Committal OF WILLIAM DAVIS

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Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle,

Monday September 12th 1842, page 4

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Recommittal of William Davis -- The final examination the soldier William Davis, of the 6th Regiment, for shooting at, and killing, Stephen Clasby, the junior mate of the York, convict hulk, on the 2nd instants whilst on duty as guard at Haslar, took place on Thursday last, at the Town Hall, at Gosport, before Wm. Page, and E.P. Samuel, Esqrs. The evidence previously given against the prisoner was again read over and sworn to, and the following additional produced: -- James Cooper, an excavator, deposed that he was at work on the day of the unfortunate occurrence in a dirt barge, with other men, in Haslar Lake; that he saw the deceased who had charge over the men at work in the barge, as well as of the convicts, walking with his arms behind him in a direction towards the barge; that the prisoner was walking about with his hands folded, and his gun by his side; that he saw the prisoner point his gun and level it, and heard the report, and saw the deceased fall; that the deceased was walking in a sideway direction to the prisoner and quite slow at the time, and was about 25 yards from the prisoner; that the witness was about 100 yards from the deceased, and did not hear the prisoner call out at all before firing, and that from the situation he (witness) was in, if he had done so, he must have heard him; that after the deceased fell he (witness) got out of the barge. and ran to the

prisoner as quickly as possible and asked him why he had shot the deceased, to which he replied, I did not shoot him, but he shot himself '' that witness said "You did shoot him," and the prisoner then said I do not care, he was on my post;" that the corporal of the guard afterwards took the prisoner's gun away and examined it, and it proved to have been recently discharged; that the deceased when witness went to him, was lying on his right side, and witness lifted up his head twice and found he been shot through the left side of the head, and that the ball had passed out of the right side, and blood was flowing from both sides of the head, but mostly from the right. -- Dr. Richardson, Inspector of Haslar Hospital, proved that he was coming out of Haslar Gates and heard a person calling out that one of the guards had been shot by a soldier; that he went to the spot where deceased was lying, and found him quite dead; that there was a wound right through the deceased head, such as would be caused by a musket ball, and which was the consequence of the deceased death. -- Corporal Loftus, who placed the sentinels, swore that his orders from the keepers were not

of

(continued)

to allow any convict to pass out field, or across the lake, unless accompanied by a keeper; that he repeated these instructions to the sentinels (Davis among the number) and added, "I also told the sentries, that if any convict attempted to make his escape, and persisted in so doing after being called to, they were to give an alarm and fire." The prisoner in his defence made a very incoherent statement, evidently indicating a disordered state of mind, pretending that on the morning of the day he was in bed in the barrack room, and other soldiers were also in bed in the room at the time; that it was about day light and he saw a convict and the deceased in the room; that the soldiers were afterwards called up by a sergeant to prepare for guard; that he found himself weak and wet in the morning, and blood was running down his trousers to his feet, and that he also found it so on the post he was stationed at, and that the two men assaulted him in the room in the morning. -- No evidence, medical or otherwise, was offered, shewing that the prisoner was previously incompetent to his duty, .although rumours are afloat that such was the case; that the man had been seriously affected by a coup de soliel (sic) while on his sixteen years service, and that he was regimentally understood to be fit for nothing more than a ram-rod sentry: if this be true, it will be elicited by the military commission now sitting. -- The Magistrates committed the prisoner for trial at the next Assizes for Manslaughter.

Now, if you're going to research a name you may as well collate all you've got to date to save others the hassle. All they have to do is verify it to their satisfaction and then spend the time adding to it. Hopefully, when you can do so, you can share it with the rest of us mere mortal! Note my email button on the top right hand corner!

                                                          William        m.       Alice

                                                                                    I         d. 1574

              _______________________________I_______________________________

              I                                                                                                                                           I      

       Thomas                                                                                                                              Simon

        d.1591                                                                                                                               d. 1595

    m. Christian                                                                                                                        m. Alice

       d. 1583                             Nicholas Wilkines m. Agnis Heriat                                   d.1575

              I                                                             6 Jul 1562                                                           I

            _I_______________________________I_______________________                I____________________

           I                               I                            I            I                                                    I                        I                                   I

      Edith                       Alice                 William      I                                             Elizabeth          John                        Thomas

  m. 19 Sep                m.                       m. 15 Jan   I________________         m. 7 May          d.1571                      m. 12 Oct

       1588                                                   1589         I                  I                 I            1593                                                   1598

William Bishop     Nicholas Mist       Agnes Wilkens    Thomas     Jone     Richard                                             Dorothy

                                                                       I                                                             Garrett                                               Temple

                                                                       I                                                                                                                  d. 20 Jun 1641

      _____________________________I________________________                     _______________________I_______

      I               I               I              I                I               I                  I                  I                      I                I               I                 I                I

  Symon    Thomas     Alice      Henry       Hugh    Christian   Elizabeth    Richard           Gillian     William    William     Thomas     Elinor

c.31 May  c.21 Dec   c.25 Jan  c. 20 May   c.19 Feb   c. 28 Sep    c.26 Dec   c.16/19 May        c.12 Aug    c.1 Feb   c.23 Aug     c.10 Nov    c. 21 Jul

  1590         1592        1595/6       1599         1603/4       1605/6          1608           1611                1599         1600/1        1601           1604          1611

d.1May     d.1680                                                                                                                                                                       d. 1699     d.30 Oct

1657     m. 22 Nov                                                                                                                                                                 m.17 Jan

     I            1619                                                                                                                                                                           1635 

     I     Edith Keeping                                                                                                                                                          Margrett Miller

     I          d.1680                                                                                                                                                                  c. 9 Oct 1613

     I               I______________________________________________                                                                                          d.1667

     I______________________________

Precis'ed documents posted by Lou Hunter on the Clasby genforum.

will of Thomas Clasby of Stoborough, wareham Dorset 1780

to his brother john clasby of nth kingston dorset £30

to his brothers wife jane clasby £30

to his brothers daughter jane clasby £30

to his brother in law joseph balam of nth kingston £30

to his sister martha balam £30

to his sisters sons joseph and henry balam each £30

to his sisters daughter jane shepherd (nee balam), the wife of thomas shepherd £30

to the son of his deceased sister jane crumpler of stoborough(nee clasby) thomas crumpler £200

to the daughter of his deceased sister jane crumpler (nee clasby) Priscilla Spicer, wife of robert spicer £30

to his brother charles clasby of ryde , isle of wight £30

to the wife of his brother charles (unnamed)£30

to the sons of his brother charles; James , Thomas, and Henry clasby , to each £30

to the daughters of his brother charles Mary Clasby, Eleanor Clasby and Martha Groves, wife of benjamin groves of freshwater Isle of wight to each £30

He then appoints John Crumpler of Stoborough the son of his late sister Jane crumpler as his sole executor and bequeaths all the residue of his estate and property to him

signed in his own hand , Thomas Clasby

24 may 1780

settlement exam. William Clasby : Dorset 1760.Wimborne

Dorset : to whit The Examination of Wm. Clasby, Sawyer now dwelling at Wimborne Minster in the said county taken on Oath before ?us two officers? this 4th day of September 1760

Who saith he hath heard and believes he was born at Ringwood in the county of Southampton were his parents were then legally settled, that he has never lived out of the Parish of Ringwood afore ?(illegible)? now than half a year at a time as a covenant servant, that in Whitsunweek last he married Hannah, his present wife, and hath done no act or deed whereby to gain a subsequent settlement to his knowledge of belief.

subscribed and sworn the day and year ?(illegible)? written statement

X the mark of William Clasby

witnessed by

E. ?Ohearn?

J. Hanham

will of Thomas Clasby Poulner Ringwood Hants 1771

All freehold and personal estates I trust unto my good friends, my cousin Henry Rooke of Bistern Close in the New Forest (yeoman) and Thomas Perry of Poulner(yeoman) and to their heirs for them topay and apply the rents issues and profits of my freehold tenement at Gostlings Heath in Poulner, to and for the use of my beloved wife Honour Clasby for and during the term of her natural life, and to sell and dispose of my leasehold estates at Shobley and Lynford as best they can and apply the produce to the payment of my debts and funeral expences the over plus for the use and benefit of my aforesaid wife. If anything be remaining after her decease, it shall be divided between my grandchildren Thomas, Mary,, William and Charity Whitcher children of thomas Whitcher of North Bockhampton parish of Christchurch county Southampton (yeoman) and to my son John Clasby and his child or children, if he shall have any at my decease, equally share and share alike And on the decease of my wife I bequeath the aforesaidfreehold tenement at Gostlings Heath to my son John for the term of his natural life, and if he marryand leave issue lawfully begotten then to his heirs forever, but if not, after his decease, to my aforementioned grandchildren and their heirs forever. I now freely forgive Thomas Whitcher, the father of my grandchildren, £106 of the the £206 with interest that he owes me, the other £100 and the interest i give to his four children share and share alike. I give to my son John Clasby my clock and case. I give to my trustees Henry Rooke and Thomas Perry one guinea each for their troubleand empower them or their heirs to be reimbursed all expences. All the rest of my goods, chattles to my son John Clasby and my grandchildren equally, share and share alike etc etc. 28th june 1770

The mark of Thomas Clasby .. T

witnessed Peter Slann, Mary Slann, the mark of Mary Smith.. M

Nov 20th 1771 Henry Rooke and Thomas Perry executors were duly sworn to a faithfull execution of the above will before me.. John Mark

Surrogate

will of Thomas Clasby :of Rockford Ellingham Hants 1681

gives to daughter Ann Coles, wife of Humphrey Coles and to their daughter Elizabeth Coles ..£5 each.

to granddaughter Ann Coles £5 (already paid)

to granddaughter Edith Coles £5 (already paid)

to grandson Humpherey Coles £5 (already paid)

to grandson Thomas Coles, the Elder,... 5 shillings

to Thomas Clasby the son of John Clasby of Poulner.. 5 shillings

to daughter Elizabeth Bawdrick .. £5

granddaughter Elizabeth Bawdrick ...£10

granddaughter Edith Bawdrick ...£5

granddaughter Mary Bawdrick ...£5

He appoints his executors, daughters Anne Coles and Elizabeth Bawdrick to provide for his wife Edith Clasby

for her life and for her burial.

and appoints friends John Clasby an richard White to oversee this

signed 31 jan 1678

and in the one and thirtieth year of ye kings majesties reigne

the signe of Thomas Clasby

witnessed by Thomas Coles (his sign)

Joseph Coles

Probate granted May 1681

inventory taken by John Clasby and richard white of the goods of thomas clasbey

wearing apparel 40 shillings

tenement ..........40 shillings

due bond moneys £79

sum of £83

will of Thomas Clasby the Elder of Upper Kingstone, Ringwood, Hants

occupation House carpenter

all his tenement "wherein i now dwell" situated in upper kingston with all contents to his wife Jane for her life "if she keep herself a widow", after her decease, all to son Thomas Clasby and his heirs forever if he have any.. ; if not , all to son Charles Clasby and his heirs forever if he have any, and if not all to daughter Ann and her heirs forever.

That Son Thomas Clasby must pay to his sister Ann "the full sum of £10 in the three years following the death of their mother Jane and the same to his brother Charles, and if they do not survive to collect the legacy the money will be split between the survivors. if these legacies are not paid then Ann and charles shall inherit until such time as thomas can pay

To his son Charles Clasby all the new inclosure close by the tenement in upper kingston after the death of his mother jane

appoints Jane as sole executrix

signed 6th day of january in 6th year of the reign of George II

AD 1732

signed Thomas Clasby

witnessed

the mark of charity elliott

john elliott jun.

john elliot

Probate 1735