The following advertisement appeared in the newspaper The Derby Mercury of 24th March 1791 (the same year as the Association was formed) and lists the rewards offered for the successful prosecution of felons committing a variety of possible crimes against the person or property of the subscribers to the Association. There is also a list of the subscribers to the Association.
Belper Association, 1791
We the underwritten, Inhabitants of the several Townships or Hamlets of Belper, Holbrooke, Makeney, and New Mills, in the Parish of Duffield, and County of Derby, having formed ourselves into a Society, for the Prosecution, at our joint Expence, of all Persons guilty of Murder, Burglaries, Felonies, or Larcenies, committed upon our respective Properties, Do hereby inform all those who are not Subscribers, That if by their Means, any Person or Persons shall be fully convicted of any of the above-mentioned Crimes, they shall receive the following Rewards, by applying to Mr. George Strutt, of Belper, the Treasurer.
| £.s.d. | |
|---|---|
| For Murder, Burglary, Highway or Footpad Robbery; For stealing any Horse, Mare, or Gelding; For wilfully setting Fire to any Dwelling-House, Warehouse, Barn, Stable, or other Out-Building; Stack or Rick of Corn, Grain, or Hay | 5 5 0 |
| For stealing Horned-Cattle, Sheep, Lambs, or Pigs; For robbing any Bleach-Yard, or stealing Cloaths, Cloth, or Yarn, from Gardens or Hedges; Or for stealing Hay, Corn, or Grain, thrashed or unthrashed | 3 3 0 |
| For robbing any Dwelling-House, Shop, Warehouse, Out House, Waggon, or Cart - if in the Day | 1 1 0 |
| But if in the Night | 2 2 0 |
| For stealing Coals, or any Sort of Fowls or Poultry, (Game Cocks excepted); For cutting, stealing, breaking down, or otherwise wilfully destroying or injuring any Tree, Gate, Door, Window, Hedge, Wall, Stile, Posts, or Rails; Waggons, Carts, or any Implements of Husbandry; Flood Gates or Fish-Gates; or any Iron or other Things affixed to any Messuage, Out House, Gate, or otherwise; For stealing Apples, Pears, or any Kind of Fruit; Turnips, Potatoes, Cabbages, or other Garden Stuff; or for injuring or destroying any Frames or Glasses; For stealing or damaging Timber, either in the rough, or sawed, or hewed; or stealing or wilfully damaging Grass, either mowed or unmowed; For taking Fish; For unlawfully breaking down, Cutting, or destroying, any Head or Dam of Water, or fishing therein without Leave of the Owner - if in the Day | 0 10 6 |
| But in the night | 1 1 0 |
- And for any other Crime not before particularly mentioned, such a Reward as the Magistrate before whom the Business is brought shall deem sufficient.
- Any Toll-Gate-Keeper giving Information that leads to a Discovery of any Person or Persons being guilty of committing any of the above mentioned Offences, shall, upon Conviction, receive One Guinea for his Intelligence.
- The Rewards here mentioned, will be over and above what is allowed by Act of Parliament.
N.B. Any person residing in the aforesaid Townships or Hamlets, may at any Time be admitted into the Society, by conforming to the Rules, and on paying the Sum of Five Shillings, or the Amount of each Members Proportion of the then joint Stock if it exceeds that Sum, to Mr. George Strutt of Belper, the Treasurer, of whom may be had, any Information which may be desired respecting the Rules of the Society.
| Belper. | Rich. Taylor |
| Rev. Geo. Lee | Wm. Ward |
| Sam. Williams | Mary Lane |
| Robt. Frost | Henry Lane |
| Anth. Walker | John Webster |
| John Spencer | George Bridges |
| Sam. Barber | John Williams |
| Sam. Jackson | Sam. Spencer |
| Wm. Walker | John Ward |
| Abm. Walker | Sam. Hunt |
| Wm. Slater | John Mason |
| Anth. Williams | G. B. Strutt |
| Sam. Street | Holbrooke. |
| William Hall | Anth. Radford |
| John Gillot | Makeney |
| John Frost | Stephen Jones |
| John Wilkinson | Henry Peat |
| Jos. Barber | New Mills. |
| William Watkinson | Jed. Strutt |
| Sam. Taylor | Sam. Harvey |
| John Street |
