QSR1844/2/5/6

Depositions and examination - George Line charged with breaking and entering the house of William King at Ridgemont on 15 March 1844 and stealing one box (called a Saving Bank)

18 March 1844

From: 1844 To: 1844

Susan Purser of Ridgmont – she is in her 11th year and lives with her grandfather William King at the Ivy Lodge at the entrance to Ridgmont park. Last Friday 15 March her grandmother fastened the back door of the Lodge and the windows downstairs were all shut. She and her grandmother left the Lodge and her grandmother locked the front door and took the key with her. They went to Ridgmont together. As they were going into the village they met George Line going down the road towards the Lodge. When they got home they found one of the front windows open and one of the panes was broken close to the fastening. The back window was open but not broken. She noticed that her box which she calls her Savings Bank which was standing on the shelf had been moved. There was not any money in it. Nobody was left in the lodge when they left it. She saw the policeman pattern some shoes with some footmarks under the broken window. Her box was made of wood and glass. John Hall of Ridgmont, labourer – on Friday 15th he was in a field at the side of the lane leading towards Beckerings Park in Ridgmont and saw George Line coming up the lane as if from the Ridgmont Road. Line was about 100 yards from the end of the lane when he first saw him. The end of the lane is about 100 yards from King’s Lodge. Line stood there for about 5 minutes, then went up the lane towards Beckerings Park. Robert Henry Taylor of Ridgmont, police constable – from information received he took Line into custody. He took the shoes produced from Line’s feet. He went with them to the Lodge and patterned them with some footmarks on a flower bed in the front garden under the window. The impressions corresponded. After this he went back to Line and told him his shoes matched the marks. Line said “I done it because I wanted money or victuals”. He asked Line where he searched for money. Line said he looked in the girl’s money box which lay on the shelf. He asked Line if he had found any money. Line said he had not and that he also searched some little boxes but did not find any money. He also did not find any victuals. George Line – “I had not enough breakfast”.

item

Line, George,
King, William,
Purser, Susan,
Hall, John,
Taylor, Robert Henry

RIDGMONT, Beckerings Park, breaking & entering, police constable