Mr. Hawkins was a man who inherited a freehold estate from his father, which meant that he could vote in county elections. However, it was expected that Hawkins would vote in favor of his landlord, Barnabas. Hawkins chose to vote otherwise, and his landlord found out and sent an eviction letter telling him that he wanted the Hawkins family to leave. Worried, Hawkins sought help from Barnabas, who let him rent a place on the Tyrrel estate.

Barnabas wanted Hawkins’s son to come work for him, but Hawkins said that he needed his son’s help on his farm and that he didn’t want his son, Leonard, to be a servant, as his family were all clergymen (134). Barnabas was angry and wanted to evict Hawkins, but Hawkins, having learned his lesson from last time, reminded Barnabas that he had a lease that the law would protect (137). Barnabas therefore began to sabotage Hawkins, hurting his livestock and making the family’s work difficult. Hawkins’s driveway ran along the property of another of Barnabas’s tenants, so Barnabas cut it off to make his commute longer. Leonard removed all the blocks in the driveway by night, but he was seen doing it and a warrant went out.