Note 293 — INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO CHAPTER VI

Robert Cutlar Ferguson had been counsel for one of the defendants in the trial of Arthur O’Connor and others for treason at Maidstone in 1798. O’Connor was acquitted, but the presence in Court of Bow Street runners to arrest him on a second charge caused a scene of much confusion, one consequence being the prosecution of Cutlar Ferguson, Lord Thanet, and others for an attempted rescue. Ferguson was imprisoned for a year and fined £100. Upon his liberation he went to Calcutta, where he established himself in large and lucrative practice. He died in 1838.