ABSTRACT
This case study of one unusually well-documented murder in a small and largely rural community offers opportunities to tap in to debates about xenophobia in rural communities, the use of judicial discretion, the nature of the criminal trial, and the wider political influence on judicial proceedings in the late 1700s. It also gives an insight into the creation of narratives that influenced trial outcomes. This case involved a murder charge, two assize hearings, a death sentence, a rare referral to the Twelve Judges, an appeal to the King’s Bench court, and a widely-reported petitioning campaign involving highly prominent members of the aristocracy and King George III.
