QSR1847/1/5/9-10

Depositions and examination - Thomas Black and a female calling herself Jane Black, his wife [annotated: "of Deptford, ropespinner, Jane Black (maiden name West) married at St Mary's Whitechapel 26 years ago, 27 or 28 June"]. Charged with uttering 3 pieces of counterfeit coin at Chalgrave and Hockliffe on 11 November 1846.

12 November 1846

From: 1846 To: 1847

John Heckford of Chalgrave, victualler – he keeps the White Horse Inn at Hockliffe in Chalgrave parish. Yesterday evening Thomas Black with the woman and child now present came into the tap room. Black asked for a pint of beer and which he fetched and gave to him. Black gave him one shilling and he gave 9½d change. The man and woman drank the beer and left in about ¼ of an hour. He put the shilling into the till, where there was no other silver. About ½ hour later his stepdaughter Constance Pickering opened the drawer to get change, took up the piece of money he had put in and said it was a bad one. He said he had taken it from some tramping people ½ hour earlier. He had been out of the bar during the time after he put in the bad shilling, but there was a glass division between the bar and the room he was in and he believes no one could have gone to the till without his knowledge. He has no doubt the bad shilling was the one he took from the prisoner. He gave it to William Clough the policeman and described the man, woman and child. Emma Inwards – she is the daughter of William Inwards who keeps the Kings Arms public house in Hockliffe. About 5pm Thomas Black and the woman and child came into the tap room. Black asked for three pennyworth of rum. She served it and took a shilling from the man which he laid on a shelf in a cupboard in the tap room by itself. She suspected it was bad – it was getting dusk. She did not say anything to the man. She locked the cupboard door and kept the key. In 15 or 20 minutes her father came in and she gave it to him. She saw marks on the shilling by which she would know it again. She is sure Thomas Black is the man who gave it to her. The man, woman and child all had the rum. They left in about 5 minutes towards Dunstable. That would take them past Mr Heckford’s which is 300 or 400 yards away. William Inwards – yesterday evening his daughter gave him the bad shilling now produced. He made a mark on the bad shilling and gave it to PC Clough. Elizabeth Tomkins – she is a widow and keeps the Fleur de Lis public house in Hockliffe. Yesterday evening Thomas Black came into her house with the woman and child. The woman asked for a pint of beer. She fetched it and gave it to the woman who gave her what she supposed to be a shilling. It felt glib but it was getting dusk and she did not notice it particularly. She put it in her pocket and gave the woman change. The woman warmed the beer and they all three drank it. She heard the man say to the woman “We’ll go on to the Bell at Dunstable and sleep”. She noticed the child call the man “Dad”. They left in a few minutes in the direction of Dunstable which would take them past Mr Inwards which is about 200 yards from her house. She had no other silver in her pocket apart from a sixpence she gave the woman in her change. When she heard something from Mr Inwards’ son she looked at the piece and saw it was a bad one. She marked it and gave it to PC Clough. William Clough, police constable stationed at Hockliffe – from information he received he went to Dunstable and at a lodging house found Thomas Black and the woman and child. He asked them which road they had come. They both said they left London early in the morning. He told them they were charged with passing bad money at Hockliffe. The man denied ever having bad money in his possession. He searched the man and found 2 good shillings, 2 good sixpences and some half pennies in his pocket. He received from the woman who keeps the house 4 shillings and 5 sixpences, all good, which was all she found on the woman prisoner. When coming to Woburn she several times spoke of the male prisoner as her “old man” and did not call him by the name of husband. He took a bundle from Thomas Black which he gave to Mr Young the superintendent. He saw it examined and in a paper some white powder was found and a great number of small articles. He produces 3 counterfeit shillings which he received from Heckford, Inwards and Mrs Tomkins. William Ralph Young, superintendent of police – a bundle was given to him last night by PC Clough. He examined it this morning and found a small quantity of white powder wrapped up in two papers. The male prisoner said it was sugar of lead to apply to his eyes. It is not sugar of lead. It is a composition of chalk and something else, and appeared to be the sort of stuff used for polishing metal. [This deposition has been crossed through] Thomas Black – he denies ever having any bad money in his possession in his life to his knowledge and denies ever passing three shillings or ever being in these people’s houses. The woman is his lawful wife. Her maiden name was West and they were married at St Mary’s Whitechapel on 27 or 28 June 1820 or very near to that. Jane Black – she has never passed any bad money in her life. They were not in the house at Dunstable for two minutes before he came in after them, and if they had any bad money they had no time to put it away.

item

Black, Thomas,
Black, Jane,
West, Jane,
Heckford, John,
Inwards, Emma,
Inwards, William,
Tomkins, Elizabeth,
Clough, William,
Pickering, Constance

CHALGRAVE, HOCKLIFFE, Deptford, Whitechapel, DUNSTABLE, passing counterfeit coin, victualler, vagrancy, Hockliffe White Horse, Hockliffe Kings Arms, lodging houses