Report of William Mainwaring, Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the County of...

Report of William Mainwaring, Chairman of the Quarter Sessions for the County of Middlesex on 2 collective petitions (54 people, mostly from Holborn and Clerkenwell, Middlesex and 117 people of Hull, [Yorkshire]) on behalf of Theophilus Mitchell, convicted at Clerkenwell on 4 July 1812 of fraud by leaving a bill of exchange for £30 with Julia Bates against a loan of 5/-, the bill of exchange being false. Evidences supplied by Julia Bates, wife of John Bates and John Warren, officer. (There was a second charge against the prisoner of falsely obtaining furniture and goods (all listed), value approx £100, property of Samuel Dixon, cabinet maker of which he was acquitted on a 'point of law'). There is a detailed statement of the case. Grounds for clemency: has training as a surgeon, the crime was aggravated by his education and situation did not intend to commit a fraud, the prisoner has acknowledged his faults and is overwhelmed with grief. Initial sentence: 7 years transportation. Recommendation: speaks very strongly against mercy because of 'artful concealment of the important facts which induced the court to pass sentence' and 'The whole is a striking instance how improperly recommendations and numerous signatures may be obtained'. Folios 219-230.