Extracts from The North Devon Journal
and Trewman's Exeter Flying Post
North Devon Journal, Thursday, May 10, 1848
May 4.—Before the Rev. Peter Glubb.
Richard Hill and Matthew Copp, of St. Giles in the Wood, were charged with breaking into the barn of Mr. Robert Squire, of Dodscott Farm, in the same parish, and stealing a quantify of wheat. On the night of the 2nd inst., one of Mr. Squire's servants heard a noise and went down to ascertain the cause, when he observed a light in the barn, where they found the prisoners, having two bags partly filled with wheat, who ran off; they pursued them and succeeded in taking Copp, and Hill was apprehended the next day by William Cole, a constable of Great Torrington. They were both committed for trial at the next General Sessions.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, December 13, 1848
ST. GILES.—Disgraceful Robbery.—On Saturday morning last, between one and two o'clock, Mr. Clarke of Dodscott Farm in the parish of St. Giles, near Torrington, was awoke by a noise which appeared to him to come from his stables; and imagining that there was something amiss with the horses, he got up and went to the bedroom of his man-servant, but was surprised to find that he was not there; he thereupon called his son, with who he hurried downstairs, and in the yard they saw from a crevice in the wall a light in the barn (the parties had pushed in shraw to prevent the light from being seen, and it was only a very faint glimmer that was detected): they went towards the barn, and there saw two men, who at first they thought from their movements to be playing cards, but whom, on closer inspection, they found to be employed in shovelling up a guantity of wheat into a bag, having previously winnowed it; they watched outside, and within a few few minutes one of the men, who turned out to be Mr. Clarke's servant, came out of the barn with the sieve in his hand, with which he was going to the stable, when his master caught hold of him, and took him back to the barn, where his companion proved to be a labourer to whom Mr. Clarke had shown great kindness, and who had been in his employ for many years when he could get work no where else. The servant man also was a favourite with his master, had served his apprenticeship with him, and had afterwards lived with him, a period altogether of 13 years. The scoundrels both contrived to escape from their master, who, however, as soon as day broke, alarmed the neighbourhood; and Mr. Braginton and others having turned out all their hands in the search, the men were found secreted in a wood, and were immediately removed to Torrington in custody, and being examined before Sire Trevor Wheler, Bart., and the Rev. Peter Glubb, they were fully committed to take their trial at the approaching sessions for the county. Great execration was excited towards the prisoners, both of who were under perculiar obligations to protect instead of plundering their master and employer. It is remarkable that in several instances lately of robbery of farm property, the delinquents have turned out to be, not men in want, but persons in constant employ, and in the service of the very men whose confidence they have abused by plundering them.
Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, Thursday, 24 Oct 1850
CAUTION.—On Saturday, at the Town Hall, before the Rev. P. Glubb, Sir. T. Wheler, and J.H. Furse, esq., three youngsters from the parish of St. Giles were summoned for trespassing in Stevenstone Park, after walnuts and chesnuts, a practice which has been much indulged in, notwithstanding the precautions taken to prevent such unlawful proceedings. To effectually suppress it, it has been found necessary for magisterial interference : one was discharged on account of his youth and friendless situation, the other two were fined seven shillings and sixpence each, including all expenses, with a suitable admonition from the Bench, and a promise on the part of the boys not so to offend again. This and the case of three others who were before the Bench the preceding Saturday for a similar offence, and fined fifteen shillings each, will, it is hoped, operate as a caution to them, and a warning to all in future.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, November 26, 1851
On Saturday, at Mr. Glubb's office, Joseph Sussex and Eliza Sussex were brought before the Rev. Peter Glubb, charged with stealing wood from Hearn's wood, in St. Giles, the property of the late Lord Rolle's trustees. From the numerous depredations of this sort, a name of the name of George Cann was placed to watch, and saw the two prisoners bind up and carry away a large bundle each, of the tops, &c., of some fir poles that had lately been cut there by the direction of the trustees. In consequence of the wood having been previously severed, and the offence clearly proved and admitted by the prisoners, the worthy magistrate had no alternative but to commit them for trial, but had the prisoners gone and cut wood of a much greater value, a fine not exceeding £5, with the amount of damage, as the case may appear to deserve, might have been imposed.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, February 12, 1851
TORRINGTON
Felonies.—On Thursday, at the magistrates' office, before the Rev. Peter Glubb, Richard Hill, a shoemaker by trade, of dishonest habits and a very depraved character, well known in connexion with police matters, having often been in "limbo," and who had been remanded on a charge of stealing six fowls from Mr. Matthew Cock, of St. Giles, on the night of Friday the 24th ult., was this day fully committed to take his trial at the next general sessions for that offence. It appeared that Mr. Cock (being parish constable) obtained a search warrant the morning after the robberty, which utlimately led to the recovery of all the fowls (alive), three of them on Hill's premises, who said that Richard Bird (another well-known thief) had brought them there; and the other three fowls on Bird's premises. But although the fowls were found, the "old Bird" had flown, and has not been since heard of.—On the information of Mr. Joseph Hodges, park and gamekeeper at Stevenstone, Richard Hill was also further committed for trial, on a charge of stealing wood from Dodscott Wood, in St. Giles, belonging to the trustees of the late Lord Rolle.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, July 28, 1852
TORRINGTON
On Monday the bells of Torrington and St. Giles, rung merrily on the occasion of the Hon. Mr. Rolle, heir to the late Lord Rolle, taking up his residence at Stevenstone, which auspicious event is hailed with much joy by the surrounding neighbourhood.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, March 9, 1854
DEVON INTERMEDIATE SESSIONS
Richard Hill (54), shoemaker, was charged with stealing, at St. Giles-in-the-Wood, on the 17th of February, one oak pole and two ash trees, the property of the Trustees of the late Lord Rolle. The prisoner was found quilty, and, having been convicted on a former occasion for a similar offence, was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, with hard labour.
Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, Thursday, July 27, 1854
STEVENSTONE.—The bell of St. Giles and Great Torrington rang merrily on Monday, on occasion of the occupation of this fine old baronial mansionn, for the summer season, by the right hon. Lord Clinton's family and the hon. Mark Rolle.
ST. GILES.—On the night of the 15th instant, the poultry yard of Mr. John Hooper, Winscot Barton, was broken into, and from 20 to 30 head of poultry, comprising ducks and fowls, were stolen therefrom. Mr. Hooper offered a reward of two guineas for the detection of the thieves, who are at present undiscovered.
North Devon Journal, Wednesday, September 27, 1854
TORRINGTON BOROUGH PETTY SESSIONS
THEFT.—William Allen and Maria Allen, his wife, appeared under a charge of stealing, on the 9th inst., one silver teaspoon, the property of Mr. George Shapland, of Whitlesea-Farm, in the parish of St. Giles. About that time the female prisoner came into Torrington, and offered a silver teaspoon for sale to Mr. Gaydon, silversmith. On examining the spoon, he became suspicious that it was not her own, notwithstanding her assertion to the contrary, stating that it was given her be her grandmother. Mr. Gaydon told her he considered it stolen, and that he should detain it in order that inquiries might be made by the police officer for the ownership. The spoon was handed over to P.O. Cole, who, with the instinct of his order for worming out a theft, soon discovered that it had been lost by Mr. Shapland: this was fully proved by the silversmith comparing the detained spoon with the other members of the half-dozen to which it belonged, notwithstanding the precaution they had taken of filing out the initials engraved upon it. The husband is a labourer, and works for Mr. Shapland; and a son of the accused lives in the house. Several falsehoods were told respecting the matter; among them, the husband said that he had picked it up in the road, so "rusty" that he did not know whether it was iron or silver. The was the second of the half-dozen that had walked off. As Mrs. Shapland was in Barnstaple, a necessary point to be proved—when the article was last seen in their possession, required her presence to determine; the case was, therefore, postponed to the next sessions, and the prisoners discharged, on their own recognizances, to appear again at the time appointed.
Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, Thursday, March 8, 1855
FATAL ACCIDENT.—On Saturday night a labouring man of St Giles, named James Isaac, about 44 years of age, while cutting off a limb from a tree, fell to the ground, and was so much injured that several hours elapsed before he was discovered; he was removed to his home, and medical aid obtained, but he expired on Monday morning. An inquest is being held on the body.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, March 18, 1857
THE GAME LAWS AGAIN.—Robert Johns, of Saint Giles-in-the-Wood, an old offender against the game laws, was charged on the information of Vodden, undergamekeeper to the Hon. Mark Rolle, with trespassing on Mount-hill, in the same parish, on Sunday, the 8th instant, in search of game. Vodden was about telling the bench how he saw him set a gin a nine o'clock on the morning in question, when Johns aved him all further trouble by confessing all about it, and beggin forgiveness. The answer to his petition was a demand upon him for £2, including fine and costs, which he was allowed one hour to pay. As the could not be produced, he was sent off to the House of Correction for two months' imprisonment.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, January 5, 1859
TORRINGTON.
COUNTY MAGISTRATES' PETTY SESSIONS
CHARGE OF ASSAULT.—Michael Sussex and Abraham Isaacs, of St. Giles-in-the-Wood, and William May, of Bideford, were charged by P.C. Sprague, with assaulting and obstructing him on the 27th ult., in the village of St. Giles.—Mr. I. Bencraft appeared for the defendants.—This case arose from a suspicion of too great familiarity between a certain P.C. and the better half of an inhabitant of the parish. On the above day, the village was aroused from its dulness by the enlivening sound of the horn and the crack of the whip. Red coats mounted on horses and a large number of the lovers of the chase turned out, to the great amusement of the villagers, and to complete the pantomine, a man with stag's horns on his head and a sheep skin on his back personified the stag. Off they went and a fine day's sport they had as the evidence of P.C. Sprague will prove. He stated that he was on duty on the above day and saw a man come into the village dressed in diguise, having horns on his head and a sheepskin on his back, his face painted with red and wearing a moustache. On seeing this extraordinatry personage, he stopped him to see who he was, and told him he had better go on, and not to create a disturbance. The defendant, Isaacs, brother to the disguished man, came forward and collared him, and so did the other defendants, and asked him what right he had to stop the man. At the moment about 50 persons passed on shouting in chase.—William Squire, a respecable farmer who was present, was examined for the defence. He said that on Monday, the 27th ult., there was a general holiday in the parish. Between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon he was in the village, and saw a man dressed up as a stag, come over the bars. P.C. Sprague said to him, "Oh John, where are you going;" I saw him also strike the horms of the "stag" with his stick. There three defendants then came on and some altercation took place, and he expected there would have been blows; he saw the defendant Sussex put his fist in the policeman's face.—The Bench dismissed the case.—The announcement was received with great applause by a crowded court.
CHARGE OF DRUNKENNESS.—Thomas Matthews, of Saint Giles, was summoned by P.C. Sprague, for being drunk at Kingscott, in the parish of St. Giles, on the 27th ult. The case is but a supplement to the former. It appeared from the evidence that the defedant had taken a prominent part in the hunt, and acted in capacity of huntsman. After the day's sport was over, he betook himself to the public house at Kingscott to recover his exhausted strength by taking an extra glass of beer. About 9 o'clock at night, P.C. Sprague, P.C. Vallance, and P.C. Hooper were on duty near the public house, when the defendant came out and seeing the three policemen, he made use of strong expressions against them, and then returned back again into the house. Having equipped himself with his red coat and whip, he came out again, and like a true huntsman flourished his whip and ordered "little dogs to go in." The defendant could not free himself from the charge.—The Bench took a lenient view of the case, and only fined him 1s. and 7s. 6d. costs. The amount was soon collected under the Hall and paid for him.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, May 11, 1859
COUNTY MAGISTRATES' PETTY SESSIONS
Durnkenness.—William Smith, of Taddyport, Little Torrington, blacksmith, and William Short, of Saint Giles-in-the-Wood, tailor, appeared to answer the charge of being drunk on the night of the 28th ult.,, at Kingscott, in the latter parish, and of assaulting Sergeant Meagher in the execution of his duty. The defendants had been drinking at the 'Rolle Arms,' in Kingscott, to excess. The Sergeant in the exercise of his duty, humanely remonstrated with Short on the impropriety of his conduct, when Smith stepped forward and gave the Sergeant a blow with his fist. He then took him into custody, and received another blow in the head with a stick, and Short took him by the collar.—The Bench fined them 16s. each, including costs.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, May 26, 1859
TORRINGTON
COUNTY MAGISTRATES' PETTY SESSIONS
DRUNKENSESS.—Richard Vodden, of Great Torrington, was charged by Serjeant Meagher with being drunk at Saint-Giles-in-the-Wood, on the 18th inst.—Fined 7s. 6d.—William Clark, of Saint Giles, licensed brewer, was charged by P.C. Delany, with being drunk on the 14th inst., at Saint Giles. The defendant is also a butcher, and had just come home from Torrington market. He denied the charge, and called two witnesses to rebut the evidence of the P.C. and to prove that the charge was false.—The case was dismissed.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, March 14, 1861
DIVISIONAL PETTY SESSIONS
Mary Cole and Mary Ann Couch, two young girls residing at Saint Giles in the Wood, were charged for that they, on the 26th ult. at the above parish did steal, take, and carry away a quantity of wood, the property of the Hon. Mark Rolle. (The Hon. gentleman retired from the Bench when this case was called.) The Bench having been informed that Mr. Rolle did not wish to have the charge pressed against the defendants on account of their youth and the trifling nature of the offence, the Chairman gave them a suitable caution and they were discharged on payment of 5s. 6d. the expenses.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, January 29, 1862
TORRINGTON
LONGEVITY.—On Wednesday, 22nd instant, an old inhabitant of St. Giles in the Wood, named John Bennett, died in that parish, in the 104th year of his age. Deceased was for many years a labourer at Stevenstone, and it is stated that he had for a long time past been treated very kindly by the Hon. Mark. Rolle.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, February 26, 1862
CHARGE OF OBSTRUCTING A HIGHWAY.—Edward Till, Lewis Till, Walter Trick, Charles Wright, William Folland, Alfred Cock, John Couch, jun., and Thomas Couch, all young men of Saint Giles-in-the-Wood, were summoned by Sergeant Reed, charged with playing in the highway in the village of St. Giles, on the 18th instant, to the annoyance of passengers.—The Bench considered that the defendants were guilty of obstructing the highway, and had, therefore, made themselves liable to a penalty of £2; but, hoping they would desist from such conduct in future, they were let off on paying the expenses, £1 5s. between them.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, September 7, 1862
SAD DEATH OF ONE OF THE STEVENSTONE GROOMS.—An inquest was held on Friday last, at St. Giles-in-the-Wood, before John Henry Toller, Esq., deputy-coroner, on the body of James COCKS, a married man, aged 32, who had come to his death through an accident in being thrown from one of his master's horses which was was exercising. It appeared from the evidence of the head groom of the Hon. Mark Rolle, Mr. Stephen Hill, and two other grooms, who were also in company at the time, that early in the morning of Tuesday last they had all set out from the Stevenstone stables for the purpose of exercising the horses. They had been out about an hour, when, somewhere about half-past seven o'clock, the hunter which the deceased was riding bolted, being teased by the flies, and ran off at full speed in the direction of a wire fence. Hill was in front of him, and as deceased passed him, riding one horse and leading another, Hill, supposing it to be the led horse which had bolted, called out to him to let the horse go or he would be over the fence; but, unfortunately, the horse dashed on at full speed against the fence, which threw the horse down, and the deceased was sent with great violence over the creature's head, and fell on his head on the hard road. His fellow servants were on the spot in a moment, and picked the poor fellow up, but found him quite insensible. He was removed to the stables, and afterwards to his own house, where Dr. Jones, of Torrington, was very soon in attendance. Deceased was still lying pefectly insensible, whith his eyes closed, and with every sympton of concussion of the brain; no was there the slightest return of consciousness until his death, which occured on the Thursday following. Deceased was a skillful rider, and accustomed to spirited horses; but the distance from the fence after the horse bolted was not enough to permit the rider to pull him up. The circumstances permitted of but one verdict,—that of Accidentally killed by being thrown from a horse.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, October 26, 1871
TORRINGTON
The usual Divisional Petty Sessions were held at the Town Hall on Saturday last before J.C. Moore-Stevens, and A.R. Hole, Esqrs.—William Folland, of St. Giles in the Wood, was summoned by Richard Symons, overseer, to shew cause why he refused to pay 4s. 5½d. poor rates. The defendant did not appear, and as Mr. Symons had repeatedly called for the amount the Bench granted a warrant of distress to levy for the unpaid rates and 13s. costs.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, June 1, 1882
TORRINGTON
TOWN HALL, Wednesday, 24th May.—Before A.R. Hole, Esq., and the Honourable Mark Rolle—John Thorne, a native of St. Giles-in-the-Wood, was brought up in custody charged with neglecting to maintain his wife and children, whereby they had become and still were chargeable to the common fund of the Torrington Union.—James Tanton, Relieving Officer, produced the out-door relief list of No. 1 District of the Union, shewing that a debt of £7 18s. 7d. had been incurred for relief to prisoner's wife and children who were still chargeable to the Union.—Thomas Cann, master of the Union, proved that the debt of £1 had been incurred for relief to prisoner's wife and children in the Union. The Guardians had also incurred costs of apprehension, &c., amounting to 16s. 7d. making in all £9 15s 2d.—In reply to the Bench, prisoner stated that he had been living as a farm servant near Bampton. He was not prepared to pay the amount due, but would pay £1 towards it. On being asked what further sum he could pay by Saturday 27th, the wife (who was in Court), undertook to pay £1 more on Saturday, and to pay the remainder by instalments of 2s. 6d per week.—The Bench after consulting agreed to the proposal, but informed the prisoner that a warrant of committal for 14 days would be signed, and put in force in case the payments were not kept up. The prisoner was then discharged, and he left the Court in company with his wife, whom he had not seen for nearly 12 months.
North Devon Journal, Thursday, December 28, 1899
ST. GILES-IN-THE-WOOD
The annual gifts by the Hon. Mark and Lady Gertrude Rolle of beef to their employés and their families on the Rolle Estate, and tea, sugar, &c. to others in the parish, took place on Thursday and Saturday of last week.
Good congregations were seen at the Parish Church on the third Sunday in Advent. The Vicar (Rev. H.J. Wilmot-Buxton) preached in the morning, and the Bishop of Crediton (Rev. Dr. Trefusis), who was on a visit at Stevenstone, occupied the pulpit in the evening. Most eloquent sermons were delivered, both preachers strongly urging the claims of the Socity for the Propagation of the Gospel. As a result £4 11s. 4. was collected at the services. The missionary boxes which have been received during the week will considerably augment this sum.
CHRISTMAS.—The Church, as usual at this festive season, was beautifully decored by the Stevenstone gardeners, under the superintendence of Mr. Gillies, the head gardener. The services on Christmas Day were an early celebration of Holy Communion at 8, Matins with another celebration at 11, and children's service at 3.30. There were good congregations, and a large number of communicants. The bells rang out merry peals at intervals during the day. Carols were sung on Christmas Eve, and also at the children's service.
Through the liberality of the Hon. Mark Rolle and Lady Gertrude Rolle, the children attending the Sunday School, numbering over 100, received their annual gifts of plum pudding and Christmas cards in the Schoolroom on Christmas Day. Prizes, given by the same kind donars, consisting of handsome volumes of books, were also distributed to the 23 children who received honourable mention at the last Diocesan examination.
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