Sheep Stealing 1770's

[Eden66]

Hello ,
I found an interesting  court report  from Shrewsbury Chronicle  of 6 Aug  1774  which stated -

"At Hereford Assize which ended on wednesday , the four following  received sentence of death , but were afterwards reprieved - viz George Bickerton , LITTLETON LEWIS , MILBOROUGH WILLIAMS and William Rixton Evans .
David Williams for stealing a wain rope and John Delahay for stealing a watch and money were ordered to be transported for 7yrs - one was burnt in the hand and committed to hard labour for 1yr , 7 were committed for 6 months , 5 discharged by proclamation and 6 acquitted ."

This is a  particularly significant  yet   curious report for me as the named  Littleton Lewis & Milborough Williams are ancestors who went on to marry the following year in May 1775 at Hereford St Peters.
It is evident they were reprieved but i have  found that their co accused Bickerton & Evans were both given 14yrs and transportion  to the America .
I'm not sure what , if any - punishment  Littleton & Milborough actually got but  they were very fortunate  not to  receive the same fate as their fellow lawbreakers - does anyone find this  situation unusual ?
What  might explain the contrasting punishments  or  was this perhaps not uncommon  with this kind of offence ?
I have read that women would be given a stay if they were with child but that would not prevent sentence being carried out afterwards .
It's possible that this might have been the case with Milborough as her first child was bap April 1775 a month before her wedding, however this would not explain the  leniency for her future husband Littleton Lewis .

If anyone has any thoughts or advice on any aspect of this or if you may recognise any of these names i would love to hear from you .

Kind regards

 

[KGarrad]

The Wikipedia entry on Capital Punishment has this to say:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Kingdom

Whilst executions for murder, burglary and robbery were common, the death sentences for minor offenders were often not carried out. A sentence of death could be commuted or respited (permanently postponed) for reasons such as benefit of clergy, official pardons, pregnancy of the offender or performance of military or naval duty. Between 1770 and 1830, an estimated 35,000 death sentences were handed down in England and Wales, but only 7,000 executions were carried out.

[Eden66]

Hi ,
Thanks for your reply -  i can see the case for a stay or reprieve of some kind in regards to pregnancy but that would not account for Littleton Lewis'  reprieve .
There is no indication he was in any kind of military service yet the idea of  "benefit of clergy" is interesting as although i do not believe  my chap was a Churchman himself , he did have a long line of clergy further back in his family .
However - if i understand correctly  the benefit of Clergy  would have been claimed before any  trial in a criminal court ?
Although there were many crimes back then that were captital offenses the vast majority were commuted  , mostly i thought to transportation ....perhaps not .
What intrigues me about this particular  situation is the contrast in punishments - i don't suppose there is a chance of finding a trial record or convict record which might help with further details ?

I looked for any other newspaper report of this case but this is the only record that can come up with .

[Rena]

Hi ,
 the idea of  "benefit of clergy" is interesting as although i do not believe  my chap was a Churchman himself , he did have a long line of clergy further back in his family .
However - if i understand correctly  the benefit of Clergy  would have been claimed before any  trial in a criminal court ?

In those days, the church was the hub of everyday life, giving alms and prayers for the poor, etc. I suspect the parish vicar/priest knew the family and had had a word with the culprit to remind him of the Ten Comandments;  "Thou shalt not steal", and was convinced he had "repented".  Persistent criminals would most certainly be dealt with more severely.   

 Even before we had religion it would be a serious crime to steal from a leader or any member of your own tribe.

[sallyyorks]

The type of crime and any previous convictions would influence the sentence. But it could also be that the reprieved had done a deal and turned informer on their co-accused. Also harsher sentences were given to criminals who were considered to be ringleaders and in charge of a criminal gang.


Transportation to America would soon end at this date