The Sun.
London, England, 1829-08-19 00:00:00

SUMMER ASSIZES.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT—LEICESTER, Ana. 17.
TRIMMER, CLERK, V.•LORD HUNTINGTOwER.
ME. CLINTON opened the pleadings. The Rev.
Henry Trimmer was the plaintiff, and the Right
Hon. Tollemache, commonly called Lord Hunting-
tower, was the defendant. The declaration stated
that the defendant had committed several nuisances,
to the great injury of the plaintiff; to which the de-
fendant pleaded that he was not guilty.
Mr. DENMAN, who was further assisted by Mr.
BALGUY, opened the plaintiff's case in an able ad-
dress to the jury, and then adduced evidence of the
following facts:—
The plaintiff, who is the grandson of the lady of
his name of some celebrity in the literary world,
previously to 1823 resided at Newdigate in Surrey,
where be had a curacy, and was the proprietor of a
respectable school. In the course of that year, he
was presinted by the Duke of Devonshire tb the
living of Buckminster in this county, and came'down
to be inducted shortly afterwards, accompanied by his
brother, with whom he took possession of the vi-
carage-house, which is near the paling of the defen-
dant's demesne. As soon as Lord Huntingtower
heard of his arrival, he drove to the vicarage house
in his carriage, and had an interview with the brother.
His Lordship stated that the Duke of Devonshire
had recently exchanged the right of presentation to
this living with him for another advowson, and
therefore proposed that the plaintiff should also ex-
change his living for one, the income of which was
201. or 30/. a-year greater. To this Mr. Trimmer
replied, that he did not think his brother would
agree to that proposal, because the living mentioned
by his Lordship was, lie understood, situated in an
aguish part of the country. His Lordship then pro-
posed taking a lease of tile glebe land, and of some
small tithes; Mr. Trimmer told him he would submit
hiS proposal to his brother's consideration. On the
next day, or the next day but one, Lord Hunting-
tower again drove to the vicarage, when Mr. Trim-
mer told him that the plaintiff declined to let the
land or tithes, as he meant to reside at the vicarage.
There the matter rested, and the plaintiff went back
to Surrey until September in the last year, when he
came down to Buckminster to reside for good. He
was accompanied by two pupils, Mr. Brown, a young
gentleman from Ireland, and Mr. Dalton. In two
or three days after their arrival, the young men were
amusing themselves firing with a small pistol at a
target, in the plaintiff's field, through which there
ran a public pathway. The defendant drove in his
carriage as far as his steward's house, which was
about 100 yards distant, and sent his servant to de-
sire the young men to desist firing. Mr. Brown re-
plied that they were on Mr. Trimmer's land, and
they would do as they pleased. His Lordship then
drove up to the house, and called out to Mr. Trim-
mer " I'll have no shooting here from those
bays ;" upon hearing which, Mr. Brown replied,
" boys! You scoundrel." Lord Hunting-
tower then observed, "You'll see what I shall do
to-morrow," and drove away. On the following
day, his Lordship's workmen commenced erecting
pinfold in a field immediately in front of the plain-
tiff's house, at the distance of about 30 feet from it.
AS soon as three sides of this pound were built, a
bull was turned into it, which was only shut in on
the fourth side by the paling of Mr. Trimmer's lawn
or foreground. To this animal, cows were brought
daily, generally about three o'clock in the after-
noon. A male ass was also put in, and she
asses were led to it, even on Sundays, about the
time when the afternoon service was over. In
the mean time various other modes of annoyance
were tesorted to by the defendant. He had a sign
erected in front of the pound, on which was painted
" Trimmer's Shooting Academy." There was 'a
cottage contiguous to it, to which he also had a sign
affixed, with the words, " I spy Trimmer's Shooting
Academy." In this cottage a woman named " Sally
Hand" resided with her husband; and her sister, a
common girl from Stamford, came there also about
this time. One day the' defendant called the woman
out of this house, and then addressing Mr. Brown,
who is about 18 years of age, told him that she had
got a girl for him, who would invite him to drink
tea and sleep with her. Mr. Trimmer immediately
came forward, and asked his Lordship how he dared
to address such- language as that to his pupil ? The
defendant denied having addressed it to the pupil,
saying he bad merely spoken to the woman Hand.
Another pupil, however, declared he had heard
him address the worth to Mr. Brown. The de-
fendant then drove home, and returned in about an
hour and a half, upon which the plaintiff, together
with his pupils and servant, treated him to a concert
of" rough music," Mr. Trimmer performing on a
poker and tireshovel; another of the party rattling
an old kettle with stones in it ; whilst a third ex-
tracted " sweet sounds" from the tongs. This was
stated to have been done for the purpose of prevents
has the defendant from being heard, in case he made
a fresh attempt to corrupt the pupils, and also of
driving him away. All this time the disgusting ex-
hibitions at the pinfold continued without abate-
ment, in the immediate view of the plaintiff's
family, consisting of his wife ;and two children,
a boy. and girl, and three pupils; a Mr. Lang-
don, of Cadogan-place, Sloane-street, having
been added to their number in February.—
Ail the time, however, his Lordship was not alto-
gether free from having divers petty annoyances re-
torted on himself. When his carriage made its rip;
pearance near the plaintiff's house, his brother
would approach it, and jumping up, look in at him
by way of insulting him, whilst the plaintiff himself
would ride room; it for the same purpose. The
pupils, too, were not backward in manifesting the
absence of much respect for him. His mode of ade
dressing his coachman, " Drive on, Tommy," was
mimicked, and he was told to go horn , for lie was
an old wittelt. Prior to the 12th a: November,
Brown sometimes would fire off a pistol, only
charged with powder, within 20 yards of his horses,
his Lordship, who is paralytic, being unable to quit
the carriage. The horses, however, were never
frightened by the report. At length the defendant
informed gown that he meant to advertise his name
trl-t hat of Langdon's, together with the plaintiff's,
in the Leicester and Lincoln newspapers; and here
again his Lordship was as good as his word; for, on
tih!tew;;Cugl!4 ll°vFielf Friday, the adyertisement appeared.
addressed !` To Btechera who are free of the
town of Grantham, It then ;tuned that there was
to butcher's shop to let in the .town or Granib4rn,
and referred for particulars to his Lordship's
steward, who resided at Buckminster, where the
Rev. Henry Trimmer, and his pupils, Brown and
Laagesaa amused themselves daily, by shooting at
a target, pistols, in the most fre-
tind the parish, to the great
danger and
thoroughfare%'
apdltahlin gunsOy "aieeOf all their neighbonrs. who
'hasfogeasiOn to pass that way. 'Another adVertisc7
appeared; commencing as'before,
but adding, that .10oiss Kar laPooFera had been
set upon, and one of them shot, by ten ruMans, for
merely saying that a Roman Catholic Priest would
not have acted as this parson of the Church of Eng-
land had done. Some of them, however, it went

on to state, had been lodged in gaol, and the others,
were known, so that there were hopes that they
would all be transported at the next Leicester .Ses-
sions for their ruffianly conduct. Young Langdon
having gone home for the holidays, a letter ad-
dressed to his mother was delivered by the defend-
ant's servant to the village postmaster, and
was received by Mrs. Langdon after her
son had engaged his place in the coach to
return to the plaintiff. This letter, in a disguised hand,
was couched in the grossest language, acquainting
Mrs. Langdon that her son, in company with the
plaintiff, shot at a target, witnessed the scenes at
the pinfold, had had a criminal intercourse with a
girl named Sally Hand, who was pregnant by him,
and lastly, had shot an Irishman, for which he was
likely to be tried. Mrs. Langdon wrote to the
plaintiff on the subject, informing him that she did
not believe one tittle of the imputations attempted
to be cast upon him or her son, but adding her ex-
treme regret that she durst not, from the dread of
having his name associated with such charges, how-
ever false, allow her son to return to Mr. Trimmer's
house. The boy, therefore, for whose instruction
Mr. Trimmer was receiving 150 guineas per annum,
was kept away. A letter, in a similar hand, was
received by the Bishop of Lincoln, to whom the
defendant stated to Brown, first that he would
write, and afterwards that he had written. The
Bishop transmitted it, under cover, to the plaintiff.
It was signed " A Farmer," and, in coarse terms,
described the plaintiff as a disgrace to his sacred
profession. Such are the facts which appeared in
evidence on this singular trial.
The LORD CHIEF BARON having summed up,
The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for
the full sum laid in the declaration,—namely 2,0001.
damages.