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HAWKINS, Hertford Jail, 1871 October, 2013 |
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Mike Baldwin (mikebaldwin @t talktalk.net) of Rothley, Leicestershire writes: I have located my great grand father, Charles Hawkins, was in the county jail at Hertford in1871 from the 1871 census. Where can I find any additional information of the why he was in jail. Also are their any pictures of the jail.
When you looked at the census returns did you notice that Charles Hawkins' brother John was also in Hertford Prison? There was also a William Hankin (as indexed - but should this be Hawkins?) in the prison who is almost certainly his brother William. I am afraid my Great Grandfather, Jacob Reynolds, may have been "responsible" for the three of them being there. In February 1871 they had been caught poaching on Hammonds Farm, Sandridge, and while I don't have a copy of the press report my summary notes, collected when researching my family connections with the area some years ago, read:
William, John and Charles Hawkins found guilty of poaching on Mr Reynolds' Farm [Hammonds Farm, Sandridge] - Witness William Minall a labourer in the employ of Mr Reynolds. The poachers also entered Mr [Jonathan] Cox’s and Mr Thrale’s fields.
Herts Advertiser 12th March, 1871
I checked the British Newspaper Archive (which does not yet include any St Albans papers for this period) and found a report in the Luton Times and Advertiser of 12th March, 1871. The case came up at the Liberty Petty Sessions (Magistrates Court), St Albans on 7th March, before F. A. McGeachy, Esq., in the chair; H. H. Toulmin, Esq., H. J. Toulmin, Esq., G. R. Martin Esq. and T. Kinder, Esq. and details were published under the headline "The Poacher's Manor"
William Hawkins (26), John Hawkins (22) and Charles Hawkins (17), three brothers, were all charged with trespassing in search of game on the 22nd ult.
The defendants did not attend.
Police-constable Day proved the service of the summons.
William Minall, a labourer, in the employment of Mr Reynolds, proved the offence.
There was then a technical discussion really irrelevant to the offence except that PC Day said:
The prosecutor sometimes lays the information. In this case he [presumably Jacob Reynolds] sent for me and told me to lay on information. I told him I would do so. ....
The Chairman: Did the defendants say anything when they were served with the summons?
Witness [PC Day]: They stated that they thought they were entitled to go poaching, and made a joke about it. They admitted that they had some rabbits and they had been on the land in question. I told them that they has a good cheek to go over five different persons' ground, and they replied that they reckoned it was their manor.
Charles and William were fined 40s and 8s 4d costs, with the alternative of two months imprisonment, and John 20s and 1s 4d costs, or in default one month's imprisonment, with hard labour.
Points to note:
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Almost every week the magistrates had to deal with cases of poaching, stealing of crops, etc., and some of the poor living in the St Albans area regularly appeared before the magistrates. Several of the magistrates would have first hand experience of thefts and poaching from their own land, and were unlikely to treat these cases leniently. See the detailed study of the subject: Poaching and Petty Thieving in St Albans.
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There is no mention of earlier offences, but the fact that the brothers did not attend the court would not have gone down well. The different fines could indicate that Charles and William had been caught before, and this was John's first time.
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The fines/costs of 48s 4d (£2.40) each would have been about 5 weeks wages for Charles and William and it is clear that the fines were not paid and they were arrested and thrown in Hertford Prison.
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In most poaching cases the farmer concerned would turn up at the court to act as prosecutor, and the legal argument was about PC Day acting on Jacob Reynolds' behalf. It may well be because of this legal argument that what was, in other ways, a minor everyday poaching case was mentioned in the Luton paper.
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The Hawkins family lived in Green Lane, Hatfield, and this may be the road Coopers Green Lane on modern maps. Census returns are ordered in the way the census enumerator walked round delivering and collecting the forms and the next property visited in the return is Symondshyde Cottages. If the brothers walked through Symondshyde Great Wood they would have arrived on Hammonds Farm! While they lived in Hatfield parish it would seen they lived closer to Hammonds Farm than they did to Hatfield town.
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The 1866 Post Office Directory for Hertfordshire records: The County Gaol is a brick building on the Ware Road, calculated to hold, under improved arrangements, 130 prisoners. It is possible that HALS will have a picture of it.
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It should be noted that offences that took place in Hatfield parish would appear before the Hertford Magistrates while those that took place in Sandridge would appear before the St Albans magistrates.
