QSR1857/3/5/12

Depositions of Martha Randall, wife of Robert, a labourer of Sutton and William Wiggin Blackhand, yeoman of Biggleswade. In the case of James Jackson accused of obtaining 15 shillings by false pretences.

10 June 1857

From: 1857 To: 1857

Martha Randall: on 27 February, after they had all gone to bed, the prisoner rapped on the door and they let him in. The prisoner said his father was a farmer at Eaton and that he had just arrived from Australia to take a little property that had been left to him. They gave him some tea and she sat up all night, letting the prisoner sleep with her husband. Before he went to bed, the prisoner showed her a hole in his pocket and said he had lost his money. He said he could not get on to his father’s house not get a box from the Railway Station at Biggleswade, which he said he had brought from Australia. The box weighed 18 stone. The prisoner said the box contained several presents for her husband from his sister, May Meeks, who was living in Australia. The box also contained more than £8 of money. They gave him breakfast and then the prisoner put up a prayer to thank God for his safe arrival. She had offered him a shilling the night before but he had said it was of no use. In the morning he said he was fretting about the loss of his money and not being able to get the box. She said to her husband, in the presence of the prisoner, perhaps her husband’s mother would let him have 15 shillings till the evening to get the box. The prisoner said he would return the money in the evening and give the old lady a sovereign for it. She gave him 15 shillings and sixpence and the prisoner said he would bring the box and open it and give her husband his presents. The prisoner went away and they never saw him again. William Wiggin Blackband: a clerk in the charge at the Great Northern Railway Station at Biggleswade. He had worked there since the start of the year. He examined the book kept at the station and there was no entry of any box, as mentioned by Mrs Randall. Statement of the accused: nothing to say only that he had the money from them. The pretence of the box was false and he admitted it and deserved punishment for it.

item

Jackson, James,
Randall, Martha,
Randall, Robert,
Blackband, William Wiggin

BIGGLESWADE, SUTTON, false pretences, Great Northern Railway Company, railway clerk