Doe versus Williams

Let’s  hope that Ephraim did not have hay fever or a cold in early November of the year 1850. He and Bridget had been married less than three months and they were before the courts again. This time, it was Ephraim preferring the charges. He maintained that Mary Williams had stolen his handkerchief, his cap and his stays. When I first saw this I thought he was in for a bit of cross dressing but I came to the conclusion that the stays must have been braces for holding up his trousers. There he was in court, bare headed, no bulge in the pocket, badly needing a belt and also short of wages. Mary’s husband, Edward also had done him wrong and not paid wages owing. These charges had been laid a month previously and it seems that Ephraim had worked for Edward and Mary for about 4 weeks, prior to that. What they had been living on in the meantime is something to wonder about.

The interesting part of this record is that part of the wages was to be issued as rations as follows: 14 pounds of flour, 7 pounds of pork, 2 pounds of sugar and ¼ pound of tea per week. He had also taken 6 figs of tobacco as part payment. He must have been smoking pretty heavily to have gone through that much in so short a time. He stated that he had a wife to support, so I can understand how they could use most of this but that is a lot of sugar.

Edward and Mary Williams had been convicts too, he had stolen a horse and she had stolen two umbrellas.  Neither had a good reputation. The charges against Mary were dismissed, but Edward had to pay up. A whole 15/- went to Ephraim who promptly went out and started to spend it.. Three days later he was in court, out of a job and fined 5 shillings for drunkenness. I wonder how Bridget took all of this. I am pretty sure she would have been enjoying her tipple too.