NGV May/June 2022

A Bonfire At Burton
by Bob Massey
On June 6 1838, Samuel Palin of Burton
Joyce, along with his father John, was on the
estate adjacent to the river watching the game
birds in amongst the trees.
While they were so occupied, William Marshall
(aged 20) was walking down the lane adjacent
to where they were standing. William proceeded
along the lane to a load of timber piled up
nearby. This wood was the property of Trent
Navigation, who had staked it there some 18
months before to allow it to be seasoned by the
weather before using it along the river.
Samuel watched William as he approached
the pile and saw him proceed to climb up onto
the stack. In this position, he removed several
pieces from the top. Samuel now saw flames
coming from the pile of timber and called to
ask what he was doing. William climbed down
off the stack and ran away, leaving the wood
burning.
Giving chase, Samuel caught William, who
shouted; “dam your eyes if you tell on me I shall
be transported”. Damaging property in this
way had been a hanging offence but was now
still punishable by transportation to Australia.
Samuel asked why he had set the wood on fire,
to which William replied that he was drunk and
could not put the fire out. All three men then sat
on the bank and watched the fire, as they had
no way to extinguish the blaze.
The next morning John Palin reported what had
happened to Mr Padley and Mr John Hopkin,
the agent for the Trent Navigation Company,
on whose land the fire had been started and
property destroyed. William was then arrested
and sent to jail to await trial.
The matter came to court seven months later, in
January 1839. At the trial, William was defended
by Mr Whitehurst, who objected to the charge
of William setting fire to the wood, as neither of
the witnesses had actually seen him start the
fire. His objection however was overruled, so Mr
Whitehurst then went on to address the jury at
some considerable length.
He stated that the prisoner was a simple,
harmless, inoffensive man and that he regretted
that the prisoner should have been held in
custody and rendered liable for these offences
punishable with possible transportation for
life. He would not admit that the prisoner was
guilty in any way. Several witness were called
to vouch for William’s good character, including
Wilson Plant, Thomas Hardy, William Foster, Mr
Widdowson and Mr Slater, all local to Burton
Joyce.
John and Samuel Palin then gave their
evidence. Both gave very similar accounts of
the events as they unfolded. Neither could say
for certain that they had seen William start the
fire or how he could have done it.
Although the jury verdict was guilty, Mr
Whitehurst and the others witnesses must
have carried some weight, as William was not
transported for life, as would be expected, but
received 12 months hard labour and 3 months
solitary confinement.
This was a very mild sentence at the time for a
case of this type.
I am researching the history of the NGV villages and would be very pleased to hear from anyone
with more details or information. Email: bob.m.massey@gmail.com or post via ng magazines.