QSR1844/3/5/23

Depositions and examination - Thomas Bland charged with stealing 5 lbs of wool from John Shepherd Cranfield

6 June 1844

From: 1844 To: 1844

John Shepherd Cranfield of Stanford Bury, farmer – he examined 2 or 3 of his sheep that morning and found wool had been taken from the belly of one of them. He examined them as he heard from his son that some wool had been taken off them yesterday. Thomas Cranfield, son of John Shepherd Cranfield – he saw one of his father’s sheep yesterday which appeared to have lost its wool from the belly. He caught the sheep and found the wool had been torn off. He suspected Thomas Bland who is his father’s shepherd. He went to the policeman at Shefford who went with him to search Bland’s house. They found the wool now produced. The wool in the red handkerchief was part found upstairs and part in the leg of a boot. The other 2 bundles were found in a barn belonging to Bland’s house. The wool in the silk handkerchief was found in a tub and more was found in a canvas bag in the barn. He charged Bland with taking the wool. Bland followed them into the barn. When they found the wool in the canvas bag Bland said “that was never yours” and said in allusion to the wool they had found upstairs and in the boot “I brought it home a bit at a time”. William Hann, police constable stationed at Shefford – he went to Bland’s house with Thomas Cranfield and found the wool as described. He heard Bland say that the wool in the canvas bag was never Cranfield’s. About a minute afterwards he said he had brought home the wool in the cotton handkerchief a bit at a time. Thomas Bland – “sheep lose their wool at this time of the year from the belly. I never pulled any off.”

item

Bland, Thomas,
Cranfield, John Shepherd,
Cranfield, Thomas,
Hann, William

SHEFFORD, Stanfordbury, stealing, wool, farmer, police constable, shepherd