It appears that George Johnson was involved in a shady deal with regards to the purchase of Scottish beer from a commercial traveller. Though apparently not charged, he didn’t seem too keen to testify in court.
Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough - 9 March 1885 It’s slightly ironic that Stockton Court House has now become a J D Wetherspoon’s pub - "The Thomas Sheraton".  This is named after one of the great furniture designers of the Georgian age. Thomas Sheraton was born in 1751, in Stockton. He originally worked as a cabinet-maker, later designing occasional tables. Later still, he was ordained a minister in his native town – a devout Baptist, he returned to Stockton in the early 1800s to lead its Baptist congregation.