John Scott Brown was a \u2018low-bred\u2019 man with a chip on his shoulder. The violent assault he committed gives an idea of life in 1878.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cumbrian Characters<\/em> usually tries to be impartial, not to judge people. After all, \u2018we weren\u2019t there,\u2019 and didn\u2019t know them. However, in the following case, I think it is forgivable. And besides, the defendant \u2018started it\u2019 and seemed intent from the start on provoking trouble\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n July 1878. Penrith County Court. Damages for Assault. Pears v Scott Brown \u2014 Case was brought by Robert Graham Pears against John Scott Brown for \u00a350 damages for assault.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n A solicitor called Thompson, for Robert Graham Pears (hereafter RGP), outlined how he had been a prominent coachbuilder in Penrith for a quarter of a century, and had been commissioned to build a coach for Mr Siddle, the landlord of The Crown Hotel. (This would be William E Siddle, then 35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019d agreed to do it for \u00a380 \u2013 which Mr Thompson says was a bargain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trouble started on the evening May 30, when the coach was delivered, RGP \u2013 as a good businessman \u2013 accompanying two of his men to The Crown, to ensure Mr Siddle was happy with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The event attracted interest from \u2018several gentlemen,\u2019 including John Scott Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some reason, John Scott Brown took it upon himself to interfere in what was none of his business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, he started claiming that the coach wasn\u2019t properly painted, then he criticised the lining and the trimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What no one seems to have picked up on at the time was that he told everyone he\u2019d sold stuff like that at 4d a yard when he was a commercial traveller.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, RGP said it cost more than three times that, and concentrated his attention on the person who mattered \u2013 his customer. He told William Siddle he\u2019d take the coach away if he wasn\u2019t happy with it (and sell it elsewhere for \u00a3100).<\/p>\n\n\n\n William Siddle was evidently pleased with it as, after John Scott Brown continued to criticise the coach, RGP told him he was the only person finding any fault with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think at this point anyone would have done what RGP did: tell John Scott Brown (politely) to mind his own business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, Scott Brown took offence at this, retorting: \u201cWhat do you know about coach-building? You are a low-bred man.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having had both his professional competence and background insulted, on top of all the insults about the coach, it\u2019s a wonder RGP kept his temper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, he is reported only as replying: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have no control over our breeding, but I think I am as well bred as you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n It was at this point things started to get ugly, as Scott Brown became visibly angry and started pushing RGP, trying to goad him into a fist fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For RGP had touched a very raw nerve, which we\u2019ll come back to later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott Brown demanded: \u201cWhat do you know about me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n RGP declined to say publicly what he knew \u2013 he seems to have been behaving pretty patiently and reasonably so far. But Scott Brown kept pushing him, until finally, for some reason we can never know, RGP said: \u201cI have got many sins to answer for but I never flirted with another man\u2019s wife.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n This caused laughter in the court, but the reaction outside The Crown was anything but funny. Scott Brown hit RGP so hard he fell to the ground. And when RGP got up and went to pick up his hat, Scott Brown felled him a second time. RGP was by now \u2018getting senseless,\u2019 but that didn\u2019t stop John Scott Brown hitting him a third time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who or what stopped this one-sided battering isn\u2019t recorded, but we are told RGP\u2019s injuries were severe, and that a Dr Taylor attended him for three weeks, charging \u00a35 5s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Taylor said RGP\u2019s injuries were serious and he couldn\u2019t attend to business for three weeks: he couldn\u2019t present to customers with a black eye and with a slipper on, and the shock to his system was very severe. He never slept for five nights, his teeth were loosened, he couldn\u2019t chew his food and suffered a lot of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, Scott Brown had paid a penny into court \u2013 an admission he had committed assault. But his lawyer, a Mr Scott, sought to blame the whole affair on RGP\u2019s remark about flirting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He referred to \u2018persons\u2019 who \u2018wantonly provoked assaults by slanderous conduct\u2019, and said any damages paid should be nominal as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This led to cheers in court, with His Honour threatening to fine anyone who cheered again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His Honour the judge said it had been a disgraceful proceeding. It was a great pity Mr Brown had interfered at all with the coach. The \u20184d a yard\u2019 remark was uncalled for by Mr Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, supposing Mr Pears HAD said what was alleged \u2013 and no one had been able to give the exact words \u2013 did that justify a violent assault?<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was an aggravated assault committed and Dr Taylor had spoken the the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was up to a jury to decide the outcome, and they returned a verdict for \u00a315, and the full costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n John Scott Brown, who was about 34, picked a quarrel with a man 16 years older, for absolutely no reason, and then laid into him repeatedly, continuing when he was barely conscious and badly injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, he\u2019d be facing a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Yet here, he was only contesting how much he should pay in damages to his victim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there were those on the public benches in the court who sided with the defendant. To the point of cheering \u2013 suggesting a savage assault was seen as an acceptable response to an insult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The case includes some interesting details \u2013 how much a \u2018cheap\u2019 coach cost in 1878, how much fabric cost, and how much it cost to get medical attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also, perhaps, tells us something social status \u2013 and insecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott Brown accused RGP of being \u201ca low-bred man,\u201d and took serious umbrage when RGP replies: \u201c\u2026I think I am as well bred as you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, RGP was the son of Christopher Pears (1788-1867), who farmed 300 acres at High Gate, on the Hutton estate. RGP was a businessman and employer. That one, bargain coach he sold for \u00a380 would be a \u00a36,650 bargain today.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJohn Scott Brown in the dock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sticking his nose in<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Insults\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u2026and injuries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So, what was the defence?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The verdict<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Life in 1878<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Low-bred yourself, mate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n