QSR1879/1/5/2

Depositions and examination - Mary Ann Astling charged with stealing one pair of boots, value 9s 6d from Caroline Longstaffe of Dunstable, shopkeeper on 26 October 1878

30 October 1878

From: 1878 To: 1879

Caroline Longstaffe of Dunstable, shopkeeper – she keeps a glass and china shop in the High Street. On 26 October about 3pm she saw Astling in her shop. As soon as Astling was gone she missed a pair of boots. She followed Astling to her house. After she asked several times Astling gave her the boots and said “you won’t say anything aout it if I give you the boots”. Astling had spent 6d in the shop. [Cross-examined] She told Astling she would forgive her. Henry Tofield of Dunstable, police constable – on 26th about 4pm he apprehended Astling and charged her with stealing the boots. Astling’s mother said in her presence that the boots had not been in the house and she knew nothing about them until Caroline Longstaffe came. She said she hid them in the flower garden. He took Astling to the police station. Mary Ann Astling – “I did not know what I was at when I did it”.

item

Astling, Mary Ann,
Longstaffe, Caroline,
Tofield, Henry

DUNSTABLE, stealing, boots, shopkeeper, police constable, china shops