QSR1836/1/5/25

Depositions and examination - John Fowler charged wtih stealing a drake and 2 ducks

30 November 1835

From: 1835 To: 1836

Thomas Foxen of Toddington, yeoman – he rents a farm at Toddington called Hearn Green Farm. He had a drake and 4 ducks which he saw in his stable on Saturday evening. The door was not locked. About 7.30am on Sunday he was in his rick yard and his brother John asked if he had seen his ducks. His boy ran immediately to the stable. He also went and found the ducks were not there. The back of the stable is next to the orchard. There is a door in the back which was fastened by a pin with a lash and staple when he left the stable on Saturday evening. There is also a window in the back but no shutter. He believes the person who stole the ducks came in at the window as he saw markes. He went out of the door as the pin was taken out, and tracked the footsteps of 2 men to the stable and from the stable across the orchard to the the stable [sic], and from the stable into the rickyard. At some distance he saw duck feathers on the ground. The shoes of John Fowler of Toddington, labourer, appear to have made one of the tracks. He went to Mr Baker’s at the Queens Head and saw a drake and 2 ducks which are now before the magistrate. He knows them to be his by the marks. The ducks are worth 5 shillings. William Tompkins of Toddington, watchman employed by the parish of Toddington. On Saturday night about 12am he was on duty near the town and saw a man coming out of Mr Benjamin Foxley’s close into the road. He saw a bundle under his arm. He took hold of the man (John Fowler) and took him to the Bell. Inside the bundle he found a drake and 2 ducks (now produced). John Fowler – he had been to Eversholt and on his return home saw 2 men at the top of Toddington Town Close close to the hill. When they saw him they ran. He followed them and found the bundle close to the stile where they ran away.

item

Fowler, John,
Foxen, Thomas,
Foxen, John,
Tompkins, William,
Foxley, Benjamin

TODDINGTON, stealing animals, ducks, farmer, Toddington Hearn Green Farm, Toddington Queens Head, watchman, Toddington Bell