QSR1837/4/5/20

Depositions and examination - Charles Manton charged with housebreaking

8 September 1837

From: 1837 To: 1837

John Trolley of St Peter Bedford, brickmaker – he is foreman to Messrs Thomas Abbot Green and Thomas John Green, and he resides in a house on their premises in the parish of St Peter No one else lives there except himself and his family. He lives there without paying rent. About 6.45pm on Sunday Sept 3rd he left his house, locked up his door and put the key in his house. Before he left he saw all the doors and windows safely fastened. The house was empty. He returned later in the evening. When he got to the gate leading into the road he saw it was not done up as he left it. When he got to the house door he put his key in and could not unlock it. He clapped his finger to the latch and the door flew open. The bolt of the lock was shot back and he is sure he left it safely locked when he went out. When he got into the house he missed his desk in which he keeps his books of account. The desk was part of a bureau and stood upon it. The bureau was still there. The desk contained 8 or 10 pence worth of halfpence, his spectacles, a 2 foot rule and 15 or 16 books belonging to Messrs Green (small account and memorandum books). He saw the stair foot door open which he had left closed. He went upstairs and saw his wife’s box standing against the window. Part of the lid was broken in two and he missed 4 of his wife’s gowns, a canvas purse containing a sovereign and 13s 6d in silver, a red pocket book containing one shilling and a six pence in silver. In the next room he missed his fustian frock coat (the one he is now wearing), a great coat, one pair of breeches and 5 sheets. He also missed from the box in the first room two marked silver tea spoons. He went downstairs to the back place or scullery and saw 3 frames of glass driven back lead and all from the stanchion of the window, but the window was shut. When the panes were broken anyone on the outside could open and shut the window. The broken panes were near the handle. He went out and found one silk handkerchief and the band of one of his wife’s gowns in the garden opposite the chamber window where the broken box stood. About 6.30am the next morning he saw footmarks at the scullery window between the house and the road. There were footmarks of 2 or 3 different people. He knows Charles Manton. He did not see him about the premises on Sunday or Monday. About 7.30am on Monday John Whittamore and William Munnard brought to his house the desk, books and other things that were in it (except the spectacles, the 2 foot rule and the half pence). The desk lid was split in two and broken open from the lock. On Tuesday afternoon about 5pm William Mobbs and William Peacock brought him the 4 gowns, the five sheets, the fustian frock coat, the great coat and the breeches. William Mobbs of St Paul Bedford, brickmaker – he works for Messrs Green at their brickyard in St Peter’s. As he was going to work on Tuesday morning about 10am he saw Manton standing against the entrance to the court in St Cuthbert’s where he lives. He went on and Manton followed him about 30 or 40 yards behind. Manton followed him until he got to Sparrow Close gate on the Kimbolton Road where he met Mrs Trolley and stopped to talk to her. Manton also stopped. Manton appeared to be watching him. After he left Mrs Trolley Manton stopped following him. About 4pm on the same day he went to Mr Livius’s ice house to relieve William Peacock who was there on watch. So many people knew they were on watch that he thought it was no use to watch any longer. He was watching a loose great coat, one pair of small clothes, 4 gowns and 5 sheets which were within the lean-to of the ice house. Between 6 and 7 he carried all those things except one sheet from the ice house to Trolley’s house. William Peacock was at Trolley’s house and saw him deliver the things. Peacock told him there was another sheet in another part of the ice house. They went back to the ice house and Peacock brought out a sheet from under the lean-to. Peacock took it towards Trolley’s house. He did not go with him. [Cross-examined by Manton] Mobbs believed Manton was following as he stopped when he [Mobbs] stopped. Manton asked if he saw him make water when he stopped against the gate. Mobbs said he did not. Samuel Gaunt of Goldington, labourer – on Tuesday morning as he was going to work at Bedford from Goldington about 5.40am he saw Manton standing on the road within a few yards of Mr Livius’s ice house opposite a gap in the hedge. He believes Manton was making water. He passed him and said “good morning”. Manton replied “good morning”. He asked Manton if he was going gleaning but did not hear his answer. He walked on a couple of chains, turned his head and saw Manton standing about the same spot. James Lane of Thames Street, St Cuthbert Bedford, labourer, aged 14 – he knows Charles Manton. About 7.30pm last Sunday week (Sept 3) as he was coming along the Kimbolton Road he saw Manton standing inside Mr Trolley’s yard lolling over the pales that go from the house down to the gate. He did not see anyone else and did not speak to Manton. When he reached the end of the barn he looked back but could not see the place where Manton stood. At the time he saw Manton he heard a sort of lumbering noise within Trolley’s house, as if a chair was moving in the house downstairs. He did not see any light in the house. He heard the same sort of noise 2 or 3 times afterwards as he passed on. He stopped once against the limehouse to listen. He heard no voices. Manton was standing a little below the hand gate looking into the little garden. He [Lane] was riding a donkey at a foot’s pace. He saw a gentleman in white trousers he did not know on the road before he got to Trolley’s. He saw John Dennis and Henry Dennis in the road before him and overtook them. He had passed the brick kiln before he saw them. He made the donkey hot and nearly overtook them at the end of the town by Mr Livius’s field. He then turned towards St Peters and they went to wards St Cuthberts. [Cross examined by Manton] It was Mr Covington’s donkey he went to fetch. He went about 6pm and had to stop at the turnpike about an hour and a half while Clifton’s boy was gone to Bedford with the donkey. [Cross-examined by Manton] He had to take the donkey to Mr Covington’s first, then to the Bear for the cart harness, and then home. He told his grandfather what he saw when he got home. His grandfather told him “don’t tell me tonight – I’ll speak to you in the morning about it”. His grandfather was in bed. The next morning when he told his grandfather about it his grandfather said Manton was up to no good. Manton was leaning with his elbow on the pales and his face on his hand. He did not see Manton do anything and saw nothing in his hand. Edward Croft of St Paul Bedford, labourer – he works for Messrs Green. Last Monday evening (Sept 4) he heard about the robbery at Trolley’s and searched the adjoining closes. William Peacock and George Mobbs were with him. George Mobbs picked up a pocket book in the corner of the House of Industry Close. They saw it was directing over to Mr Livius’s ice house on the other side of the Goldington Road. They went to the ice house. The thatched roof of the ice house comes down to the ground. There was a hole in the thatch against the ground and they put a little boy, Henry Harris, in the hole. Harris drew out and brought a pair of breeches with him. George Mobbs then crept in and said he had found other things belonging to Trolley. He did not bring any of the things out with him. He saw George Mobbs put the breeches back in to the hole. They then went back to their work at the brick yard and told Trolley what they had seen. That evening he went to watch inside the shrubbery near to the ice house and found Peacock there watching. He then watched all night. On Tuesday morning he went down the Goldington Road towards Goldington and saw Manton sitting in the hedge of the House of Industry Close. He could not see Manton until he got within about 20 yards, and then saw his feet and legs hanging out on the bank. He saw Manton had a bird cage in his hand. He did not speak to Manton. When he left the shrubbery Wiliam Munnnard came to continue the watch. There was nothing in the cage when he was Manton. John Pressland of Brickhill Farm, St Peter Bedford – he left the Moravian chapel at Bedford on Sunday evening about 7.30 and as he was walking along the Kimbolton Road by Trolley’s house on his way home he heard a knocking or noise and stopped to listen. It seemed to come from Trolley’s house or the adjoining stable. He went on perhaps 10 yards further and heard the noise again. He stopped on the road opposite Trolley’s house and could see no light. He concluded the noise was made by the horses in the stable, but it could have come from the house. He was dressed entirely in black. As he entered his house he looked at his clock which was then 5 minutes to 8. His house is about 1 ½ miles from the chapel and about 1 ¼ miles from Trolley’s house. William Peacock of Davies’s Close, St Paul Bedford, labourer – he works for Messrs Green. On Monday morning he went with Edward Croft and George Mobbs to search for the things stolen from Trolley’s house. They went to Mr Livius’s ice house. George Mobbs crept into a hole in the thatch and found a heap of clothes. He told Trolley what had been found and at Trolley’s order he went back to the ice house and got into the hold. He sat close to the things all day to watch them. He looked over all the things and saw there were 4 sheets, 4 gowns, one pair of breeches and a frock coat, and another sheet lay about 6 or 7 yards away by itself. He had not seen any of the things before except the breeches, which Henry Harris, a boy who was with them, pulled out of the thatch of the hice house. He saw Harris put the breeches back in the same place. He watched until 5am on Tuesday afternoon when William Mobbs came to relieve him. He went to Mr Trolley for further orders about the things. Mobbs then came with all the things except one sheet and one band of a gown. He is sure they were the same. He saw William Mobbs deliver them to Trolley. He went back to the ice house and fetched the other sheet and the band of the gown and delivered them to Mr Trolley. He did not see Manton while he was watching. John Whittamore of the Rope Walk, St Mary Bedford – he works for Messrs Green. He searched on Monday morning and in a close of Mr Barnard’s near Mr Wooldridge’s hovel he found a desk by the hedge side in a ditch. It was broken open. There were several books, a pen case, some pens, a knife and different papers in the desk. He took it to Mr Trolley. William Munnard was with him. About 2.15 on Monday afternoon he saw Charles Manton and his brother John Manton coming along the road from Goldington. He was then watching in a roadway, hiding in a ditch. They passed long the road without seeing him. John Manton went over Mr White’s close as far as the stile and sat there a minute or two. He saw no more of him. He saw Charles Manton continue towards Bedford until he lost sight of him. Charles Manton carried something in his apron but he could not see what. Henry Dennis (aged 14) – last Sunday night he was coming along the Kimbolton Raod towards Bedford with his elder brother John Dennis. He saw Joseph Clifton going to is house (the turnpike). When they went by Trolley’s yard he saw Manton standing in the yard looking round the corner of the barn. Three or four more were standing in the yard with him. He did not know the others. They were standing looking round the threshing barn towards the Kimbolton Road. He does not know whether they could see the house from where they stood. He does not know whether John Manton was one of them. About 10am last Wednesday he saw Charles Manton in the Kimbolton Road just by the gate leading into the House of Industry field. A boy named Barrick was with him, who said to Manton “there’s 5 shillings reward for them as tell who broke into Mr Trolley’s house”. Manton said if he knew he would tell. He did not tell Manton he had seen him in the yard. He “was afraid he would me”. Joseph Clifton of Putnoe Turnpike in St Peter Bedford (aged 12 years) - on Sunday evening he saw Manton standing against Mr Shephard’s gate, close behind Mr Trolley’s house. He was going home from Bedford. Manton saw him and said to him “Soldier, are you going home?”. Soldier is his nick name. He said he was. He went on a little wy and looked back. He then saw Manton standing against Mr Robinson’s gate on the opposite side of the road to Trolley’s house. He knew Manton very well. He went along the road towards the turnpike. He met two boys named Dennis. He does not know their Christian names. They are older than him. [Cross examined by Manton] Manton was not making water when he first saw him. He did not see him making water at all. Manton had nothing in his hands when he saw him. Elizabeth Dawson, wife of Isaac Dawson of St Cuthbert Bedford, retail beer seller – her husband keeps a house for the sale of beer at Thames Street. She knows Manton and his brother John. They were both together in her house last Sunday evening. They left just as it was getting dusk. She knows it was half past six as the bells were chiming for the evening service. They went out together. John Manton lives just by. Nobody else was in the house when they left. They had been there about an hour or an hour and a quarter. Henry Harris had also been in the house. He came in before they did and did not belong to their company, and left before they did. John Manton came back again about half past eight. Mary White and a young man, a rush cutter whose name she does not know, were in the house part of the time John and Charles Manton were there. John Hull of St Paul Bedford, brewer – last Monday morning he was going to Newnham by Thames Street. He saw Charles Manton run by him and catch his brother John Manton in Mr Higgins’ last field. They talked together and turned back towards Bedford. He went into Mr Shelton’s close to get some mushrooms. While he was there he saw Charles Manton get over the rails from Mr Higgins’s into Mr Shelton’s close and go towards Mr Shelton’s hovel. John Manton was on the other side of he rails in Mr Higgins’s field. AS soon as Charles Manton saw him he turned back again. They stopped near the rails for a few minutes, then came back again to Mr Shelton’s and waited about the hovel some time. They then went over the close towards Goldington. He searched the hovel but could not find anything. He saw Manton that evening coming out of Mr Higgins’s field by Mr Livius’s plantation. He had a bird cage with him and went towards home. Elizabeth Taylor – her husband keeps a retail beer house in Gravel Lane, St Pauls, Bedford. On Monday evening Charles Manton and John Manton were together drinking in their house from 8 to a little before 10. They had perhaps half a dozen pints of beer between them. She took their money for each pint as she delivered it. She took a shilling from them once, if not twice. John Dennis of Thames Street, St Cuthbert, labourer (aged 16) – a week ago last Sunday he had been with his brother Henry mushrooming. They returned together about 7pm. They came along the Kimbolton Road past Trolley’s house. He did not see anybody but his brother said he saw someone standing behind a tree in Trolley’s yard. His brother did not say who it was or that he saw more than one. He did not see James Lane or Mr Pressland, but saw Clifton’s boy coming along the road by Peter’s Barn going toward the Turnpike. Peter’s Barn is about 60 yards from Trolley’s house, nearer the turnpike. [Cross-examined by Manton] His brother told him he thought somebody was standing behind the tree. He said it was nothing to do with them and they had better go about their business. William Ward of St Paul Bedford, butcher – about 5.20pm on Monday he was coming home along the Goldington Road and saw Charles Manton and another person not quite as tall come over the gate of Mr Barnard’s close and go into the plantation on the other side of the road. The plantation is only separated from Mr Livius’s shrubbery by a small close in the occupation of Mr Dawson the tailor. About 2.30 that afternoon he saw Charles Manton on the road just about the corner of Mr Livius’s shrubbery, walking along the road. Manton had something in his apron. He asked Manton if he had been mushrooming and Manton said he had. When he saw Charles Manton and the other person in the evening they walked quietly towards a gap in the plantation and stood for a minute. They then pretended to push each other and ran down the ditch through the gap into the plantation. He looked over the gap but could not see them. There was not time for them to have got out of his sight unless they had hidden themselves. Charles Manton [8th September] - he knows nothing at all about this job and as to that boy (Henry Dennis) seeing him it is very false. He was not there at all. Young Richard Barrick heard him say he saw some chaps round the barn but could not tell who they were. He was at work at Charles Small’s at Goldington yesterday in in a field against Renhold about 3 miles away when his father came and told him Mr Coombs had been to their house for him and had got his brother, on suspicion of the house breaking at Mr Trolleys. His father said if he knew anything about it he was to cut off directly and he would give him 2 or 3 shillings rather than have him go to Gaol. He said he knew nothing about it and had nothing to cut for, so would come home as soon as he finished work. Mr Small paid him and he went home. He told his mother he would go to Mr Coombs in the morning to see what he wanted him for. He went to bed and had been in bed about 5 minutes when Mr Coombs came and apprehended him. Charles Manton [13 September] – he was at home at 7.30 on Sunday night a week ago. He had his supper and was gone to bed when his father came home from Church. His brother knows well.

item

Manton, Charles,
Trolley, John,
Whittamore, John,
Clifton, Joseph,
Dawson, Elizabeth,
Dawson, Isaac,
Croft, Edward,
Gaunt, Samuel,
Hull, John,
Green, Thomas Abbott,
Green, Thomas John,
Mobbs, William,
Peacock, William,
Lane, James,
Mobbs, George,
Harris, Henry,
Dennis, John,
Dennis, Henry,
White, Mary,
Ward, William,
Barrick, Richard,
Livius,
Higgins,
Dawson,
Barnard

BEDFORD, Bedford St.Peter, Bedford St.Mary, Bedford St.Cuthbert, Bedford Rope Walk, Bedford Kimbolton Road, Bedford Thames Street, GOLDINGTON, Putnoe, Bedford Brickhill Farm, Bedford Gravel Lane, breaking & entering, brickmaker, beer retailer, brewer, turnpikes, furniture, household goods, books, money, clothing, gown, coat, linen, cutlery, handkerchief, brickworks, kiln, ice houses, gleaning, donkeys, Bedford Bear, butcher, tailor, mushrooms