AFTER the traditional proclamation against vice and immorality, the Hampshire Quarter Sessions chairman commented on the lightness of the calendar, with only 13 cases, directing the Grand Jury as the circumstances surrounding two of them and the law that pertained.

That said, Melville Portal invited them to discharge their duty and ordered the Midsummer Sessions of 1877 to open.

But almost immediately, one jury member raised a unique objection over what they considered was the triviality of the hearings.

“I must complain of the inconvenience of being summoned to try such trumpery cases,” bemoaned a juryman who had ridden part of the way from his New Forest home at Sway to Winchester.

“I must ask whether you will receive a deputation from us on this subject.”

Mr Portal, taken aback by the interruption, said it was not his duty to allow remarks about the law and declined to receive them on the matter.

“But if you wish to make a presentment on any subject you might think proper, the court will receive it.”
The court then opened, with each case being reported by the Hampshire Advertiser, in particular one that concerned a warring husband and wife.

It had not been the happiest of marriages but for 18 months beleaguered Catherine O’Rourke was set to enjoy a respite from her violent and drunken husband.

The marine store dealer had once again lost his temper, this time after seeing her chatting to a young boy in a yard outside their home.

“Don’t talk to the bastard,” he yelled.

She retorted: “If that child is a bastard, so is your own,” and struck him with a jacket on a shoulder. 
He responded by storming inside and grabbing a hammer from a cupboard, and viciously struck her over the head.

“A most formidable weapon,” remarked the judge, studying the weapon.

The force of the blow had made her sink to her knees, and with blood oozing freely from a gaping wound, a neighbour sent for a doctor who administered first aid.

“A small artery had been divided and there was much difficulty in stopping the bleeding,” Dr Alder told the judge of his examination.

“The pointed end of the hammer had caused the wound which was a somewhat dangerous one, but not a dangerous one to life.”

O’Rourke, 50, pleaded not guilty to wounding and at his trial the prosecution called a second witness in PC Downs who had been summoned to the incident at Alverstoke.

“I saw her bleeding on the stones outside the house and I arrested the prisoner on the charge,” he recounted. 

What was his reaction? the prosecutor asked.

The officer replied: “He used bad language to his wife and was drunk.”

After the inevitable conviction, jurors heard he had previously subjected his hapless wife to violence while the worse for drink.

“This was not the first time I have been to their house,” the officer confirmed. “He has been guilty of previous assaults.” 

Without comment, the judge then jailed him for 18 months.