Edmund Newton, a weaver from Hadfield in Derbyshire, had been taken up as part of the 'Manchester 38' in Manchester on 11th June 1812. At the trial of the '38' at Lancaster Summer Assizes in August 1812, he had been acquitted of being present at the administration of an illegal oath, but was immediately re-arrested on similar charges.
After 9 months in Lancaster Castle, it was now his turn to stand trial at the Lent Assizes, which commenced on Saturday 20th March 1813. He was charged with administering an illegal oath to James Lawton at Hadfield, but the prosecution was not proceeded with. As was customary, the newspapers of the day rarely featured the trials of those acquitted or otherwise discharged, and so we do not have any further details, and there are no papers in the Home Office archive.
Details of the charges against Newton are in the Lancaster Gazette of 20th March 1813, and the result in the 27th March 1813 edition.
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