QSR1888/3/5/1a

Depositions of Richard Parish, police superintendent of King Cross Station, London, Aaron Gibbs, wholesale shoe manufacturer of Potton, George Gibbs, labourer of Potton, David Evans, pawnbrokers assistant of Biggleswade, Alfred Darlow, carter of Potton, George Poole, boot salesman of Royston, Arthur Bidwell, railway porter of Biggelswade, Henry Chester, London detective of Wood Green, London, Jesse Champion, railway porter of Hitchin, Robert Timm, drayman of Royston and George Wolfe, London detective of Caledonian Road, London. In the case of Samuel Bilcock accused of stealing a pair of boots.

4 April 1888

From: 1888 To: 1888

Aaron Gibbs: a wholesale shoemaker of Potton. He had been at home on 1 March and seen 12 pairs of boots packed and corded at each end, and addressed to Mr Poole, Royston. The box remained in the warehouse until the next day when it was sent to the yard of Mr Braybrooke together with a consignment note. An invoice was made out and posted to Mr Poole. He was able to identify those produced as those made especially for Mr Poole. George Gibbs: resided at Market Square, Potton and worked for his grandfather Mr Gibbs. On 2 March he took a box of boots from his grandfather to Mr Baybrooke with a consignment note. He gave them to a carter by the name of Albert Darlow. The box was bound with ropes. Albert Darlow: resided at Potton and worked for Mr Braybrooke driving a cart. On 2 March he received a box and consignment note from George Gibbs, which he put in cart and took to the foreman at Biggleswade station. The foreman signed his name to the consignment note. The box was in good condition. He also added his name to the consignment note. Arthur Bidwell: resided in Biggleswade and was foreman porter on the Great Northern Railway. He was on duty on 2 March and received a box and consignment note from Darlow. The box was labelled “Mr Poole, Royston”. He initialled the consignment note and weighed the box. The box was in good condition. The prisoner was on duty to load the case into a road van for transhipment to Hitchin. The train that the box should have gone on was due away at 3.50. He could not say the prisoner handled the box but it was his duty to do so. The train left at 3.57. the case was left in the goods shed but he could not say for how long. Jesse Champion: a porter on the GN Railway at Hitchin. On 2 March he received a box addressed to Mr Poole, Royston. The box was in a loose condition with one side broken and a piece of board pushed on one side. He entered in the Tranship book the condition of the box. The box was in his charge until 6.30am when he took it on a barrow to the platform near the parcels office and put it in the 6.30am train to Royston. Robert Timm: he resided at Royston and was a drayman for the Great Northern railway. On 3 March he unloaded a box of boots addressed to Mr Poole. The box was in loose condition and he put it on his dray and delivered it to Mr Poole’s shop. Mr Joseph Poole signed for it and remarked “box broken”. George Poole: lived at Cave House in Royston and was a boot and shoe dealer. On 2 March he received an invoice for 12 pairs of boots. On 3 March he received the box from Aaron Gibbs & Son, Potton. The box was broken and had a hole large enough for a pair of boots to pass through. On unpacking he missed one pair. The boots produced are similar to the once he expected. David Evans: pawnbroker’s assistant to Mr Page of Biggleswade. On 29 March he received in pledge the boots and a piece of paper from a child he knew as Bilcock. She had been before. He let her have 2 s 3d on the boots and issued a ticker marked “819 men’s boots 2/6 Annie Bilcock Potton Road”. Henry Chester: he resided at 14 Walborough Road, Wood Green, London and was a detective officer in the employment of the Great Northern Railway. On 31 March he saw the prisoner at Biggleswade station and showed him a pair of boots. He asked the prisoner if he had seen the boots before and the prisoner said he had bought them from Alfred Yerrell 4 or 5 months earlier for 5s 6d. He took the prisoner to the Gas Works and saw Yerrell who said he had never sold Bilcock any boots. Bilcock said it was Yerrell’s wife he had bought them off and so he took the prisoner to Yerrell’s house. Mrs Yerrell said she had never sold the prisoner any boots. The prisoner told her to think carefully and Mrs Yerrell then said she had sold the prisoner the boots he was wearing but a long time ago. She said she had sold him no others. The prisoner’s wife was in the room and she handed Chester the pawn ticket 819. He allowed Bilcock to go on with his work and communicated with the Superintendent of Police on the GN Railway. George Wolfe: he lived at 13 Albion Street Calendonian Road, London and was a Detective Inspector on the GN Railway. On 1 April he apprehended the prisoner at his home in Potton Road. The prisoner made no reply to the charge. Statement of the accused: nothing to say.

25 pages

item

Bilcock, Samuel,
Parish, Richard,
Gibbs, Aaron,
Gibbs, George,
Evans, David,
Darlow, Alfred,
Poole, George,
Bidwell, Arthur,
Chester, Henry,
Champion, Jesse,
Timm, Robert,
Wolfe, George,
Bilcock, Annie

BIGGLESWADE, Kings Cross, London, POTTON, Royston, Hitchin, stealing, boots, shoe manufacturer, shoemaker, railway employee, railway porter, detective, boot dealer, foreman, carter, pawnbroker