14 ANNUAL REGISTER, I81b. 



ing which, tlie doctor's wife plead- 

 ed extreme poverty, and declared 

 she had not a single halfpenny in 

 her possession ; but, on a minute 

 search of two boxes, 13:51. 9s. in 

 specie were found, carefully de- 

 posited in several small tin boxes, 

 wrapped up in rags and paper, 

 and consisting of one moidore, 

 G8 guineas, 31 half- guineas, one 

 Spanish dollar, 110 half-crowns, 

 537 shillings, and 144 sixpences. 

 From the habits and miserable 

 appearance of this woman, it does 

 not appear that she has ever con- 

 verted any part of the wealth to 

 her own comfort ! 



Miss Smith, daugliter of Mr. 

 George Smith, of Toppeslield, 

 Essex, about 19 years of age, 

 being on a visit to Mr. Thomp- 

 son, of Fryerning, a gun having 

 attracted her attention, she took 

 it up, and presented it at the 

 maid servant, not supposing it to 

 be loaded, but on jiuUing the 

 trigger, it did not go «ff. In r 

 short time after, the maid sci- 

 vant got possession of the gun, 

 and in her turn pointed the gun 

 at Miss Smith, when the contents, 

 a full chaigc, enteicd her side, 

 and she survived but a lew hours. 



A man dctucted in poaching 

 was lately sliot near Mellon Mow- 

 bray. The following are the ])ar- 

 ticulars of that circumstance: — 

 Richard Norman, esij. of Melton, 

 having reason to sus])ect, fioin 

 the numerous gangs of poachers 

 in the neighbourhood, and from 

 the decrease of his gaino, jtarti- 

 cularly pheasants, that they had 

 been paying him some nocturnal 

 visits, caused the wood in the 

 neighbourhood of his farm at 

 Freby to be watched for several 

 nights, and about two o'clock 

 on Thursday morning the 13lli 



inst. four men were discovered 

 at their depredations ; three, 

 however, fortunately for them, 

 made their escape ; but the fmu'th, 

 in the attempt, failing to stop 

 when ordered so to do, was 

 dangerously woxmded by two of 

 the servants, and now lies at a 

 public-house at Melton Mowbray, 

 with very little hopes of recovery, 

 as the shot, which were large, 

 have entered so deep into his 

 l5ack and arm, that the surgeon 

 has not as yet been enabled to 

 extract them. 



30. The comity of Norfolk, 

 particulaily the neighbourhood of 

 Downham, has for a long time 

 been the haunt of an immense 

 body of poachers, whose num- 

 bers, and daring proceedings, so 

 terrified the i)eople around, that 

 the civil authorities were not very 

 forward to act against such des- 

 peiadoes. They acted with im- 

 punity for many months past, and 

 got so bold as apparently to defy 

 the constables, gamekeepers, &c. 

 In this state of things, T. P. 

 Bagg, Escj. T. Dearing, Es(i. and 

 T. liare, Escj. of Stow Hall, whose 

 estates were particularly infested, 

 wrote to the Police office, Quecn- 

 scpiarc, for assistance to take the 

 depredators into custody. Pace 

 and another oflteer were in con- 

 sc(iuence sent down about a fort- 

 night since ; and he successfully 

 organized his plan, getting a man 

 to Ijccome one of a party at their 

 suppers, poachings, &c. After 

 they had been poaching tolerably 

 extensively, wliieh wm followed 

 by a hearty feast, Pace set to 

 work, and before the morning he 

 had secured ten of them, most of 

 wiiom were found in their beds. 

 Seeing that resistance was vain, 

 alLhuugh they hud been exceed- 

 ingly 



