Statement of the conduct of Man sent to Mr. Children to  read

Statement of the shameful and repressive behavior of Harry Stoe Man to the people of Halstead Kent.

Harry Stoe Man ruined a pond in the centre of the village.  This pond had hardly every been known to run dry and had been made by clay puddling.  Man stole the clay and the pond dried out in 1835. Soon after he fenced it in.  He was indicted at the 1836 Assizes to remove the fence and mend the pond, but his recognizance had to be respited because before the case came up, he had actually removed the fence referred to in the indictment and built a wall instead. He was again indicted to remove the wall and pleaded guilty at the 1837 Lent Assizes, but even so was still free in 1838, having evaded the law by all sorts of machinations.

[Source: Kent Archives Office U969.  Deeds of Halstead Place and elsewhere in Kent. Deposited by Messers. Pennington and Son. per the London Count Council . 17 October 1962. Catalogued by Anne M. Oakley, 27 Feb -3 Mar 1967.]