On This Day in Wembury – 6 January 1849
At the Western Circuit court in Exeter, several local cases were heard, including one with a direct Wembury connection. Elizabeth Main, a 16-year-old girl, was charged with stealing 35 lbs of coal belonging to Henry Barons of Wembury. Coal was a valuable household commodity at the time, and theft was treated seriously, even when amounts were small.
Elizabeth was found guilty and sentenced to one month’s imprisonment.
Reflection
The case shows how harshly the law could fall on the poor in Victorian Devon. For a teenager to face prison over a basket of coal reminds us that survival often collided with strict property rights. In communities like Wembury, where winters could be cold and incomes uncertain, the line between necessity and crime was often perilously thin.
Entries are summaries and interpretations of historical newspaper reports.