QSR1838/4/5/10

Depositions and examination - Henry Harris charged with stealing a half crown from the person of James Dennis

24 August 1838

From: 1838 To: 1838

James Dennis of Thames Street, parish of St Cuthbert, Bedford - last Sunday (Aug 19) he was in Mrs Isaac Dawson’s beer shop in the parish of St Cuthbert at about 2.30pm. He sat down and dropped off to sleep. He only had one pint of beer. He woke between 3 and 4pm. He went in with a young man named James Lamb, who was asleep when he woke. Harris also went in with them and was part of their company. The only other person he saw there was Mrs Dawson’s sister, Sarah Croft. When he woke he missed half a crown. He knows it was in his pocket when he went to sleep because he took it out with his halfpence when he paid for his beer. When he woke Mrs Dawson and Harris were disputing about half a crown which she said Harris at got. He then felt for his half crown and missed it. He accused Harris of taking it and Harris struck him. Last Monday afternoon Harris came to him in Mr Higgins’s rick yard with two shillings and said “here’s part of your half crown and I’ll give you the other six pence on Saturday night”. He gave Harris no answer. Abraham Roberts, William Low and John Waller heard him say so. [Cross-examined by Harris] Harris showed him three half crowns at Wildman’s. They called Harris to him at the rickyard. Harris said the two shillings were part of his half crown. Elizabeth Dawson, wife of Isaac Dawson of St Cuthbert, Bedford, retail beer seller - Harris came into her house with James Lamb and James Dennis. There were one or two others in the house when they came in who went out a few minutes afterwards - a printer who goes by the name of Hill was one of them. She remembers seeing Dennis asleep. She is sure Hill went out before Dennis went to sleep, leaving only Lamb and Dennis besides herself, Ann Rainbow and Sarah Croft. She is sure nobody else went into the room while Lamb and Dennis were asleep. She was there when Dennis woke. Henry Harris held out a half crown to her and asked her to take what he owed her. She gave him the change but forgot to take the half crown. A dispute arose about a shilling - he said she gave him a shilling less in change than she did. Dennis then woke, felt in his pocket and said “if you have not lost your money Mrs Dawson, I have mine”. He then added that he had lost his half crown. Edward Wildman of St Cuthbert, Bedford, labourer - last Monday about 5pm he was in Mr Higgins’ rick yard and saw Harris going down the path toward Thames Street. He took something up (which he could not see) and said “this is Dennis’s half crown”. No one made any answer. He said “if that’s Dennis’s half crown you had better give it him - he’ll be glad of it”. Harris came into the rick yard and asked where Dennis was. He said Dennis was on the other side emptying. Harris went to him and said “Dennis - here’s 2 shillings it’s your money - I’ll give you two shillings now and the rest on Saturday night”. Dennis did not take the money and I don’t think he made any answer. Sarah Croft, wife of William Croft of the parish of St Cuthbert, labourer - she is the sister of Mrs Isaac Dawson and was at her house in Thames Street on Sunday. When she went in at about 2.30pm she saw Dennis asleep. Harris, Lamb and another man she does not know were there. Harris was awake and Lamb was asleep. The other man left directly when she went in. She stayed in the next room. The door was open. She thinks Dennis was asleep for 2 hours. She could see him the whole time. he saw leave the chair in which he was sitting and seat himself beside Dennis as he sat asleep. He did not see Harris do anything to him. She did not take any particular notice. Harris sat on Dennis’s left hand side. When dennis woke her sister was disputing with Harris about the half crown. Dennis put his hand in his pocket and said “if Harris has not lost a shilling I have lost half a crown”. Her sister said nobody else had been in the room but Harris. Dennis said “then he’s the man that has got my money”. She said she saw Harris go and sit beside Dennis as close as he could. Harris said “I have not got your money, I have got some of my own”. Dennis said “my money’s gone and you must be the man who has got it if nobody else has not been in”. They were disputing about it for a long time and she went home. [Cross examined by Harris] Harris did not sit against the window for an hour, nor for a quarter. [Cross-examined by magistrates] She does not know how long they had been in the house when she went in. Ann Rainbow of Thames Street, parish of St Cuthbert, spinster - on Sunday she was in Mrs Dawson’s and saw Dennis with half a crown and some half pence in his hand. It was nearly 2pm. There were several others in the house at the time - Dennis, Harris and Lamb that she knew, and 2 or 3 others she did not know. She stayed about 3/4 hour after that. No one else came in, and she did not see anyone go. After a time Lamb and Dennis went to sleep. There was then no one else in the room except Harris. She was there when they awoke. When Dennis went to sleep Harris sat in a chair and Dennis on the form. When Dennis woke Harris was standing. James Lamb of Thames Street, St Cuthbert, Bedford, labourer - on Sunday he went with Harris and Dennis to Isaac Dawson’s beer house at about 1 or 2pm. There were one or two others in the house when they went in. He fell asleep. Harris was sitting in an elbow chair. He does not remember whether the other people were gone or not. When he woe there was a piece of work about some money. He saw Dennis put his hand in his pocket and hear him say in joke “I’ve lost a sovereign”. Dennis continued feeling in his pocket, then threw what half pence he had on the table and said “if I have not lost a sovereign I have half a crown”. Henry Harris of parish of St Cuthbert - las Sunday he went into Mrs Dawson’s with Lamb and Dennis. Dennis called for a pint of beer which he won of him. They had several more but he never paid for them. Dennis and Lamb went to sleep. He sat in the arm chair. He called for a bottle of ginger beer. Mrs Dawson brought it and he drank it. He said to Mrs Dawson he did not like to sit there. He got up and went and sat against the door. He had another bottle of ginger beer. and pulled half a crown out of his pocket. He told Mrs Dawson to take what she owed, which he believed was a shilling. Afterwards he disputed with her about the money she had give him and said she had given him a shilling too little. Dennis then woke and said “if you have not lost a shilling I have lost half a crown”. He took out three half crowns and said if any one belonged to Dennis he might take it, although he had worked hard for them. Two or three other people were in but he does not know who they were. Last Monday Wildman or somebody in Higgins’ rickyard called to him and said “how about the half crown”. He held out 2 shillings and said “I suppose you’d like to have them”.

item

Harris, Henry,
Dennis, James,
Croft, Sarah,
Croft, William,
Rainbow, Ann,
Dawson, Isaac,
Roberts, Abraham,
Low, William,
Waller, John,
Dawson, Elizabeth,
Wildman, Edward,
Lamb, James,
Croft, William

BEDFORD, Bedford St.Cuthbert, Bedford Thames Street, stealing, money, pickpocket, beerhouses, farm labourer, beer retailer