318 ANNUAL REGISTER, I8l6. 



in the evening. The court was 

 crowded througlioiit the day, and 

 a full bench of Magistrates at- 

 tended. 



Sligo. — Crown Court, Thursday, 

 March 21. — The King v. Fentons* 

 — On this day this very interest- 

 ing tiial was proceeded in, when 

 the court was crowded to excess. 

 The prisoners, Thomas and 

 John Fenton, esqrs. were indict- 

 ed for the murder of John Hillas, 

 esq. by killing him in a duel. 



Mr. Vandeleur, as counsel for 

 the crown, laid before the jury 

 the following statement of the 

 circumstances in which the pro- 

 secution had originated : — 



Upon the 6th of last Decem- 

 ber, a vessel was cast ashore, by 

 stress of weather, ujjon the coast 

 of Tiveragh, near to the residence 

 of Major Hillas, who was an ac- 

 tive magistrate, and a young man 

 of the most humane disposition. 

 A Roman Catholic clergyman, of 

 the name of Burke, sent to inform 

 him of this unfortunate occur- 

 rence. He immediately hastened 

 to the spot to discharge his duty 

 as a magistrate, and fulfil his na- 

 tural inclination as a man. The 

 captain, he found, had fallen over- 

 board ; and to his exeitions during 

 the entire of a dark and stormy 

 night, the safety of the mate, and 

 of eleven of the crew, was chiefly 

 to be attributed. His object in 

 so acting resulted merely from 

 motives of humanity, and was far 



* The reason for inserting this trial is 

 not because duels are rare events ; but be- 

 cause an example can scarcely elsewhere 

 be fuund, ol'the publicity and disregard to 

 all decorum with which tliey are carried on 

 in Ireland, and of the open preference 

 given to the laws of custom to those of the 

 ktdd in that unhappy country. 



from originating in any pecuniary 

 consideration. While he was in 

 this laudable pursuit, Mr. John 

 Fenton, one of the prisoners, 

 came up, and interfered in a man- ' 

 ner which appeared to him not 

 to be very correct : an altercation 

 arose ; and the result was Mr. 

 John Fentons telling Major Hil- 

 las, " that, if he interfered fur- 

 ther, he would throw him into 

 the sea." He, however, conti- 

 nued his exeitions from the 6th 

 to the 8th of December, on 

 which day the other prisoner, 

 Mr. Thomas Fenton, arrived with 

 a body of yeomen, and forced 

 the property out of his possession. 

 It was in vain that Major Hillas 

 remonstrated ; it was in vain 

 that he declared his object was 

 not salvage, and that he was 

 only endeavouring to save as 

 much as possible from the wreck, 

 for the benefit of the owners. 

 Being in this manner frustrated 

 in his intentions, he made a jour- 

 ney to Scotland, where the owners 

 resided, in order to make them 

 acquainted with the circumstances 

 of their loss; and on his return, 

 Mr. John Fenton sent him a mes- 

 sage, which, however, was de- 

 clined, upon principles which, 

 he must say, appeared to him per- 

 fectly justifiable. Thus the mat- 

 ter rested until the 30th January, 

 when Major Hillas and Mr. Fen- 

 ton put in their respective claims 

 before Mr. Wynne and Mr. Irwin, 

 two magistrates who were ap- 

 pointed to investigate the mattei'. 

 Major Hillas disclaimed before 

 them having been actuated by 

 any pecuniary motives, and pro- 

 fessed that he came there merely 

 to have the rights of the respec- 

 tive parties clearly ascertained. 

 It was upon this occasion that the 

 circumstances 



