Trying to find a court case 1868

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littlealison
Posts: 225
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:55 pm
Location: Oxfordshire , UK

Trying to find a court case 1868

Post by littlealison » Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:15 pm

I've followed my gggrandfather from Glasgow to Lancashire, where he was partner to Charles Borron in Newton-le-Willows. And still trying to sort out what was happening there in about 1865 - 72.....

I recently saw 'Who do you think you are' about the Kilner family, and they were in court in 1872 about their smoky emissions from the bottleworks - and were obliged to update their furnaces to use gas as a fuel.

This was in a local Liverpool paper in 1868:
"LIVERPOOL ASSIZES
Liverpool Mercury etc (Liverpool, England), Friday, August 21, 1868 “ALLEGED INJURY TO VEGETATION FROM CHEMICAL VAPOURS.”
The plaintiff in this case was Frederick Pennington, a nurseryman at Newton-le-Willows, and Charles Borron, a glass bottle manufacturer at the same place, was the defendant; and the action was to recover compensation for injury alleged to have been caused to the shrubs, plants etc in the plaintiff’s grounds by the vapours emitted from the works of the defendant. Mr Higgin, QC,and Mr Wheeler were for the plaintiff, and Mr Quain, QC and Mr Crompton for the defendant. The case had not concluded when the court adjourned."

Nothing more about this found.
Problem - I found the Kilner case in the National Archives, but I can't find this one. I'm having great difficulty in searching - because I don't know enough about the legal system, I think.
It just might give me a little more detail about what the Newton works was doing then! I thought that by then they would have the gas furnaces - this is what I want to know.

Could someone who knows their way around the National Archives help out?
Researching:
LITTLE - Scotland, Lancashire, Dublin and South Africa. And Canada.
RITCHIE, BARR - Scotland
ANDREWS, MEMERY, DOWSE and BIRMINGHAM - Dublin
PRICE, JACKSON, ROGERS, ALLEN - N. Wales

LesleyB
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Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Re: Trying to find a court case 1868

Post by LesleyB » Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:33 pm

Hi Allison

I'm guessing your grandfather 's surname was Little - can you provide his first name please?

littlealison
Posts: 225
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:55 pm
Location: Oxfordshire , UK

Re: Trying to find a court case 1868

Post by littlealison » Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:04 am

Sorry - it was John Little. But I didn't think he was involved in this court case?
Researching:
LITTLE - Scotland, Lancashire, Dublin and South Africa. And Canada.
RITCHIE, BARR - Scotland
ANDREWS, MEMERY, DOWSE and BIRMINGHAM - Dublin
PRICE, JACKSON, ROGERS, ALLEN - N. Wales

Currie
Posts: 3924
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:20 am
Location: Australia

Re: Trying to find a court case 1868

Post by Currie » Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:29 am

Hello Alison,

The Manchester Times reported that he had been awarded ₤50 damages by a Jury. It doesn’t seem likely there would have been anything else. Using the Gale newspapers, nurseryman n9 willows in the search box will find it without putting in anything else.

Manchester Times (Manchester, England), Saturday, August 22, 1868.
NOXIOUS VAPOURS.
In the Nisi Prius Court, before Mr. Justice Hannen, Mr. Frederick Pennington, a nurseryman, residing at Newton-in-the-Willows, sought to recover damages that he alleged he had sustained to his nursery produce by reason of the noxious vapours emitted from the bottle glass manufactory of Mr. Charles Barron, which is situated in the same neighbourhood.—The jury, after being locked up several hours, awarded the plaintiff ₤50 damages.

I had a quick look at the NA site but couldn’t find anything. I don’t know whether everything they have has been indexed or whether they would have kept all the records of this sort of action.

All the best,
Alan

littlealison
Posts: 225
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:55 pm
Location: Oxfordshire , UK

Re: Trying to find a court case 1868

Post by littlealison » Sat Nov 23, 2013 1:45 pm

Hi again Alan! What a very fast answer. Thank you.

A bit more info. So they were held responsible and fined. £50 being a fair amount then?
A pretty early environmental case.
I wonder why the jury took so long to reach a verdict!

I'm thinking that when the Newton works were reopened, most likely in 1866, the existing furnaces would not have been run by coal gas but by the coal itself - because they were closed in 1861. So, probably one of the first things was to alter or add to the existing setup and update so as to use gas instead, and that would take a while.
Meanwhile, income needed, so the old furnaces would be used, and coal fumes produced.
Also it would take at least one season for the nurseryman to realise the damage, perhaps longer.

And there is the quote that "Young Jack Little, of Stevenson & Little,
with Charlie Borron, as they were intimately called, migrated to Newton-le-Willows, St. Helen's, and recommenced operations with the tank system."
(continuous flow of molten glass.) (Fleming, 1938, no date given.)
This is John Little's son John. Both Johns were working on the gas system in Glasgow from 1862.

Now they couldn't have done that right away either. So if coal fumes were still being produced in 1868, then it seems that continuous operation would be after this, as the tank technology required the gas system to operate.
Interesting.

Complicated by the fact that I still don't know which John Little was where and who was working in Newton!
I will keep trucking - thanks again, Alison.
Researching:
LITTLE - Scotland, Lancashire, Dublin and South Africa. And Canada.
RITCHIE, BARR - Scotland
ANDREWS, MEMERY, DOWSE and BIRMINGHAM - Dublin
PRICE, JACKSON, ROGERS, ALLEN - N. Wales

LesleyB
Posts: 8184
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Re: Trying to find a court case 1868

Post by LesleyB » Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:58 pm

Hi Allison

Sorry, I had completely misread your post. I thought that your gggrandfather and his partner Charles Borron in Newton-le-Willows had been involved in a legal case and that was what you were trying to find evidnece of.... :roll: So, in that case the name of your grandfather would have been useful, but it was just me misunderstanding the question!

Best wishes
Lesley

littlealison
Posts: 225
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:55 pm
Location: Oxfordshire , UK

Re: Trying to find a court case 1868

Post by littlealison » Sun Nov 24, 2013 10:18 am

Never mind. I got a bit more info.
Do my musings make sense?
Researching:
LITTLE - Scotland, Lancashire, Dublin and South Africa. And Canada.
RITCHIE, BARR - Scotland
ANDREWS, MEMERY, DOWSE and BIRMINGHAM - Dublin
PRICE, JACKSON, ROGERS, ALLEN - N. Wales

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