magistrateXXX

A judicial officer responsible for administering local justice, particularly in criminal matters. In nineteenth-century England, magistrates were usually unpaid justices of the peace, often drawn from the landed gentry, while stipendiary magistrates were increasingly appointed in towns. In British India, the East India Company appointed civil servants as magistrates, responsible for criminal justice and, in many districts, police and other administrative functions. After 1858 these functions continued under the Crown.