Prisoner name(s): Joseph Preston. Prisoner occupation: Owner of the Lloyd Alehouse...

Prisoner name(s): Joseph Preston.

Prisoner occupation: Owner of the Lloyd Alehouse at Hanley, Staffordshire.

Court and date of trial: [Court not stated. September 1827].

Crime: Rape (incest). The prisoner was convicted of raping his 13 year old daughter, Ann Preston, at the 1824 corn harvest and his 11 year old daughter, Mary Preston, at the 1826 hay harvest.

Initial sentence: Death sentence.

Annotated (Outcome): Nil.

Petitioner(s): Two petitions from Thomas Bowers (a clerk of the prisoner's attorney) on behalf of John Preston (prisoner's son) of Court House Green near Coventry.

Two copies of the petition from nine inhabitants of Court House Green, Foleshill Parish near Coventry.

Grounds for clemency (Petition Details): The prisoner's conviction was heavily reliant on the medical examiner's evidence that Ann and Mary Preston were infected with venereal disease, which they were not suffering from when they ran away from the prisoner in February 1827; Ann and Mary Preston spoke well of their father and displayed no symptoms of the disease during their stay at Court House Green; Ann Preston pretended that her father was dead, stole from her master and behaved like a whore during her time at Court House Green; both sisters had difficulty remembering when the rapes had occurred and claimed an impossible means for silencing their cries for help; Ann Preston did not speak of her rape for three years; Mary Preston did not speak of her rape for 13 months; the prisoner's other children share a bed with Ann and Mary, but were not called to corroborate the rape accusations at the trial; if Ann and Mary Preston had consented to intercourse with the prisoner it is not a capital offence because both children are over 10 years' old; the prisoner kindly performed the duties of father and mother to his children because his wife frequently cohabited with other men.

Other papers: Affidavit of Robert Crew a plumber, glazier and painter of Stafford, Staffordshire.

Affidavit of Robert Jones, the constable of Stafford, Staffordshire.

Affidavit of William Grattage a cordwainer of Stafford, Staffordshire.

Affidavit of Joseph Spilsbury a cordwainer of Forebridge, Castle Church Parish, Staffordshire.

Letter from Baron Vaughan (trial judge) at Gloucester, [Gloucestershire] stating his belief in the prisoner's guilt.

Additional Information: The prisoner was incarcerated in Clerkenwell Gaol and awaited execution in Stafford Gaol.

Lord Talbot the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire attended the prisoner's trial and was convinced of his guilt.