The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-10 00:00:00

gentry stopping up the thoroughfare in the high road,
in consequence cl some fashionable party, and he felt
that it would be a Treat mockery of justice to punish
the poor persons then before him for committing an
offence which was committed by the rich with impu-
nity. He should, therefore, only inflict on each of the
defendants a nominal fine of one penny, without any
costs.

The poor men appeared much delighted at the justice
of the decision of the worthy Magistrate, and very
cheerfully paid their pence.

THE BEOLEY HALL ESTATE,

WORCESTERSHIRE.

BIRMINGHAM, SATURDAY.—A case of considerable in-
terest in the county of Worcester, and, in some degree,
involving a claim to property of great extent in the
neighbourhood of Redditch, came on for hearing before
J. T. Lawrence, Esq., and other county magistrates, at
Alcester Lanes-end, to-day. Mr. Whitehouse, a gentle-
man of considerable landed property; Mr. Woolaston,
steward of the Beoley Hall estate, acting under Mr.
Oliver, solicitor of London; and four persons, named
Porter, Richmond, Carpenter, and Bolton, were charged
with riot and assault. Mr. Johnson, solicitor, of Dudley,
appeared for the complainant, one Joseph Rogers, who
described himself as being " a yeoman," residing at
Braidley, in Staffordshire.
A brief explanation is necessary to the proper appre-
ciation of the charge.
The Beoley Hall estate, one of the most beautiful
properties in the eastern division of Worcestershire, was
formerly in the possession of the ancient house of Shel-
don, and from them descended by purchase to the family
°I Holmes. Some sixty years ago Mr. Holmes, the then
possessor, sold the estate, at that time in its entirety,
comprising the whole parish of Beoley, and consisting of
about 4,506 acres, in lots to various parties. One por-
, tion of the estate, consisting of the hall, and about 300
acres of land, fell into the hands of Mr. Whitehouse, one
of the present defendants; but before the formal con-
♦eyance was completed (the sale being duly effected)
Mr. Holmes died without a will. The sale was however,
ratified by his successors. Within these last few years,
claimants to the whole estate of Beoley, now divided
into separate purchases, have sprung up in the persons
of a family of working colliers, named Staunton, of
Braidley, near Dudley, who claim as the legitimate re-
presentatives of the Holmeses, and who, moreover, affirm
that the sales made by Mr. Holmes were not of the free-
hold, but leasehold, expirable in sixty years from the
time the leases were executed. This period they affirm
has now elapsed; but it is remarkable that no copy of
any one lease has yet been produced.
Under these circumstances the Stauntons, by the in-
strumentality of Rogers, on Thursday morning last pro-
ceeded to assert and do acts of ownership. It appears
that Mr. Whitehouse does not occupy the hall, but that
the premises were in the care of a gardener named Mor-
ris, and his wife. About ten o'clock on the morning in
question, Rogers, and an attendant bailiff, named Hall,
who did occasional jobs for him, proceeded to Beoley,
and having obtained admission to the hall, they imme-
diately assumed the right of proprietorship. Morris,
the gardener, and his wife, were required to perform
suit and service; the cookery apparatus was in im-
mediate requisition, and the lordly intruders dealt
with everything within their reach as the goods and
chattels of their colliery employers, the Stauntons.
This glorification was, however, doomed to be of
short duration. On Saturday evening Mr. White-
house, accompanied by Mr. Woolaston, and a nume-
rous band of trusty retainers, made their appearance,
when they found doors and shutters bolted and barred,
and every preparation made to resist a formidable siege.
A surrender was demanded, but refused; force became
necessary, the windows of the drawing-room were broken
in, the doors forced, and ultimately the besieged Mr.
Rogers and his knight, finding that the enemy had not
only effected a breach, but that the besiegers were talk-
ing in unmistakeable terms of a contiguous horse pond,
thrust the keys of the mansion into the pockets of
a constable (who was present to keep the peace), ex-
claiming that "he had seen enough ;" and made a pre-
cipitate escape to avoid the personal indignities in anti-
cipation. It was for the assault and riot committed on
the occasion that the present charge was instituted.
Green, the constable, who was called to corroborate
the witness, decidedly contradicted him. He witnessed
neither assault nor riot.
The Magistrate gave no opinion as to the legal right
to the property, but dismissed the charge of riot and
assault.
The constable immediately gave up the keys of the
hall to Mr. Whitehouse, under a protest from Rogers.