QSR1853/4/5/34/a

Depositions of John Manning, yeoman of Girtford, Lucy Skillterer of Girtford and William Breakwell, police constable fo Girtford. In the case of Sarah Baldwin, accused of stealing 15 pound of feathers.

17 August 1853

From: 1853 To: 1853

John Manning: on the 18 May he went to lodge at the house of Jonathan and Sarah Baldwin. He took with him his feather bed. He lodged there until 5 August and the day before that he suspected some feather had been taken fro his bed, as it felt lighter. He examined it and found it had been unsown and then sown up again with black thread. The rest of the thread was brown. He estimated between 10 and 20 pound of feather had been removed. He charged Mrs Baldwin with having taken them but she denied it. He sent for the Constable and he examined the bed before going towards Sir Charles Paynes, the magistrate. On the way they fell in with Mrs Baldwin and her daughter and her daughter begged him to make it up. He said he would make it up if Mrs Baldwin gave him the 8 and sixpence she owed him and 10 shillings for the loss of his feathers. Mrs Baldwin had commented on how heavy the bed was when he first lodged with her and she had told him she had no feathers in the house as she had given them all to her son. Lucy Skilleter: lived next door to Mrs Baldwin and Mrs Baldwin’s son had lodged with her. He had brought with him a feather pillow and Mrs Baldwin had told her she had given him every feather she had. She had heard her say that Mr Manning’s bed was so heavy she could hardly turn it. The day before he went away she examined the bed and found that it had been unsown and sown up again, in a rough way using brown thread. She had lent Mrs Baldwin some black cotton a few weeks before as she had wanted to do something to a bed. William Breakwell: he went to Mrs Baldwin’s house on 4 August and found the feather pillows on the bed in her house. Manning showed him his bed and observed that it had been sown in one place with black thread. It was different from the other thread and it was bad workmanship. He went to Sir Charles with manning, Mrs Baldwin and her daughter in tow. They talked about making it up.

item

Baldwin, Sarah,
Manning, John,
Breakwell, William,
Skilleter, Lucy

Girtford, yeoman, stealing, Feathers