p. vii, x, xi William Orpwood (p8), a bargeman of Reading, sentenced to be transported for 14 years at the Berkshire Assies of 1741, was by his own account convicted of receiving stolen goods on the sole evidence of John Vickers, the real culprit, who had lied to the Court in order to save himself. Since the trial Vickers had made a voluntary confession of his guilt and then gone into hiding…
