QSR1854/3/5/14

Depositions of Hannah, wife of James Wilks of Dunstable, Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Murdin Tubbs of Dunstable, Sarah, wife of William Sturgis of Dunstable, James Wilks of Dunstable and Charles Dale, police constable of Dunstable. In the case of William Godfrey accused of stealing a brass tap.

15 May 1854

From: 1854 To: 1854

Hannah Wilks: her husband had a brass tap. On 13 May she put it in a hand bowl to soak at about 5pm. The bowl was just outside the back door. About 10pm she missed the tap. Her husband showed it to her later that night. The prisoner had been to her house that evening about 8pm to offer cowslips of sale. Elizabeth Tubbs: lived next door to Mrs Wilks. About 7pm she saw the prisoner come to her back door and ask if Mr Wilks was home. She saw him go to Mr Wilks back door that they generally had open. He stood for some time and she went to see what he was at and tell him it was no public way so he had better go. He went away. About 10pm Mr Wilks enquired of her whether her little boy had taken a tap from the back door. She told him she had seen the prisoner by the door. Sarah Strugis: lived with her husband William a coal carter. He dealt in brass and iron. She recalled the prisoner bringing a brass tap to her house between 7 and 8pm. He asked her if she would buy some brass and she asked what he wanted for it. He said he would have what she pleased to give him and she gave him 2d. She believed the tap to be the prisoners own. Mr Wilks called that night and asked if she had bought a tap. She said she had and showed it to him and he took it away. She had weighed it and it weighed half a pound. They generally gave about 4d or 4 ½ d a pound for brass. The prisoner visited her house twice that night, having first brought something else to her before the tap. James Wilks: in consequence of what his wife told him, he went to Mrs Tubbs and asked if her little boy had taken the brass tap. Mrs Tubbs told him she had seen the prisoner at his back door and having been informed that Mr Stugis bought such things he went to his house. He saw Mrs Sturgis and she said she had bought a brass tap but it had no key to it. She showed him the tap which he identified as his own. She said she had bought it from William Godfrey and gave 2d for it. He took it away and gave her 2d. He had the tap in his possession until he handed it to PC Dale. PC Charles Dale: he took the prisoner into custody at Eaton Bray. The prisoner said he had not been in Dunstable on the Saturday and knew nothing about the tap. He afterwards said he went to Dunstable with some cowslips for Mr Wilks and he had seen the tap lying against the back door. He took the tap to Mrs Stugis with a few rags and sold them for 2d. Dale received the tap from Wilks. Statement of the accused: nothing to say.

item

Godfrey, William,
Wilks, James,
Wilks, Hannah,
Tubbs, Benjamin Murdin,
Tubbs, Elizabeth,
Sturgis, William,
Sturgis, Sarah,
Dale, Charles

DUNSTABLE, stealing, dealer