QSR1857/1/5/1

Depositions of Joseph Hedge, a pensioner of Kempston and Abraham Page, a police constable on the Midland Railway stationed at Souldrop. In the case of George Fawdrey of Begbrook, Oxfordshire accused of stealing certain moneys to the sum of £9 4s 4d, a knitted purse, a handkerchief, a calico shirt, 2 cotton stockings, 3 shoe brushes, a knife, a fork, a comb, a razor and a towel

21 October 1856

From: 1856 To: 1857

Joseph Hedge: on 5 October he had been coming from Irthingborough towards Bedfordshire about 9.30am. He saw the prisoner coming out of the meadow near Higham Ferries station. The prisoner said he was going as far as the Bletsoe Falcon and that they might walk together. He gave the prisoner beer on the road and paid for his dinner at Rushden. He also gave the prisoner sixpence and half on the road as he said he was destitute. They left Rushden and after a short distance they both sat by the road side and lit their pipes. Hedge fell asleep. When he woke the prisoner had gone and his neck handkerchief was off. Money which had been in the handkerchief had also gone. He had told the prisoner that was where he kept it. He also lost his bundle containing; a cotton handkerchief, a calico shirt, a cotton pair of stockings, 3 shoe brushes, a knife, a fork, a comb, a razor, a towel and a shaving brush. A young woman on the road told him a man of the prisoner’s description had gone towards Souldrop. He obtained the assistance of a police constable and they went to Sharnbrook and found the prisoner at a public house there. He gave the prisoner into custody. He saw his purse, some silver and his bundle. Abraham Page: on 5 October, Hedge came to him at Souldrop and stated he had been robbed on the road side soon after leaving Rushden, by a ‘navvy’ with whom he had been in the company of at Rushden. They proceeded to Sharnbrook and found the prisoner in the Swan public house. On the seat beside the prisoner was the bundle Hedge had described. The prisoner denied any knowledge of Hedge and said he was innocent. He searched the prisoner’s pockets and found a purse. In the prisoners presence he asked the landlord whether he had changed any money for the prisoner and the landlord replied he had changed half a crown. He also found a quantity of beans in the prisoner’s pocket which he said he had taken from a ditch by the roadside for his breakfast as he had no money. The prisoner first stated the purse had been given to him by his brother’s wife and later said he had purchased it at Lincoln. The prisoner was not intoxicated. Statement of the accused: nothing to say.

item

Fawdrey, George,
Hedge, Joseph,
Page, Abraham

Oxfordshire, SOULDROP, KEMPSTON, stealing, clothing, cutlery, handkerchief, Sharnbrook Swan, policeman