QSR1842/3/5/56

Depositions - Sarah Smith, charged with stealing from her master James Sutton

30 May 1842

From: 1842 To: 1842

James Sutton - he keeps the Red Lion public house at Sandy. Sarah Smith is his servant and has been since he took possession of the Red Lion on 6th April. Last Friday night he put 10 sovereigns and £2 of silver into a purse which his sister Mary Sutton, who lives with him, put in a drawer in her bedroom. On Saturday evening about 8pm he went to get some silver. His sister gave him the key of her drawer. He unlocked it and found 3 shillings missing. He then counted the sovereigns and found 2 missing. His sister had not taken any out. The knife and the hymn book found in Sarah Smith's box are both his property and are worth 6d each. Mary Sutton - she locked her brother's purse up in the drawer in her bedroom just as he gave it to her and put the key in her pocket. Sarah Smith sleeps with her and no one else has access to that room. She did not take any money out, but on Saturday evening she gave her brother the key to get the purse out. She must have known if anyone else had been up to the room as she was not out of the house on Saturday. There was some money loose in the drawer. She had taken change for a sovereign out that afternoon and when she put the key in to open it she could not tell if it was locked or not. William Breakwell - he went to the Suttons on Saturday evening when Sutton told him he had been robbed. He searched Sarah Smith's box and found a knife (now produced) and a humn book. Comparing the lock of the drawer with the point of the knife it appeared there was a mark on the drawer just the width of the point of the knife which is bent. In Sarah Smith's box he also found 2s 10d in silver and 2d in half pence. He found a new umbrella and a new pair of boots in the box.

item

Smith, Sarah,
Sutton, James,
Sutton, Mary,
Breakwell, William

SANDY, servant, stealing, money, Sandy Red Lion