Star.
London, England, 1821-11-28 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGEACE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, NOVEMBER 97.
COLONEL &MLLE v. TIIE MARSHAL OF THE ICING'S
BENCH PRISON. •
Mr. GURNEViiiid-,-e•lie had now to chew cause
iiainst a Rule obtained in the last Term by Mr.
Goaper, calling on Mr. Jones, the Marshal, to shew
cause why he should not answer the matters of an
affidavit filed by Colonel Bailie, a prisoner in the Bench.
—stew, when it was recollected that Mr. Jones had
lheld the situation of Marshal for upwards of thirty
years, and in the course of that period had had under
controul many thousands of unfortunate persons,
few of whom could be supposed to be in a state of
mind likely to tender thcm very well satisfied with
their situation, he (Mr. Gurney) thought he could
not state a circumstance more honourable to his client
than this plain fact—that this complaint of Colonel
Bailie was the first that ever had been preferred
against him. The causes of the present complaint
were stated to have arisen in the latter part of De-
ccmber, 1820, but no affidavit of complaint was
made by Colonel Bailie until the 2d of July last.—
Their Lordships should also be informed that the
causes of complaint were said to be the conduct of
the person who kept the Coffee-house in the prison;
but the complainant either forgot or neglected to
state that this individual was removed from that situ-
ati4at lo; g before the affidavit of complainant was
filed. In fact, the ground of Colonel Baiiie's corn-
plaint did appear to be, that the Marshal would not
grant him the Rules without having security. Mr.
Gurney then proceeded to detail the facts stated in
Colonel Bailie s affidavit, which stated that, from
July, 1820, to February, 1821, he was in the Bench,
and occupied an apartment over the Coffee house, for
which he paid O. 9s. per meek ; that Isis health was
bad, and that his rest was frequently disturbed at
late and unseasonable hours by singing, and other
noises and irregularities. That he remonstrated with
Pool, the keeper of the Coffee-house, but he was only
answered by .impertinence, and a repetition of the
annoyances. He afterwards threatened to complain
of him to the Marshal ; but this had no effect, and
a•person named Mead, and some others confined in
the prison, joined in insulting him and defending
Pool. He (Colonel Bailie) did ultimately complain
to the Marshal, who, however, disregarded his corn-
phints against Pool, and refused to notice the con-
duct of Colonel Mead, and the other persons against
whom lie (Colonel Bailie) had reason to complain,
because Colonel Mead was a relative of Lord Castle-
reagh. That the ;hoses in the prison were entir.;
Mous, the Marshal taking no notice of them, leaving
the entire regulation of the prison to Mr. Biuchoffe,
the Deputy Marshal, and never visiting the prison
himpelf. That the prisoners were fearful of uttering
any complaint, lest they should be subjected to
greater restraints and abuses; and further, that the
Marshal, from personal motives, had refused to grant
him (Colonel Bailie) the Rules of the prison, as was
common in ordinary cases. Mr. Gurney now put in
the Iffidavit of Mr. Jones, contradicting the facts
stated in Colonel Bailie's affidavit. He denied that
he bad refused to grant the liberty of the Rules to'
Colonel Baklie; he had only declined doing so unless
Colonel Bailie gave him the usual security. With
respect to the complaint against Pool, he (Mr. Jones)
had immediately attended to it, and remonstrated with
Pool, and told him, unless he conformed strictly to
the rules of the prison, he must quit the Coffee-house.
That Pool did, in fact, quit the Coffee-house at Lady-
day last. Mr. Jones also denied the allegation of
Colonel Bailie, as regarded Colonel Mead. What he
(Jones) had said, was, that he could not commit
Colonel Mead to Horsemonger.lane, as Colonel Bailie •
wished, as no assault had been committed. That
with regard to Colonel Mead being a relation of
Lord C t'.th:reagh, all that had passed on that sub-
ject was in consequence of an observation of Colonel
Bailie, that M. Mead was no Colonel ; to which the
deponent observed, he believed that Mr. Mead was a
Colot.el, he being of a good fainily in Ireland, and
a distant relation of Lord Castlereagh. Mr. Jones
further stated, that as soon as Mr. Bailie complained
of his accommodation at the Coffee-house, lie made
inquiries, and procured for him rooms in the State
apartments. He communicated this circumstance
to Colonel Bailie, who, notwithstanding this, still
continued for duce weeks longer, by choice, to oc-
cupy his apartments over the Coffee-mom. fhe affi-
davit also proceeded to state, that lie (the Marshal)
regulaily •visited every room in the prison once a
month, according u' the Rule of Court,. and often
other times; and that he verily believed Colo-
nel Bailie's complaint to have originated in his re-
fusing to grant the Rules without proper securities.
That he had upwards of 23,000 prisoners under his
care since he held the situation of Marshal ; that lie
had spent the greater portion of his time at the resi-
dence of the Marshal at the prison, and had only ab-
sented himself for short periods occasionally, on
which occasions he resided at Putney, as being in the
immediate vicinity of the metropolis; that his periods
of absence, since the death of Lord Ellenborough,
had been shorter and less frequent than those which
had fotmerly been sanctioned by that Noble Lord
mad Lord Kenyon: if, however, the Court should now
consider constant residence necessary, he would bow
with submission to that decision. The affidavit con-
cluded by declaring that he was not conscious of
ever having given a prisoner, whilst under his care,
guy cause of —The affidavit of Mr. Bru-
cnoffe, the Deputy Marshal, was also put in, which
gated, amongst other facts, that he had orders from
the Marshal to grant to Colonel Bailie the Rules on
the usual terms; and that Colonel Bailie had de-
clared he would be revenged on the Marshal for
Withholding the Rules from him.—The afgilax,its of
Pool, and other persons, were also put in, in which
the alleged irregularities in the coffee-room were de-
nied. Having read these affidavits, he (Mr. Gurney)
trusted their Lordships would be fully convinced
there was not the slightest round for the allegations
contained in Bailie's affidavit
. Mr. COOPER, in reply, said, he certainly was, en-
titled to state who Colonel Bailie was: that Gentle-
men was a Colonel in the West Middlesex Militia,
and was related to one of the most honourable fami-
lies in England, the Uxbridge family. The Learned
Counsel examined All the charges against the Mar-
shal, and pat ticularly deprecated a charge of suffer-
ing persons named Elsworthy, 13annister, Colvin, and
recidsam, to hold rooms in the prison, wheat they