QSR1853/4/5/16,33/a

Depositions of Joseph Scarborough, coach proprietor of Hatfield, Jonathan Seymour, coach proprietor of Luton, Charles Horn, corn dealer of Luton, Henry Gray, labourer of Luton and James Worsley, police constable of Luton. In the case of William Stiles & George Powell accused of stealing 3 bushels of oats.

26 September 1853

From: 1853 To: 1853

Jonathan Seymour: on 24 September he went down to the Bell yard where Joseph Scarborough rents the stable and loft for his coach horses. William Styles was in Scarborough’s employ as a horse keeper. Seymour saw the loft door open, and knew it should not be open at that time. He watched about a minute and saw a man coming down a ladder with a sack, with William Styles following. Seymour let the man pass him and asked Styles what he had there, and he said it had come by Harry, meaning the omnibus that Henry Scarborough drove. He followed the other man down George Street until he was opposite Mr Horn’s the corn dealer. He walked up to the man and asked him where he was taking it. He said to George Powell the rope maker. He asked where he had it from and the man said from a man in the Bell yard, and that Powell had bought it off him. Powell came up from the direction of the Bell and said hello. He asked Powell if it was his corn and he said it was. He asked Powell what he paid for it, but Powell said he had not yet paid for it and did not know the price. He asked Powell the same questions again in front of Mr Horn. Mr Horn allowed the sack to be set inside his shop and he opened the sack. Horn believed the contents to be riga corn belonging to Seymour. The police were called. There was about 3 bushels of oats in the sack. The oats were kept in aloft at the Bell, on the ride side of the partition and were usually locked up. He later found the staple had been broken. Charles Horn: a corn dealer of Luton. Mr Seymour called at his shop and called his attention to a man with a sackful of corn on his back. The man was commonly known as Harry Gray. He heard Seymour ask Powell where he got the corn and he said from a man at Bell yard and he had employed Gray to fetch it. He said the man was coming to his shop later for the money. The oats were taken into his shop and the content examined. He noted they were Seymour’s old riga oats. Henry Gray: had been working fro Mr Powell. Powell told him to collect a parcel from the Bell and to ask the holster for it. He went and asked the prisoner, Styles, for a parcel for Powell. Styles went into one of the lofts at the bottom of the yard and gave him a sack of oats, which he put over his shoulder and took away. Mr Seymour stopped him and asked about the oats. Mr Horn came out and Mr Powell arrived. He took the oats into Horn’s shop on the orders of Seymour. James Worsley: he went to Mr Horn’s shop and was shown a sack of oats, marked J Seymour Luton. He took George Powell into custody.

item

Stiles, William,
Powell, George,
Scarborough, Joseph,
Seymour, Jonathan,
Horn, Charles,
Gray, Henry,
Worsley, James

stealing, oats, LUTON, Hatfield, coach proprietor, groom, Luton Bell