Devon is a county located on the South West Peninsula of Great Britain and is bounded
to the west by Cornwall and to the east by Dorset and Somerset. This county encompasses the administrative and unitary authorities
of Plymouth and Torbay; as well as it is remarked in this despatch as holding judicial practices in which Richard Roope functioned as a barrister in the south of Devon.1
After the 7th century Saxon conquests, Devon's economy began to boom between the 12th
and 17th centuries when tin mining became a central economic venture. Both tin and
cloth were staple industries, although they diminished in the 19th century when lead, silver, manganese, iron ore,
and copper began to be worked.2
In 2006, the old mines in Devon were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, agriculture is Devon's most valuable single economic activity, in which 30 percent of the working population are dependant.3