(D.) Warrant of Distress thereupon. - Y.C. P. 94.
[58 Geo. 3. c. 43. §6. - 2 Burn, 400.]

County of } To the constable of

WHEREAS A.O. of, in the said county,

,

is

this day duly convicted before me, J. P. esquire, one of his majesty's justices of the peace in and for the said county, upon the oath of A.W., a credible witness, for that he the said Α.Ο., within four months last past, at a place called -, in a part of the river -, in the parish of- -, in the said county, did lay down and place certain engines, namely, wooden bars, the said bars not being an inch apart from each other, to prevent the spawn of salmon or young fry from going down from the said river to the sea, contrary to an act passed in the 58th year of the reign of king George the third, intituled "An act for preventing the destruction of the breed of salmon, and fish of salmon kind, in the rivers of England:" Whereby he the said A. O. has forfeited the sum ofl., [if mitigated, say, but which I have mitigated to -l., this being the first offence, or, as the case may be,] to be distributed as hereinafter is mentioned according to the directions of the said act, [if the defendant be present, say, and which he the said A.O. being now present has not paid down immediately upon such conviction upon the order of me, the said justice, but has refused to pay the same: These are therefore to require you to levy the said penalty ofl., and also the further sum of which I have adjudged for costs, by distress of the goods and chattels of him the said A. O., and if within the space of four days next after such distress by you taken, the said penalty of

distrained as

t.,

and the said further sum of for costs, together with the reasonable charges of taking and keeping the said distress, shall not be paid, that then you do sell the said goods and chattels so by you aforesaid, and out of the money arising by such sale that you do pay one moiety of the said penalty, together with the said sum of for costs, to A.I. of- , in the said county, one of the conservators appointed for the preservation of the salmon, and fish of the salmon kind, and the brood, spawn, and fry thereof, within the rivers - and in the said county, who informed me of the said offence, and the other moiety of the said penalty, after defraying all costs, charges, and expenses attending the prosecution, and the levying and recovering of the penalty, to the overseers of the poor of the parish of aforesaid, where the said offence was committed, returning to him the said A.O., on demand, the overplus of the money levied [if any there be,] after the penalty, and all costs, charges, and expenses attending the levying and recovering thereof are deducted; and in case sufficient distress shall not be found of the goods and chattels of the said A. O., that you certify the same to me together with the return of this precept.

Given under my hand and seal the

day of

year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and -.

in the

(E.) Commitment thereupon. - Y. C. P. 96.

County of

{

[58 Geo. 3. c. 43. § 6. - 2 Burn, 400.]

To the constable of --- -, in the said county, and
to the keeper of the house of correction at
in the said county.

WHEREAS A.O. of, in the said county,

was on

this

day of

,

present day [that is, if he be present when the conviction takes place, and refuses to pay down the penalty immediately, since he may be instantly committed in that case; or if absent, and a return being made of nulla bona, say, was on the instant, duly convicted before me, J. P. esquire, one of his majesty's justices of the peace in and for the said county, upon the oath of A. W., a credible witness, for that he the said A. O., within four months last past, at a place called —, in a part of the river, in the parish of -, in the said county, did lay down and place certain engines, namely, wooden bars, the said bars not being an inch apart from each other, to prevent the spawn of salmon or young fry from going down from the said river to the sea, contrary to an act passed in the 58th year of the reign of king George the third, intituled "An act for preventing the destruction of the breed of salmon and fish of salmon kind, in the rivers of England:" Whereby he the said A.O. has forfeited the sum of l., to be paid, one moiety thereof to A. I. of, in the said county, one of the conservators appointed for the preservation of the salmon, and fish of the salmon kind, and the brood, spawn, and fry thereof within the rivers

and

,

in the said county, who informed me of the said offence, and the other moiety of the said penalty, after defraying all costs, charges, and expenses attending the prosecution, and the levying and recovering of the penalty, to the overseers of the poor of the said parish of- - where the said offence was committed, [if the penalty be mitigated, say, which I have mitigated to -l.,] / [or, as the case may be; and if the offender be present at the conviction, and the warrant of distress issues immediately, the following clause, in Black Letter, is then to be omitted:] And whereas on the said day of in the year aforesaid, I did issue my warrant to the constable of to levy the said penalty by distress of the goods and chattels of him the said A. D. and to distribute the same according as is directed by the said statute: And whereas it duly appears to me, as well on the oath of the said constable of as otherwise, that he the said constable has used his best endeavours to levy the said penalty on the goods and chattels of the said A. D, as aforesaid, but that no sufficient distress can be found whereon to leby the same: These are therefore to require you the said constable of aforesaid, to take and convey the said A. O. to the said house of correction of the said county, and deliver him to the said keeper thereof, together with this precept. And you the said keeper are hereby commanded to receive into your custody in the said house of correction the said A. O., and him there safely to keep at hard labour, and without bail or mainprize, for the space of, this must depend upon the offence being the first, second, or third, as stated in the latter

part of the sixth section of the 58 Geo. 3. c. 43. - 2 Burn, 401.] unless the said penalty be sooner paid. And for your so doing this shall be your sufficient warrant. Given under my hand and seal, the

day of

thousand eight hundred and

in the year of our Lord one

Forgery (Acceptance to a Bill of Exchange.)

[2 Burn, 457.]

The prisoner having promised in payment for some goods an acceptance by a

REX v. Thomas Watts. In the Exchequer Chamber, H. 2 & 3 G. 4. MS. C.C.R 3 Brod. & Bing. 197. S.C. The prisoner was tried before BEST J. at the last assizes for Devon. The first count of the indictment was for forging at East Stonehouse, on 6th April 1821, an acceptance by Messrs. Williams & Co, to a London banker, certain bill of exchange, as follows, viz.:

No. 117. £200.

March 28th,

Swansea Bank, 1821.

Two Months after date, pay to Mr. John Tipper, or order, Two hundred Pounds,

To Messrs. Williams & Co.

3.

Bankers, Birchin-lane,
London,

for value received,

Hy. Williams & Co.

with intent to defraud one Thomas Baylis, John Routledge, and Jonathan Ramsay. The second count was for uttering and publishing, as true, the said forged acceptance on the said bill of exchange, knowing the same to be forged with a like intent.

He was acquitted on the first, and convicted on the second

count.

It was proved, that, in April last, the prisoner purchased of the prosecutors, wheat to the amount of 240l. At the time he made the purchase, he agreed to pay by the acceptance of a London banker. Before the wheat was delivered to him he produced to the prosecutors a bill in these words and figures:

No. 117. £200.

March 28th,

Swansea Bank, 1821.

for value received,

Two Months after date, pay to Mr. John Tipper or order,
Two hundred Pounds,
To Messrs. Williams & Co.

Accepted,
Williams & Co.

H. Williams & Co. sente.

He was asked how he proposed to pay the remainder of the money, and said he would draw on the same bankers for the balance. He then drew the following bill in the prosecutor's counting-house:

Rex v. Watts. £40.

Acceptance to a bill of

exchange.

South Tawton, April 6th, 1821.

Two Months after date, pay to our order Forty Pounds

He said he would send this bill to London, to get it accepted. It was afterwards sent back to the prosecutors, accepted, as it now appears. Whilst he was drawing the bill, one of the prosecutors asked him if Williams & Co., the acceptors, were Williams, Burgess, & Co. The prisoner said the acceptors were Williams, Burgess, & Co. Prosecutor said it was improbable there should be two firms of the same name in the same street, and prisoner answered it was improbable. The figure 3, which stands between the word Bankers and Birchin-lane, in the 2001. bill, was not then on the bill. The witnesses did not observe whether the small figure 3, in the corner, was on the bill at this time. It appeared to a witness acquainted with bills, not to be a part of the address, but was like a figure that the holders of bills sometimes put on them before they leave them for acceptance. But the person who presented this bill had not observed whether it was on the bill when he presented it for payment, or not. A person to whom he presented the bill at the house, No. 3, Birchin-lane, took this bill behind a desk, and had an opportunity of writing on it one or both these figures. But the person who presented it did not observe, when he received the bill back, whether either of these figures were then on it. There are London bankers at No. 20, Birchin-lane, of the names of Williams, Burgess, & Co., who usually accept bills in the form of Williams & Co. This bill was not accepted by that firm. No other bankers of the names of Williams & Co. were known to carry on business in Birchin-lane, nor were there any other London bankers under that firm. The words " Williams & Co." were on a brass plate, on the door of No. 3. There was no evidence to shew by whom these bills were accepted.

The prisoner proved that three bills, in the following form, had been paid at No. 3, Birchin-lane, viz.:

No. 345. £30.

South Tawton, March 5th, 1821.

Two months after date, pay to our order Thirty Pounds, for value received,

Messrs. Williams & Co.

Bankers,

Swansea.

London.
Birchin-lane,

Messrs. Williams & Co.
Payable at No. 3,
Accepted,

Thomas Watts,

for P. Watts & Co.

BEST J. left it to the jury to say, whether the acceptance of

the 2001. bill was the acceptance of any London bankers.

The question for the opinion of the judges was, whether the Rex v. Watts. prisoner was properly convicted? There was also a further ques Acceptance tion, (viz.)! Whether, considering the manner in which the bill, to a bill of is stated in the indictment, it was necessary for the prosecutors exchange. to prove that the 3 in the corner was on the bill when it was tendered in payment? - Williams C. F. for the prisoner. No evidence has been adduced to shew, that the acceptance which the prisoner is charged with having forged, was not the acceptance of those persons whose acceptance it purports to be; namely, the acceptance of Williams & Co., of No 3, Birchin-lane; if the acceptance was written by them, the circumstance of their not being bankers would not render the prisoner guilty of a forgery. The jury indeed have found that he did not forge the acceptance, and even wilful misrepresentation made after the uttering a bill will not render that a forgery which was not so at the time when the bill was drawn. ----Rex v. Webb (a). Walker's Case, 2 Russ. 1420, Hevey's Case, 2 East's P. C. 856.

(a) Rex v. Webb, in the Exch. Chamb. Nov. 13, 1819. MS. C. C. R. 3 Brod. & Bing. 228. S. C. The prisoner was tried before BEST J. at the last Wiltshire Assizes. The indictment charged him with feloniously forging and counterfeiting a certain bill of exchange, as follows :