1 individual petition (prisoner, and undersigned by jurymen, friends, solicitors,...

1 individual petition (prisoner, and undersigned by jurymen, friends, solicitors, mercantile gentlemen, tradesmen of Mitcham Grove and prosecutors of Fleet Street) on behalf of William Christmas, 29 years, clerk in Banking House, convicted at the Old Bailey, for embezzling exchequer bills, value £1,000, property of his late employers, Messrs Hoare, bankers of Fleet Street.

• There is also a letter from Joseph Hume, relative of the prisoner, asking the fate of the prisoner and enclosing statement on his behaviour (including a note).
• A letter from Benjamin Hobhouse of Whitton Park, Hounslow to his cousin, A Hobhouse regarding his intervention on Mr Christmas's behalf.
• A letter from Francis Place of Charing Cross regarding Mr Christmas's wish not to be treated a vulgar common thief on voyage to New South Wales, has presented case to Sir Benjamin Hobhouse in the hope he will influence A Hobhouse at the Treasury to use his influence on prisoner's behalf.
• Two statements detailing case.
• A letter from William Christmas to H Capper enclosing a copy of the petition for inspection and asks for it to be circulated amongst his friends.

Grounds for clemency: previous good character as verified at trial by Mr Hoare; strongly recommended to mercy by the jury who tried him; contrition - believes sentence is just, will make atonement; highly respectable and Christian parents; has brought shame on himself which is punishment enough; possesses delicate constitution and needs air and exercise; worked for Mr Hoare in a confidential situation for 14 years and was always trustworthy; led astray by widow of an officer who was client of Messrs Hoare who seduced him into marriage and turned out to be a woman of extravagant tastes and abandoned principles; led astray by John Turner Watts, a stockbroker, thinking he could overcome the consequences of his wife's imprudence, but this only led him deeper into debt and then into crime. Initial sentence: 14 years transportation, held in Newgate gaol. Annotated: will be kept on the hulks thus delaying transportation and the report from the captain of the hulk will be considered in the usual way. EL17

References and Date

Topics

Labour

Marriage and divorce

Transportation

Australia and Pacific

Debt

Pardons

Crime

Banking

Prisons