parliament as a justice in 1295, being appointed a justice of the common pleas in 1297.
He was a judge of the New Hampshire Court of Common Pleas in 17761 777, a member (and speaker) of the New Hampshire House of Representatives from 1776 until 1782, a member of the state Constitutional Convention of 1778 and of the state Senate in 1784-1785, and in1783-1784was again a member of Congress.
He was a member of Rogers' Rangers in the Seven Years' War, served in the War of Independence, was for several years a member of the New Hampshire legislature, was a delegate to the New Hampshire convention which ratified the Federal constitution, and was a justice of the court of common pleas for his county.
The constitution provides that the terms of supreme and circuit judges shall be such even number of years not less than six as may be prescribed by the legislature - the statutory provision is six years - that of the judges of the common pleas six years, that of the probate judges four years, that of other judges such even number of years not exceeding six as may be prescribed by the legislature - the statutory provision is six years - and that of justices of the peace such even number of years not exceeding four as may be thus prescribed - the statutory provision is four years.
