QSR1837/3/5/27-28

Depositions and examinations - William Whittemore an Nathan Clark of Biggleswade

20 June 1837

From: 1837 To: 1837

Thomas Trolley of Biggleswade – he is foreman of the brick yard of Robert Lindsill at Biggleswade. On Friday 9 June he missed a quantity of cloth sacking used to cover the clay in the brick field. He has not seen that sacking again until this morning, when James Barber the constable of Biggleswade produced some to him at the house of Mr John Fone. He knows the pieces to part of those he lost by the marks of scorching and burning caused by the fire of the kiln. The sacking was brought to the kiln on 3 May. William Burton of Biggleswade – on 3 May he sold a quantity of sacking cloth to William Edwards of Biggleswade, carpenter, which he understood from him at the time was for Mr Lindsell’s brick kilns, to be used for covering the clay. He examined the pieces of cloth produced by constable James Barber and can swear they were part of that material. He can identify them by marks in ink on some parts of the cloth. James Barber of Biggleswade, constable – on Wednesday 14 June he went to Mr Fone’s loft to look at some hempen cloth and took away the pieces now produced. There are two more pieces which appear to have been on the fire which he took away from the same place this morning. Elizabeth Cook of Biggleswade – she is the housekeeper to Mr Fone of Biggleswade. One morning 2 or 3 weeks ago Nathan Clark brought a bundle of old sacking or bacon bags to Mr Fone’s shop for sale. The boy weighed it in her presence. She paid Nathan Clark 3s for it. The next morning Clark and Whittamore came to the shop with some more rags of the same type which the boy weighed and she paid for. She does not remember how much she paid for them, or whether it was the next morning or the morning after, but she is sure it was the same week. The rags were all put in a pail in the loft by themselves and stayed there until Barber the constable took them away. Nathaniel (alias Nathan) Clark and William Whittamore – declined to say anything. [Also charge sheet, showing that Robert Lindsell prosecutes William Whittamore and Nathanial (alias Nathan) Clark for stealing sundry pieces of hempen cloth, value 1s]

item

Whittamore, William,
Clark, Nathaniel,
Clark, Nathan,
Trolley, Thomas,
Lindsell, Robert,
Barber, James,
Burton, William,
Edwards, William,
Fone, John

BIGGLESWADE, stealing, cloth, brickyard, brick making, kiln, foreman, brickmaker, carpenter, constable, housekeeper