Prisoner name: John Shaw. Court and date of trial: Old Bailey April Sessions 1829....

Prisoner name: John Shaw.

Court and date of trial: Old Bailey April Sessions 1829.

Crime: Housebreaking - the house of Matthew Milton of Hillingdon, Middlesex, stealing sundry articles.

Initial sentence: Death.

Annotated: Considered at Report in Council 13 May 1829. 'Let the law take its course as to Shaw but look at the case of his wife who is transported. Was her conviction legal?'

Petitioner(s): Two petitions from the convict, one signed by 11 people of Cowley, Hillingdon, and other areas, with eight character references.

Grounds for clemency: He did not enter the house where the robbery was committed; first offence; wife, [Esther Shaw] and child already transported for this offence; aged mother 'at the point of death'; induced by William Tutton, Alexander Britt and Joseph Burnham to commit the crime but Shaw stayed outside; he received only three shillings and a sheet which he pawned from the crime; Shaw offered to give evidence to the police against the other three; previous good characters of himself and his wife; he was a dupe of others.

Other papers: A letter from the convict to Mr Milton, prosecutor, with details of a break in which took place in June 1828. A letter from Jonathan Wontner of the Old Bailey forwarding the above to Mr Capper. A letter from Arthur Cooper asking for mitigation of the sentence to transportation or life. 27 people of Hillingdon certifying Shaw's good character. James Williams and [Eldridge], Constable of Drayton, certifying Shaw's good character. Certificate of good character signed by Gustavus Arabin, Justice of the Peace for Middlesex. Certificate of good character sworn under oath by Joseph Allen, farmer of Hillingdon, Middlesex. Mr Sherriff Copeland forwarding the above.

Additional Information: In Newgate.