QSR1852/4/5/20

Depositions of William Ralph Young, superintendent of police of Woburn, Anthony Sibley, police constable of Woburn, Alexander Frederick Merrett, cashier of the London & County Bank, Sophia Tyer, wife of Edward keeper of the Woburn Turnpike gate, and Isaiah Lucas, farmer of Fenny Stratford. In the case of William Edwards accused of obtaining a pony by false pretences, with intent to defraud.

18 October 1852

From: 1852 To: 1852

Isaiah Lucas: on 6 October he attended the cattle fair at Woburn to sell a brown pony. The prisoner looked at the pony and agreed to pay 10 guineas for it. He gave Lucas a £10 note of the Romford Bank. He later heard the bank had failed many years previous and the note worthless. On enquiring after the prisoner he found he had left Woburn with the pony on the Hockcliffe and Dunstable Road. He followed him with Constable Sibley and caught up with him about a mile beyond St Albans (around 21 miles from Woburn). He gave him into custody and told him the charge. The pony appeared to have been ridden hard and made to sweat but was cold when they found him. Anthony Sibley: went in pursuit of the prisoner with Isaiah Lucas and they traced him to St Albans. They found him at an inn about a mile from there. The pony was in the stable at the inn. Sophia Tyer: wife of Edward Tyer keeper of Woburn turnpike gate. On the day of Woburn Fair the prisoner passed through the gate between 12 and 1 o'clock leading a pony. He was running quickly by the side of it, as fast as he could go. She called for him to stop but he kept running and appeared to be in a hurry. About 3/4 of an hour after the prisoner had passed, the prosecutor came to enquire if a man with a pony had passed through. William Ralph Young: superintendent of police at Woburn. On 7 October the prisoner was in his custody when he asked him to be honest about where he had got the bank note from. The prisoner said that he travelled from fair to fair and had taken it from a man at a cheese fair. He later said he had the note from a cab man in London, and denied he had previously said it was from a cheese man. Alexander Frederick Merrett: lived at Romford in Essex and worked as a cashier at the London & County Bank. He had previously been in the service of Messrs Johnson & Mann who carried on the business of bankers at Romford. In June 1844 the bank failed. He said the note purporting to be a note of Messrs Johnson & Mann was a forgery. The note was struck from a plate used by them but the filling up was not his handwriting and not the signature of Thomas Johnson.Statement of the accused: nothing to say

item

Edwards, William,
Young, William Ralph,
Sibley, Anthony,
Merrett, Alexander Frederick,
Tyer, Sophia,
Tyer, Edward,
Lucas, Isaiah,
Lucas, Josiah

WOBURN, Fenny Stratford, false pretences, fraud, horses, cashier, London & County Banking Company, cattle