Description:

A STAY OF EXECUTION FOR SAMUEL GILBERT,

7th April 1826 letter written by Judge James Burrough, who had convicted Gilbert at Taunton Assizes in the County of Somerset, and sentenced him to death for an assault on a young woman, one Charlotte Smith. When commuting a death sentence the usual punishment was Transportation for Life. Far from being transported, Gilbert was eventually pardoned when further details of the case became known.