QSR1848/1/5/21-22

Depositions - John Barrett and Robert Bigg charged with stealing 4 live fowls and one tame rabbit from Andrew Pye

3 December 1847

From: 1847 To: 1848

Andrew Pye of Luton – on Tuesday 30 Nov he missed 4 hens and a tame rabbit from his yard at New Town in Luton. He believes the rabbit skin now produced by PC Millard to be the skin of his rabbit. It has white foreparts and yellow brown hind parts. The feathers, wings, heads and legs of the fowls produced appear to belong to those he lost. George Wilding of Luton, labourer – on Monday night 29 Nov he left Abraham Squires’ beer shop at New Town with John Barrett and Robert Bigg about 11pm. Soon afterwards they all went into Andrew Pye’s yard at New Town. Bigg went to the place where some fowls were roosting, took 4, broke their necks and gave them to him as he did it. Bigg also caught a rabbit and killed it. Barrett stood outside and they passed the fowls and the rabbit over the palings. They all three went and skinned them in the brown brick field and left the skins there. Bigg took two of the hens, and he and Barrett took the other two and the rabbit and hid them in Abraham Squires’ skittle alley. They made a fire in the stove and cooked and ate one of the hens. They put the bones on the fire and burnt them. About 8am Barrett went into Squires’ house and came back with him. Barrett sold Squires the rabbit and a hen. He had part of a pint of beer then for the rabbit. Barrett put the rabbit and the hen on the top shelf of a cupboard in the back kitchen of Squires’ house. John Millard of Luton, police constable – on Tuesday 30 Nov he examined a shed at the back of Andrew Pye’s premises and found a quantity of fowl’s feathers and some spots of blood under it. He traced the footsteps of 2 people in the garden up to the palings. He found skins of 4 fowls and a rabbit under the hedge in Brown Brick field about 200 yards from Pye’s. From Wilding’s information he examined a stove in Squires’ skittle ground and found a number of burnt bones. That morning he told Bigg he would take him into custody for stealing the fowls. Bigg said he woudl tell him the truth about it. Bigg said that between 11pm and 12am on Monday night he and another went to Pye's back premsises where they caught and killed 4 fowls and a rabbit. They took them across the garden and gave tehm to another person over the pales. They all went into Brown Brick Field where tehm skinned them. Biggs took 2 fowls and left the other 2 persons. Bigs later threw the fowls away. When he took Barrett, Barrett said he never went on the premises but stood against the palings and received the fowls and the rabbit from the other two, then they all three went into the field and skinned them. Barrett and another then took 2 fowls and a rabbit and took them to Squires' skittle shed, cooked one fowl and ate it and put the bones in the stove. About 8am they sold one fowl and the rabbit to Abraham Squires for six pence.

Barrett, John,
Bigg, Robert,
Pye, Andrew,
Wilding, George,
Squires, Abraham,
Millard, John

LUTON, Luton New Town, Luton fields, stealing, fowls, rabbits, beerhouses, beerhouse keeper