Description:In 1795 the people of Lane End had reached the end of their tether over suspicions that they were being ripped off.
Disputes arose at market as some dishonest traders knowingly used false weights and measures to sell their goods.
Fines
This notice announced that local individuals would prosecute all offenders for a fine of at least £12, or £60 for re-offenders.
33 local people are named as having contributed to the legal fund:
J.E. Heathcote
Thomas Shelley
Thomas Jackson
Charles Harvey
Thomas Bond
Richard Barker
John Turner
Richard Myatt
M. Walklate
Samuel Spode
William Unett
Francis Evans
Richard Johnson
John Aynsley
Mary Cyples
Ralph Steele
William Turner
George Barnes
Thomas Astbury
Mary Riley
James Scarratt
Thomas Stirrup
Elizabeth Shelley
William Warner
Benjamin Bott
Thomas Johnson
Ralph Goodwin
John Deakin
Philip Bagnall
Solomon Allen
William Bostock
John Cotton
Jeremiah Barker
Copper tokens
The authors also noted that the poor were often the victims of the 'copper coins' crisis that was underway.
Due to a shortage of officially-produced coins, the Paris Mines Company, based on Anglesey, set up a private mint in Birmingham to produce copper tokens as payment to their workers.
Other companies followed suit, and the practice spread throughout the country. All sums were catered for, and a similar mint was set up at Macclesfield.
Some tokens even carried advertising and political slogans. Those issues by the the Paris Mines Company carried the initials of the company as an image of a druid.
The notice advises manufacturers and workmen not to deal in tokens.
About this document
Pottery manufacturer Enoch Wood collected this document and it is now among the collections at Stoke-on-Trent Museums.