QSR1856/3/5/21a

Depositions of William Botterill, painter of Dunstable, Archibald Lockhart, draper of Dunstable, James Ashby, hostler of Dunstable, Joseph Hale, beer retailer of Luton and Jeremiah Cuttriss, police constable of Dunstable. In the case of John Medcraft accused of stealing a pair of leathern reins.

2 June 1856

From: 1856 To: 1856

William Botterill: a painter and glazier at Dunstable. Sometime in April he lent a set of harnesses to Mr Archibald Lockhart of Dunstable. A few days later was told the reins had been stolen. On 26 May PC Cuttriss showed him a pair of reins which he identified as his property. Archibald Lockhart: a draper of Dunstable. At the beginning of April he borrowed a set of harnesses from Botterill. He afterward received information that the reins had been stolen. James Ashby: in April he had been engaged to [?] Mr Lockhart’s horse and harness. On 21 April he missed a pair of reins from the stable. On 26 May PC Cutriss showed him a pair of reins very like those which he had missed. He had cleaned them many times and they had been cleaned in several places. Joseph Hale: the keeper of the Wrestlers beer shop in Luton. On 21 April, being Luton Fair night, the prisoner slept in the stable. The following day he found a pair of reins in the stable, which to his knowledge had not been there before. No other person slept in the stable that night. On 26 May he gave them to PC Cuttriss and told him he had found them. PC Jeremiah Cuttriss: on 26 May he took the prisoner into custody and charged him. The prisoner said he would plead guilty and said he had sold them to Hale on Luton Fair day. Statement of the accused: nothing to say.

item

Medcraft, John,
Botterill, William,
Lockhart, Archibald,
Ashby, James,
Hale, Joseph,
Cuttriss, Jeremiah

DUNSTABLE, stealing, beer retailers, drapers, painters, hostler