Report of Robert Marsham, Recorder of Rochester on 1 collective petition (2 people,...

Report of Robert Marsham, Recorder of Rochester on 1 collective petition (2 people, the prosecutor and his wife) on behalf of Richard Lovegrove, lance corporal in the 66th Regiment, convicted at the Rochester Guildhall General Quarter Sessions on the 21 January 1822 for the theft of 2 promissory notes of £20 each from the dwelling house/Fort Pett Barracks in Manchester, the property of James McCurran, private in the 66th Regiment, and his wife Elizabeth on 3 October 1821. There is a copy of the indictment and verdict; covering letters from George Maule of Lincoln's Inn and F Pratt of Rochester; a copy of the attorney and solicitor general's opinion - the conviction was unsound as the barracks was not a dwelling house. Grounds for clemency: the prisoner had served in the army for 18 years, there is a dispute as to whether the barracks, from which the theft took place, was in fact a dwelling house. Initial sentence: death. Recommendation: reference to the law officers for a ruling on whether the barracks was a dwelling house Annotated: 'Feb 2 1822, To be Transported for 7 years'. Folios 1-12.