On This Day in Wembury – 28 May 1940
WMN reports RSPCA case at West Wembury Dairy
On this day the Western Morning News reported a prosecution brought by Inspector Thomas Pleavin of the RSPCA against Alfred Edwin James of West Wembury Dairy. James was charged at Plympton for working a horse in an unfit state on his farm on 11 May.
The inspector testified that the horse was “decidedly lame in one foot” and even groaned when touched. Acting on his advice, the animal was destroyed. James defended himself, insisting he had never treated the horse cruelly, but the court nevertheless fined him £1.
Source: Western Morning News, 28 May 1940.
The case highlights how even in wartime, when Wembury’s coastline bristled with defences and incidents such as the 1940 Wilfred Barrack shooting case were making headlines, everyday rural justice still played out in local courts. It connects back to much earlier stories of farming and estate management in Wembury — from the sale notices of Langdon and Wembury House estates in the 18th and 19th centuries, to Cory’s stewardship of Langdon Court, and even to accidents like the 1945 tractor fatality at Little Ryland.
These threads remind us that Wembury’s history isn’t only defined by dramatic wrecks or military events, but also by the small yet telling moments of rural life — the condition of a single horse, the choices of one dairyman, and the watchful eye of animal welfare officers.