Report of John William Rose, Recorder of London, on 1 collective petition (3 people,...

Report of John William Rose, Recorder of London, on 1 collective petition (3 people, the Lord Mayor and 2 sheriffs) and 1 individual petition (prisoner) on behalf of Boys Err Burrill, watchmaker, convicted (with William Ives) at the Old Bailey on 30 May 1781, for a highway robbery armed with a cutlass and stealing 1d, property of Robert Johnson, on 6 May 1781. Ives has since been executed. John Stunnel and Francis Grey, who were both executed around August 1782 following Ives' execution, declared that Ives had been innocent of the crime, and that they had robbed Robert Johnson. Burrill had been held in Newgate until it was destroyed in riots, when he was moved to Clerkenwell, from which he escaped using a bricklayer's ladder. He later gave himself up on 13 June 1789 and was remanded in prison. Evidences supplied by George Macauley, Robert Johnson, Mrs Johnson, Henry Higgs, servant to a bricklayer; John Kipping' constable; Jonathan Redgrave, constable; Ann Collett and John Roberts. There is also a covering letter, and a letter of thanks for a pardon, from Boys Err Burrill. Grounds for clemency: youth (18 years at the time of the crime), previous good character, innocent of the crime and is a victim of mistaken identity, when escaped from prison he offered no violence to anyone, since his escape has worked hard and industriously, voluntarily gave himself up and he has the support of the Lord Mayor and the sheriffs, his wife is ill and 3 of their children have died, and his wife, 2 children and elderly mother all depend on him for their support. Initial sentence: death, but respited in July 1781, then escaped. Recommendation: free pardon.

Folios 242-252.