Assault on a policeman (General)

by vcatkinson , Monday, April 15, 2024, 12:17 (14 days ago)

There was a story in the family of my mother (Marjorie May Smith) that one of the uncles/brothers of her grandparents was one of a group that brought down a policeman by putting a rope across the road and bringing down his horse.

With family surnames of Smith, Griffith and Jones etc., it could never be proved but my sister has just found an entry in court records that has

George Jones of Hilliers Land aged 28 and 5'8" tall Farmer's son
William Smith of Hilliers Land aged 24 and 5'7" tall Wood Cutter
Elms Smith of Berry Hill aged 18 and 5'6" tall Collier

accused That on the 11th March 1856 at the Township of West Dean did unlawfully assault and beat one Richard Thompson of the County Police.

I have a 1st cousin 4x removed called Elms Smith and he was of Berry Hill but he was baptised 24 Sep 1830 at Christchurch (PR has Helmes but later census and burial in 1860 has Elms). The only other Elms Smith is his nephew who was born in 1861.

I wondered if anyone had anything further on this, I have tried newspapers and the inquests on this site without finding anything.

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10 generations in the Forest