The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-29 00:00:00

The Recent Disturbances at Guildford.

At a special petty sessions, held at the To wn-hall,
Guildford, yesterday, before the Mayor and Messrs.
Adams, Cooper, and Sells, borough magistrates,
Mr. Henry Piper (late Mayor of Guildford) ap-
plied for compensation to the amount of £l7 lls.
for damage alleged to have been sustained by him
" by means of certain persons, riotously and tumul-
tuously assembled together, having on the evening
of the 21st of November last, between the hours of
11 and 12, at the parish of Stoke-next-Guildford,
feloniously demolished, pulled down, or destroyed
in part the house wherein he resided, thereby demo-
lishing and destroying the front door of such house,
and also demolishing and destroying the inside
shutters of a window of such house, and by break-
ing, demolishing, and destroying the glass and
framework of three windows, and the glass of an
inside door of such house, and the blinds belonging
to such windows, to the extent of the value above
stated."

Mr. J. R. Capron appeared for the claimant. In
his address to the Bench he stated that the proceed-
ings were taken under the 7th and Bth George IV.,
cap. 31, which was an Act for consolidating and
amending the laws relative to remedies against the
hundred in the case of property destroyed by a mob.
The second section of this statute provided that if
house, stable, coach-house, &c., should be "feloni-
ously demolished, pulled down, or destroyed, wholly
or in part, by any persons riotously and tumultu-
mißlv assembled tozethert in every such case the in-
habitants of the hundred should bo liable to yield
full compensation to the person or persons damni-
fied." Sections 3 and 8 pointed out the mode of
procedure to b 3 adopted by the person damnified ;
and the Bench would fine that every requirement
of the Act in the matter of notices and the like had
been fully complied with by the claimant. lie
should lay the facts of the case before them in evi-
dence, and then confidently rely upon their worships
to grant the compensation sought for in the present
instance.

The first witness called was Lewis James Har-
vey, clerk to Mr. Capron, who proved the signature
of the claimant to the notices required by the Act,
and that they had been duly posted on the church
doors, and had remained there the proper time.
Police-constable William Sutton, of the Guild-
ford borough constabulary, was next called, and
deposed as follows :—I remember the night of
Saturday, the 21st of November. Between ten and
eleven o'clock on that night I was standing at the
bottom of Tan's-gate. I noticed that a great riot
took place against Mr. Weale's at about half-past
ten. There was a great crowd of persons, many of
them being masked and armed with heavy blud-
geons. They were battering in Mr. Weale's shut-
ters, and shouting, and making a great disturbance.
They were also discharging fireworks and throwing
missiles at the upper windows of Mr. Weale's
house. I was proceeding up town, in the direction
of the disturbance, when I met Mr. Vickers, the
then superintendent of police, and I turned round
with him and walked up Tun's-gate, where I parted
with Mr. Vickers. While standing at Tun's-gate,
which is close to the entrance to the police-station,
three or four men in disguise came upon me,
knocked me down, and struck me three or four
times when I was down. I got up, however, and
endeavoured to defend myself with my staff, but I
was knocked down again, and struck both on the
body and the head. When I was on the ground I
heard one of the men say, " Murder the --.." I
then became insensible, and remember no more of
what occurred. lam unable to recognise any of
the men who assaulted me, but I saw that they were
armed with heavy bludgeons. I cannot describe
the weapons with which Mr. Weale's shutters were
attacked, but I believe that they were bludgeons.
Mr. Henry Piper (the claimant) deposed—l
occupy a house in the Merrow-road, in the borough
t't Guildford. I recollect the night of the 21st of
No"'e _
mber. Shortly after 11 o'clock on that night
Theta
a great noise and rattling at my shutters.
_ _
V" a mob, I should think, of from 50 to 100
persons
were tmhled, and they made a fearful noise.
arown which demolished the whole of
tShteonbesedromu
room where Windows, and came through into the
wife and I were in bed. The panels
of the front door werebroken, leaving nothing but
jtuhreed, and bare
the shutters frame btaila
te_ag a side door was also in-
/id frames and glass of the
whole of the windows Were
completely smashed. I
produce
three squib case% which
I found the same
night; one 411(u_
gi
-"
on the stair-
another in the
sitting-room, and the third.-_I think, but am not
quite sure—in the bedroom, y
s Was very much
that the house
alarmed, Would catch fire,
hurled
as one of the carpets began to born, feareddmeh
were
prod
eyeholes, Ichitirse,
into
the
house,
a
number of stones
was
found in my front garden,
and a thick black veil, with
and which hada.
Quist less
been worn by one of the rioters
to prevent r, eogni-
'
tion. After proving compliance with the legal
forms required by the statute, witness added that
he had actually paid to repair the damage don,
£lO ss. 11d., in addition to which he had sustained
other losses, which would more than make up the
difference between that amoun t an d the sum claimed.
Police-constable James Marshall, of the Guildford
borough constabulary, produced three bludgeons.
(They were formidable weapons, resembling the
spokes of a cart wheel ; they were weighted with
lead at one end, and had slings at the other to
attach them to the wrist.) Witness deposed to
having found them on the morning of the 22d ult.,
together with a quantity of fantastic clothing,