QSR1882/2/5/3-4

Depositions of Henrietta Hester Gidley, mistress of Everton School, Sarah Leonard, wife of James of Everton, Frederick Richardson, baker of Potton and Thomas Vincent, police sergeant of Potton. In the case of James King & Thomas Wright accused of breaking & entering the Everton & Tebworth boarding school and stealing a lamp.

1 March 1882

From: 1882 To: 1882

Henrietta Hester Gidley: a school governess and on 25 February she was in the house that adjoins the school. She was upstairs closing the windows when she saw 2 men come up to the school gate. One of the men came to the door and knocked, but she did not answer. The man then tried the door and window and said to the other man “mind the whistle”. The other man said all right and went round to the school. She heard him inside the school and the man outside then whistled. On seeing Frederick Richardson coming down the road, she went downstairs and went out to him. She saw the man come out of the school. She went for further assistance and as she returned saw the elder of the men run off across the field at the back of the school. As she went up the schoolyard with the police sergeant, she found a lamp behind a tree which belonged to the school. Sarah Leonard: wife of James Leonard an Everton labourer. On 25 February, she had been cleaning the school and left about quarter past 4. She locked the door and hung the keys in the porch. When she got to the road she saw 2 men near the school gate. The lamp was quite safe when she left the school. Frederick Richardson: a baker residing in Potton. On 25 February he was going from Everton to Gamblingay Heath. Near the Everton School he was met by the governess. He saw the younger of the prisoners on the road near the school gate, and as soon as he saw Richardson, he lied by the side of the road. He was stopped outside on the road when Thomas [?] came and they both went around the school. They saw the elder of the prisoners in a field at the back of the school and he went across the road to the other prisoner and both went down the road together. Thomas Vincent: sergeant of police in Potton. On 25 February he received information that the Everton School had been broken into to and a lamp stole. He went to the school, and made further enquiries. He apprehended the prisoners at Sutton crossroads. The elder prisoner said they had not broken into the school as the door had been open. They had taken the lamp and put it against a tree and they did it on purpose as they wished to be locked up. On returning to the school, he and the governess found the lap behind a tree. Statements of the accused: (both) nothing to say

8 pages

item

Gidley, Henrietta,
Leonard, Sarah,
Leonard, James,
Richardson, Frederick,
Vincent, Thomas,
King, James,
Wright, Thomas

EVERTON, POTTON, Tebworth, Everton Board School, breaking & entering, stealing, governess, bakers