QSR1888/3/5/1b

Depositions of Richard Parish, police superintendent of King Cross Station, London, Reuben Horton, labourer of Nocton, Lincoln, Stephen Wright, railway porter of Dunston, Lincolnshire, David Tomlinson, railway porter of Spalding, Lincolnshire, William Cooke, railway number taker of Peterborough, Worthy Christmas, railway guard of Peterborough, Samuel Meadow, checker of Kings Cross Station, William Sage, butler of Ripon, Yorkshire, Henry Chester, detective of Wood Green, London, George Wolfe, London detective inspector of Caledonian Road, London and Julia Collins, of the Crown Inn, Cootham, Sussex. In the case of Samuel Bilcock accused of stealing a counterpane, a quantity of blankets and other articles.

18 April 1888

From: 1888 To: 1888

Julia Collins: formerly head laundry waiter at Nocton Hall in the employment of the Marquis of Ripon. She then resided at the Crown Inn, Cootham, Pullborough, Sussex. She was part of her duty to pack wearing apparel and linen into hampers when necessary. On 6 or 7 June, she packed 4 hampers of house linen. The collars produced were in one of the hampers and belonged to Sage, Lord Ripon’s butler. They were marked with his name. There had also been a similar piece of mat and a pillow in the hamper. The chintz was packed separately in the hamper. The hampers were padlocked and left in the laundry for conveyance to the railway station. They were addressed to The Marquis of Ripon, 1 Carlton Gardens, London”. [cross examination] she could identify many of the items by their marks. Reuben took the hampers to the station. She had never known linen sold out of Lord Ripon’s house. Her attention was called to the loss of the items about a week after they had been lost. Reuben Horton: a labour employed by The Marquis of Ripon at Nocton Hall. On 7 June he took 4 hampers from the laundry of Nocton Hall to Nocton Railway and gave them to Stephen Wright, the porter. The hampers appeared secure and in good condition. He was handed the hampers by Julia Collins and told to take them. They were strapped up. Stephen Wright: a goods porter living at Dunston and in the employment of the Great Northern and Great Eastern railway at Nocton station. On 7 June he received 4 hampers from Reuben Horton. He weighed them; put them on the train and initialled the consignment note. He put them on the train which left Nocton at 6.48. The hampers were strapped and locked. [cross examination] the consignment note was in the hand of the clerk. There was a consignment of goods every week for 6 months for Lord Ripon. The soiled linen would come from London and the clean returned in 4 or 5 baskets a week. A few days after they heard only 3 hampers had arrived. David Tomlinson: a porter in the employ of the GN railway at Spalding station. On 7 June he received out of the Lincoln Road van, 4 hampers addressed to the Marquis of Ripon, Covent Garden, London. He received them out of the joint line and loaded them into the truck. He made an entry in the tranship book and loaded them in the 18506 truck for Kings Cross. The hampers were in good condition. They left by train for Peterborough between 9pm and 10pm. [cross examination] he had been at the station 5 years. There were 5 different men for the night train, taken on for a week at a time. William Cooke: a number taker at Peterborough and was on duty when the good train took line. He was able to produce his number book which noted the trains arriving at Peterborough and 18506 truck arrived on the night of 7 June. It stood in the yard and left attached to no. 700 up goods in the charge of guard Christmas. He did not think the train was opened at Peterborough. Worthy Christmas: a goods guard employed by GN railway at Peterborough. He was in charge of the no.700 goods truck on 7 June which left at 10.40. They stopped at Abbots, Ripon, Huntingdon and Biggleswade. They stopped at Biggleswade for about 19 minutes for fish and milk trains to pass. They reached Kings Cross at 3am on 8 June and the train was left in the charge of the shunters. He stopped at Hitchin Southgate and East good yard. He did not leave the train during his break and did not see the hampers. Samuel Meadows: a checker employed by the Great Northern Railway at Kings Cross goods station. On 8 June he unloaded the 18506 truck. In the truck he received the invoice for 4 baskets of goods addressed to Marquis Ripon. He unloaded at 5.10am and only found 3 hampers. The truck was a high sided wagon, sheeted and fastened by strings. There were 2 strings undone at one end of the wagon. He could not say if the strings were untied when the truck reached London. William Sage: residing in Studley Royal, Ripon, Yorkshire. The laundry maid had standing orders to pack the linen. The collars produced were his and marked by his wife. He did not sell collar but gave his linen away. He could identity further missing items. Only 3 hampers arrived at Carlton Gardens and he made a claim against the GN Railway for £9 17s 0d which was paid. Henry Chester: a detective employed by the Great Northern Railway Company and residing at 14 Walborough Road, London. He searched the prisoner house on 31 March. In a box in the front bedroom he found 2 collars. He asked the prisoner where he got the collars and he replied they had been bought second hand but did not know from where. On the back bedroom, on the bed, he saw an article acting as cover to the bed. It was a stiff cotton mat with a fringe. On 1 April he went to the house again and asked where the mat was, but the prisoner claimed to know nothing of a mat. He had gone to the prisoners’ house without a warrant. Mr Parish, his superintendent, had sent him and he had not taken possession of the cover as he had not known it stolen at the time. He cautioned the prisoner before leaving. George Wolfe: a detective inspector on the GN Railway. He visited the prisoner’s house on 1 April. He produced a piece of chintz he found covering a wicker chair. In the front room he found a cushion with a chintz cover and the mat. He took possession of the articles. He asked the prisoner to account for these articles and Bilcock said they were given to his wife by her Aunt Mitton who had died. He apprehended the prisoner on another charge. [cross examination] He had gone to the prisoner’s house by the authority of the superintendent and arrested the prisoner on his own authority. He initially told Bilcock who he was and that he should apprehend him. He then searched the house. He did not caution him and did not here Chester caution him on 1 April. Statement of the accused: not guilty.

27 pages

item

Bilcock, Samuel,
Parish, Richard,
Wolfe, George,
Collins, Julia,
Horton, Reuben,
Chester, Henry,
Sage, William,
Tomlinson, David,
Cooke, William,
Wright, Stephen,
Christmas, Worthy,
Meadows, Samuel

BIGGLESWADE, Kings Cross, London, Nocton, Peterborough, Spalding, Ripon, Sussex, stealing, cloth, railway employee, railway porter, detective, butler