[ Case of Robert Pate / Proceedings of the Old Bailey ]
The Old Bailey (properly known as The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales) was the principal criminal court in London in the 18th and 19th centuries (and remains in use to this day). The records of trials held at the Old Bailey have been digitized and made freely available online (oldbaileyonline.org).
This particular case (reference number t18480228-826) was heard on 28 February 1848 and involved a charge of assaulting the Queen with intent to injure and to break the peace. Pate was arrested for striking Queen Victoria on the head with a small cane while she was riding in an open carriage in London .
The defendant, while in the army, owned a Newfoundland dog, a fact remarked upon by one of the witnesses, an officer commanding the regiment of which Robert Pate was a member:
" . . as an officer he discharged his duties very well, to the best of his abilities—I never had occasion to find fault with him; and as to his being a gentleman, there was no doubt about that — he was very much liked by his brother officers, and respected by the regiment — he had a favourite Newfoundland dog, and, I think, as many as three valuable horses, to which he was very much attached — Major Wallington had then the command of the regiment at Clonmel — it was reported to me that Major Wallington's dog bit Mr. Pate's dog, and the horses afterwards went mad, and were shot — after that I noticed a change in the prisoner's conduct and appearance. . . ."
Another witness, a fellow soldier of Robert Pate's, corroborates the above suggestion that Pate's mental state was shaken when his horses had to be shot due to being bitten by what was surely a rabid dog:
". . . I was in the regiment when Mr. Pate joined it — I had charge of horses in the same stables with his — I remember its being discovered that the horses had been bitten — Mr. Pate had a very handsome Newfoundland dog — I am not aware that that was bitten — it was afterwards destroyed, because I think there was an order to destroy all dogs at the barracks — it was supposed the horses were bitten — they went mad; two or three of them were shot — Mr. Pate was very much distressed about his favourite horse. . . ."
Pate was found guilty and transported for a term of seven years.