On this day in 1873

Who was distributing obscene prints of the Reverend Mr Rey? Nobody knew, but RD Luard was tried and convicted of the crime, even though the evidence against him was weak at best. He had shown one of the prints to a friend at the market, but other people throughout Jersey had received them by post and there was no way of knowing where they’d come from. Might this, too, be how Luard had come across the print he’d shared?

A bitter past

Luard and Rey had a history, which probably didn’t help Luard’s case. The two men had been arguing for some time and Rey had attempted to sue Luard for slander. They frequently greeted each other with insults and Reverend Rey admitted that he would wave his riding whip at Luard but only, he later assured the court, out of amusement. Several other witnesses testified that Rey had been doing this, and tormenting Luard by looking in at Luard’s dining room window in a menacing manner while shaking the whip.

So, it wasn’t too hard to believe that Luard might be responsible for buying several copies of a French paper containing a caricature of Reverend Rey and doodling obscene additions before handing them round or posting them out. There was also evidence that Luard had bought two dozen copies of the paper in question.

However, Luard claimed that it was Rey, not he, who had doodled on the pictures and sent them out, with the express aim of seeing Luard in court. Both Luard and Rey claimed that they’d received copies by post.

It took the jury just ten minutes to find Luard guilty of distributing obscene material. He was sentenced to eight days in prison and a fine of £50.