Note 13 — Chapter XVI · THE ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES.

This was given by Sir James Hannen in the case of a man called Purchon, a member of the Glassbottlers’ Union of Yorkshire. Three members of the Union, professing to believe certain disgraceful charges against Purchon, procured his expulsion from that body. Then his employers dismissed him because they were threatened with a strike if he remained in their service. Purchon sued the three Unionists who got him expelled from his Union for conspiring to deprive him of employment. Mr. Justice Hannen ruled that there was an undue interference with the rights of labour, and £300 damages were awarded by the jury. The case of Purchon v. Hartley proved that though the Unions had got rid of a limited term of imprisonment for coercion, they were now punishable by unlimited damages.