County Hall Nottm March 1st 1817
My Lord
It is with considerable regret that we hear that His Majesty's Government have determined to adjourn the Assize usually held at the County Hall at the Town of Nottingham to Newark.—We apprehend that this measure will have a very bad effect upon the public mind, that it will be regarded by the Discontented and Disaffected as an acknowledgemt of the weakness of the Civil Power and be looked upon as an act of pusillanimity, at a moment when firmness and energy are peculiarly required.—We beg your Lordship to recollect that every attempt to break the Peace in this County has been instantly repulsed; and that although many nocturnal and secret Outrages have been committed, that no rising of a Mob, or attempt to resist the Civil Power, has taken place since the year 1812. We must also bring your Lordship’s mind, that although some disturbance was observed in the Court at the last Assizes, the Magistrates had no suspicion of any riotous proceedings being likely to take place: nor had they any notion that a Trial of so much interest or that the [illegible] in the Court, would have been proceeded upon in the night.
The Magistrates are now fully prepared; and if His Majesty's Ministers, upon mature consideration, should be induced to alter their determination, there have no doubt, in conjunction with the High Sheriff, of being able to preserve the peace,—and even of preventing any alarm during the ensuing Assizes for this County.
I have the honour to be, My Lord,
Your Lordships most obedt Servt
W: Sherbrooke
Chairman.—
[Home Office note on the reverse]
Lord Sidmouth
[Acquaint] Him that upon full [consideration] of the Representations [which] have been made to Lord [Sidmouth] from various [quarters]—it has been deemed Expedient that the approaching Assizes for the [County] of [Nottingham] [should] be held at the Town of [Nottingham] as heretofore:
Showing posts with label william sherbrooke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label william sherbrooke. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 March 2017
Sunday, 26 February 2017
26th February 1817: Henry Enfield expresses concern about the proposal to move the Nottinghamshire Assizes to Newark
Nottingham 26th February 1817.
Sir
The Magistrates of Nottingham at a full Meeting held this morning, have received with great regret the Communication made to me officially by Mr. Lowndes, that the ensuing Assizes for the County of Nottingham are to be held at Newark.—
If this extraordinary step be taken, in consequence of an alarm excited by what passed, or by what was said to be in meditation at the last County Assizes, it will be likely to cast an Imputation upon the Civil Authorities, and may tend to prejudice them in the public mind.
The Mayor and Aldermen do not know whether the Magistrates of the County intend to make an application upon the subject His Majesty's Government.—but under the first Impulse and in the Confidence that they shall not be misconstrued, they desire me to proffer their personal Services, and the whole of their Civil Force, to secure, in co-operation with the County strength, the preservation of the peace throughout the Assizes—of the certain power of maintaining Tranquillity and good order, proper pre-arrangements having been adopted, no fair doubt can be entertained.—
The Care of the peace whilst the Assizes were holding in the County Hall has been exclusively with the County Police—Perhaps real advantage would accrue, if the County and the Town Magistrates were to unite their forces for this purpose, upon a concerted plan previously to each Assizes.—
I am,
Sir,
your most obedt hble Servant.
[H Enfield Town Clerk]
[To] W. Sherbrooke Esq
&c
Sir
The Magistrates of Nottingham at a full Meeting held this morning, have received with great regret the Communication made to me officially by Mr. Lowndes, that the ensuing Assizes for the County of Nottingham are to be held at Newark.—
If this extraordinary step be taken, in consequence of an alarm excited by what passed, or by what was said to be in meditation at the last County Assizes, it will be likely to cast an Imputation upon the Civil Authorities, and may tend to prejudice them in the public mind.
The Mayor and Aldermen do not know whether the Magistrates of the County intend to make an application upon the subject His Majesty's Government.—but under the first Impulse and in the Confidence that they shall not be misconstrued, they desire me to proffer their personal Services, and the whole of their Civil Force, to secure, in co-operation with the County strength, the preservation of the peace throughout the Assizes—of the certain power of maintaining Tranquillity and good order, proper pre-arrangements having been adopted, no fair doubt can be entertained.—
The Care of the peace whilst the Assizes were holding in the County Hall has been exclusively with the County Police—Perhaps real advantage would accrue, if the County and the Town Magistrates were to unite their forces for this purpose, upon a concerted plan previously to each Assizes.—
I am,
Sir,
your most obedt hble Servant.
[H Enfield Town Clerk]
[To] W. Sherbrooke Esq
&c
Friday, 4 November 2016
[4th] November 1816: William Sherbrooke responds to General Fane's denial of troops for Nottinghamshire
Oxton November 1816—
Sir,
I have this moment the honor of your letter, which I shall have an opportunity of laying before the Magistrates assembled in Sessions on Monday next. The Magistrates requested that a small Military Guard might be placed in the House of Industry, as they had reason to apprehend that an attack would be made upon it, they had previously sworn in a great number of Special Constables, in the Parishes of Basford and Bulwell; on the confines of which it is placed; but so remote from the Villages, that there was a reason to apprehend that the Building might be demolished before an adequate Civil force could be collected: a Special Constable is always in the House & there are Magistrates within a few Miles who would attend with all possible expedition upon the first alarm—
The Military force was requested as an auxiliary to, not as a substitute for the civil Power.—The Watch and Ward Act will be put in force on Saturday next which I hope will prevent the Nocturnal Meetings of the Depredators & that a Military Guard will no longer be no longer necessary—I must take this opportunity Sir, of requesting your attention to a point of Law in which I have reason to believe that I differ (tho’ with great deference) from your opinion & that of the Secretary of State I apprehend that according to the Constitution of this Country, every Man is enjoyned whatever his profession to be aiding, assisting & abetting in taking any Person in the commission of a felony & that when he is so employed he is protected by law the same as a Constable performing his duty
The Outrages committed in this District are Felonies and Burglaries & the Persons perpetrating them, meeting in the night with faces blacked & fire Arms differ in Crime & every material effect from a Mob assembled some political purpose or to remedy some Fancied grievance. My opinion is that if Soldiers are sent by the Civil Power to defend the Bank of England, a House of Industry, or any other Building, that they are as guiltless of Blood, upon resisting an attack as a Constable would be in firing upon any Person in the Act of destroying a Building, every other means of resistance having been previously & in vain resorted to; & tho’ no man can more highly appreciate the wholesome Laws & regulations which preserve a Constitutional Controul over the Military by the Civil Power yet I am unacquainted with any law that can prevent the Soldier from making every exertion to save the life & protect the property of his fellow Subjects—I cannot conclude Sir, without offering you my personal thanks to not withdrawing the Guard before you had a communication with the Magistrates, although the measure did not meet your approbation.
I have the honor &c
W. Sherbrooke
To
Major Genl Fane &c &c—
Sir,
I have this moment the honor of your letter, which I shall have an opportunity of laying before the Magistrates assembled in Sessions on Monday next. The Magistrates requested that a small Military Guard might be placed in the House of Industry, as they had reason to apprehend that an attack would be made upon it, they had previously sworn in a great number of Special Constables, in the Parishes of Basford and Bulwell; on the confines of which it is placed; but so remote from the Villages, that there was a reason to apprehend that the Building might be demolished before an adequate Civil force could be collected: a Special Constable is always in the House & there are Magistrates within a few Miles who would attend with all possible expedition upon the first alarm—
The Military force was requested as an auxiliary to, not as a substitute for the civil Power.—The Watch and Ward Act will be put in force on Saturday next which I hope will prevent the Nocturnal Meetings of the Depredators & that a Military Guard will no longer be no longer necessary—I must take this opportunity Sir, of requesting your attention to a point of Law in which I have reason to believe that I differ (tho’ with great deference) from your opinion & that of the Secretary of State I apprehend that according to the Constitution of this Country, every Man is enjoyned whatever his profession to be aiding, assisting & abetting in taking any Person in the commission of a felony & that when he is so employed he is protected by law the same as a Constable performing his duty
The Outrages committed in this District are Felonies and Burglaries & the Persons perpetrating them, meeting in the night with faces blacked & fire Arms differ in Crime & every material effect from a Mob assembled some political purpose or to remedy some Fancied grievance. My opinion is that if Soldiers are sent by the Civil Power to defend the Bank of England, a House of Industry, or any other Building, that they are as guiltless of Blood, upon resisting an attack as a Constable would be in firing upon any Person in the Act of destroying a Building, every other means of resistance having been previously & in vain resorted to; & tho’ no man can more highly appreciate the wholesome Laws & regulations which preserve a Constitutional Controul over the Military by the Civil Power yet I am unacquainted with any law that can prevent the Soldier from making every exertion to save the life & protect the property of his fellow Subjects—I cannot conclude Sir, without offering you my personal thanks to not withdrawing the Guard before you had a communication with the Magistrates, although the measure did not meet your approbation.
I have the honor &c
W. Sherbrooke
To
Major Genl Fane &c &c—
Saturday, 29 October 2016
29th October 1816: William Sherbrooke tells the Home Secretary that martial law is needed in Nottingham
Sessions Room Shire Hall Nottingham
29th Octr 1816
My Lord
The Magistrates conceive that the Orders under which the Military stationed in this District are acting, are perfectly constitutional and correct as far as regards common Riots and Commotions, and that the Military force should act in aid of the civil power, but never be substituted for it—The Magistrates beg to represent to your Lordship that the Outrages committed in this County are of a different nature from common riots, that persons meet together resembling an armed Banditti, rather than a Mob for the purpose of committing Felonies and Burglaries—
There are some villages within half a mile of the Barracks (near Nottingham) where Outrages of this nature are apprehended, and from the Orders that the Military now receive, they cannot move from the Barracks, altho’ the Felonies and Burglaries should be committing in their Sight unless a Magistrate is with them to give Orders, consequently the Property might all be destroyed and the Felons dispersed before the nearest Magistrate could possibly be present—
The Magistrates submit to your Lordship the expediency of extending the Orders of the military stationed in this District as far as the Laws of the Country will permit and the present state of the County may seem to require—
I have [etc]
W: Sherbrooke
Chairman
To
The Rt Honble Lord Sidmouth &c &c
29th Octr 1816
My Lord
The Magistrates conceive that the Orders under which the Military stationed in this District are acting, are perfectly constitutional and correct as far as regards common Riots and Commotions, and that the Military force should act in aid of the civil power, but never be substituted for it—The Magistrates beg to represent to your Lordship that the Outrages committed in this County are of a different nature from common riots, that persons meet together resembling an armed Banditti, rather than a Mob for the purpose of committing Felonies and Burglaries—
There are some villages within half a mile of the Barracks (near Nottingham) where Outrages of this nature are apprehended, and from the Orders that the Military now receive, they cannot move from the Barracks, altho’ the Felonies and Burglaries should be committing in their Sight unless a Magistrate is with them to give Orders, consequently the Property might all be destroyed and the Felons dispersed before the nearest Magistrate could possibly be present—
The Magistrates submit to your Lordship the expediency of extending the Orders of the military stationed in this District as far as the Laws of the Country will permit and the present state of the County may seem to require—
I have [etc]
W: Sherbrooke
Chairman
To
The Rt Honble Lord Sidmouth &c &c
Monday, 17 October 2016
17th October 1816: William Sherbrooke tells the Home Secretary that the Poor Law system in Nottinghamshire is in danger of collapse
My Lord
The Letter which I have had the honor to sign as Chairman of the Quarter Sessions at Nottingham & addressed to your Lordship was written in the hurry of business & though your Lordship will better understand the state to which the Parishes in this district are [illegible] to be reduced by a more detailed account.
The Overseers of the Poor give the weekly allowance to the Paupers every Monday & it is probable that upon the very next Monday or some early succeeding one that the Overseer in one or more Parishes may be obliged to say to the persons who came to relief I have no money to pay you,
The smallest number who require relief in any Parish may be stated at three hundred, upon the refusal these persons go to a Magistrates he summons the Overseer who will say & say truly, I have with great difficulty collected the rates for many weeks past I have expended on my own money & I cannot collect any more in the Parish
The Magistrate orders distress upon the Occupiers of Land &c but a process is necessary to be gone through before the corn & other articles can be sold & this will take up many days & the three hundred Paupers say we cannot return to our homes without money to purchase bread for the subsistence of our Families
The Law says that the Magistrates may tax other persons of other Parishes in aid but this requires a longer process & the three hundred Paupers are still at the Magistrates door. No legal recourse resource that I am acquainted with remains. This is no fanciful statement my Lord it would actually have taken place in Sutton some week since had it not been prevented by the active benevolence of the Duke of Portland & I expect that it will take place in the Parish of Arnold & several others. I cannot my Lord contemplate the distress & confusion that must ensue from such an occurrence without feelings that are not to be revisited & I confidently rely upon a remedy being found by your Lordship & his Majesty's Ministers for an evil of such magnitude, it must be immediate to be of any use.
I have the Honor to be
Your Lordships most Obt Sert
W: Sherbrooke
Oxton
near Southwell
Oct: 17=1816
[To] The
Right Honble Lord Sidmouth
The Letter which I have had the honor to sign as Chairman of the Quarter Sessions at Nottingham & addressed to your Lordship was written in the hurry of business & though your Lordship will better understand the state to which the Parishes in this district are [illegible] to be reduced by a more detailed account.
The Overseers of the Poor give the weekly allowance to the Paupers every Monday & it is probable that upon the very next Monday or some early succeeding one that the Overseer in one or more Parishes may be obliged to say to the persons who came to relief I have no money to pay you,
The smallest number who require relief in any Parish may be stated at three hundred, upon the refusal these persons go to a Magistrates he summons the Overseer who will say & say truly, I have with great difficulty collected the rates for many weeks past I have expended on my own money & I cannot collect any more in the Parish
The Magistrate orders distress upon the Occupiers of Land &c but a process is necessary to be gone through before the corn & other articles can be sold & this will take up many days & the three hundred Paupers say we cannot return to our homes without money to purchase bread for the subsistence of our Families
The Law says that the Magistrates may tax other persons of other Parishes in aid but this requires a longer process & the three hundred Paupers are still at the Magistrates door. No legal recourse resource that I am acquainted with remains. This is no fanciful statement my Lord it would actually have taken place in Sutton some week since had it not been prevented by the active benevolence of the Duke of Portland & I expect that it will take place in the Parish of Arnold & several others. I cannot my Lord contemplate the distress & confusion that must ensue from such an occurrence without feelings that are not to be revisited & I confidently rely upon a remedy being found by your Lordship & his Majesty's Ministers for an evil of such magnitude, it must be immediate to be of any use.
I have the Honor to be
Your Lordships most Obt Sert
W: Sherbrooke
Oxton
near Southwell
Oct: 17=1816
[To] The
Right Honble Lord Sidmouth
Saturday, 15 October 2016
15th October 1816: William Sherbrooke writes to the Home Secretary about distress in Nottinghamshire
Nottingham 15th October 1816.
My Lord—
The Magistrates assembled at the Quarter Sessions for the County of Nottingham are induced by the present distressed State of the Country, which is daily increasing to request that your Lordship will lay before His Royal Highness the Prince Regent the humble Address, and the documents which accompany this letter—The Magistrates feel it an imperious duty to state to your Lordship the great danger to be apprehended, in a more advanced state of the Season, from the failure of Parochial Supplies which in some instances has already taken place, and they beg leave to call your Lordship’s attention to the probability of the People, through the wants they are now suffering applying to them very soon in large Bodies, when the overseers can no longer collect money from the Persons paying rates for the sustenance of the Poor—
Under all these circumstances the Magistrates trust your Lordship will call the attention of His Majesty's Government to such alteration in the existing Laws for the maintenance of the Poor as may appear calculated to meet every emergency—They likewise beg leave to communicate to your Lordship that from the disorders which have recently taken place, and which are hourly assuming a more serious Character, they have considered it their duty to take steps for carrying into effect the Provisions of the Watch and Ward Act in those Districts of the County where the greatest disposition to Outrage has been shewn—
The Magistrates also learn from authentic information that the greater part of the Malcontents are possessed of Arms, they consider it therefore proper to state your Lordship that the Military force now quartered in this County would probably not be found sufficient to support the Civil Power in the event of any great degree of Commotion; and as it was found peculiarly useful in 1812, when great Outrages took place, to distribute small detachments of the Military in different parts of the disturbed Districts in aid of the Civil Power, they beg leave to suggest the expediency of resorting to a similar measure at the present moment.
And they fully rely on your Lordship’s support in obtaining a pecuniary relief which may alleviate the suffering already described.
Signed by direction of the Magistrates
W: Sherbrooke
Chairman.
[To] The Right Honorable Lord Sidmouth
Secretary of State &c &c
[Magistrates' address to the Prince Regent follows]
To His Royal Highness the Prince Regent &c.
Sir,
The Magistrates assembled at the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions for the County of Nottingham, deeply impressed with the awful state of the Country, feel it an imperious duty humbly to represent to your Royal Highness, that several Parishes, comprising the whole of the extensive Manufacturing Districts of this County, are so overburdened with Paupers that it is with the greatest difficulty the rates have lately been collected to support the Poor, and as the Occupiers of Land have little to expect from the Harvest, a great part of the Corn being now perishing upon the Ground; there is the greatest reason to apprehend that Maintenance cannot long be found for the numerous applicants, under the existing regulations
The Magistrates find it extremely difficult, consistently with a sense of Justice, to tax other Parishes or Persons in aid of those now oppressed with the burden, and as the most alarming consequences are to be apprehended from the actual failure of the weekly revenue for the Poor, they dutifully submit to your Royal Highness the expediency of an early Parliamentary interference—The Magistrates are solely induced to make this unusual suggestion to your Royal Highness, by the alarming magnitude of the evil, which is more particularly forced upon their attention by daily practice, and upon the most mature consideration they are convinced that a remedy can alone be expected from the wisdom of all your Royal Highness and the other branches of the Legislature.
Signed by direction of the Magistrates—
W: Sherbrooke
Chairman.
My Lord—
The Magistrates assembled at the Quarter Sessions for the County of Nottingham are induced by the present distressed State of the Country, which is daily increasing to request that your Lordship will lay before His Royal Highness the Prince Regent the humble Address, and the documents which accompany this letter—The Magistrates feel it an imperious duty to state to your Lordship the great danger to be apprehended, in a more advanced state of the Season, from the failure of Parochial Supplies which in some instances has already taken place, and they beg leave to call your Lordship’s attention to the probability of the People, through the wants they are now suffering applying to them very soon in large Bodies, when the overseers can no longer collect money from the Persons paying rates for the sustenance of the Poor—
Under all these circumstances the Magistrates trust your Lordship will call the attention of His Majesty's Government to such alteration in the existing Laws for the maintenance of the Poor as may appear calculated to meet every emergency—They likewise beg leave to communicate to your Lordship that from the disorders which have recently taken place, and which are hourly assuming a more serious Character, they have considered it their duty to take steps for carrying into effect the Provisions of the Watch and Ward Act in those Districts of the County where the greatest disposition to Outrage has been shewn—
The Magistrates also learn from authentic information that the greater part of the Malcontents are possessed of Arms, they consider it therefore proper to state your Lordship that the Military force now quartered in this County would probably not be found sufficient to support the Civil Power in the event of any great degree of Commotion; and as it was found peculiarly useful in 1812, when great Outrages took place, to distribute small detachments of the Military in different parts of the disturbed Districts in aid of the Civil Power, they beg leave to suggest the expediency of resorting to a similar measure at the present moment.
And they fully rely on your Lordship’s support in obtaining a pecuniary relief which may alleviate the suffering already described.
Signed by direction of the Magistrates
W: Sherbrooke
Chairman.
[To] The Right Honorable Lord Sidmouth
Secretary of State &c &c
[Magistrates' address to the Prince Regent follows]
To His Royal Highness the Prince Regent &c.
Sir,
The Magistrates assembled at the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions for the County of Nottingham, deeply impressed with the awful state of the Country, feel it an imperious duty humbly to represent to your Royal Highness, that several Parishes, comprising the whole of the extensive Manufacturing Districts of this County, are so overburdened with Paupers that it is with the greatest difficulty the rates have lately been collected to support the Poor, and as the Occupiers of Land have little to expect from the Harvest, a great part of the Corn being now perishing upon the Ground; there is the greatest reason to apprehend that Maintenance cannot long be found for the numerous applicants, under the existing regulations
The Magistrates find it extremely difficult, consistently with a sense of Justice, to tax other Parishes or Persons in aid of those now oppressed with the burden, and as the most alarming consequences are to be apprehended from the actual failure of the weekly revenue for the Poor, they dutifully submit to your Royal Highness the expediency of an early Parliamentary interference—The Magistrates are solely induced to make this unusual suggestion to your Royal Highness, by the alarming magnitude of the evil, which is more particularly forced upon their attention by daily practice, and upon the most mature consideration they are convinced that a remedy can alone be expected from the wisdom of all your Royal Highness and the other branches of the Legislature.
Signed by direction of the Magistrates—
W: Sherbrooke
Chairman.
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