QSR1846/2/5/15

Depositions and examination - Richard Gosbell charged with embezzling 8s from his employer Henry Readman at Luton on 6 March 1846

26 March 1846

From: 1846 To: 1846

Henry Readman of Ridgmont, cattle salesman – he lives at Ridgmont and is in the habit of attending Smithfield market. He has employed Richard Gosbell as his drover. Gosbell was permitted to sell sheep on the road and account for the money. On Sunday March 8th he saw Gosbell at Barnet and took an account of the sheep he had there and of those he had sold. Gosbell said he had sold some sheep of Mr Overman’s - 6 at 50s, 7 at 45s and one at 46s – but did not say who he sold them to. The bill now produced by Mr Overman is not made out in accordance with Gosbell’s statement. The amount is the same except one shilling which was withheld due to the additional expense of carrying 2 sheep that had fallen lame. His account to Mr Overman is for 6 at 50s and 8 at 45s, exclusive of 6 he sold himself at London at 48s. Gosbell did not give him an account in writing of what he sold on the road. He produced the book in which he wrote what Gosbell stated in his presence – “Bigg 6 Mr Overman at 50s; Byford 7 Mr Overman at 45s; [no name] 1 Mr Overman at 46s”. The 1s should not properly have been taken from these sheep but from the 6 he sold himself in London. He is quite sure the account in his book is taken correctly from Gosbell and Gosbell accounted to him for the money accordingly. It was Thursday 5 March when Gosbell should have received the sheep. Robert Biggs of Luton, butcher – on 6 March he saw Gosbell passing through the town with a drove of sheep. One was nearly as bad as a dropped one from fatigue. He bought it for 46s. He did not say to one butcher he had bought a good bargain, but after he dressed it he though he had. It turned out well – it was a good 11 stone. That was the only sheep he bought from Gosbell that day. The sheep did weigh 12 stone, and the value of it was 3s 6d a stone. He sold the mutton at different prices, averaging 6 ¾. It was a Southdown ewe. Simpson Pain of Luton, butcher – on 6 March he bought 6 sheep from Gosbell as he was passing through the town. They were Southdown ewes, all in a very good state, not over driven. They dealt at 51s. He paid Gosbell £15 6s. He saw one or two that travelled bad but did not buy them. He saw the sheep Biggs bought – it was the best sheep in the drove but was very lame. It was a very good sheep for the butcher. He thinks it would not have been dear at 55s. He would have bought it but Gosbell said it was spoken for. He did not hear the dealing between Bigg and Gosbell. He would willingly have bid 52s for it, and would have retailed it at 7d a lb (4s 8d a stone). He did not attribute the sheep’s high colour to the driving – Southdown sheep are generally so. He did not hear what price Bigg had given until the next day. He was surprised. Charles Browton of Luton, butcher – on 6 March he bought 2 sheep from Gosbell in Luton. He went to meet the drove. Gosbell said he had two sheep that would suit him which were very lame. Gosbell marked them and he walked on with him. When they got to the public house where Gosbell usually stops they agreed 46s for them, which he thought a fair price. He weighed them hot and they each weighed 10 stone 3lbs. The next morning they barely weighed 10 stone each. He considers he gave the full value. He sold the mutton on average at 4s 6d a stone. Bigg was with the drove when he met them and he understood Bigg had the heavy sheep he bought in price. He is sure he never said to anybody that they weighed 11 stone a piece. Samuel Taylor – he works for Mr Freeman, under the shepherd. On Thursday 5 March he delivered 20 southdown ewes of Mr Overman’s to Gosbell at Silsoe. He told him he was to take them to London and if the feet were bad he was to cut them. Thomas William Overman – on 6 March he gave directions for 20 sheep (Southdown ewes) to be sent with Gosbell for sale at Smithfield. The next Tuesday morning he received the sale account now produced from Mr Readman the salesman. From information he later received he made inquiry which satisfied him that something was wrong about the sale of the sheep. Besides the cases proved here today he found that one sheep was sold to Else of Harpenden at 55s and one to Clayton of Barnet at 49s. Richard Gosbell – he sold sheep as follows: - 6 to Mr Pain at 51s - 1 to Bigg at 46s - 2 to Browton at 46s - 1 to Else at 50s - 1 to Allsey at 45s - 1 to Clayton at 49s - 1 to Byford at 45s - 1 to a person he does not know at 42s He paid for carriage of the remainder of Mr Overman’s sheep and of two that he sold from Colney to Barnet, altogether 6s. Instead of returning the 6 sheep sold to Pain at 51s he took off the 6s for carriage and returned the price at 50s. The 8s which is still unaccounted for was his mistake in adding up the account. The paper produced is a memorandum made as he was on the road. He figured down the prices he sold the sheep at as he was going along. He had the piece of paper in his pocket then. He does not mean what he has said – he means he made the memorandum after he came home and after Mr Readman had been at his house to enquire about the matter. [Attached note compare the prices listed by Gosbell (total £33 9s including allowance of 6s for carriage) with the statement Gosbell made to Readman (total £33s 1s, not including the 6s for carriage)]

item

Gosbell, Richard,
Readman, Henry,
Biggs, Robert,
Pain, Simpson,
Browton, Charles,
Taylor, Samuel,
Overman, Thomas William

RIDGMONT, LUTON, SILSOE, London Smithfield, embezzlement, cattle dealer, sheep, mutton, markets, drover, butcher