On This Day in Wembury — 2 March 1890
Assault Case at Wembury
On 2 March 1890, an incident in Wembury led to the later prosecution of Frederick Price, who stood trial at Plymouth accused of assaulting Mary Tope, a local resident. The case came before the court shortly afterward and was reported in the Western Times of 13 March.
Price pleaded not guilty, but according to the prosecution, led by Mr H. E. Duke (later to become a prominent Devon barrister and Member of Parliament), the evidence was clear enough to secure a conviction. The defendant was unrepresented and sentenced to three months’ hard labour, a punishment typical of the Victorian justice system for such offences, reflecting both the seriousness of the charge and the absence of mitigating circumstances.
While few details of the assault itself were published, as was common in the press of the time, the report underscores how swiftly rural crimes were pursued in late 19th-century Devon. Even in quiet parishes like Wembury, the magistrates and county courts maintained a firm hand over public order, and such cases were closely followed in the regional newspapers that linked Plymouth’s legal world with its surrounding villages.
Source: Western Times (Exeter), Thursday 13 March 1890 — “Unlawful Offence at Plymouth.”