Before 1835 the parish of St. Michael's was out of the City's boundaries and jurisdiction. Both the Talbot and the Hare & Hounds were widely used for County business, having all the amenities of the town, but officially out of it. The holding of the unreformed Court at the Hare & Hounds was very convenient, for it always finished with a dinner. A note illustrating this tells of the 'refrection of grilled bones', and festivities were protracted into small hours. The old Under-Sheriff of the days before 1835 was Robert Gilliam, who lived in London Road, but he would never leave until one o'clock, and he was inevitably 'collected' by his son, who joined him for the grill, both leaving only 'with the bones'.
