R v Houston

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 04 June 1841
• Date: 04 June 1841
• Court: Queen's Bench Division (Ireland)

Queen's Bench.

REGINA

and

HOUSTON.

Dingley v.Moor Cro. El. 750.

Shelton's Case Cited in Owen's R. 134, 135.

Broughton v. MooreENR Cro. Jac. 142.

Barnaby v. NandikeENR 1 Lutw. 212.

West's Case Owen's R. 134.

Andrews v. Hundred of LewknorENR Cro. Jac. 187.

Horthbury v. LevinghamENR 1 Sid. 348.

Parker v. WebbENR 3 Lev. 61.

Warren v. SayreENR 1 Mod. 191.

Rex v. PimENR Russ. & Ry. 425.

Rex v. ChatburnENR 1 Mood. c. C. 403.

Regina v. Houston 2 Cr. & Dix. Cir. C. 10.

Broughton v. MooreENR Cro. Jac. 142.

Rex v. SpillerUNK 2 Show. 205.

Warren v. SayerENR 1 Mod. 191.

Parker v. WebbENR 3 Lev. 61.

West's CaseENR Owen, 135.

Rex v. LawUNK 2 M. & R. 198.

Rex v. Simmonds Aleyne, 49.

Rex v. Cox 2 Bustr. 248.

Dormer's CaseENR 2 Leon. 5.

Andrew v. Hundred of LweknorENRENR Yelv. 116; S. C. Cro. Jac. 187.

Wells v. IgguldenENR 3 B. & C. 190.

Rex v. Browne 1 Jebb's C. C. 21.

Collins' CaseENR 2 Leach, C. C. 827.

Rex v. MackenzieENR Russ. & Ry. 429.

Earl of Clanrickarde v. StokesENR 7 East, 516, 520.

Rex v. Law Plowd. Com. 206.

Jee, clerk, v. ThurlowENR 2 B. & C. 547.

Regina v. Houston, 2 C. & 2 C. & Dix., C. C. 26.

CASES AT LAW. 445 1841. Queen'sBench. Trinity Term. May 28. June 4. ERROR brought to reverse a judgment upon demurrer to an indictment, By the 4 G. 4, for unlawful combination under the 2 & 3 Vic. c. 74.* The first count c. 87, certain societies there- -of the indictment was as follows in described " County of Antrim, to wit. The jurors of our Sovereign Lady the were declared unlawful corn- 44 Queen, upon their oaths present, that heretofore and before the 24th binations, and the members '" day of August, in the year of our Lord 1839, to wit, on the 20th day thereof were declared guilty of unlawful combination, and liable to certain penalties therein specified ; the 2 & 3 Vie. c. 74, recited that it was expedient to extend and render more effectual the provisions of the 4 G. 4, and declared certain other societies, therein described, to be unlawful combiÂÂnations, and that persons doing certain things, therein specified, should be deemed guilty of unlawful combination, and be liable to such and the like penalties, proceedings, and punishment as if he were guilty of an unlawful combination under the provisions of the 4 G. 4, and be proceeded against and punished in the manner and according to the proviÂÂsions of that act ; and it was thereby further enacted, that " all the provisions of the said " act shall and may be put in force and applied accordingly for the punishment of any such " offenders, and for the mitigation of such punishment, and for the application of penalÂÂ" ties, limitations of actions, and other purposes therein specified, as if the same were "repeated and re-enacted in this act with reference to such offenders and persons respectÂÂ" ively." In an indictment charging certain offences created by the 2 & 3 Vic. c. 74, the several counts concluded "contra formam statuti :"-Held, upon a writ of error brought to reverse the judgment of the Court below, that this conclusion was sufficient, and, therefore, that the judgment of the Court below, which allowed the demurrer, holding that the counts ought to have concluded "contra formain' statutorum," was erroneous, and should be reversed. * The 2 & 3 Vic. e. 74.-" Whereas it is expedient to extend and render more effecÂÂ'" tual the provisions of an act made in the fourth year of the reign of his late Majesty " King George the Fourth, intituled An Act to amend and render more effectual the " provision of an act made in the fiftieth year of his late Majesty's reign, for preÂÂ" venting the administering and taking unlawful oaths in Ireland, be it therefore "enacted by, &c., that from and after the first day of September, one thousand eight "hundred and thirty-nine, any and every society now established, or hereafter to be " established in Ireland, of the nature hereinafter described, shall be and be deemed " and taken to be an unlawful combination and confederacy : (that is to say), any and " every society so constituted that the members thereof may or shall communicate with, " or be known to each other by, or may use, for the purpose of being known as such, any " secret sign or signs, or password or passwords, by way of question or answer and otherÂÂ" wise, and any and every society formed or acting wholly or in part for the purchase of " arms, or for the distribution of arms among the members thereof, or among any other "person, by lot or otherwise, or which shall collect any funds for any such purpose, or " purchase or procure, or cause to be purchased or procured, any arms for any such purÂÂ" pose of distribution as aforesaid ; and any person Who, after the said first day of September "in this present year, shall become a member of any such society, or act or assist in, " or at any meeting or proceeding of any such society, or who, being a member of any " such society, shall after that day act as a member thereof, and every person who, " after that day, shall directly or indirectly knowingly maintain correspondence or interÂÂ" course with any such society, or with any division, president, treasurer, secretary, delegate, or other officer or member thereof, as such, or shall make use of any secret "sign or signs, or password or passwords of any such society as hereinbefore mentioned, 446 CASES AT LAW. " of August in the year aforesaid, there was established in Ireland, to " wit, at Belfast, in the county of Antrim, a society so instituted that " the members thereof might and should communicate with and be known " to each other, by, and might use for the purpose of being known as " such, certain secret passwords by way of question and answer ; and that " the said Society has not yet been dissolved or put an end to, but has "thence hitherto continued to exist, arid does still exist, and is still conÂÂ" tinued in manner and form aforesaid ; and the jurors aforesaid upon " their oaths aforesaid, do further present that John Houston, late of " Belfast, in the county of Antrim, publican, after the 1st day of SepÂÂ" tember, in the year of our Lord 1839, to wit, on the 4th day of " October in the year aforesaid, with force and arms at Belfast, in the "county of Antrim, being then and there an unlawful society, cornÂÂ"bination, and confederacy, did act as a member of the said society, " contrary to the form of the statute in that case made and provided ; and "or fitted to be used for or towards the forming of any such society, or for any purpose "of any such society, whether actually formed or not, or knowingly have in his " possession any copy, written or printed, of any such password or passwords, or other " secret mode of communication, or any oath, engagement, test, or declaration, made "use of or purporting to be made use of by any such society, or by any division of any " society declared to be unlawful by the said act passed in the fourth year of the reign "of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, and shall not be able satisfactorily to " account for the same, shall be deemed guilty of unlawful combination and conÂÂ" federacy, and shall be liable to such and the like penalties, proceedings and punishÂÂ" ment, as if he were guilty of an unlawful combination or confederacy under the proviÂÂ" sions of the said last-mentioned act ; and every such offender shall and may be proÂÂ" ceeded against and punished in the manner and according to the provisions of the said "last-mentioned act, as if be were guilty of an unlawful combination or confederacy "under said last mentioned act ; and any person who shall knowingly permit any meetÂÂ" ing of any society hereby declared...