QSR1854/2/5/1a

Depositions of Thomas Willsher, labourer of Ridgmont, Charles Gosling, baker of Ridgmont, Thomas Yates, farmer of Bow Brickhill and William Clay, police constable of Aspley Guise. In the case of Thomas Cook accused of stealing 3 and half bushels of potatoes

14 March 1854

From: 1854 To: 1854

Thomas Willsher: he had a pit of potatoes in his garden in which there were between 5 and 6 bushels of potatoes. He saw them saw there on 1 March but the next morning he found the pit had been broken open and between 3 and a half to 4 bushels had been taken. They were a whitish potato. He informed PC Clay and he took a sample of the potatoes from the pit and a little of the straw which covered them. He believed the potatoes later produced by Clay to be his. The value of the potatoes was 12s 3d. PC William Clay: he was advised of the loss by the prosecutor on 2 March. He took a sample of the potatoes and the straw used to cover them from the pit. On 4 March he went to Bow Brickhill to the house of Thomas Yates. He found the prisoner and another man had sold him about 2 bushels of potatoes. He took away a sample of the potatoes and among the potatoes in the sack was barley straw similar to that in the prosecutors pit. Thomas Yates: a farmer of Bow Brickhill. On 3 March he overtook the prisoner and another man on the road leading from Brickhill to Fenny Stratford. Each man had a sack on his shoulder. Yates asked what they had and the prisoner replied “potatoes”. The prisoner said they had brought them from Aspley and they belonged to their father. Yates negotiated a price of 4s 6d for the potatoes and the 2 sacks were loaded in his cart, taken to his premises and emptied into one of his sacks. The prisoner was paid and he and the other man left. On 4 March PC Clay informed Yates that he suspected that the potatoes were stolen, and took a sample. On 5 March Yates saw the prisoner and the other man at Bow Brickhill. Yates apprehended the prisoner but his companion ran away. The prisoner, Cook, was given into the custody of the parish constable. Statement of the accused: nothing to say. [statements of Willsher & Clay appear twice]

item

Cook, Thomas,
Willsher, Thomas,
Yates, Thomas,
Clay, William

RIDGMONT, Bow Brickhill, ASPLEY GUISE, stealing, potatoes, farmer