QSR1837/4/5/18

Depositions and examination - John Moore charged with stealing 6 pairs of boots from William Humphreys and Mary Bowers charged with receiving them

11 September 1837

From: 1837 To: 1837

William Humphreys of St Paul Bedford, shoemaker - last Saturday night as he was unloading goods from his cart at his house information was brought to him that he had been robbed. He went to the White Horse and saw two boys, John Wilshere and Henry Catlin. Wilshere says he is 9 years of age and Catlin says he is 10. He asked which of them robbed him. Wilshere said it was Catlin. Catlin said he did not. He asked where they had taken the shoes. Wilshere said he took them to Mrs Bowers. They went to her house in Silver Street. She deals in second hand clothes. At first he only took Wilshere with him. He told Mrs Bowers he wanted the pair of shoes the lad had sold her in the afternoon. Wilshere said he did not sell them there but Catlin did, for 8d. He asked Wilshere how much he had of it - he answered 2 ½d. He told Mrs Bowers he was determined to have the shoes. She said she had not bought any shoes from them that day. He sent for Mr Coombs the chief constable. Before Coombs came Mrs Bowers produced 2 pairs of the shoes now produced. He told her he could swear to them being his property. All the shoes are his property, which he knows by the make - they were all made by the same man. When Mr Commbs came he gave him the 2 pairs. Coombs then took down 3 other pairs of high shoes which were hanging in the shop and asked if he could swear to them. He examined them and said they were his property. Commbs also handed to him another pair of high shoes which were his. He believes he bought them from Henry Bolton. Mrs Bowers said that she bought them from John Moore. John Moore is his servant and boards in his house. Moore was present - he had sent for him to Mrs Bowers. He also sent for Catlin. Catlin said to Mrs Bowers that he did not sell any of then to her, and she agreed. Wilshere said "I will tell the truth. Catlin sold them here". She said she did not buy the shoes from them and had not seen either of them that day. Wilshere said it was a story, and that Catlin did sell them there, and that they were little nailed shoes. None of the 7 pairs fo shoes now produced by Mr Coombs are nailed shoes. He is not sure that the pair he bought from Mr Bolton might not have been sold by him. One of the pairs now produced did not come from Mrs Bowers. John Moore had no authority to sell shoes for him. [Here Henry Catlin took up the smallest of the seven pairs produced and said "that’s the pair I sold to Mrs Bowers"] William Coombs, chief constable of Bedford - on Saturday evening he was sent for by Mr William Humphreys to Mrs Bowers shop. When he went in Humphreys had 2 pairs of shoes in his hand which he said he was quite sure were his property, but there were others he wanted to find. Mrs Bowers and John Moore were both present. Mr Flood and John Cook, Mr Flood’s partner, were also there, and the two boys Wilshere and Catlin. He looked along the line of Mrs Bowers window fronting the street and saw several pairs fo new high shoes hanging. He pointed to them and asked mrs Bowers to give them over the counter. She handed a pair to them. Humphreys and Flood both said they would swear they were Mr Bolton’s for it was Valentine who made them. He asked Mrs Bowers to give him another pair. She handed him 2 other pairs off the line, which Humphreys said he would swear to as his property. She held up a little pair now produced and said she supposed Humphreys would swear to them. Humphreys said he would. The other 2 pairs are what Mr Humphreys had in his land when she went it. He asked Mrs Bowers whether she would allow him to search further without a warrant. She refused. When Mr Humphreys said other pairs were his property she heard Mrs Bowers say she bought them from that boy (pointing to Moore). He took Moore into custody. He told Moore he was informed that Mrs Bowers had sent to his lodgings to try to get the things back that he had bought from her, and that her son said if he was allowed to go upstairs where Moore’s box was he would break it open. He asked Moore if he had any clothes there that he bought of Mrs Bowers. Moore said he had, worth 12s which he exchanged for shoes. Moore gave him the key of his box and he went and opened it. Inside he found another pair of high shoes (now produced). Moore was not then with him. He also found a brown check handkerchief and a leather top called a Bladen Top and several pieces of leather (6 pieces of grained leather and one piece of soling leather). There were clothes in the box - a blue frock coat and a waistcoat. Moore said they and the trousers he had on were all he bought from Mrs Bowers. Yesterday morning on going to Wilshere and Catlin (who were in custody) they both told him that Moore had given them the pair to sell (he supposes they meant the little pair). He asked part of the money they gave to Moore. They said they could not find him. When he went to give Moore some food he told him what the boys had said. Moore said "I am sure I gave them no shoes yesterday to sell to Mrs Bowers but I did before, but only once". William Humphreys (further deposition) - he has examined the pair of shoes said to have been found in Moore’s box. They are the same make as some he bought from Mr Bolton but he cannot swear to them. Mary Bowers of St Paul, Bedford, widow - she may have had the shoes but if she had them from the boy Moore she was imposed upon. The first time he brought her a pair she asked who he was and whether they were his own shoes. Moore said they were, and that he and Graham bought the leather and made them together. She asked where he lived and he said he lived at Graham’s. She bought several pairs from him. Moore was to give her 12 shillings for the coat he had and was to bring him one pair of shoes at a time. She paid him part money and part was offset for the coat. A fortnight ago last Saturday Moore came in with a pair of shoes. Graham was in the parlour. She asked Graham if he thought the boy was an honest boy as she thought he brought the shoes in rather faster than he could make them, and asked if he came by them honestly. Graham said he did not know but he did. She is positive she did not buy the little pair of shoes on Saturday night. [Lists the amounts she paid for the various pairs] The reason she did not choose for Mr Coombs to search the house on Saturday night was that she did not think Mr Humphreys would scruple to swear to anything he saw. This was because he took several pairs of shoes from her house once before. His mother came in and asked if she had bought any shoes. She said she did not know but would show here all she had. Humphreys came in and said every pair for which she could not say who she bought them from were his. In a minute or two Bolton came in and claimed the same shoes Humphreys had. After that she remembered she had had one of the pairs claimed in her house for as much as 6 months. Another reason she refused the search was that there was a crowd round the door and a great many men in the house talking and making an uproar. Both Mr Humphreys and Mr Bolton have been in the habit of sending shoes out to sell by bags full. She has bought a lot twice from Coles who told her they were Mr Humphreys’. She bought as many as 14s worth. When Mr Humphreys owned those shoes before she had reason to believe they were some of those she bought from Coles. John Moore of St Paul, Bedford - declines to say anything.

item

Moore, John,
Bowers, Mary,
Humphreys, William,
Coombs, William,
Wilshere, John,
Catlin, Henry,
Bolton, Henry,
Flood, George,
Cook, John

BEDFORD, Bedford St.Paul, Bedford Silver Street, stealing, receiving stolen goods, shoes, shoemaker, Chief Constable, Bedford White Horse Inn, second hand clothes dealer