This Day in History: 6 October — The Night of the Stolen Fowls (1793)

On 6 October 1793, eleven hens and two cocks vanished from a London yard. William Peters, aged sixty, was later tried at the Old Bailey and sentenced to twelve months in the House of Correction and fined one shilling. This vivid retelling captures London’s petty thefts and everyday justice.

This Day in History — 9 August 1726

The Day Before the Horse-Thefts (9 August 1726) — On the eve of two geldings disappearing, George Prentice (alias Johnson) moves through Smithfield. The next day, 10 August, the thefts that send him to the Old Bailey will occur.

This Day in History – 30 July 1802

Joseph Wall — The Governor Who Whipped a Man to Death (30 July 1802)
Hanged before a crowd of thousands, former Governor Joseph Wall was brought to justice for ordering the brutal flogging of a soldier. His trial marked a rare moment of colonial accountability in Georgian Britain.