| Description | Letter from Thomas Shepherd at Northallerton House of Correction to Thomas Ewbank deputy Clerk of the Peace at New Malton, giving descriptions of three prisoners:
- Charles Hughes who enlisted under the name of James Dofathy into the 8th Regiment at Richmond in 1795, but deserted after marching to York. He was apprehended in 1799 and marched to the Savoy, and then to Chatham, where he embarked for the East Indies. On inspection by the Surgeon-General at Spithead he was declared unfit for service as he did not have the use of his left thumb. He was sent back to Chatham and discharged by General Fox. In 1800 he enlisted at Edinburgh into the Coldstream Guards under the name of Charles Hughes but he has now deserted from that Regiment. He is 25 years old, 5 feet 51/2 inches tall, dark brown hair, pale complexion, black eyes, and a brazier by trade. He was born at Carlisle, is of slender build, with marks from the smallpox, and he stoops with his head. He is marked on his breast with the letters B & P
- James Gordon, who appears to be both deaf and dumb, is 51 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, with dark brown hair with a mixture of grey, blue eyes and a rather swarthy complexion. He is straight and well-made, and has travelled the country as a quack doctor with a woman who says that she is his wife, and that he is a native of Scotland
- John Hymass, an idiot, about 34 years old, 5 feet 2 inches tall, with brown hair, a fresh complexion and grey eyes. He is well-made, with a round visage and marks from the smallpox. He was born at Shotton in county Durham, talks much of mercantile concerns, and says that he was formerly master of a vessel. He has many scars on his body, and his derangement is supposed to have been caused by a large wound on his head
Shepherd also says that he has not received the papers for "the two blacks" |