Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    QSR1870/4/5/8-10
  • Title
    Depositions and examinations - Rowland Denton, Levi Cooke and William Cooke, all of Chalgrave, labourers - Denton and Levi Cooke charged with stealing one sheep from James Whinnett the elder value 38s, and William Cooke with receiving the sheep knowing it to have been stolen
  • Date free text
    21 September 1870
  • Production date
    From: 1870 To: 1870
  • Scope and Content
    James Whinnett the elder of Wingfield in the parish of Chalgrave, farmer – on Saturday 3 September police sergeant Olden came to him and asked if he had lost a sheep. On 31 August he had 76 sheep and lambs on his farm. He branded them all with a “W” on the left side and a fleur de lis just above the tail with a mixture of tar and pitch and a reddle mark between the shoulders. On the same day he sent 24 sheep and lambs away leaving 52 on the farm. He went with Police Sergeant Olden to check the sheep and there were only 51. They went to a field of Mr Foll’s where he understood a sheep’s head and hind legs had been found. He examined them and believes they were part of one of his sheep. On Monday 5 September the Police Sergeant with Supt. Shepherd came to his house. They produced the skin of a sheep’s head, the hind legs of a sheep and a sheep’s skin. The tar and pitch had been nearly taken off the skin but he could trace where his marks had been. The reddle mark was still on the skin, which patterned exactly with the head and legs. Thomas Baker of Wingfield, labourer – he is employed by Mr Foll. On Saturday 3 September about 11am he found the head and pluck of a sheep in a ditch in his master’s field (called Lady’s Hollow) in the parish of Chalgrave. He also found the entrails of a sheep in the adjoining field. They appeared to have been thrown over the hedge. He saw a place where a sheep appeared to have been stuck. There was a quantity of blood. The blood ran from the head when he picked it up. He was at work in the same field up to 6pm on the Friday night. He also found the hind leg of a sheep which had been cut off at the hocks, stuffed in a hedge close by where the sheep had been stuck. On Saturday he showed Police Sergeant Olden where he found the head and pluck and entrails and sheep’s legs. Mr Foll’s field is ¼ mile from Mr Whinnett’s on the other side of the road. Charles Gayler of Luton, butcher – he knows William Cooke who is a butcher at Luton. On Saturday 3 September about 8am he bought 2 legs of mutton, a neck and a breast from him at his shop in the Liverpool Road at Luton. Cooke came to his house at about 7.30 that morning and told him he had got a little sheep which he bought that morning and he wanted him to come before the Inspector came round. What he bought from Cooke was bruised and mauled. He paid 3 1/2d a pound for it. The meat he bought was fresh killed. On 12 September William Cooke came to him in Luton Market and said “if anyone asks you if you bought any mutton of me on the Saturday preceding to say no”. He also said “I hear it is a stole sheep”. It was a drop sheep – Cooke deals in such things and said so. He would not be suspicious if a butcher bought such things. William Jakins of Luton, butcher – about 9am on September 3 he bought 2 shoulders of mutton, 2 loins, a breast and a neck of mutton from William Cooke at his shop in Luton. He paid him 4 1/2d a pound. The neck appeared to have been very recently killed. It was not quite firm. On 12 September Cooke came up to him in Luton and said that if anyone came about the mutton he bought he was to say nothing about it. He told Cooke he would do nothing of the kind. Cooke then said he bought the mutton from a man who comes from Barton. He considered he was buying meat of a drop sheep. Some meat of a drop sheep is not firm. Charles Fenson of Luton, butcher – on 3 September in the afternoon he was at work for William Cooke at his shop in Luton. He knows Levi Cooke well. Levi Cooke came to his master’s shop and had a sheep skin with him in a bag which he sold to William Cooke for 15d. He put the skin into the cellar without examining it. William Cooke did not examine the skin, and he does not know who William Cooke sold it to. George Russell of Hitchin (Herts), fellmonger – he knows William Cooke well. On Monday September 5 he bought a sheep skin from him and gave him 15d for it. The skin was without the head and two of the feet were off the skin. He gave up the skin to Sergeant Olden the same day. He bought the skin in the Cricket field. Thomas Squires of Houghton Regis, blacksmith – in the evening of 2 September about 6pm as it was getting dusk he saw Levi Cooke and another man satnding opposite the Church at Houghton Regis. Levi Cooke lives there. The man with Cooke appeared tall. They were talking together. He knows Rowland Denton well but can’t say if it was him or not. The prisoner does not carry on the butchering business at Houghton. On Saturday morning Levi Cooke came to him to make him a funnel. Cooke said he had got a lot of sausage meat and wanted the funnel for it. He did not make him one. George King of Caddington, innkeeper. He keeps the Halfway House between Dunstable and Luton. He knows Levi Cooke and Rowland Denton well. On Saturday 3 September between 5 and 6am he saw them both pass his house together going in the direction of Luton. They both had bags with them which they were carrying across their shoulders. He said good morning to them. John Tompkins of Bidwell in the parish of Houghton Regis, retailer of beer – on Saturday 3 September between 8 and 9am he met Levi Cooke and Denton near the Half Way House in Caddington. They were coming from Luton together. John Olden, police sergeant stationed at Toddington – on Saturday 3 September he received information that a sheep had been slaughtered in Lady’s Hollow. He found the head, pluck and entrails of a sheep in the ditch of the field. He also found 2 feet. From inquiry he found James Whinnett had lost a sheep. On Monday 5 September he went to Luton with Supt. Shepherd. He received a sheep skin from George Russell. The skin was without the head and 2 of the feet were missing. He patterned it with the head and feet. They fitted exactly. There were 2 marks on the skin, one on the rump and one on the left side which had been partly erased. He also saw a riddle mark between the shoulders. He showed the skin to Whinnett and he identified it. On Mondy 19 September he was at the police station at Woburn. Levi Cooke said to him that they broke the sheep’s neck in the pen and took it to Lady’s Hollow. They skinned it and put it into a sheet and then into a bag, took it to Houghton and put it into a ditch there. Cooke was in bed a little past 9, then at 4am the next morning he got up and took it to Luton. They sold it to Bill for 6 bob. That morning 21 September he [Olden] removed William Cooke from Luton to Woburn lock up. Wm Cooke said he had employed a solicitor and had told him the truth. Wm Cooke said he had bought the carcass from his brother Levi who said his horse had got out that evening and when he went to get it a man was standing at the bottom of the road who said he had some mutton to sell. Levi Cooke said the man asked 10 shillings for it. The man said he had bought the mutton. Wm Cooke said he bought the skin from Levi, and had no mutton in his shop all the week before. Cooke did not tell him he had bought the carcass of a drop sheep. Cooke’s father lives at Tebworth. Both his father and his brother are butchers. William Shepherd, superintendent of police for the Woburn division – on 5 September he heard a sheep had been stole from James Whinnett. He went with Sgt Olden to Luton and received the skin from Russell. He took the skin to Toddington and compared it with the skin of the sheep’s head in Olden’s possession. It corresponded exactly with the head and the feet. The next morning about 1am he apprehended Rowland Denton at Houghton Regis and charged him with stealing the sheep. Denton never said a word. On the same day in the afternoon he saw Wm Cooke at Luton and told him he knew he sold the skin of a stolen sheep to Russell the day before. Cooke hesitated then said he bought it from his brother Levi for 15d. He asked Cooke if he had seen his brother Levi and Denton on Saturday morning. Cooke said he had not. On 7 September he received Levi Cooke into his custody from PC Daniels of Houghton Regis. Levi Cooke said he knew nothing about the stolen sheep and that he bought the skin he sold to his brother from a man at Dunstable who was a stranger to him. On 12 September he went to Luton and saw Wm Cooke in the street. He said to Cooke that he had reason to believe he had bought the carcass of a stolen sheep from his brother Levi and Denton. Cooke said he had not seen Levi or Denton on the Saturday morning and had no mutton in his shop all that week. On the afternoon of 14th he apprehended Wm Cooke and charged him with receiving a stolen sheep from Levi Cooke and Denton knowing it to be stolen. Cooke still denied buying a sheep from them. He told Cooke he knew he sold a sheep that morning to Gayler and Jakins. Cooke said he bought that sheep from a man at the bottom of his street who he did not know but thought he came from Barton. On 16 September Levi Cooke and Denton were pumping water in the yard of the lock up. Denton said Wm Cooke bought the sheep from them and knew where it came from. Levi Cooke described how they stole the sheep and took the carcass to his brother. Denton dealt with Wm Cooke. Denton said he would sooner throw it into a hole than sell it for the 5s Wm Cooke offered. Wm Cooke then gave them 6s. Denton was to carry the mutton and Levi was to stay at the Railway Bridge because he was known. Wm Cooke walked about 100 yard in front of Denton. Denton took the carcass through the shop to the back place and put it in the copper. Levi Cooke – “I had a little too much beer when I went and done it I did not think about doing it 10 minutes before I done it” Rowland Denton – “I had a drop too much drink. I wished the sheep back in its place as soon as it was done” William Cooke – “I have no guilty knowledge that the sheep was stolen”
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