MR. GORE JONES—THE DERRY MAGISTRATES.

HC Deb 10 June 1836 vol 34 cc301-6

Viscount Morpeth, in rising to present a Petition from the Derry Magistrates, had to apologize to the gentlemen by whom it was signed, as well as to the hon. Baronet opposite (Sir R. Bateson), for the delay which had occurred in its presentation. The petition had been by some accident mislaid in the office, and he regretted exceedingly that such a circumstance should have occurred. The petition was as follows:— To the right honourable and honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses in Parliament assembled, The humble Petition of the undersigned Magistrates of the Barony of Loughinshollen in the County of Londonderry, Ireland, Most humbly Showeth, That in the evidence given before a Committee of your honourable House on the subject of Orange Lodges in Ireland by Mr. John Gore Jones, a stipendiary magistrate, lately stationed in this neighbourhood, who had asserted as matters of fact that your petitioners are partial magistrates—that they are partisans—that the country has no confidence in them, and that they are Orangemen. That when your petitioners heard of this evidence having been given before your Honourable House, they met together, by requisition from the Lieutenant of their County, for the purpose of considering what they should do; and as it appeared that Mr. Jones was protected by the privilege of Parliament from an action at law, for any evidence given before a Committee of your honourable House, your petitioners had no ourse left for them to pursue, but to contra- dict, in the fullest and most decided manner, the statements contained in such evidence, so far as regarded them, which they did. That your petitioners applied through the Lieutenant of the county, to his excellency the Lord-Lieutenant, to cause an investigation to be made into the statements contained in Mr. Jones's evidence, which his Excellency declined granting, on the grounds that Mr. Jones had intimated his intention of proceeding by action against your petitioners, for an alleged libel contained in their resolutions. That your petitioners again memorialed his Excellency, stating the peculiar hardship of their case; that Mr. Jones was protected by the privilege of Parliament, from any legal proceedings on the part of your petitioners, and your petitioners humbly prayed of his Excellency to take their case into further consideration. That in consequence of this, his Excellency removed Mr. Jones from this district, and recommended your petitioners to have their case submitted to your honourable House. Relying on the justice of your honourable House, your petitioners humbly pray, that your honourable House will be pleased to order a copy of the correspondence between his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant and your petitioners, together with the evidence of Mr. John Gore Jones, before the Committee on Orange Lodges, to be laid before you, from which your petitioners hope your honourable House will see sufficient grounds to direct a competent person to be sent to this district, to inquire into the truth of the allegations made against your petitioners, by Mr. Jones, in his evidence before said Committee, and also into the conduct of Mr. Jones, whilst stationed in this district as a stipendiary magistrate. And your petitioners will pray. (Signed) Willim Lenox Cunningham, J.P., D.L.; Rowley Miller, J.P.; John Waddy, J.P.; H. J. Heyland, J.P.; H. B. Hunter, J.P.; John R. Miller, J.P.; A. Spotswood, J.P.; William Graves, J.P.; George William Blathwayte, J.P.; John Hill, J.P.; John Stevenson, J.P.; James Clarke, J.P. He felt bound to say, that Mr. Gore Jones had, in many instances, proved himself a good and efficient public officer, but injustice to the magistrates alluded to in the evidence given by Mr. Jones, he must say, that the censure contained in that evidence was of a very unmeasured and indiscriminate character, and was not deserved by these gentlemen. The Government did not make any complaint against these magistrates—and he had every disposition to believe that the magistrates in question discharged their duties fairly and conscientiously. Moreover, as a practical proof that the Government did not adopt the charges as true, they have removed Mr. Gore Jones from the county of Londonderry; and although it was not the intention of Government ultimately to remove him from the police altogether, they have not as yet appointed him to any other situation. If the Committee before whom the evidence had been given were now sitting, he thought the magistrates had fair grounds for demanding permission to go into a rebutting case. As, however, that Committee had closed its labours, and as the circumstances complained of occurred in another session of Parliament, he saw no reasonable ground for granting the prayer of the petition respecting the inquiry. Besides, as the Orange body no longer existed—as they had dissolved themselves in a most creditable manner to the heads of that institution— and he should never lose an opportunity of bearing his testimony in favour of their conduct—he did hope, under all the circumstances of the case, that the matter would not be pressed farther.

Sir Robert Bateson

, as one of the representatives for the county Londonderry, begged to offer a few remarks to the House. With regard to the grievance of which the petitioners complained, he hoped that a portion of that justice of which the House heard so much might be extended to them, and that their conduct, as magistrates, would be fully and fairly investigated. With regard to the delay which had occurred in the presentation of the petition, he had no wish to impute improper motives to the noble Lord in keeping it back; and he was sure he was but speaking the sentiments of all the Irish members who had occasion to have communications with the noble Lord, when he said that they were invariably treated with the greatest courtesy and attention. The origin of the complaint preferred by the magistrates of Derry, who signed the petition, was as follows:—Mr. Gore Jones was examined as a witness before the Orange Committee, which sat last session. That person in the course of his evidence preferred grave and deliberate charges against the magistrates in question. He accused them all of being Orangemen, of being violent party men, and, moreover, he distinctly accused them of not doing justice at their petty sessions. When the magistrates heard of this they communicated with Lord Garvagh, the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, A meeting of the magistrates of the barony was held, and resolutions were entered into, demanding inquiry. The meeting came to resolutions, a copy of which he held in his hand. It appeared that Mr. Gore Jones, in the course of his examination before the Committee, was asked the following question: —" Are there many of the magistrates in that district avowed or reputed Orangemen?—I should say the whole of them were, that is my belief." With respect to the processions, Mr. G. Jones was asked— "Have the magistrates, on these procession days, attended for the purpose of discharging their duty in suppressing those processions after the Act became the law of the land?—I never heard of any doing it. In that district?—Never." Now what would the House think of the veracity of this Mr. Gore Jones when he stated that not one of these eleven gentlemen was at the time or ever had been an Orangeman—with the exception of one who had belonged to the society in 1798, the year of the rebellion, and had never since joined it. Mr. Gore Jones, it appeared, was examined with respect to the petty sessions, and was asked the following question:—"Have you attended the petty sessions frequently?—Always. I make a rule never to be absent from any petty sessions within my reach." His answer was explicit enough. But what would the House think of this person, when he (Sir R. B.) informed them that the proceedings of the magistrates at these sessions was matter of record, and in referring to these records it was discovered that, at that time, he had been two years at Portglenone, and had attended only twice at Kilrea, once at Maghera, once at Magherafelt, and never at Money more. The magistrates called upon him to produce the evidence upon which he grounded his opinion of them; and as he did not comply, they felt justified, individually and collectively, in saying that his statements were not only not founded in fact, but were direct falsehoods. The noble Lord had stated, that Government did not impute any blame to the magistrates, but he wished he had gone further, and said that there was not a tittle of evidence to support the charge made by Mr. Gore Jones. That person was the paid agent of the Government, and the Government was, therefore, answerable for his conduct. It was well known that if any charge, however trivial, was preferred against a magistrate, no matter how infamous the character of the accuser might be, an investigation was immediately ordered by the Government. But here were eleven gentlemen whose characters were maligned —eleven gentlemen of high station, and of both parties—for there were Whigs and Tories amongst them, whose conduct has been publicly assailed, and yet an inquiry has been refused. Mr. Gore Jones threatened the magistrates with a prosecution for libel. The magistrates courted inquiry even in that way, but as he did not proceed with his action, the magistrates felt that there was no way left them but to demand inquiry from the House of Commons, in order to free themselves from all stain. Those gentlemen who had been so wantonly assailed, were ready to prove before any tribunal that there was not one particle of truth to sustain the accusation. The noble Lord stated, that he had removed this person from the district, but that it was not intended to dismiss him. If he had acted improperly in the county Derry he was unfit to hold a situation any where else—and if properly, the magistrates ought to have been deprived of their commissions. He should not have entered upon this branch of the question had not the noble Lord said, that Mr. Jones was a useful officer. He had never seen Mr. Gore Jones in his life, but he had no hesitation in saying that his conduct as a stipendiary magistrate was most tyrannical and illegal. He had acted on more than one occasion in a most illegal manner—he had taken the law into his own hands, and set the opinions of the magistrates at defiance. On the 12th of July last he went into the town of Bellaghy and took two guns from a man of the name of Kennedy—one a registered gun and the other a yeomanry musket. He committed a most wanton outrage upon the man, and struck him with a stick. Luckily this happened during the time of divine service, when the people were absent, or it was hard to say what might have been the result. He went on the 13th of July into the town of Kilrea, with a party of military. He was told by Mr. Waddy, a magistrate, that there was no apprehension of any disturbance. Mr. Jones, however, in a most intemperate manner, followed the Orangemen, a collision ensued, stones were thrown, and one of the officers was struck with a stone. Eleven or twelve respectable farmers were taken up and tried before Baron Penne- father. It was proved upon the trial distinctly, that no riot or disturbance whatever would have taken place if Mr. Jones had not interfered. It was he, in fact, created the riot, and the Judge in his charge to the jury stated that no riot would have taken place but for him. The men were, of course, acquitted, and permitted to return to their homes. This was but one of many instances in which Mr. Jones had acted most improperly. He apprehended three men of the name of Patterson, on suspicion of having committed an outrage in a burial ground. He took the first two magistrates' horses, and conveyed them into the county of Antrim. He detained them prisoners two nights and three days, examined them on oath respecting the outrage, and also respecting some gunpowder and two guns he found in Patterson's house. They were discharged without trial. Patterson said, he got the powder from Hall, of Bellaghy, who he afterwards summoned before him for having sold gunpowder, and convicted him, which he had no right to do. He committed him to gaol, there to abide for six months, or pay a penalty of twenty pounds. The men afterwards memorialed the Lord-Lieutenant, and were liberated. He was sorry to trouble the House at such length, but when the characters of highly respectable gentlemen were assailed, he thought it was not too much for the noble Lord either to grant inquiry or publicly state that the accusations were totally unfounded.

Captain Jones

coincided in all that had fallen from his hon. Colleague. The public notice which he had no doubt would be taken of what occurred that night would, he thought, be sufficient to show how completely unsupported the charges were.

Petition to lie on the table.