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Item
Prisoner name: John Coles, aged 18. [John Pring and Edward Gibbon also mentioned.]....
Catalogue reference: HO 18/166/22
What’s it about?
This record is about the Prisoner name: John Coles, aged 18. [John Pring and Edward Gibbon also mentioned.].... dating from 1845 in the series Home Office: Criminal Petitions, Series II. It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
Is it available online?
Yes, this record is available from a third party. Alternatively, you can view it online for free at The National Archives. How to view it.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- HO 18/166/22
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Date (When the record was created)
- 1845
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Description (What the record is about)
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Prisoner name: John Coles, aged 18. [John Pring and Edward Gibbon also mentioned.].
Court and Date of Trial: Monmouth Lent Assizes, 1845.
Crime: Rape.
Initial sentence: Transportation for life.
Gaoler's Report: Coles and Gibbon convicted before.
Outcome: Transportation 7 years.
Petitions and letters: Sworn statement from July 1845 by Hugh Price, aged 16, stating the Prosecutrix twice went with Price behind a hay stack and he had carnal knowledge of her with her permission for the price of some coal.
Many sworn statements, witnessed by John Dowling, Mayor of Newport, testifying to the loose character of the Prosecutrix and the many men she went with. Testimony is from, among others, Henry Frances, Mary Ann Hughes, Thomas Coes, Thomas Lewis, Keziah Jones, and Isaac Davies - 11 testimonies in all.
Letter to H Manners Sutton, MP from Frederick Pollock, the Judge, who felt, after reading all the testimony collected after the trial, that the prisoners did act with violence against the Prosecutrix, but as she is of loose character, their sentences should be commuted to Transportation for 7 years.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
- 166/22
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Coal
- Crime
- Sex and gender
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C20875921/
How to order it
- View this record page in our current catalogue
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Series information
HO 18
Home Office: Criminal Petitions, Series II
See the series level description for more information about this record.
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You are currently looking at the item: HO 18/166/22
Prisoner name: John Coles, aged 18. [John Pring and Edward Gibbon also mentioned.]....
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