While searching the 19th century Newspaper Archive (in vain) to find any trace of my g.g.grandfather William NiICHOLSON I found the following items adjacent to each other in the search results - it is possible, but I think unlikely, that the same man was involved in each. However comparison of the sentencing would nowadays cause justifiable outrage: August 1862: William George Nicholson (an agent for a benefit society) was charged with the attempted rape of a twelve-year-old girl in Newcastle. He was found guilty and sentenced to three months in prison. At the Durham Special Sessions in February 1863, William George Nicholson, a draper, was charged with the theft of several sums of money amounting to about one pound. He was sentenced to six months in prison. (The next case that day involved a spinster who stole a bonnet and a quantity of ribbon belonging to her master and received four years penal servitude.) Yes, I realise the bare newspaper reports don't give all the details leading to the decision of the courts, but even so..... Adrian
On 17/02/2010 23:32, ADRABBOTT@aol.com wrote: > August 1862: William George Nicholson (an agent for a benefit society) was > charged with the attempted rape of a twelve-year-old girl in Newcastle. He > was found guilty and sentenced to three months in prison. > > At the Durham Special Sessions in February 1863, William George Nicholson, > a draper, was charged with the theft of several sums of money amounting > to about one pound. He was sentenced to six months in prison. Adrian It is a huge mistake to judge our forebears' decisions by today's values. In Victorian England priorities were very different - children were viewed differently - virtually everything was viewed differently. They made their decisions quite properly according to the values of their time and who are we to gainsay them? No doubt in 140 years time today's legal and moral decisions will seem just as quaint and unjust. Brian -- Brian Pears (Gateshead, UK) http://www.bpears.org.uk/ Joint List Admin NORTHUMBRIA Genealogy Mailing List GENUKI Northumberland Maintainer
Facinating reading but how did you get to read them? E. -----Original Message----- From: northumbria-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:northumbria-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of ADRABBOTT@aol.com Sent: 17 February 2010 23:33 To: northumbria@rootsweb.com Subject: [NMB] Strange 19th Century Justice. While searching the 19th century Newspaper Archive (in vain) to find any trace of my g.g.grandfather William NiICHOLSON I found the following items adjacent to each other in the search results - it is possible, but I think unlikely, that the same man was involved in each. However comparison of the sentencing would nowadays cause justifiable outrage: August 1862: William George Nicholson (an agent for a benefit society) was charged with the attempted rape of a twelve-year-old girl in Newcastle. He was found guilty and sentenced to three months in prison. At the Durham Special Sessions in February 1863, William George Nicholson, a draper, was charged with the theft of several sums of money amounting to about one pound. He was sentenced to six months in prison. (The next case that day involved a spinster who stole a bonnet and a quantity of ribbon belonging to her master and received four years penal servitude.) Yes, I realise the bare newspaper reports don't give all the details leading to the decision of the courts, but even so..... Adrian The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NORTHUMBRIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message