John Leary

341

Maureen Withey on 20th June 2023

National Archives. Criminal Petitions. HO 17/66/59. Date. 1833- 1838. Prisoner name: John Leary. Prisoner occupation: Farmer. Court and date of trial: Cork Summer Assizes July 1829. Crime: Conspiracy to murder Admiral Evens, George B Low and Michael Creagh, magistrates, by the whiteboys in Ireland on 27 April 1829. Initial sentence: Death commuted to transportation for life. Annotated (Outcome): Free pardon 16 April 1838. Petitioner(s): The prisoner (signed by son Archie Leary); D R Pigot, counsel for the prisoner. Grounds for clemency (Petition Details): Witness' story is fabricated and contradictory; evidence disclosed after the trial contradicted their testimony. Other papers: I Rackham (judge) on witness' credibility. Davies Callaghan to E Littleton MP transmitting and recommending petition. [Unknown] requesting papers be submitted. Note explaining why Burke not called to contradict Daly. R D Craig request favourable attention to the evidence and informing that O'Connell urges a free pardon and passage home. E Littleton MP expecting decision to be reversed. Judge Pennefather the trial judge omitted to ask for the relevant papers and that the verdict should stand. William Parker requesting the case be referred to the commission judge. Judge Pennefather's recommendation. Lord Liverpool case to be reviewed. William Parker requesting investigation into case. Michael Pennefather to the Lord Lieutenant the Marquis of Wellesley commenting on his opinion of report. Viscount Morpeth requesting searches be made of missing documents. [Unknown] sending papers. Lord Woolf, Attorney General history of case trial papers and recommends pardon. Davies Callaghan asking to be advised when convict is ordered home. Lord Morpeth recommending pardon. Davies Callaghan internal memo on action taken in Home Office. Additional Information: Indicted with William Shine, James Rocke and Pat Magrath. In Sydney, New South Wales.

341

Maureen Withey on 13th November 2022

Irish Convict Database, by Peter Mayberry. John Leary, age 66, Andromeda II (1) 1830, tried at Cork. 1829. Life, for Conspiracy to murder. DOB 1764, Native place, Cork Co. Farmer. Remarks: Married, 8 children. Catholic. Died 1839 at Sydney General Hospital. --------------------------------------------------- Latest British Extracts. Ireland. (From The Times, Nov 1.) The trial of the men charged with the conspiracy to murder three magistrates of the county of Cork, for which a special commission had been issued, commenced at Cork, on Friday. Mr. Baron Pennefather and Mr. Justice Torrens were the judges. In the first count, the prisoners, John Leary, James Roche, James Magrath, and William Shine, were charged with a conspiracy to murder George Bond Low, Michael Creagh, and Henry Evans, Esqs.; the second, for conspiracy with others unknown ; and in various other counts for the conspiracy generally and individually. In the eighth count, John Leary stood indicted for soliciting, encouraging and inciting David Sheehan to the commission of the said murder. …. At a late hour at night the jury retired, and after an absence of five minutes, returned a verdict of guilty. Mr. Justice Torrens, in a powerful and affecting address, pronounced sentence of death. The lamentations of the friends of the condemned outside the court was the first sound that broke on the solemn stillness. The very informative, complete article from the Tasmanian, can be read: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/233096159?searchTerm=William Shine