Report of John William Rose, Recorder of London, on 1 collective petition (19 people,...

Report of John William Rose, Recorder of London, on 1 collective petition (19 people, including the prisoners, rector, church wardens, overseers and others of St. Lukes in Middlesex and Southwark in Surrey) on behalf of George Hooker, weaver, and Thomas Bates, smith, convicted for assaulting and wounding David Richards/Prichards with cutlasses, with intent to rob him in Well Street, Cripplegate, London, in 1785. Currently both on the hulks at Woolwich. Evidences supplied by David Richards/Pritchards, Thomas Bell, victualler; Ann Bell, David Jenkins, turnkey of the Borough Compter and Susannah Humphries. The judge queries some of the grounds claimed for clemency in the petition. Grounds for clemency: prisoners are from respectable families, innocent of the crime, only arrested a week after the crime because of a likeness to the description given of the criminals, it was dark when the crime was committed (making identification difficult), 2 other men (William Oliver and Edward Fox alias Jagger) who have subsequently suffered execution had confessed to this crime before their deaths, victims of mistaken identity and already suffered 4 years hard labour. Initial sentence: transportation to Africa for 7 years. Recommendation: to find 2 sureties in £100 each for good behaviour for the remainder of their sentences.

Folios 228-231.