460. JOSEPH STRUTT proceedingsdefend This name instance is in set 4662. was indicted for that he, with divers others evil disposed persons, to the number of twenty or more, whole names are unknown, on the 17th of August , with force and arms, did unlawfully, riotously, and tumutruously assemble together, to the disturbance of the public peace, and that he did feloniously begin to demolish and pull down the dwelling house of William Ostliss proceedingsvictim .

The indictment opened by Mr. Raine, and the case by Mr. Attorney General.

WILLIAM OSTLIFF < no role > This name instance is in set 3543. sworn.

I keep the King's Arms, in Charing Cross .

Q. Tell my lord and gentlemen of the jury what happened at your house the 17th of August? - Between nine and ten on Sunday morning the 17th of August, a very great quantity of people assembled at the door, and some of them unhinged the front of the door.

Q. Tell the manner of their behaviour? - They were very riotously throwing stones, and insisted on having some recruits out belonging to the Norwich regiment, that I had there; I suppose there was a hundred people there. I have a middle door, which I barricadoed with a water butt, after they had taken off the hinges of the door at the end of the passage; the door of the house was a very weak door. After they had taken the passage door off the hinges, they took it out into the street, and they had a great difficulty to get it to pieces, and that diverted them some time, they broke it to pieces; after that they had the sign taken down, which they broke also; there was an application then made to the police office, to get the assistance of the military. I remained in the house all the while, I durst not get out for my life myself; I dispatched a man for the military; before the military did come, they came up the passage and brought the pieces of the outer door, and threw it over the middle door, at the windows, and broke the windows and the fashes, and swore they would get in; I had a military officer with me in the house, we threatened to fire at them.

Q. In what way did you convey this threat to them? - Over this middle door, which is six feet high.

Q. Did you say it yourself? - I did; they were forcing at the door at that time.

Q. What effect had this threat of your's? - They went back two or three times, and they came up again, and said, never mind, they cannot kill above two or three of us; we will be in the house, and have it down.

Q. Do you know the person who said these words? - I do not.

Q. After this, what past then? - The military came, and we opened the door, and the gentleman that I had with me from Northampton who desended the door got over the leads, and went and seizedthe prisoner at the bar, but I never saw him till I saw him at the police office.

Q. You have said already that the sashes of your windows were broke? - They were; there is one of them here present

Q. How long might this riot continue at your house, before the time that you was relieved by the arrival of the military? - About an hour.

Q. These expressions you speak of, you are very certain were made use of, "we will be in and have it down"? - I am; they said, come along, my lads, we will be in and have it down.

HORNBY MORELAND sworn.

I am quarter master of the royal Lincoln regiment, commanded by colonel Edward. I came from Lincoln on this business last Saturday morning. I was at Mr. Ostliss's the morning when this affair happened; I had been there all the night before, and I went to bed at four o'clock in the morning, all was very quiet then; at ten o'clock I was alarmed again, they ran up to call me, I rose immediately, at first I came down stairs naked, and I enquired what arms they had in the house, and if the pistols I had the night previous, were ready; a person of the name of Ewings was then in the house with some Norwich volunteers; I desired him to apply to the police office, for the assistance of the military; at the time they came down, they had forced a door of the passage contiguons to the street, and I heard them, as I supposed, breaking it in pieces, for I heard the wood crack repeatedly; when they had broke the outer door, there is a door at the far end of the passage, which is open upwards; they came with various pieces of the outer door, which communicated with the street, and with stones, which it seems were brought for the purpose of throwing at the house, and threw them over the middle door; the stones were blue flint stones, such as could not be had in the street, and also various brick bats, with which they demolished the first floor windows almost entirely, there were very few squares left unbroken.

Q. How many persons could you judge were in the passage at the time this not took place? - There were several; I could see many people through a hole which I made in order to fire a pistol the night before; I was told by the neighbours there were two thousand people at the front of the house; the passage was full.

Q. Were you able to distinguish any persons there? - Not at that particular time, afterwards I did.

Q. Will you be so good as to tell us what you did observe? - The passage was almost full of people, whose persons I could not distinguish; I looked over the door and threatened to fire at them, and then they returned back, and I had a cutlass, which I held over the top of the door, and when they attempted to get over the top of the door, I drove them back with it repeatedly; I then could discover through the hole that I had made, one more particularly riotous than the rest, who rallied the mob as often as they retreated; at that time I made enquiry of the people at the windows, whether the man had succeeded in obtaining the military assistance? as soon as I heard that the military assistance was coming. I then went and disguised myself in a great coat, so that they should not know me, for I supposed that they would know my person by looking over the door; I had remarked this Strutt repeatedly to rally the mob, and I recollected his voice; the prisoner is the person, I am positive of it. I then disguised myself in a great coat with a black collar, so that they should not have any suspicion that I was theman that had desended the house; I went up stairs and broke the lock of the one pair of stairs door, and went out at the one pair of stairs window, the window was demolished, I believe; I lifted up the sash and got on the leads.

Q. How much was it demolished? - I cannot say.

Q. Did you push open the sash to get out? - I did, I pushed the sash up, and got out on the leads, on to a little office that is contiguous to the house, I went into the one pair of stairs window of a Mr. Turner, and out into the street at the front door of his house, and so down into the passage, and so I got to that man; I was in the great coat, and told him in this manner, the horse guards are coming to assist the people of the house, as a friend, I advise you, pray desist; the prisoner said, b-gg-r your eyes, d-mn the horse, we will be in, we will be in, come on my lads, we will be in. Previous to that I had heard this man crying out hurra, down with it! down with it! I am positive as to the man and voice; for I took this step in order to be positive to the man.

Q. Where was you when you heard that? - On the inside of the door. I then got back out of the passage entry, and went over to the horse guards, I went to the ordinary sergeant; says he, the horses are ready to come out of the stable; with that I came back about twenty yards before the horses, and I went along the side of the houses and got into the passage again, and when I got in, this man was standing with the rest of the mob, encouraging them to commit further acts of depradation, by saying, come on my lads, we will yet be in, or we will be in. I then went across the street to the guard and back again; as soon as I discovered the horses heads, I seized this man, he was amongst the foremost men, in the front of the mob, I said, you are the ring leader of the mon, and I said to the officer, who was then got up to me, sir, I have secured the ringleader of the mob; two of the guards came up to my assistance just at the door; he made a violent struggle, and his coat tore where I had hold of him all the way down, but I got hold of him again till the horse came, and he was secured, and then he was secured; and I took him myself to the watch-house, escorted by the horse; when he got to the watch-house, there was only an old man in the watch-house and a woman, and they were afraid of him, because the horse did not come in, they were on horse back; there was a great mob following him of six hundred people, and they said, d-mn him, I will have him yet; and they did nearly kill me the next day, I escaped to a miracle, (some stones produced) I can swear to these two; this stone hit Mr. Ostliff over the head.

(Some pieces of the door produced, and a sash partly demolished.)

Mr. Ostliff. It is my door, the only guard I have to the house, it is fixed at the end of the passage.

SAMUEL EVANS < no role > sworn.

I was present the time the mob were assembled the 17th of August.

Q. What damage did you see them do? - They broke the door down, the front door of the passage at the street, and they had the sign down, and broke that, and then they came into the passage; we prevented them coming into the other door, we barricadoed it up with a water tub and other things, but they forced out one of the under pannels, and threw the stones in; and thereby the glass, and part of the frames of the windows were demolished, and when they did that I went for the military, and went down to the Horse Guards, and told them the situation the inhabitants of Charing-cross were in; and they told me I must go andget an order from the magistrate, and I went down to Mr. Kitby's house, and he gave me an order for the military.

Q. Did you hear the mob say any thing? - I heard them say, down with it, down with it, b-gg-r and bl-st their eyes we will have them out, and this Mr. Moreland and a corporal belonging to a regiment that was there, stood with their swords, and if it had not been for them they would have been in.

CHARLES ALEXANDER CRAIG < no role > sworn.

I am examining clerk to the board of works; I went and surveyed the premises; the outer door next the street seemed to me to be wrenched off its hinges, I have no doubt, but I saw the remains of it laying in the court yard, but that I am not positive; at the end of the passage there is another door, which I conceive belonged to Mr. Ostliff, and two other adjoining houses, at that door there was a little hole made, which seemed to be cut by a knife, and I presume now from what I have heard, that it was cut for seeing the mob, but when I surveyed the house, I took it as done by the mob, for seeing who was inside; when I surveyed the house, the sash of the one pair of stairs floor was taken out; there was a sash or sashes in the room of the one pair, which I did suppose to come from those window frames; the brick work had been struck in two places by stones, there was a joiner repairing the sash frames; the sash over the door, the glass was broke, all, except three panes, or only two, there were six panes of glass broke over the door, and there were five in the room on the left hand side of the door, there was a room on the right hand side of the court, which I considered as a parlour to the public house, one of these panes were broke, and part of the wood covering on it was injured trifling.

Q. Was the situation of the house such on your inspection of it that it was your opinion that it was begun to be demolished? - I think I may say that the house was began to be demolished, in as much as the sashes were so far injured, and that I saw a joiner repairing the sash frames, which I suppose had been injured by the mob.

Q. To Ostliff. Is that your sash that is broke? - It is.

Q. Was it so hroke by the mob at the time? - It was, and the sash frames were broke, only I happened to go down to Norwich, and I gave orders for the joiner to repair the house.

Prisoner. I had been into the City for a parcel, I had been to Snow-hill, coming back I called at my washerwoman's, I had not been long out of the country, I have no friends; four years ago I had a kick by a horse on the head, and I was sent to the hospital, and after that I went into the country, and when I got well, I being fit for nothing else, I was advised to go to labouring work, in consequence of the burt in my head, being fit for nothing else, and I went to labouring work, and afterwards I came to London, and I had not been long in London, I came up to get some labouring work, I worked for Mr. Wilson at Bow two months, all my friends are in the country; this day I was going from Snow-hill to Covent-garden, I had a handkerchief, shirt and a pair of stockings in my hand, and I met the mob, and they shoved me about very much, and asked me why I did not go along with them? I was rather in liquor, and went along with them, and the mob went to this house, and the gentleman, my prosecutor, he went for the horse guards, and they came with the horse, at the same time I stood at the corner of the court, and all the mob ran away, and some gentlemen stood by, and asked me why I did run? and I said I had not done any thingto run for, and they took hold of me, and took me up to St. Martin's watch-house, and there I was confined till they had me to Tothill-fields Bridewell. I have not a friend in town, except down in Essex, near Rockford, where I lived several years.

GUILTY . Death . (Aged 34.)

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. Baron HOTHAM.