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 117 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 threa 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 BZII 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-
ously assembled together, in every such case the in-
habitants of the hundred should be liable to yield
fuli compensation to the person or persons damni-
fied." Sections 3 and 8 pointed out the mode of
procedure to ba 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. He
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 daly 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 Tun's-gate. I gpticed 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, bat I saw that they were
armed with heavy bludgeons. I cannot describe
the weapons with which Mr. Weale's shutters were
Mtacked, but I believe that they were bludgeons.
Mr. Henry Piper (the claimant) deposed—l
oec„
py a house in the MerroW-road, in the borough
of exto"a _
Novetaord. I recollect the night of the 21st of
Shortly after 11 o'clock on that night
I heard t'
at
at noise and rattling at my shutters.
There wat!t:
persons asassr, I should think, of from 50 to 100
tlt74 and
.they made a fearful noise.
Stones were
ri which demolished the whole of
the bedroom wi„4_,,
8 end d came through into the
room where my Wife
I were in bed The panels
of the front door wete%to •
ken, leaving nothing but
the bare frame etandintt; e side door was also in-
jured, the shutters and end frames and glass of the
whole of the windows were s_
Qmpletely smashed. I
squib cases which _
produce threel. found the same
night; one 012 the stair-landitt,
the third-1 th.tainother in the
sitting-room, and k, but am not
quite sure—in the
bedroom. I Was
very much
alarmed, and feared that the housewould
eaten fire
as one of the carpets began to burn. I pracluee ,a
number of stones which were burled into theh
ouse,
and a thick black veil, with eyehnios) which was
found in my front garden, and which had doubtless
been worn by ono of the ri )ters to prevent recogni-
tion. After proving compliance, with the legal
forms required by the statute, witness added that
he had actually paino repair the damage don"
£l6 sa. 11d., in addition to which he had sustained
other losses, which wonld tore than make up the
difference between that amount and 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 ono end, and had slings at the other to
attach them to the wrist.) Witness deposed to
having found them on the morning of the 221.
t
oge.thr with a quantity of fantastic th. Ic o ing,