Report of Richard Perryn on 1 collective petition (the prosecutor, Charles Lucas,...

Report of Richard Perryn on 1 collective petition (the prosecutor, Charles Lucas, brother of prosecutor and Hopkins, a local Chaplain) on behalf of James Eyres, an old man, convicted at the Buckinghamshire Assizes at Aylesbury, on 15 October 1794, for stealing 2 wether sheep property of Edward Monday Lucas, at Hulcot, on 14 October 1794. The prisoner was accompanied by a man called Heard, who had since died, the two men described as a 'Gypsies or Egyptians'. There is a note that a Mr King called upon Richard Perryn, annotated 'let a general respite be sent' and 'he [the prisoner] cannot be transported'. Grounds for clemency: prisoner did not butcher the sheep but found them when he came to get straw for bedding, the mutton being hidden in a haycock. Initial sentence: death. Recommendation: speaks against mercy. Folios 30-34.