Report of William Henry Ashhurst on 2 individual petitions (Joseph Elliot, corn inspector,...

Report of William Henry Ashhurst on 2 individual petitions (Joseph Elliot, corn inspector, master and partner of prisoner; and J.H. Brown, chaplain) and 1 collective petition described as a certificate of character (106 people, including the minister, churchwardens, overseers and inhabitants of Fakenham in Norfolk) on behalf of John Wright, journeyman, tried initially at Norfolk Assizes in July 1795, deferred to Norfolk Lent Assizes at Thetford in March 1796, for stealing some silver plate (spoons and salvers) from the dwelling house of Daniel Jones, on 29 June 1795. There are letters from the Marquis Townsend, William Stokes, and Daniel Jones - a long and detailed "memorial" stating why Wright is guilty. Grounds for clemency: youth (22 years), has an elderly mother, previous good character, an impulse of the moment, no force or aggravation used, sentence too severe and 1 year already spent awaiting sentence. Initial sentence: death, commuted to transportation to life. Recommendation: 1 years solitary confinement to hard labour in the Wimondham [Wymondham] House of Correction. Folios 339-354.