Report of Beaumont Hotham on 1 individual petition (prisoner) and 1 collective petition/reference...

Report of Beaumont Hotham on 1 individual petition (prisoner) and 1 collective petition/reference (9 people, from Thorndon in Suffolk, including his ex-employer, rector, overseers of the poor and churchwardens) on behalf of Robert Smith, blacksmith's journeyman, indicted (with Samuel ------- and Robert Garratt) at the Essex Spring Assizes at Chelmsford in March 1792, for breaking and entering and stealing a coat and waistcoat, value 10/-, property of Daniel Hall, labourer, on 5 September 1792. Jury reduced the value to 5/- at the judges recommendation. Evidences supplied by Daniel Hall, his wife and a local publican. The judge considered the men to be an organised gang and doubts to reliability of the petition 'I know how easily they [signatures] are obtained on such occasions'. Grounds for clemency: previous good character, first offence, an ex-employer is willing to give him employment and 2 people willing to stand security for the rest of his sentence, has a 'Disconsolate' wife and 3 children, the value was only 5/- (for which 3 men must be punished), and promises his own future reform. Initial sentence: 7 years transportation. Recommendation: speaks against mercy. Folios 228-230.

Topics

Clothing

Labour

Public disorder

Transportation

Children

Pardons

Crime