Warwickshire,
) Be it remembered, that at the general
to wit,
) session of the lord the king of oyer and terminer, holden at Warwick
in and for the said county of Warwick, on Friday, the twelfth day of March,
in the second year of the reign of the Lord George the Third, now King
of Great Britain, before Sir Michael Foster, Knight, one of the justices
of the said lord the king, assigned to hold pleas before the king himself,
Sir Edward Clive, Knight, one of the justices of the said lord the king,
of his court of common bench, and others their fellows, justices of the
said lord the king, assigned by letters patent of the said lord the king,
under his great seal of Great Britain, made to them the aforesaid justices
and others, and any two or more of them (whereof one of them, the said
Sir Michael Foster and Sir Edward Clive, the said lord the king would have
to be one), to inquire (by the oath of good and lawful men of the county
aforesaid, by whom the truth of the matter might be the better known, and
by other ways, methods, and means, whereby they could or might the better
know, as well within liberties as without) more fully the truth of all
treasons, misprisions of treasons, insurrections, rebellions, counterfeitings,
clippings, washings, false coinings, and other falsities of the moneys
of Great Britain, and of other kingdoms or dominions whatsoever; and of
all murders, felonies, man slaughters, killings, burglaries, rapes of women,
unlawful meetings and conventicles, unlawful uttering of words, unlawful
, assemblies, misprisions, confederacies, false allegations, trespasses,
riots, routs, retentions, escapes, contempts, falsities, negligences, concealments,
maintenances, oppressions, champerties, deceits, and all other misdeeds,
offenses and injuries whatsoever, and also the accessories of the same,
within the county aforesaid, as well within liberties as without, by whomsoever
and howsoever done, had, perpetrated, and committed, and by whom, to whom,
when, how, and in what manner; and of all other articles and circumstances
in the said letters patent of the said lord the king specified, the premises
and every or any of them whomsoever concerning; and for this time to hear
and determine the said treasons and other the premises, according to the
law and custom of the realm of England; and also keepers of the peace,
and justices of the said lord the king, assigned to hear and determine
divers felonies, trespasses, and other misdemeanors committed within the
county aforesaid, by the oath of Sir James Thompson, Baronet, Charles Roper,
Henry Dawes, Peter Wilson, Samuel Rogers, John Dawson, James Philips, John
Mayo, Richard Savage, William Bell, James Morris, Laurence Hall, and Charles
Carter, Esquires, good and lawful men of the county aforesaid, then and
there impaneled, sworn, and charged to inquire for the said lord the king
and for the body of the said county, it is presented, that Peter Hunt,
late of the parish of Lighthorne, in the said county, gentleman, not having
the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation
of the devil, on the fifth day of March, in the second year of the reign
of the said lord the king, at the parish of Lighthorne aforesaid, with
force and arms, in and upon one Samuel Collins, in the peace of God and
of the said lord the king, then and there being, feloniously, willfully,
and of his malice aforethought, did make an assault; and that the said
Peter Hunt with a certain drawn sword, made of iron and steel, of the value
of five shillings, which he, the said Peter Hunt, in his right hand
then and there had and held, him the said Samuel Collins, in and upon the
left side of the belly of him, the said Samuel Collins, then and
there feloniously, willfully, and of his malice aforethought, did strike,
thrust, stab, and penetrate; giving unto the said Samuel Collins, then
and there, with the sword drawn as aforesaid, in and upon the left side
of the belly of him the said Samuel Collins, one mortal wound of the breadth
of one inch, and the depth of nine inches, of which said mortal wound he,
the said Samuel Collins, at the parish of Lighthorne aforesaid, in the
said county of Warwick, from the said fifth day of March in the year aforesaid
until the seventh day of the same month in the same year, did languish,
and languishing did live; on which said seventh day of March in the year
aforesaid, the said Samuel Collins, at the parish of Lighthorne afore-said,
in the county aforesaid, of the said mortal wound did die: and so the jurors
aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do say that the said Peter Hunt him
the said Samuel Collins, in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, willfully,
and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder, against the peace
of the said lord the now king, his crown and dignity. Whereupon
the sheriff of the county aforesaid is commanded, that he omit not for
any liberty in his bailiwick, but that he take the said Peter Hunt, if
he may be found in his bailiwick, and him safely keep, to answer to the
felony and murder whereof he stands indicted. Which said indictment
the said justices of the lord the king above named, afterward, to wit,
at the delivery of the gaol of the said lord the king, holden at Warwick
in and for the county aforesaid, on Friday, the sixth day of August, in
the said second year of the reign of the said lord the king, before the
Right Honorable William Lord Mansfield, chief justice of the said lord
the king, assigned to bold pleas before the king himself, Sir Sidney Stafford
Smythe, Knight, one of the barons of the Exchequer of the said lord the
king, and others their fellows, justices of the said lord the king, assigned
to deliver his said gaol of the county aforesaid of the prisoners therein
being, by their proper hands to deliver here in court of record in form
of the law to be determined. And afterward, to wit, at the
same delivery of the gaol of the said lord the king of his county aforesaid,
on the said Friday, the sixth day of August, in the said second year of
the reign of the said lord the king, before the said justices of the lord
the king last above named and others their fellows aforesaid, here cometh
the said Peter Hunt, under the custody of William Browne, Esquire, sheriff
of the county aforesaid (in whose custody in the gaol of the county aforesaid,
for the cause aforesaid, he had been before committed), being brought to
the bar here in his proper person by the said sheriff, to whom he is also
here committed: And forthwith being demanded concerning the
premises in the said indictment above specified and charged upon him, how
he will acquit himself thereof, he saith that he is not guilty thereof
guilty and thereof for good and evil he puts himself upon the country;
And John Blencowe, Esquire, clerk of the assizes for the county
aforesaid, who prosecutes for the said lord the king in this behalf, doth
the like: Therefore let a jury thereupon here immediately come before
the said justices of the lord the king last above mentioned, and others
their fellows aforesaid, of free and lawful men of the neighborhood of
the said parish of Lighthorne, in the county of Warwick aforesaid, by whom
the truth of the matter may be the better known, and who are not of kin
to the said Peter Hunt, to recognize upon their oath, whether the said
Peter Hunt be guilty of the felony and murder in the indictment aforesaid
above specified, or not guilty; because as well the said John Blencowe,
who prosecutes for the said lord the king in this behalf, as the said Peter
Hunt, have put themselves upon the said jury. And the jurors of the said
jury by the said sheriff for this purpose impaneled and returned, to wit,
David Williams, John Smith, Thomas Horne, Charles Nokes, Richard May, Walter
Duke, Matthew Lion, James White, William Bates, Oliver Green, Bartholomew
Nash, and Henry Long, being called, come; who being elected, tried, and
sworn to speak the truth of and concerning the premises, upon their oath
say, that the said Peter Hunt is guilty of the felony and murder aforesaid,
on him above charged in the form aforesaid, as by the indictment aforesaid
is above supposed against him; and that the said Peter Hunt at the time
of committing the said felony and murder, or at any time since to this
time, had not nor hath any goods or chattels, lands or tenements, in the
said county of Warwick, or elsewhere, to the knowledge of the said jurors.
And upon this it is forthwith demanded of the said Peter Hunt, if he hath
or knoweth anything to say, wherefore the said justices here ought not
upon the premises and verdict aforesaid to proceed to judgment and execution
against him: who nothing further saith, unless as he before had said.
Whereupon all and singular the premises being seen and by the death,
said justices here fully understood, It is considered by the court
here, that the said Peter Hunt be taken to the gaol of the said lord the
king of the said county of Warwick, from whence he came, and from thence
to the place of execution on Monday now next ensuing, being the ninth day
of this instant August, and there be hanged by the neck until he be dead;
and that afterward his body be dissected and anatomized.
Source: 4 Blackstone, Commentaries, Appendix