This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

William Otter Woodall was an attorney who collected a few of the more infamous trials in this collection. At this point in history trials were not easy to research. Woodall prepared this book for professionals in order that they could refer to them in their research. Trials included are The trial of Abraham Thornton for the murder of Mary Ashford, The appeal of murder and wager of Battle; William Ashford vs Abraham Thornton, The trial of Josiah Phillips for a libel on the Duke of Cumberland arising out of the Sellis case, The trial of the action Smyth vs Smyth relating to the Ashton estates, The trial of the Rev. William Bailey LLD for forgery, The trial of John Tawell for poisoning, and The trial of Frere Leotade.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

A solicitor with offices in Scarborough, William Otter Woodall (1837-1914) was a prominent member of the local community. This work, edited by Woodall and first published in 1873, brings together reports of seven notable and intriguing nineteenth-century civil and criminal trials as case studies for the benefit of the legal profession. (It was intended as the first of a series, but no further volumes were published.) The book includes the case of the so-called 'Quaker' poisoner John Tawell, executed in 1845, who was the first person to be arrested with the aid of the electric telegraph and about whose fate several popular ballads were written; that of Abraham Thornton in 1818 - for the murder of Mary Ashford - who claimed the right to the ancient Norman tradition of trial by battle; and that of Reverend William Bailey, transported for life in 1843 to Van Diemen's Land for forgery. This colourful, engaging work will appeal to anyone with an interest in the law or true crime stories.