Notes for: Francis Parsons
Bury and Norwich Post 3 Feb 1874:
Important Case. - Payment of Professional Witnesses.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, WESTMINSTER HALL, January 26.
(Before Mr. Baron POLLOCK).
NEWSON AND STANLEY v. TOLLER..
This was an action brought by Messrs. Newson and Stanley, of Bury St. Edmund’s and Walbrook, London, against Richard Pancourt Swannell Toller, farmer, of Waterbeach, Cambs., to recover £30 15s. 6d. For the attendance of Mr. Stanley to give evidence in a cause Toller v. Parsons, tried at Westminster, in December, 1872. - Mr. Mereweather (instructed by Mr. W.S. Walpole) appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Thompson (instructed by Messrs. Green, Mellor, and Son, of Huntingdon) for the defendant. . .
Mr. Mereweather said this was an action brought by the plaintiffs, who were well-known auctioneers and land agents, carrying on an extensive business at Bury St. Edmund’s and in London, against the defendant, who was a large farmer at Waterbeach, to recover the sum of £30 15s. 6d., being one guinea charged for an opinion, and £29 14s. 6d. for attending at Westminster Hall on the 5th, 6th, and 7th of December, 1872, for proceeding to London on the 8th and giving evidence at Westminster on the 9th in a trial Toller v. Parsons, and for travelling and hotel expenses. To this claim the defendant had pleaded a tender of £12 12s., being the taxed costs in the above action, which he paid into Court, denying his liability for the remainder. The learned counsel went on to state that in the year 1872 the present defendant brought an action against Mr. Parsons for the amount of an umpire’s award in relation to a valuation on a farm at Trumpington, near Cambridge , which award Mr. Parsons disputed; and in this action Messrs Green and Co. were the attorneys for Mr. Toller, and Messrs. Wisbey and Son, estate agents, of Cambridge, were the valuers and agents acting for defendant in such valuation. The first intimation Messrs. Newton and Stanley had with reference to this action was a letter from Messrs. Wisbey and Son, dated July 2, 1872, informing them of the unpleasantness then existing between Mr. Toller and Mr. Parsons, and asking for an opinion as to whether the matter had been referred to the umpire in the usual way. Mr. Stanley replied, sending his opinion, and several months afterwards he met Mr. Mellor in the presence of Mr. Toller, and was requested to give evidence on his behalf. . .
etc. etc. . .
Found for the plaintiff.
Cambridge Independent Press 23 Jun 1893:
TRUMPINGTON
STACK FIRE. - About 4.15 on Sunday afternoon a fire was discovered in some stacks upon the Church Farm, Trumpington, which is occupied by Mr. Francis Parsons. P.c. Salmon was on the spot within minutes of the discovery, and was followed later on by Superintendent Whitechurch, Sergeant Quincey, and P.c.’s Carter and Cater. A detachment of the Cambridge Volunteer Fire Brigade also went over, but the fire was not extinguished until two stacks of wheat straws, the produce of 60 acres, valued at £350, had been destroyed, and some fencing and a shed had been damaged to the extent of about £20, all of which is covered by insurance. The cause of the fire is at present shrouded in mystery. It is thought that it could not have been the work of an incendiary, as several persons were near by just before and at the time the fire broke out, and anyone leaving the premises must have been seen. It is the opinion of some that the fire was caused by the excessive heat of the sun focussed through some broken glass, but others think that although the sun was excessively powerful, the fire was caused by the end of a cigar or cigarette being thrown near the stacks.
Fire at Trumpington.
I, the UNDERSIGNED, wish to thank the inhabitants of the parishes of Trumpington and Grantchester for their prompt assistance in preventing the fire which occurred at my Farm on Sunday last, from spreading to the buildings. I would also thank members of the University for their valuable aid, and the Cambridge Fire Brigade for coming so far to do all they could in time of danger.
FRANCIS PARSONS