1776 11 04 : Court witness affidavits. Illegally hunting rabbits.

Update on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 6:58PM by Petra Mitchinson

04 Nov 1776. COURT WITNESS AFFIDAVITS. ILLEGALLY HUNTING RABBITS. Neat and clean court affidavits and sentence recommendations relating to a court hearing. WESTRAY of Edenhall and SIMPSON and PATTINSON of Langwathby, Cumbria, using dogs illegally to hunt Conies (rabbits) at Edenhall Warren. Dear Sir I think by the State. 22. & 23. C : 2. C : 25. The WESTRA’s should be imprisoned for three Months and then find Sureties for their good abearing. If any Justice will take upon him to admit them to Bail within the three Months, he will consider whether the Law authorizes him to do so or not, and he is to Judge of the sufficiency of the Bail. Mr. DACRE about Janry. 1775. committed a person to Gaol for the like offence in Lord CARLISLE’s warrant. The prisoner applied at Easter Sessions thereafter to be discharged, I opposed, and he was remanded for want of Sureties. At the Assizes 1775. he came before Mr. Justice GOULD and prayed to be discharged which was opposed by Council, unless he found Sureties, but the Judge discharged him and seemed to treat the word abearing Slightly. You’l please to Sign and send Mr. FERGUSON’s admittance, you know I kept the Court only as your Friend, or Clerk, and I can’t therefore Sign the admittance as Steward or say it is a true Copy of the Court Rolls which I never saw. I am Dr. Sir Your much oblig’d Hble Servt. [signed] Stuart Ja GRAHAM Carlisle 4th. Novr. 1776. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cumberland. The Information of Thomas LEWIS of Penrith Cordwainer Who upon his oath sayith, that on Sunday the 29th of September last betwixt the hours of one & two in the morning, he saw Philip WESTRAY of Edenhall taylor, and Paul PATTINSON of Langwathby shoemaker, chacing with two Dogs the Conies in a Warren call’d Edenhall Warren, lawfully kept for breeding and keeping of Conies, and that they continued chacing for above an hour in the said Warren, and that this informant lay behind a Wall watching them, and that after he had seen them chacing in the said Warren for some time he went up, & spoke to them, & ask’d them what they what they were doing, that they replied that they had as much business there as he had, and that this informant saw a bag or sack in the hands of the said Paul PATTINSON, & that he desir’d to see what was in the bag or sack, that they were unwilling at first to let him see but at last consented & that this informant found therein three Conies & that one of them was not dead & that they said they were not content with these three, but wou’d have two or three more before they got home. Sworn Octor. 8th 1776. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cumberland. The Information of Thomas LEWIS of Penrith Cordwainer Who upon his oath saith that on Monday the first of October 1776 about nine of the clock in the evening, he saw Philip WESTRAY of Edenhall taylor, & John SIMPSON of Langwathby farmer chacing a Conie or Conies in a Warren called Edenhall Warren lawfully kept for the breeding and keeping of Conies and that they continued there with three Dogs, two of them lurchers for above the space of half an hour, and that at last this informant went up to them with one Richard HOGG of Edenhall waller, & that he ask’d them, what right they had there, & that Philip WESTRAY replied that he had more business there than he had for that he had call legates there & that this informant suspecting that they had Conies conceal’d in their aprons, insisted upon seeing whether they had or not, and that after some resistance they were oblig’d to consent, to let this informant examine whether they had or not, and that upon examination, he found one Conie in the Apron of Philip WESTRAY & also another in the apron of John SIMPSON & that John SIMPSON said he came there to kill Conies & that was his business at that time. Sworn Octor. 8th 1776.