Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    QSR1845/4/5/1-2
  • Title
    Depositions - James Studman charged with stealing straw plait from Messrs Gregory Cubitt and Co and John Deacon with receiving the straw plait knowing it to be stolen
  • Date free text
    30 June to 18 July 1845
  • Production date
    From: 1845 To: 1845
  • Scope and Content
    30 June ----------- William Willis of Luton – he is manager of the straw plait business of Gregory Cubitt and Co in Luton. During the night of 2 June he lost a quantity of straw plait from the bleach house in the yard. The padlocks on the bleach house door had been wrenched open. He missed a quantity of Rice Patent plait and Rice Bedford plait, between 600 and 700 score, and also between 100 and 200 score of straw plait. He saw all that plait on 2 Jne in the washhouse which is beyond the bleach house. It was wet. He purchased Bedford Plait of the sort now produced on 28 May from Mrs Tearle of Houghton Regis – one bundle containing 23 ½ score. He was in the warehouse when she brought it on 20 May. The plait produced is bleached – it is mildewed and spotted, which he attributes to its being put away in a wet state. It is exactly the quantity he purchased from Mrs Tearle. The other plait now produced is Rice Patent. He saw some of the same kind hanging up wet in the washhouse on 2 June. It is also spotted and mildewed which he attributes to being put away in a dripping state. He was present yesterday at the house of John Deacon when they found the plait in the bleach chest in the corner of the barn. He knows it by the spots and the quality. There is a general custom of stringing plait in lengths of 10 and 20 yards before bleaching and then to match it after bleaching, but their firm deviates from tat custom and puts a sufficient quantity of plait together to make a bonnet before it is washed, which leaves a particular mark. All the plait they produce is tied up in this way. He has no doubt the plait produced is the property of Messrs Gregory Cubitt and Co. [Further deposition] The plait is Rice Patent of different qualities, marked and tied in the way they usually mark and tie it. The quality also corresponds with what they lost. No other house in the trade that he is aware of is in the habit of marking their plait with small pieces of worsted. He believes there is about the same quantity of Rice Patent plait that they lost, about 50 or 60 score. William Ashton of Luton, police superintendent – he went to John Deacon’s house between 6 and 7pm yesterday (29 June) with a search warrant. He found in a chest upstairs a dozen bonnets of one description of plait. He found the plait now produced in a straw chest in the barn. He was going to break it open and Deacon’s wife gave him the key. Caroline Ashton, wife of William Ashton of Luton, police superintendent – the plait she produces comes from her bedroom where her husband left it yesterday afternoon. It was locked up and nobody except herself and her husband had access to the room. Maria Mullings of Luton, singlewoman – she is employed by Messrs Gregory Cubitt and Co to match the plait and put it together in quantities sufficient for bonnets, which is done before bleaching. She had some Rice Patent and Rice Bedford to match on 31 May which she received from Mr Willis. She matched it into sufficient quantities for bonnets, in bunches of 30, 40, 45 and 50 yards. That morning she tied up 8 bunches of Rice Bedford in 50 yards each and one with 25 and one bunch of the same sort which could not be matched to make sufficient for a bonnet. The plait produced is similar to the plait she tied up that morning. She believes it to be the same plait. George Gregory of Luton – he is employed by Messrs Gregory Cubitt and Co. On 30 May Mrs Tearle of Houghton Regis brought 23½ score of Rice Bedford plait at 2s 1d a score. On Monday 2 June he saw the plait hanging up in the steam chest in a wet state fresh from the washhouse and in a yellow state from the process of bleaching. He saw it between 4 and 5pm. They tie sufficient for a bonnet in one string before it is washed and bleached. The bundles produced are tied in one string first. The bundles produced are tied this way and are similar to the lost plait. The bunch of Rice Bedford is similar. The plait produced is spotted and mildewed from being put away wet. He believes it is their property from the quantity and variety of quality and the particular way it is tied up. Some of the plait found in Deacon’s chest was not tied up in the same way. It is strung in the same quantity and the same way but with a different string. 2 July ----------- Charlotte Young of Dell Field in Kimpton (Herts), plaiter – on Wednesday 4 June about 8pm Studman came to her grandfather’s house and asked if he was at home. She said no and that they did not know when he would be home. Studman beckoned her to go to the door but she did not. He then went into the yard and stood there for some time. After a while he left the yard and went down the lane. When Studman was standing in the yard he had a thin man with him with dark whiskers – she would know the man if she saw him again. He had a dark long coat and a black and white Brazilian hat tied with a black ribbon. On Tuesday 10 June Studman again came to her grandfather’s house. He beckoned her grandmother to the back door. Her grandmother is very deaf and said it was no use her going for she could not hear what he said. She and her grandmother went to the door together. Studman asked if her grandmother would take one article in. Grandmother asked what it was. Studman said never mind what it is. Her grandmother thought he watned some money and said she had not got a shilling. Studman said he did not want any money from her, he wanted to give her some and would give her £5 if she would take this one article in, or even £10. She again asked what the article was and he said never mind. She said they would not take it without knowing what it was. Studman then said it was a great quantity of plait, about £100 worth. Grandmother asked what she was to do with it if he brought it there as she dare not take it into any market. Studman said he would not have her take it into any market for all the world. Her grandmother said she could not have it brought to her house without her grandfather’s consent. Studman said he wanted to leave it there so he could fetch it away in small quantities to have it sewed up, and must leave it somewhere as it had been out in the wet for a week and was spoiling. Studman said he would call again in a day or two but did not. When he left he said to her to be sure never to speak about it as long as she lived or they would be done. She knows Studman came on the 10 June because her brother George Young died on the 11th. [Further deposition] The other prisoner (Deacon) is the man who was standing in the yard and came with Studman the first time. He has the same sort of hat on tied with a black ribbon. He tried to hide himself behind the faggots against their gate but they opened to door so quick he did not have time and came back to the gate. She saw Deacon on Perry Green on 10 June. He went down Kimpton Lane with another man. Deacon laid down in the lane and the other man left him and went to Perry Green. Deacon went further down the lane into a field and laid down again. This was about an hour before Studman came to their house that day. Thomas Thrussel of Darley Hall in the parish of Kingwalden (Herts), labourer – Studman came to his house about 10pm on Sunday 8 June and asked if he had any room where he could dry some plait as he had a cumbersome lot and it was spoiling because it was wet. He wanted to dry it and take it away a little at a time and get it sewed up. Studman said the best of it was worth from 3s to 3s 6d a score and the best was spoiling the most, and that the lot was worth from £70 to £80. He asked where it was – Studman said that did not signify, it was under his command about 3 miles from his [Thrussel’s] house and that he would reward him for taking it in. He asked how Studman came buy it and said it must be stolen. Studman said “that don’t signify, you shall not get into any hurt”. He again asked how Studman came by it. Studman said three of them broke into a warehouse in Luton, and when they opened the bleach box the steam of the brimstone was enough to stifle them – anybody might smell the steam for ¼ mile. Studman said they took it out of the bleaching box quite wet and that it was so cumbersome he could not carry it without someone to help him. The next day he saw Studman in a beer shop in Church Street, Luton and again refused to take in the plait, saying it was likely his house would soon be pulled down for he had notice to quit and did not wish to get into any trouble. There were two men drinking with Studman. One was a pale faced man with dark whiskers – he would know him if he saw him again – and the other was stoutish and rather dark, and he thinks he would know him again. Studman did not tell him who the other two were who broke into the warehouse. 10 July ---------- Aaron Lowe of Tea Green in Offley (Herts), labourer – on Thursday 5 June he was at Mr James Ellingham’s public house having his dinner. Studman was there. A man came in from Luton and began to talk about some plait having been stolen, and that some men had been taken up for it and gone to Dr Bland’s at Lilley. The man said he thought one was named Maddocks, one Evans and he believed another was named Studman. James Studman was there all the time and said “oh, have they got him”. That evening he called at the public house again as he went home and found Studman there. He [Lowe] was burning turf for ashes and Studman said he knew how it was done and would come the next day and show him. At about 9am the next day Studman came and helped him. Studman said they had not got the right men for the plait and he was one of them. He asked who was with him and Studman said Jack Deacon and that they had it from Mr Willis, either from the bleach house or the warehouse. Studman said if he was not of a mind to have it he would go and see Tom Thrussell. Studman said the plait laid in a cow shed place at Mr McDouall’s where there was a stubble wall around the cow shed and he slept by it one night. He said to Studman “It was a wonder you weren’t afraid somebody would find it”. Studman said it might lie there for a month before anybody would think of going there. Studman said it must be moved in a few days or it would be mildewed as it was not dry when they took it, and that he would reward him well if he would take it in and dry it for him. He told Studman he dare not take it because his wife would not let him go home again if he did. Studman said it was Rice Plait and was worth a good deal and that if Thrussell would not take it Deacon would sew it up a little at a time if he could get it dry. Studman said he was not afraid that Deacon would split. On the Sunday following about 5pm he went to Ellingham’s. Studman and Deacon came in and had some beer together. Deacon paid for the beer and the landlord gave him some silver in change. Sarah Mardal of Kimpton (Herts) – she was in Gatward’s shop at Peters Green on June 10. Sarah Gatward told her her brother James Studman was there. She went through to the taproom and spoke to him. He said he was going home. John Deacon was in the same room. Dinah Tearle of Houghton Regis – she is a plait buyer and has been buying plait and selling it again to Mr Willis. On 30 May she took him some Rice Patent, some Rice Luton and some Rice Bedford. The Rice Bedford was priced at 2s 1d and was just like the plait produced. That particular sort of plait is made for her by someone who lives at Eggington, who has worked for her for more than a year. She believes it to have been purchased from Eliza Lathwell. She has not sold that sort of plait to anyone but Gregory Cubitt for a long time. She can pick out any of her regular work people’s work and say who made it. John Millard of Luton, police constable – from information he received from Aaron Lowe that Studman told him the plait had been hidden near Mr Mc Douall’s cow house at Copthall in some stubble, he went there with Lower and found a great hole in a large quantity of stubble on the top of a hovel. The sides were hard and matted together and it looked as though it has been made on purpose. The hole had apparently been recently used. 18 July ---------- John Millard of Luton, police constable – on Wednesday morning 16 July he went with PC [Mastey?] to search Deacon’s house. They found a board in the floor of the bedroom that appeared to be recently pulled up. He then sent Mastey to borrow and axe. He wrenched up the board and found the plait now produced under the floor in 6 different places Maria Mullings of Luton – the book produced is in her handwriting. She made an entry in it the Saturday before the plait was lost. The mark on the bundle produced corresponds with the entry in the book. She can swear to it being her stringing as she always strings it in 2 strings. The second bundle produced is also her stringing, and a bunch is tied with a cord know which is her tying up. She can swear to seven bunches tied up in one bundle. When she saw them they were hanging up ready for bleaching. [More detail about the way various bunches of plait are strung and tied] John Cotchin of Luton, bleacher – he is employed by Gregory Cubitt and Co to bleach the plait. It is washed before it is bleached. On 2 June he took about 700 or 800 score of Rice Patent and Rice Bedford and between 100 and 200 of straw and put it into the bleaching liquid, carried it to the steam chest and hung it on rods. It was tied up in small bunches and had many different marks on it. He locked the steam chest and put the bars up and the padlocks on. He took the keys to Mr George Gregory at the writing desk in the warehouse. In the morning he found the padlocks wrenched off and lying on the ground near the door. There was about 200 score of plait left and the rest was gone. He left the plait in a wet dripping state. He knows the stringing of the 7 bunches produced to be that of Maria Mullings and recognized the marks. He can swear they are the property of Gregory Cubitt and Co. He recognizes other bunches produced as being Maria Mullings stringing [much description of stringing]. George Gregory of Luton – he is employed by Gregory Cubitt and Co. On 2 June Cotchin brought him the keys of the steam chest and wash house and yard gate and laid them on his desk. He took them up into his bedroom and kept them until the next morning when he gave them to James Custance, one of the washers. He let Custance through the warehouse into the yard. Custance came back and told him the steam chest had been broken open. He discovered a quantity of plait was gone and the empty rods were lying on the ground. The plait produced matches the description of the plait they lost. James Custance of Luton, labourer – on Monday 2 June he helped John Cotchin take rice plait into the steam house from the wash house where he had been washing it. He thinks it was about 1000 score. They hung it in the steam chest. They locked the door and Cotchin took the keys into the warehouse. He saw Cotchin lay them on the desk. The next morning he went to the door and was let in and given the keys by George Gregory. He found the steam chest broken open and most of the plait gone. There was rice Patent and rice Bedford and improved plait. The firm are in the habit of tying up their plait with worsted, cord and sometimes string mixed with worsted, in a similar way to the plait now produced, which is like the plait he washed that day. Eliza Lathwell of Eggington, singlewoman – she believes the rice Bedford plait produced is her plaiting, which she plaits for Mrs Tearle of Houghton Regis. She has sold to her for 2 or 3 years and plaited some for her in May. She generally takes it to her on a Saturday. She never sold any rice Bedford plait to anyone else.
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