Report of Joseph Faikney on 1 collective petition (4 people, the prisoners and 2...

Report of Joseph Faikney on 1 collective petition (4 people, the prisoners and 2 sheriffs) on behalf of William Wade and John Groome, convicted at the Middlesex Quarter Sessions[?] at Clerkenwell, on 9 December 1782, by Mr Mainwaring, for fraudulently obtaining 2/- from Elizabeth Lloyd by means of a 'stale trick' of having found a ring of great value. It was a crime so common that the bench thought necessary to award a severe sentence which had the desired effect. Grounds for clemency: Wade - has no financial assistance apart from the gaol allowance, has been seriously ill for the past 7 months, is near to death and he has recently buried his wife leaving 7 children behind, few months ago buried an aged father at Oakham in the County of Rutland and now has become an heir of the estate, which will provide an income of £15 per annum, much needed to alleviate the distress for want he and his motherless children face, is a gardener by profession and had served several families of distinction with the strictest integrity - Groome, struck by a painful illness lies in the Newgate Infirmary (has been ill for 12 months, under the care of Dr Oney and is declared incurable by him, he has nearly lost his speech, as well the use of his limbs and now has to walk on crutches, without some speedy relief the prisoner will loose his life, he also has a wife and child in Norwich, very ill and in great distress; both have been in Newgate for 2 years and have suffered sufficient punishment for their crime. Initial sentence: 7 years transportation to Africa. Recommendation: mercy.

Folios 237-239.