QSR1846/4/5/5

Depositions - Jane Wilson charged with stealing a piece of beef from Elizabeth Crawley

3 August 1846

From: 1846 To: 1846

Elizabeth Crawley of Luton, butcher – last Saturday afternoon (Aug 1st) she was at the stall in the market Place. About 2pm Wilson asked the price of some bones and offered 3d for them. They agreed the price and Wilson said she would come and fetch them. She [Crawley] stayed there until the evening but Wilson did not come back. She did not sell the piece of beef now produced. John Crawley of Luton, butcher – he has a stall in Luton Market. Last Saturday PC John Millard showed him a piece of beef, about 4 or 5 lbs. It was part of the shoulder. He had sold all the rest of the shoulder than morning and it was the only piece left. He believes it to be his mother’s property. Elizabeth Way of Luton, singlewoman – she is servant to Mr Puddephatt the landlord of the Shoulder of Mutton public house at Luton. Mr Crawley the butcher has a stall just opposite the Shoulder of Mutton. Last Saturday between 2 and 3pm she saw Wilson near the stall. She looked all round then took a piece of meat and put it underneath her shawl. Wilson then spoke to Mrs Crawley. There was nobody standing near. She went and told her master. PC Millard later showed her a piece of meat which she thought was about the same size as the one Wilson took. Sarah Flint, wife of William Flint – she keeps a lodging house. Wilson lodged there on Friday night. On Saturday afternoon she saw a piece of beef in Wilson’s hand in a dish. She said to Wilson “you have got a good dish for tomorrow” and Wilson agreed. The lodgers have the right to put anything on the shelf where the meat was found. There were several lodgers in the house at the time but none of them had a yellow dish with beef in it. She finds dishes for the lodgers. John Millard of Luton, police constable – from information he received he went to Mrs Flint’s lodging house on Saturday afternoon. He found the dish and meat now produced on a shelf in a room there. He went upstairs and found Wilson lying on a bed asleep. He woke her up, showed here the beef and said he would take her up on suspicion of stealing it. She said she had never seen them before, but she later said she was standing against a stall in the middle of the town when a little boy gave her the meat and she brought it home. She said she was not allowed to beg so she must do something else. Mr Crawley identified the meat as the bit of shoulder that was left after he had sent out all the rest that morning.

item

Wilson, Jane,
Crawley, Elizabeth,
Way, Elizabeth,
Flint, Sarah,
Flint, William,
Puddephatt

LUTON, stealing, beef, butchers, Luton Shoulder of Mutton, lodging houses