It was governed by a 'boroughreeve' and two constables elected annually at the court-leet.    From Wordnik.com.  [The English Utilitarians, Volume I.] Reference

In the same year he invented his improved screw-lathe; and in the following year, at the request of the boroughreeve and constables of Manchester, he contrived an oscillating and rotating wet gas meter of a new kind, which enabled them to sell gas by measure.    From Wordnik.com.  [Industrial Biography, Iron Workers and Tool Makers] Reference