QSR1881/2/5/4b-6

Depostions of George Daniels, police sergeant of Shefford, Leonard Osborn, labourer of Fenlake, Sarah Ann Osborn, wife of William of Fenlake and Charles Brittain, labourer of Haynes. In the case of Henry Plummer, William Walter and James Hopkins accused of stealing a tame duck.

16 March 1881

From: 1881 To: 1881

Sarah Ann Osborn: wife of William, a labourer of Fenlake. On 24 February, they had 16 ducks. She missed one that night. It was a large white duck. The feet of a duck were produced and she was able to identify it as that of the missing duck. The missing duck had a hole in the webbing of its foot. Leonard Osborn: son of Sarah Ann Osborn. On 25 February, he had seen the prisoners a short distance from his father’s house. They were running about near a brook trying to get something from the water. He could not see what. Plummer stooped by the side of the brook and he saw him tying something up in a red handkerchief. He saw no more of the prisoners until he saw them next morning walking past the house towards Shefford. He went to the brook and found the ducks head. He recognized it as the head of the lost duck. George Daniels: on 25 February he apprehended the prisoners on the charge of breaking into a house at Old Warden. The following day he went to Ivy Cottage at Old Warden and found the feathers, bones and feet of a duck. He showed these to Sarah Ann Osborn. Charles Brittain: a labourer on the Whitbread Estate and residing at Haynes. He was ordered by his master to look to Ivy Cottage whilst it was unoccupied. On 25 February, he had gone to the cottage and found nothing unusual, but the next day he found the 3 prisoners at the cottage and a fire in the grate. They appeared to have been cooking something. He saw the feathers of a duck in the barn near the house. He saw the breast bone of a duck in the sink. Statements of the accused [all]: nothing to say.

6 pages

item

Plummer, Henry,
Walter, William,
Hopkins, James,
Osborn, Leonard,
Osborn, Sarah Ann,
Brittain, Charles,
Daniels, George

SHEFFORD, Old Warden, Fenlake, HAYNES, stealing, duck