QSR1836/1/5/30

Depositions and examination - William Pettit of Maulden

21 December 1835

From: 1835 To: 1836

John Chapman of Clophill, shoemaker – last Tuesday evening he went out to buy a parcel of leather. He bought it from Mr May of Ampthill for £1 12s 6d. There was a small cord tied round it and it was packed up in a handkerchief. He brought it away on his shoulder and carried it as far as the Green Man at Clophill. He went in there a little after 7pm. He called for a pint of beer in the tap room. He put the parcel down in a chair under the window opposite the fireplace. There were only 2 people in the tap room – Mr Kempston and John Underwood. The next person to come in was William Pettit who asked Kempston to lend him a penny. Several other people then came in. As he was leaving at about 8.30 he missed his parcel. He enquired about it both then and the next morning but could not hear anything about it. The parcel contained 4 different sorts of leather. One side of [heaf?] weighed 5 ¼ lbs, there were 2 pieces of Cordovan weighing about 4lbs, and the other was a piece they call crop for outer soles. There were also 2 bellies for insoles weighing about 7lbs. The price was marked in the centre of the crop leather with a lead pencil. He wetted the crop leather to make it fold easier. Robert Langridge of Flitton, shoemaker – Pettit came to his house last Tuesday night with a parcel which he said he had picked up on the road. He asked Pettit whether he had stolen it but he said he had not. Pettit asked whether he would give £1 for it. He said perhaps they should find an owner for it. He gave Pettit 1s 9d. On Wednesday Pettit sent for him to come up to Mrs Thorngate’s public house at Flitton. He asked the landlady to let Pettit have a shilling’s worth of beer scored up to him. He asked Pettit whether he had found an owner for the leather. Pettit said he had not. He gave him another shilling. He went home and Pettit followed him. He gave Pettit 5s. Pettit came again the next day and he allowed him to score up 1s 10d in beer. On Saturday he saw Pettit at the public house and asked whether he had found an owner. He then gave him half a crown. He told Pettit he would not give him any more until he had found an owner or ascertained what it was worth. He measured the leather on Saturday and began to cut it up. On Sunday evening he heard Mr Chapman had lost some leather. Early on Monday morning he went to Clophill and told Mr Chapman what he had received from Pettit. They went and called up Pettit at Maulden and took him into custody. Pettit brought the leather to his house with a string tied round it. He was to give Pettit more money if it was worth more and if he did not find an owner for it. There was no handkerchief with the leather. When the parcel came to him the leather was wet. John Underwood of Clophill, shoemaker – he was in the Green Man at Clophill on Tuesday evening when Mr Chapman came in and laid his parcel down in the tap room. It was tied up in a blue plaid handkerchief. He saw Pettit come in. The leather was so exposed that any body could see it. This morning he asked Pettit where he had found it. Pettit said he did not know where and could not tell him what time he found it. William Pettit – he found it on the highway and took it to Mr Langridge just as he found it.

item

Pettit, William,
Chapman, John,
Langridge, Robert,
Underwood, John,
May,
Thorngate,
Kempston

CLOPHILL, MAULDEN, FLITTON, stealing, leather, shoemaker, Clophill Green Man