Edward VI
(1.) SUMMARY OF THE TRUE BILLS
From 3 Edward VI. to the End of his Reign.
|
| Number of Persons. |
| Persons indicted for burglary | 3 |
| " " " horse-stealing | 40 |
| " " " larceny | 53 |
| " " " larceny with housebreaking | 12 |
| " " " larcenies from the person (done with secrecy or violence), including highway robberies | 18 |
| " " " manslaughter | 4 |
| " " " murder | 7 |
| " " " ox (cow &c.) stealing | 3 |
| " " " sheep-stealing | 5 |
| Persons indicted for capital felonies | 145 |
| " " " adultery and unclean living | 2 |
| " " " assault and battery | 2 |
| Person " " assault &c. with sword | 1 |
| " " " cheating and extortion | 1 |
| " " " defiling the water of a neighbour's well by putting dung &c. into it | 1 |
| Persons " " disorderly living | 3 |
| " " " forcible entry and disseisin | 17 |
| " " " harbouring ill-disposed and suspected persons | 3 |
| " " " keeping brothels | 10 |
| Person " " keeping disorderly house | 1 |
| Persons " " quarrelling, or causing and fomenting quarrels &c. | 7 |
| Person " " refusing to aid a constable &c. | 1 |
| " " " stopping a public way | 1 |
| Persons convicted of capital felonies | 117 |
| " acquitted of " " | 18 |
| Culprits 'standing mute' and sentenced to the 'peine forte et dure' | 2 |
| Felons pleading and having benefit of clergy | 10 |
| " sentenced to be hung,—males 62, female 1 | 63 |
| " reprieved | 15 |
| Culprits (with indictments for capital felonies found against them) at large | 7 |
N.B.—That the number of the convictions for capital felonies in this
account so greatly exceeds the combined number of the felons who were
sentenced to be hung, had benefit of clergy, or were reprieved, is chiefly
due to the largeness of the proportion of the bills that exhibit no memorandum of sentence. In the numerous cases where nothing more than
Po se cul ca nul appears over a culprit's name, I have not thought right
to assume as a matter of course that he was sentenced to be hung, as he
might have been pardoned, or have escaped from or died in gaol before
sentence.