ROUGH JUSTICE, EXETER, 1841.

 The schooner, the Lady Wright, arrived at Exeter Quay on Thursday 11h November, 1841 with a cargo from Alicante and when the Exeter lumpers (dockers) and pilots got chatting to the crew, they were told a tale of how Mr.Wright, the captain, had behaved with savage cruelty to his cabin-boy, the 14 year old, Henry Payne, 'an acute and intelligent lad'.

The story quickly spread around the Quay and came to the ears of Mr. Sharland, wine merchant, who thought it right to put the matter into the hands of the lawyer, Charles Brutton who took up the case 'with great good feeling' and brought it to court, the Exeter Police Court, at the Guildhall, the following Monday and Captain Wright's cruelties were recounted by young Henry and by other members of the crew, Richards and Ray, and were thus reported in The Western Times of 20th November 1841:

"The boy Payne was employed  on board as cabin-boy and cook.  The first assault on the boy was soon after they were out of sight of land, then the captain, for some trifling neglect, beat him with a rope's end most cruelly.

"The boy also detailed a number of other instances in which the captain had punished him with a severity vastly disproportioned  to the trivial nature of the offence.  In fact, the captain's conduct had inspired him with so so much dread, that on one occasion, when the boy, while the vessel was in harbour at Alicant, had got tipsy with some wine that had been given to him, and fearing the threatened punishment, he jumped overboard, and would have been drowned had he not been rescued by the exertions of Richards.

"It happened on another occasion that the captain caught the boy asleep during the period of his watch which was from one to three in the morning.   For this offense he was slung up by the heels - the boy stated for 5 to 10 minutes - the ropes being belayed to the bulwarks, and while thus suspended, about a yard from the deck, so that neither his arms nor his head could touch, the captain flogged him with a rope's end in such a manner as to raise large weales in several parts of his body as thick as a man's finger. 

"The witness, Richards hearing the boy screeching from below, went on deck to see what was the matter, but was told by the captain that ' if he interfered, he would run a handspike through his b-----y guts.'.  In addition to this infliction, the boy was not allowed to go below from that hour till half past 11 the following night, making altogether nearly 24 hours."

*

The captains's 'punishments'  were defended in court by Mr. Drake but the Exeter magistrates decided that nothing could justify  the cruelty of the last assault and they therefore fined Captain Wright fifty shillings and costs.  

This judgement made me think of the justice administered by the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance in Chapter 4 of Don Quixote of La Mancha for nothing more is written in the newspaper about the future of  Henry Payne and the other crew members who gave evidence.  They presumably were bound to go back to sea with wicked Captain Wright and one shudders to think what shenanigans went on the next time the Lady Wright was 'out of sight of land.' 

"I'll run a handspike through your bloody guts!"  is as good a salt-sea oath as one could hope to hear on a summer's day.

A PINT OF BEER PER HEAD, EXETER, 1841

"We have much pleasure in stating that the inmates of the St. Thomas Union Workhouse were yesterday regaled with an extra allowance of meat, vegetables, &c. and with a pint of beer per head to commemorate the birth of the Prince of Wales.  The old boys gave a hearty cheer on drinking his Royal Highness's health.  

"In the evening a general dance took place,  old John Hannabus doing the musical upon his veteran fiddle; matters of this sort must be spontaneous to be worth anything, and a hint from Lord Courtenay and Wm. Kingdon Esq.,  the High Sheriff of Exeter, put the Union officers upon the alert to carry out the suggestions so kindly given.

"The boys and girls partook of tea and cake in the evening, and were very happy, almost to the degree of thinking themselves Princes of Wales.  Among other toasts the following was given, 'May there be a little prince born every week,'  which sentiment we hope the worthy Clerk will forward to the Secretary of State."

*

This 'little prince'  was born to be Prince of Wales for some 60 years, before he became King Edward Vll.  During that time he bedded one queen and at least half a hundred 'mistresses' and goodness knows whom else!   He was, despite, or perhaps because of, his sexual adventures, a very popular monarch.

 I doubt if any of the little workhouse boys thinking themselves almost Princes of Wales in Exeter in 1841 had quite so much fun in life but then they did partake of tea and cake on Albert Edward's birthday.

Old John Hannabus had been scraping his fiddle at Exeter celebrations, mostly at Mount Pleasant, for 30 years.  I note, from the internet, that there are still Hannabuses about.  What a splendid family name!  

I suppose, strictly speaking, the baby had not yet been presented as the Prince of Wales, but then, who cared or cares?

"Doing the musical!" is a darling turn of phrase.

It's sweet to eat

some extra meat

and a free beer never fails

but then to partake 

of tea and cake:

God bless the Prince  of Wales!

Source, The Western Times, 13th November 1841.

MR ROBERT SWAIN, EXETER, 1841.

 On Monday 4th October, 1841, Mary Anne Short, a servant of Mr. Moon of Northbrook Farm, was tripping along the footpath through the fields on her way to Exeter when she was met by wicked Jabez Orchard, a lad who had only been let out of gaol the week before.  Jabez was.... "in company with four others of like bad character - who stopped her,  when Orchard seized her round the waist, and ill used her, - threw her down, and endeavoured to to rob her of her shawl,  which was torn, and only saved by the firm manner in which it was fastened on her person."  

Mary Anne was only saved  from goodness knows what fate by two men from Topsham who intervened and secured Orchard.  He was summarily brought before magistrates at the Castle and was imprisoned for three weeks.

This above was reported in The Western Times of  9th October, 1841.   One of the interventionists  is never mentioned again but the next Saturday The Times'  Topsham correspondent reported as follows:

"The person who last week took into custody Jabez Orchard, for the assault on Ann Short, the servant of Mr. Richard Moon, of Northbrook, is Mr Robert Swain of this town.

"The conduct of this individual deserves the greatest praise, when it is considered he had to contend for nearly  an hour with five notoriously bad characters, and succeeded  in capturing and lodging in gaol the one who had thus so ill-treated an unprotected female.

"Mr. Swain has been prevailed upon to undertake the duties of a constable, and was sworn into office on Friday last, by the Magistrates, at the Castle of Exeter."

Well, there you are now!  - no sending Mr Swain to Police College to learn Sociology, Kindness &c.  He had handled Jabez Orchard and four other bad characters and , without delay, he had then been head-hunted and sworn into office.

It is no doubt most often more odious than odorous to make comparisons,  -  but I find it fun!  

I watched last week on YouTube a hilarious clip of three, fat U.S, policewomen trying  for five minutes to secure one young American, no doubt a bad character, and failing dismally.

I saw, moreover, lately, two, lovely, young, petite policewomen, patrolling Exeter, laughing and chattering to each other  just like, it seemed to me, two delightful, innocent maids from school.

Well now:  -  if I were tripping over the fields and Jabez Orchard and his gang chose to rough me up,   I think I'd rather see Robert Swain of Topsham town coming over the horizon than any of the aforementioned.

BAD FRENCH, EXETER, 1841.

 This was different:  a hearing at Exeter Police Court but conducted in (bad) French by Mr Blackall, one of the magistrates and printed in French by The Western Times, without benefit of translation, to its Devon readers  Nor, apparently,  in 1841, did  setting the French language, accents and all, cause any problem to the hot-metal typographers at The Times.

The circumstance was this:  an impoverished German youth with a melancholy expression and tattered habilliments had , in time-honoured fashion, turned up at the Guildhall to seek relief.   The Court could speak no German.  The youth could speak no English.  Mr Blackall addressed the youth in French:

"Mr. BLACKALL - Eh bien, que voulez-vous de nous?    

"German - De l’argent, Monsieur, s’il vous plaît.  J’ai faim, Monsieur,  et, (pointing with woe-begone looks to the remnants of a once fashionable pair of boots, but which now barely kept together by the aid of a  pair of straps.) regardez mes bottes nous avons été bons amis trés long-temps, mais, helas! Monsieur, vous voyez que - 

"Mr. BLACKALL - Combien long-temps avez vous ètè en Angleterre?  

"German - Quinze jours, Monsieur.

I

"Mr. BLACKALL - Et d’ou venez-vous?

"German - J’ai été à Paris à Jersey et à Londres.

"Mr. BLACKALL - Mais de quelle ville veniez -vous à présent?

"German - Je viens à présent de Plymouth, Monsieur.

"Mr. BLACKALL - Que voulez-vous ici, donc, que cherchez-vous?

"The German appeared not to understand this question - perhaps because Mr. Blackall’s pronunciation is. as a Frenchman would say , un petit peu Anglicé - though otherwise he speaks French well and with fluency; there was a misapprehension, however, and the applicant at length replied with a bland smile and a true continental shrug  of the shoulders,  “Jene vous comprends, Monsieur; ce n’est pas bon Français ça.”

"Mr. BLACKALL - Ah! I believe you are an imposter - that’s my opinion.

"The German, who looked like a man sensible of having committed a faux pas  continued to urge his case in broken sentences,  “Ah Messieurs,  que je suis misérable - de l’argent, c’est de l’argent qu’il me faut."

"The Bench, however, after a short consultation, coincided with the opinion expressed by Mr. Blackall, and dismissed the applicant, telling him they could do nothing for him.

"The German, after making a profound congé, turned on his heel, muttering, as he left the Court,  ”Mon Dieu, que je suis bête!“ evidently thinking that he had done no good for himself by criticizing  the hon. magistrate’s ”bad French“ ".  

*

I suppose a German youth might mutter to himself in French having, as it were, once got into gear.

I am inclined to think this German youth was a romantic figure and the city of Exeter ought to have helped him.  After all he was fluent in French and he had a lively turn of phrase; his once fashionable boots had long been his good friends. I can imagine his continental shrug, and his bland smile as he fenced with the unlovely Mr. Blackall and his parting bow as he left the Guildhall.  Yes, I'm convinced he was at  the very least a Freiherr, travelling incogito, who would return to his domain and tell about the mean-minded Exeter magistrates. 

As for that Mr Blackall,  one gives him credit for his bad French but he seems, not for the first time, to have let false pride weight the scales of justice.

,

 

Source:  The Western Times, 2nd October 1841.

A "WEY GOOSE", EXETER, 1841.

We learn from The Western Times of 26th September, 1841, that a Miss Channing was the mistress of a tobacco-pipe manufactory in Exeter.   She employed a number of girls at her manufactory one of whom was "a young woman called Hookins".

One Monday morning Hookins , The Times grants her no further name or title, did not turn up for work and her absence continued.    Miss Channing had a "written agreement" which bound Hookins to her bench.  She was brought before the magistrates at the Exeter Guildhall charged with  "neglecting her work and leaving it in an unfinished state". 

Poor Hookins tried to defend herself.  She denied having made the "written agreement".  She claimed she was bullied by the other girls and then:

"The next reason appeared  a much more plausible one - namely that they had had a 'Wey Goose' on the previous Saturday night and had kept up the jollifications to a late hour, or rather an early one the next morning - the consequence of which was that the lady's 'coppers' were rather hot and she had recourse to the usual means of cooling them by a drain of 'the dew of the valley' or 'Prince Albert's own' vulgarly called gin.

"Mr Blackall advised her to go back to work immediately, But the effects of her libations did not appear to have left her yet, for with a most outrageously squinting twinkle of the eye, she insisted she would not and would rather go to prison.

"'Very well' said Mr.Barton 'we'll endeavour to accommodate you that way - how long would you like to go for?'

"'As long as you please, sir - I'd rather stay in prison altogether than go back there again - if I wouldn't I'm blessed!'

"In kind compliance with her desires the Bench sentenced her to a fortnight's imprisonment.  She was walked off by the officers but scarcely had they got her to the bottom of the stairs before the lady's valour had evaporated and springing away from the grasp of the officers she darted upstairs to lay her recantation before the Bench; but to her great mortification, the door of justice was closed in her face.

"She was recaptured by the officers, and marched off in a more penitent mood to her solitary quarters in the city prison, where the glorious associations of a 'wey goose' were, alas! never understood or dreamt of."

*

A travesty, it seems to me, of justice.  But neither the Court nor the newspaper had any sympathy for the pathetic Hookins,  hung-over, bullied, no doubt over-worked and, it might seem, with a bit of a squint.

The popular names for gin, 'dew of the valley' and 'Prince Albert's own'  are intriguing.  Did the Prince Regent have a penchant fot gin?

"Wey Goose" is these days usually written "way-goose" but there are several variations.  It is said to derive from a Dutch word  meaning a road-house and thence a jubilation.   It might well have come to Devon with the Dutch traders who landed at Topsham and other ports.  It was one of those many popular terms which came from Britain but which are now more common in her sometime colonies, America, Australia &c. 

MUCK TURTLE SOUP, EXETER, 1841

"The Right Worshipful the Mayor, Sir W. W, Follett, and a select party dined with W.H.Furlong, Esq., on Friday last, at his residence on Northernhay.

"A sad mishap occurred in relation to this dinner.  Billy Nokes was carrying a jug of turtle soup, going carelessly along as boys will, and when he came up to the New Dispensary, of which Mr. Furlong is Vice President, he tripped against a stone, fell, and spilled the soup,   

"He was in a terrible state of consternation, roared as if he had broke his leg. One of the Town Councillors happening to be passing enquired the cause of his grief.  He said he'd broke 'Turney Furlong's pitcher of turtle soup - twelve shillings worth.'

"The boy was inconsolable at first, but reflecting that crying would not create more soup, he gathered up the force-meat balls in one of the shards, and going to an itinerant pieman who was very fortunately at hand for gravy, they soon compounded some muck turtle out of the dregs but what he did with it we have not learned."

*

And did his Worshipful the Mayor and W.W. Follet, Exeter's MP and Her Majesty's Attorney General, and Turney (Attorney) Furlong eat Billy Nokes' muck turtle soup?   I'd like to think so.

12 shillings in1841 would have been two days wages for a skilled worker and therefore equates to at least £250  today.  I have the impression that the 'itinerant pieman' supplied Billy Nokes with the gravy gratis and for the fun of it.

The New Dispensary had not yet been completed but the foundation stone bearing Mr Furlong's name had been laid.  It is now the 'music centre' of Exeter College where young people learn to play guitars  and perhaps , but I do not see them, other instruments.  Mr Furlong's house would have been the old Northernhay House.  The only 'residence' on Northernhay' these days is mine. 

I note that the inscription-stone  of this sometime Dispensary, where once doctors cared heroically for the city's cholera and fever patients,  has been overpainted by Exeter College and is now barely legible.   I suspect that the respect of this educational establishment for Exeter's history is on a par with its music centre's respect for, let us say, J. S. Bach..

Source: The Western Times,  18th September , 1841.

"THE SAILOR LASSEY", BRIXHAM, 1841.

Brixham is a long haul from Exeter but this curious and thought-provoking report in The Exeter Flying Post of  22nd July, 1841, surely deserves to be remembered.  I hope young Ellen Watts found  joy in her later life and I subscribe her story without further comment:

"A considerable degree of excitement was caused last week in the town of Brixham, by the discovery of a female sailor, on board one of the trawler boats, in which capacity she had been employed for some time with much credit, and in which she would have continued but for the exposé which discovered her sex.

"It appears she was left an orphan, and was bound an apprentice to a farmer, whom she served as an out-door male-servant; before her term expired, she determined to leave the plough to plough the deep, and having dressed herself in a deceased brother's clothes, who had been unfortunately drowned, she entered on board a trawling sloop as an apprentice, to serve three years; she performed her duty manfully, enduring all the privations of such a precarious calling with a degree of hardihood and recklessness necessary to such a life, and her exertions were such as to cause a degee of envy in the other lads.

"On Sunday last she accompanied two lasses to a fruit garden where she treated them, behaving with all the gallantry imaginable; there  a tailor who was enjoying his otium, attempted to interfere with our hero's girls;  the sailor boy resented it, high words ensued and blows followed; Snip showed fight like a man, while the pretended sailor was no less active, but alas fortune does not always favour the brave; the tailor was too much for his opponent, and the sailor lassey was so beaten that she was obliged to give in, and on several persons coming around her, her sex was discovered, to the great surprise of every one, the tailor not excepted.

"She is now dressed in apparel more becoming her sex:  she is an interesting and rather good looking girl.  The reason she states for adopting her late mode of life, was that she could enjoy more freedom than in domestic servitude.

"She is sixteen years  of age, and her name is Ellen Watts; she adopted the name of Charles Watts, and stated that she was a native of Plymouth.