Author: secretary

Erithacus rubecula, or robin, our favourite garden bird took up residence in Lincoln Minster and everybody loved it, except an officious Verger.

“This bird (probably a pious decendant of the old visitor), which for so many winters has taken up its abode in the caythedral, has commenced its carolling rather early this season. On Sunday afternoon the 12th inst. it was seen flitting about the choir, sometimes perched in the carved work surmounting the Bishop’s throne, then flying off to the altar-screen, shirping a few short notes until the organ peeled forth the commencement of the psalms, when it warbled aloud in accompaniment of the chanting, and frequently after added its melody to the choruses, especially when the boys were singing; grateful probably for the scattered scumbs they bring to it, or finding the alto of their youthful voices more accordant with its own notes than the deeper tones of the tenor and bass. Robin is generally ‘residentiary’ during the winter season, and either from long practice or good teaching has learned to conduct itself very passably. The bird seldom does more than chirp a note ot two during the prayers or the lessons, but for this forbearance considers itself fully entitles to sing ad libitum whenever the choir organ gives the tone. Some years ago a surly verger endeavoured to shoot poor Robin, as an intruder and a nuisance, but all who love the Robin (and who does not) will rejoice to learn that, though carved work and glass sustained damage, the pious bird escaped.”

The Stamford Mercury, 17th October, 1845.

Major evacuation (‘Operation Pied Piper’) began in September, 1939. By February 1940 the small village of Barnack had taken 80, but the Government wanted the villagers to take another 200!

“280 CHILDREN FOR BARNACK AREA

Billets not easy to obtain.

‘They don’t realise the stubborness of the householders after what they have gone through. Some of them have said that they would rather go to prison than put up with any more evacuees!’

This remark was made by the Clerk (Mr. W. Dellar) when a Ministry circular, stating that another evacuation scheme had been formulated, as discussed at the monthly meeting of Barnack Rural District Countil, held at Stamford on Monday.

Lord Exeter presided, supported by Mr. C. G. Argles and Mr. J. W. Burdell, together with the Clerk (Mr. Walter Dellar) and the Medical Officer (Dr. W. Anley Hawes).

CO-OPERATION WANTED

The circular stated that Barnack area was expected to billet 200 children evacuees from the large towns or cities in addition to the 80 already staying in the rural district.

The Clerk said that the Government was of the opinion that evacuation was as desirable now as at the outbreak of the war, and hoped for the full co-operation of the local authorities and householders.

It was proposed to establish a roll of householders who were willing to co-operate. This new scheme was still coluntary, and would not be put into operation unless air raids developed and there were obvious perils to the population. The local authorities would have 36 hours’ notice oif evacuation in the event of an emergency.

The circular added that the task of the Covernment was to prepare for the future. There were over 400,000 children in the evacuation areas, but it was not fair that the burden should fall on one householder in every fout. Others should be willing to share the budren of their neighbours.

DIFFICULTY ANTICIPATED

The Clerk emphasised that the primary consideration was the safety of the children, and that they should remain in the evacuation areas.

Mr. Dellar also pointed out that the Government had increased the allowance to householders from 8s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. per week for all evacuees of 14 years andover in their charge.

The Clerk said that children of 14 or over could stay at their billets if their parent desired.

Members agreed that 8s. 6d. per week seemed hardly enough to keep a grown-up child.

The view was also expressed that considerable difficulty would be encountered in getting householders to billet the 200 other children allocated to Barnack district.

The Clerk stated that only about one-fifth of the original number of evacuees now remained in Barnack rural area, but in view of the previous survey the Government stated that there was plenty of room for the 280 they now allocated.

THE ROOT OF THE TROUBLE

That householders who placed their names on the roll, which would be sirculated to every house, need not fear that the evacuation burden would fall on them, was included in the Ministry circular, the Clerk said. He went on to explain that compulsory powers could be exercised on householders by the Council if the voluntary response failed to bring about an equitable distribution.

The Clerk said that even so the Government did not understand the circumstances. They had no idea what the houses or the householders were like.

Lord Exeter : The thin is so vast and incomprehensible that we don’t know where we stand. One official seems merely an echo of the other . . . .Dual control and dual education seem at the bottom of these evacuation troubles, and they should be stopped.

MEDICAL OFFICER GRANTED ASSISTANCE

The Medical Officer also referred to evacuation, and said he was compelled to ask the Council to engage a trained nurse for the auxiliary evacuation hospital at Barn-hill, Stamford.

Dr. Hawes added that her had been wroking as many as 20 hours a day, and he could not keep on as a ‘sort of hotel keeper.’ he added that he had tried every registry for doctors, but none was available to give assistance, having been absorbed by the Emergency Medical Service. A trined nurse was the only alternative, and he also felt that the housekeeper at Barn-hill should receive increased remuneration for her servcies, which were very arduous.

The Council agreed to the Medical Officer’s request to try to obtain a trained nurse at a salary of £110 per year, and also decided to increase the wages of the housekeeper to 30s. per week with board.”

The Stamford Mercury, 23rd February, 1940.

Quite why these two love stories are reported in November is unclear. We always though it was in the spring that ‘a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love‘*. However, the village, first over the scottish border, became a haven for lovers following the 1754 Marriage Act (England and Wales). Youngsters under 21 were forbidden to marry without parental permission.

“During the last ten days, there have been several flights of ‘happy pairs’ through Carlisle, towards the shrine of Gretna. On the 3d inst. an old man from Askham, Westmoreland, (aged sixty,) flew thither on the wings of love, with a buxom damsel of twenty. And on the 5th inst. a more elevated couple drove northward in a chaise and four full gallop. Who they were, or whence they came, no one can tell: but, like the late Lord Erskine, the gentleman was veiled (if not petticoated) as he hurried through the town! – These are rare times for the brandy-loving noose-tyer. – Carlisle Journal.”

“A religious sect has recently spring up in the county of Surrey, one of whose tenets is to salute each other a meeting with a holy kiss. One of the female devlotees, a young lady of a thousand charms, happened to encounter a young gentleman, of whom she was enamoured, and gave him a more cordial and loving salute than was quite becoming. The next day she received a message from the High Priest of the sect, saying that she had been excommunicated for ‘kissing with an appetite’.”

The Stamford Mercury, 12th November, 1824.

*From Lockslely Hall, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

We have all experienced the urge to jump, when standing next to a drop or abyss. In this story, Mr. A ‘s companion felt the same with tragic consequences.

‘Extract from a private letter to the Editor – “A brother of a respectable gentleman at Bristol (known for several branches of my family), was make a tour a short time since on the Continent for the benefit of his health. When travelling through Italy, he one day met with a young man who was pursuing the same course; and as he seemed without connections or attendants, and possessed interesting manners and a prepossessing appearance, Mr. A. propsed that they should continue their journey together. In the course of conversation, he discovered that the young man had deeply imbibed the principles of infidelity; and Mr. A. being a pious and intelligent man, entered upon the subject with the hope of imparting to his companion the comfort of those doctrines of which he himself felt the power and the value; and the young man listened with apparent attention and interest. On the following day they ascended to the summit of the burning Vesuvius, and contemplated its terrific crater with astonishment and awe. Next day the stranger requested Mr. A. to accompnay him again to the volcano; but he, finding himself exhausted by the fatigue of the journey, declined; promising, nevertheless, should his strength rally, that he would comply with the request on the morrow. For the morrow the young man waited not, – but hiring a guide, he proceeded immediately to the spot. At the summit he stood for some time, looking at the tremendous chasm; and then, presenting his watch to the attendant, he plunged headlong into the abyss! The guide, almost petrified at the sight, remained for a time in silent horror, and at length returned to the inn, to inform Mr. A. of the event, and to give into his hands the watch he had received for the deluded and unhappy creature. Mr. A., whoc was rapidly sinking in the last stage of consumption, was inexpressibly shocked; and after sending the account to his friends in England, in a short time he expired, under the consolatory and peaceful influence of those truths which led him to the joyful expectation of an inheritance in the skies!”‘

The Stamford Mercury, 12th November, 1824.

A huge crowd of over 10,000 people descended on Peterboro’ to see the opening of the railway line to Blisworth.

“Opening of the Peterboro’ and Blisworth Railway – This line having been inspected by General Pasley, the Inspector-General of Railways, the formal opening took place on Saturday, the particulars of which will be found in our fourth page. Monday was appointed for the opening of the line to the public- an event which will be long remembered by the many thousands of persons who witnessed the proceedings of the day. The first up-train left Peterboro’ station (which is a capacious place on the east side of the London road a few hundred yards from the bridge) at 7 o’ clock in the morning, with six carriages, and another train followed at 1/2 past 10 with a goodly number of passengers; and this later met the first down-train from London at the Wansford station, where the latter arrived shortly before 12 (at least one hour after its appointed time). The passengers from London, Northampton, Wellingboro’, Higham Ferrers, Thrapston, Oundle &c., having filled the first train to Peterboro, the greatest disappointment was experienced at Sibson station, where at least 200 persons were waiting to proceed by it to Peterboro’: a few did succeed in getting upon the roofs of the carriages, but the more respectable company were left behind, and had their ticket-money returned. On this train’s approaching Peterboro’, a most interesting scene presented itself to the voyagers, many thousand persons having congregated to witness the arrival of the first public railway train into that city; and although the population was under 7000 at the taking of the last census, it is believed there must have been from 10,000 to 12,000 persons present – every town and vilage for some miles around having assisted to make this extradionary assemblage. The majority of the company occupied the meadow where the celebrated bridge-fair is held, but the bridge and the road thence to the turnpike were also densely crowded with anxious spectators, as also was every window from which a view of the train could be obtained: it was stopped on the west side of the road for the purpose of receiving the passengers’ tickets, which occupied about a quarter of an hour, and after this the road was crossed on the level, and the train approached the station, in Fletton parish, amidst the plaudits of the throng, the ringing of the church bells, and bands of music. The moving mass then crossed the river Nene and entered the city, at which time at least half the shops were closed, and those who were ready to wait upon their patrons seemed to have little or nothing to do. The inns generally were very crowded, and from the presence of so many strangers the landlords must have experienced a good harvest. The interval which took place between the arrival of the first train from London, and that of the second, which was advertised to arrive at a quarter to 3 o’clock, was occupied in taking refreshment, and in visiting the cathedral and the shows : the latter consisted of Ewing’s wax-work exhibition, a theatre, and several other attractions of less importance, which were stationed in the Market place.”

The Stamford Mercury, 6th June, 1845.

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron, the English Poet and one of the major figures of the Romantic movement died aged 36, after contracting a fever following the seiges of Missolonghi.

“Advices arrived in London on Friday afternoon of the death of Lord Byron, after ten days’ illness of a fever, at Missolonghi, in Greece, on the 19th of April. On the awful and abrupt termination of the career of such a man, we are unable to express our feelings without the danger of guilty compromise on the one side, and illiberal and offensive qualification on the other. The elements of Lord Byron’s literary character are too strongly marked for any middle course : no homage can be too ardent for his genius ; no reprobation too strong for the uses to which it was too frequently applied. That he should have died so early, must be a source of regret to all – even to those who least valued his talents, and most detested his immoralities. If he had passed out of life some years since, his fame and reputatuon would have been clearer and more pure – had he lived some years longer, he might have redeemed them. He has quitted the world at the most unsatisfactory manner – in voluntary exile, when his mind, debased by evil associations, and malignant brooding over imaginary ills, has been devoted to the construction of elaborate lampoons and uncharitable strictures . – Lord Byron was born in the year 1788, near Aberdeen, where he passed his earlier years ; in January 1815 he married, at Seaham, in the county of Durham, the only daughter of Sir Ralph Millbank Noel Bart., who towards the close of the same year brought him a daughter. Within a few weeks after that event, a separation took place, for which various causes have been stated. His Lordship, while the public anxiety as the course he would adopt was at its height, suddenly left the kingdom, with the resolution never to return. – Latterly, as is well known, the Noble Lord attached himself to the cause of the Greeks, in their resistance to the authority of the Ottoman Porte ; and he was rendering, it is said, great assistance to their cause, when, on the 19th of last month, (having been for some time living very low, owing to a slow recovery from previous illness,) he exposed himself in a violent rain ; the consequence of which was a severe cold, and he was immediately confined to his bed. The low state to which he had been reduced by his abstinence, and probably by some of the remaining effects of his previous ilness, made him unwilling – at least he refused – to be bled. The inflammatory action being thus unchecked, terminated fatally on the 19th of April. – There are no letters of his Lordship’s of a dare subsequent to the commencement of his illness, The friends who were near him at the time of his decease, in addition to the Greek Prince Mayrocordato, were a Mr. Parry, who had organised the artillery and engineer corps for the Greeks at Missolonghi, a Mr. Bourke, and Count Gamba. – The letters from the last-named gentleman first communicated the intelligence to Lord Sidney. Osborne, who forwarded it with the kindest attention to the friends of Lord Byron in England, and proceeded from Corfu to Zante, to make whatever arrangements might be necessary respecting his remains.”

The Stamford Mercury, 21st May, 1824.

This ‘garrulous old man’ Mr. Serle, a member of the Peruke Makers‘ Society, was determined to have his day in court when he accused the Stewards of the Society of deserting him and owing him sickness allowance.

“Amusing Varieties of London ‘Justice Business’

Serle V. the Society of Wigmakers.

The Stewards of ‘The Peruke Makers’ Society’ – holden, almost time out of mind, at the Salutation Tavern, in that great wig mart, Tavistock-street, appeared before the Magistrate at Bow-street on Saturday, to answer the complaint of a garrulous old man in a tattered black coat docked to a coatee – one Mr. William Serle, formerly an eminent hairdresser in Bishopsgate-street, member of the Barbers’ Company, &c. &co.

This Mr. Serle, with surprising volubility and most redundant action, alleged, first – that he was once the most toppingest man in the trade; secondly, that one of his sons is a surgeon, and keeps his own charrot; that another of his sons is also a surgeon, and another the first cabinet maker going; thirdly, that he himself spent all his profits, as fast as they came, in bringing his sons to this pass; fourthly, that the success of his sons redered his wife and duaghters so hightoploftical that they turned their backs upon him, the poor old barber, and set up for tip-topping ladies; fifthly, that he, with his own hands, shaved Sir Astley Cooper every monring for thirty years, without missing a single morning, or ever keeping him waiting a single momoent; sixthly that he was one of the oldest members of ‘the Peruque Makers’ Society,’ and had been a constant conttributor to their funds for upwards of forty years; but now that he was old, and worn down to ‘a poor old barber,’ they also wanted to shuffle him off, as his wife and daughter had done; seventhly, that notwithstanding he was so old and worn out, he could still beat any young one among them, for the art of fine hair-dressing was lost, and no artist of the present day know how to handle a ladly’s head, or twirl a gentleman’s toupee; eighthly, and lastly, that being sick, he was entitled to fourteen shillings a week from the Peruke Makers’ Society, and the rascals with a view to make him die off by starvation, wickedly withheld it from him, &co.

The Stewards of the Peruke Maker’s (sic) Society, in reply to all this affirmed that the angry Mr. Serle’s family were most respectable, and allowed him half-a-guinea a week –

‘What’s that to you? What’s that to you?’ cried Mr. Serle, clenching his fist and drawing it behind him, as if about to strike; and a every ‘What’s that to you’ clenching it still harder, till at last he almost screwed himself off the floor with sheer energy as it were.

‘- and would provide for him handsomely,’ continued the Stewards, ‘if he would but conduct himself decently.’ They denied that his family had deserted him, and declared that he had deserted his family, because Mrs. Serle had ‘out-lived his liking,’ and he thought a younger lady more comfortable.

‘What d’ye mean by that, you rascals?’ cried Mr. Serle, again screwing himself up with intense vigour – ‘what d’ye mean by that? – Punish these infamous rascals! Punish them well, your Worship.’

His Worship requested Mr. Serle to be calm; and the Stewards proceeded.

He was, in fact, they said, a very bad old gentleman, and more trouble to every body than any body could imagine; and, finally, they declared that he was not entitled to the sick allowance from his society, because he was not sick –

‘Not sick/ you rascals!’ cried Mr. Serle; ‘not sick! Your Worship, ask ’em if I didn’t slip down and cut my nose? Ask ’em if I didn’t tumble over a stile and sprain my ancle? Ask ’em if I wasn’t put into a foul bed and got the itch? Why, your Worship, Sir Astley Cooper himself can vouch for it! for he gave me a paid of his old shoes for my sprained ancle, and a ticket to the warm bath at Guy’s for the itch. I have got Sir Astley’s old shoes upon my feet now to testify it, your Worship!’

The Stewards, in reply, said the broken nose was a mere nothing; the sprained ancle was all fudge; and as to the itch, it was not a proper condition for the benefits of the box of so orespectable a society as their’s.

‘Surely you will admit the itch to be a sickness, or indisposition sufficient to disqualaify him from following his business?’ asked the Magistrate.

‘Certainly not!’ was the ready reply of the Stewards; whereupon the worthy Magistrate observed that he should be very careful not to be shaved by any member of their society.

Some further debate ensured, but the Stewards remained inexorable. The utmost they would concede was a promise to lay the whole affair before a general assembly of the peruquiers for their decision; and the complaint was ordered by the Magistrate to stand over till the day after – when, if Mr. Serle was not satisfied, he might appear again.”

The Stamford Mercury, 3rd January, 1823.

When rationing was introduced during the second world war, a typical weekly ration per person was 4oz of bacon and ham, other meat one shilling-worth, 4oz of butter, 4oz of loose tea, 8 oz of sugar, 1 oz of cheese and 8 oz preserves per month. Rationing finally came to an end in 1954.

“Rationing in Lincolnshire and Rutland, with all other parts of the country, started on Monday, this giving every, woman and child an opportunity to contribute to victory.

It has frequently been asserted that the result of the last war depended more upon food than upon fighting. So it may be again, and it is a vital part of our defence that everyone should make a contribution as nearly equal as wide differences of circumstances permit. The great enemy is waste. It occurs in too many directions. Far too much valuable food is placed in the dust bins every day.

Waste of opportunity is as indefensible as waste of supplies. Substitute foods are not necessarily second-rate, for habit plays a large part in the routine of feeding. The necessities of war encourage a more imaginative and wider search for satisfactory alternative foods and the result may be neither lacking in nutritive value nor attractiveness. The housewife’s contribution ought to be no more than complementary to the husband’s for the ‘dig for victory’ campaign is intimately associated with the success of the rationing scheme.

Waste of good land is an [sic] unpatriotic as is the waste of good food. There is a moral obligation on all gardeners in time of war to see that concern for the edible had precedent over care for the merely ornamental. Cultivation of allotments and the transformation of garden into food-producing units had hardly begun. An opportunity to help the war lies in the hand of everyone who possesses a garden.

Mr. W. S. Morrison’s * assurance that we have all the food we need is qualified by the unpredictable uncertainties of the war. Importation of foodstuffs must go on or starvatiion would not be far away. There is no fear that enemy action will produce that situation, but every effort will be put forward to get as near to it as possible. The most practical method of showing appreciation of the magnificent work of the men of the Merchant Navy is to support the food-rationing scheme so that they may be spared from unnecessarily having to face the hazards of the war at sea.”

The Stamford Mercury, 12th January, 1940.

*Minister of Food.

Elizabeth Longfoot was murdered at 4 o’clock in the morning of Tuesday, 6^th March, 1838.  She was an eccentric woman in her forties who lived alone at Easton-on-the-Hill.  Her home had been broken into and there was evidence that items were missing.  Local Magistrates met to consider the cause and circumstances of her death and a number of people were interviewed and held as suspects.  On the 19^th March, 1838, the Coroner recorded his verdict of wilful murder by person or persons unknown.  At this time, because of the need for expert help, the Bow Street runners in London were contacted and one officer, Henry Goddard, travelled overnight to supervise the investigation.  Of the suspects, three were charged: John Stansor, John Archer and Richard Woodward.  The four other suspects were released.

In the meantime, Stansor had absconded and Goddard set up a search and pursuit whilst the other two were held in custody.  Stansor was eventually found in the Huntingdon area on 4^th April, 1838 and was returned to custody. On 14^th May, 1838, the Magistrates committed Stansor, Archer and Woodward to the Northampton Assizes on a charge of murder.  At this point, John Stansor offered to turn Queen’s Evidence against the other two in return for leniency.  Goddard said it was not in his gift to do such a deal and there is no trace of how the final agreement was arrived at.  However, court papers for the first hearing describe Archer and Woodward, as accused and Stansor as “an approver”.

[An approver is a person involved in a crime but at a later stage confesses and offers to serve as a witness for the prosecution in return for a reduced punishment or even a pardon.]

The potential punishment for this crime could have been either hanging or transportation.  The three prisoners were then incarcerated in separate prisons to avoid any conspiracy.

The trial was set for the summer assizes at Northampton for 17^th July, 1838.  However, two key witnesses William Read, the Stamford Constable and Mr. Farrer, the Magistrates’ clerk had an accident whilst driving to court and both were injured. As a result, the trial was put back to the next assizes.  In fact, the case was not heard at the next assizes and were finally set for the Lent assizes on 4^th March, 1839, before Lord Denman.

The trial, which is well-documented in the attached account, took all day.  Woodward and Archer appeared as defendants and Stansor attended to give evidence for the prosecution, in the course of which he said that he had also been charged with the murder.  The prosecution appears to have relied entirely on Stansor’s deposition to carry the verdict.  However, a rigorous defence claimed that Stansor alone has been the murderer and had implicated the other two as part of a means of avoiding punishment.  Late in the evening the Jury in consultation for a very short time found both prisoners not guilty.  The verdict caused surprise and astonishment to the Judge, but he was obliged to acquit them.  The court record confirms their acquittal, but does not say what happened to Stansor, who remained cited as the accuser. 

There is no record of John Stansor being tried on his own account at either Northampton Assizes or the Old Bailey.  He does not appear on any criminal listings of the time and is certainly not on the register of deportations for that year.  We must assume, therefore, that his plea-bargaining had succeeded and that he also was acquitted.

After the trial, Woodward and Archer returned to Easton-on-the-Hill where the infuriated inhabitants called to an assembly by the “the call of a drum” and attacked Archer’s house, destroying his furniture and other property.  Woodwards’ property was subjected to similar treatment. During this riot, which did not calm down until midnight, the villagers were unable to find either Archer or Woodward, who had, presumably, fled.

John Stansor did not return.  He lived with his sister who was not implicated in the murder and thus, her property remined unscathed.

What happened to these three men?  A search of the 1841 census shows no trace of Richard Woodward or John Stansor.  A possible John Archer appears to be living in Ryhall and has married one Hannah Parker.  If this is indeed him, he is shown as dying in the county asylum in 1880.

However, purely by chance, in the gossip column of the Leicestershire Mercury, dated 20^th April, 1839, is an entry which records that “John Stansor the self-convicted Easton murderer is at work on the Midland Counties Railway at Knighton Hill, near Leicester.  Owing to the disclosures he made respecting this foul dead of blood and to his having been the mean of transporting several of his former companions for various robberies, he has been compelled to fly from Easton, his life not being safe and is now passing under an assumed name.”  The assumed name is not given.

Was justice done?  Certainly not for Elizabeth Longfoot.

Archer and Woodward were tried by due process and clearly, due to the lack of determination by the prosecutor, were found not guilty, despite the evidence.

John Stansor, who admitted to robbery, but not to murder, effectively got away with it by plea-bargaining.  It is worth noting that he had already served three months for larceny in 1834 before Lincoln Assizes and was described in several accounts as a known petty criminal, mainly for poaching.

Here are our previous posts about this

Blood on their Hands (29th March, 2022)

Easton Murder Latest (5th April, 2022)

Labourers from Easton Charged (26th April, 2022)

Justice for the Deceased (10th May, 2022)

Since our last post about shorthand writing (or phonography), we have found a letter pubished three months later which very strongly disputes the usefulness of the system. However, we now have the benefit of nearly two hundred years of knowledge and many people who use Sir Isaac Pitman’s method find it most useful, quick and easy to use. Once practised enough, it is very easy to master writing and reading the thin/thick strokes and heavy/light dots. So this piece sounds like either sour grapes or a student complaining about a system he or she cannot be bothered to learn properly.

Of course, there are many different shorthand systems in use now and also many other electronic options available to record the spoken word. But the journalists at the Stamford Mercury still stick to their spiral-bound notebooks.

“Pitman’s Phonography is distinguished only forits (sic) fine sounding-name, its unusual paretension, and its being, with all its boasted originality, based on an idea first broached by another, Dr. Arnott, in his elements of Physics. The combinations of the characters used in Phonography are often extremely awkward and unsightly; and the subtle distinction of thick strokes and thin, heavy and light dots, of whole and half-sized characters, however pleasing to an amateur, is a kind of nicety which it is impossible to produce in the hurry of reporting. Yet this distinction pervades the whole system of Phonography; and if not unerringly pursued, the labour of hours is converted into an unmeaning scrawl. – From the Student, or Young Man’s Advocate.“

The Stamford Mercury, 2nd, May 1845.