Yep, 'justice' was hard then and no worse than he'd have seen in the army. Survives a wound at Waterloo only to be hung for theft.
How times have changed, he would probably have been given a slap on the wrist today. oops no, the do gooders wouldn't like that
I wonder what he found most frightening, facing the French cavalry charges of the gallows? The 73rd Regiment lost more men than most at Waterloo.
But service was never a really serious defence in any court was it? By the standards of the day; steal c.50s - get caught - get strung up. Doubtless he knew that. (Nice site by the way Soren, I'd not seen that before.)
Bear in mind that he may have been subsequently pardoned, as many convicted prisoners were during the days of the Bloody Code. Best, Alan
For glimpses of what it was like to be a British soldier at the battle of Waterloo look no further than John Lewis Stempel's "The Autobiography of the British Soldier from Agincourt to Basra, in his own words" ISBN 978-0-7553--1582-6 Just brilliant ! Ron
This lists a Thomas Burnford transported for life on Sept 18 1816. Wonder if it's the same bloke? Almorah 1817 : The Convict Stockade by HistoryAustralia
Nice one Gordon, seems a good probability doesn't it. Same date, Middlesex location. l clicked on the sentence on Soren's original link, and it confirms Allan's comment: Crime and Justice - Punishments at the Old Bailey - Central Criminal Court
Ah the Old Bailey records. I managed to find a distant great uncle who was arrested for consipiring to produce counterfeit currency. He managed to get off scott free due to a glowing character reference from a local bobby. The other two arrested got transported for life. Lucky chap. With regard to the original post, the outcome really doesnt surprise me. There didnt seem to be a lot of compassion in the courts in those days.
