"Now Tom Till's debt is paid"

It was late on 18 January 1816 and snow lay thick on the ground as a group of young men, amongst them labourers, masons, and farmers’ sons, all from the Gloucestershire town of Thornbury, gathered at the house of John Allen, ready to embark on a course of action that would have tragic consequences.

The scene had been set many years earlier. The Game Act 1671 brought in a property qualification, making hunting of game illegal unless you owned freeholds worth £100 a year or leaseholds worth £150 a year. These were significant sums, excluding all but the richest from hunting. In subsequent years further anti-poaching legislation was enacted, leading to a complex set of laws and punishments that provoked a huge amount of resentment towards the large landowners they most benefitted.

In November 1815, the body of a young farmer named Thomas Till was found on land at Tortworth owned by Lord Ducie. He had been killed by a hidden spring gun, a deadly weapon that landowners could legally use to deter poachers. For some in Gloucestershire this was the final straw and, in the months that followed, poaching became an organised act of defiance. Most resistance was aimed at Colonel Berkeley whom many saw as being at the forefront of anti-poaching efforts. And so it was that the sixteen men gathered at John Allen’s house on 18 January 1816, united in their common purpose to go poaching on Colonel Berkeley’s estate. They disguised themselves and swore an oath they would “not peach upon each other”. Heading out into the clear moonlit night, they knew they mustn’t get caught.

A few miles away, at Roundhouse Wood on the Berkeley Estate, nineteen gamekeepers waited for signs of trouble, as they had done on many nights those past few months. It wasn’t long until the keepers received the information that shots had been heard at Catgrove Wood, and they readied themselves for confrontation. The keepers, armed with stout sticks as Colonel Berkeley forbade them from carrying guns, soon encountered the group of poachers in a clearing at Catgrove.

Thomas Clarke, Colonel Berkeley’s park keeper, stepped forward shouting “huzza my boys, fight like men!”. Responding with cries of “glory!” the poachers formed themselves into a line and moved forward. A shot rang out, then another. One of the keepers, William Ingram, fell dead to the frozen ground. Then all hell broke loose. In the melee that followed, a further seven keepers were injured. As the poachers finally fled, John Penny handed his gun to William Greenaway, saying only “now Tom Till’s debt is paid”.

A furious Colonel Berkeley ordered an immediate search for the culprits and a line of footprints in the snow soon led the gamekeepers straight to John Allen’s door. It wasn’t long until fourteen men were in custody in relation to William Ingram’s death: John Allen, William Brodribb, John Burley, Benjamin Collins, Thomas Collins, William Greenaway, Robert Groves, James Jenkins, Daniel Long, Thomas Morgan, John Penny, William Penny, John Reeves, and James Roach. A further four fled the country before they could be apprehended. Benjamin Collins was eventually released without charge, whilst William Greenaway opted to give evidence against the other poachers in exchange for his life. Brodribb was charged with administering an illegal oath; the rest were put on trial for Ingram’s murder.

At the Gloucester Lent Assizes in April 1816 all eleven men were found guilty, a verdict which merited the death penalty. Their defence had focussed on the injustice of the game laws and the impact that Thomas Till’s death had on the community, and numerous witnesses attested to the good character of the young men. Newspaper reports recorded that the jury were in tears as their foreman read out the verdict and begged for clemency for nine of them on account of their character. The judge agreed and so only John Allen, the ringleader, and John Penny, the man who fired the fatal shot, were hanged for the crime. The other nine, along with Brodribb, were transported to Tasmania. Greenaway, who had given evidence against his fellow poachers, had to leave his home and was found a new job by Colonel Berkeley. The impact of that tragic evening continued to be felt long after the snow had melted.

I often go walking near Catgrove Wood; the wood itself remains off-limits to anyone not involved in the running of the Berkeley Estate. It's a nondescript group of trees, high on a ridge above the Berkeley Vale containing no clues as to the events that happened here 207 years ago, nor their long-lasting repercussions. Unless you come at night. It’s said that on the anniversary of what became known as the Great Berkeley Poaching Affray you can still hear the sound of gunfire on the main ride at Catgrove Wood and see William Ingram fall to the cold ground all over again.

There’s another reason to avoid this place at night. The Night Poaching Act 1828, part of the series of game laws passed between 1671 and 1831, remains on the statute book (as two rabbit poachers found out in Hereford in 2007). If Mr Berkeley’s keepers find you here set on hunting game there’s still a chance that you could be transported to Tasmania!

References and further reading

Edwin J. Ford. The Great Berkeley Poaching Affray of 1816. Edwin J. Ford, 2005.

Rosemary Lockie. "The Berkeley Castle Poaching Affray of 1816 - Thornbury". Wishful Thinking. 2005. Accessed January 3, 2023. https://places.wishful-thinking.org.uk/GLS/Thornbury/PoachingAffray.html

Steve Mills. "The infamous Berkeley affair". The Bristol Cable. October 18, 2016. Accessed January 3, 2023. https://thebristolcable.org/2016/10/poaching/

P.B. Munsche. Gentlemen and Poachers: the English Game Laws 1671-1831. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.

Thornbury Roots. "John Allen". Thornbury Roots. Accessed January 3, 2023. https://www.thornburyroots.co.uk/crime/john-allen/