QSR1865/3/5/16-17

Depositions of Thomas Deacon, innkeeper of Luton. Ellen Allen, innkeeper of Luton. Jane Edmunds, wife of George, beer house keeper of Luton. King John Doughty, police constable of Luton. David Jaquest, police constable of Luton. James Rumbles, innkeeper of Luton. William Robinson Raban, silversmith of Luton. In the case of James Dean and Alfred Brown accused of uttering false coin.

24 April 1865

From: 1865 To: 1865

Thomas Deacon: he kept the Cross Keys public house in Luton. On 16 April the 2 prisoners came to the house and called for a half quartern of peppermint. He served them with it. One of the prisoners gave him a good 2 shilling piece and the other took the change. They had a glass a piece and went away. About a quarter of an hour afterwards they came back and asked for the same quantity of peppermint again. He served them and one of them gave him a 2 shilling piece. He gave them the change and they drank up and went away together. He could not say positively which gave him the coin. After they had gone he examined the coin and found it to be a bad one. The same evening he gave it to PC Jaquest and marked it. Ellen Allen: wife of Robert, the keeper of the Eight Bells public house in Church Street, Luton. On the evening of 16 April the prisoner called out the house and asked for a half quartern of gin. He served them and Brown paid with a half crown. He gave them 2s 3d change. They both drank the gin. He suspected the half crown of being bad. They had a second quartern of gin and Dean tendered a half crown in payment. He refused the coin because he suspected the first. He gave the coin back to Dean and he then paid him 3d in copper. They both drank the spirit and then went away. He found the half crown to be a bad one. He gave it to PC Jaquest after he had marked it. Jane Edmunds: wife of George, keeper of a beer shop in Luton near the Eight Bells public house. On 16 April the 2 prisoners came to the house and called for a pint of beer. One of them, possibly Dean, gave her a half crown piece and she gave him 2s 4d in change. She thought it was a bad one and turned round to examine it. The prisoners went away without drinking the beer. She laid the coin aside until PC Doughty came and she marked it and gave it to him. PC King John Doughty: on 16 April he received the counterfeit coin from Mrs Edmunds. PC David Jaquest: on 16 April, from information received, he went in search of the prisoners. He met them coming over the railway footbridge. He stopped them and took them into custody charging them with passing bad money. The prisoner, Brown, took a bad 2 shilling piece out of his pocket and tried to drop it on the ground. He took it from Brown. He found a good florin and 2 shilling pieces in his pocket. Brown said that if he had passed any bad money, or had any about him, he had got it in the City. He found £3 2s 11d in silver of Dean and 9s 5d ½ in copper. It was all good money. Dean said that if he had passed bad money he knew nothing about it. James Rumbles: he kept the Bull public house in Park Street, Luton. On 16 April the prisoners came in and called for a half quartern of gin. Brown gave him a 2 shilling piece but he saw it was a bad one. He told Brown of it and Brown said he did not think it a bad one but gave him another half crown. He gave them the change and they went away. William Raban Robinson: he was a silversmith in Luton. On 17 April he tested the 2 half crown pieces and the 2 two shilling pieces. He found them all to be counterfeit. Statements of the accused: Dean – nothing. Brown – they did not know they had bad money.

item

Dean, James,
Brown, Alfred,
Deacon, Thomas,
Allen, Ellen,
Edmunds, Jane,
Edmunds, George,
Doughty, King John,
Jaquest, David,
Rumbles, James,
Raban, William Robinson

LUTON, passing counterfeit coin, innkeeper, beer retailer, silversmith, Luton Cross Keys, Luton Eight Bells, Luton Bull