mary ann tocker

Law

Suggested by Sally Atkins

Born in Cornwall in 1778, Mary Ann Tocker effectively changed the law on libel enabling defendants to bring their own evidence to trial where previously this was not permitted. Anyone accused of libel had the odds stacked against them…
⁠
Mary Ann was the daughter of a solicitor whose early demise meant the family moved to Plymouth to rent out rooms to maintain an income. When one of their boarders, a man from a ‘reputable’ family left them and others unpaid, Mary Ann published an anonymous letter in the West Briton laying out the misdeeds.⁠
⁠
The man demanded to know who had written the letter, threatening Mary's brother until Mary admitted it was her. Charged with libel, she was brought before a judge and jury at Bodmin Jail in 1818 with her brother to defend her as she couldn't, as a woman, defend herself. Any evidence that would prove the man's guilt was not permitted at the trial, but she was allowed to make a closing statement, "I trust that it will be seen this day, that it is more hazardous to commit a crime, than to publish that crime when committed." ⁠
⁠
The 12 men of the jury asked to see her evidence and found her not guilty. ⁠
⁠
Mary Ann went on to publish her story nationally and within her lifetime the law on libel cases changed. In 1843 it was ruled that defendants could produce evidence to prove their innocence. Her brother went on to be a successful lawyer, but she on the other hand disappeared from view.⁠

Sally Atkins has done a huge amount of research on women of Cornwall which can be seen on her Instagram feed @thesunnycupboard . Sally says Mary Tocker is her no.1 woman out of many she has spent time researching.⁠