QSR1893/4/5/5

Depositions of Louisa Rolls, Maud Wright, Henry Church, Francis Barclay Wilmer Phillips, Henry Quenby and Charles William Shields. In the case of William Dickinson, accused of indecent assault.

4 August 1893

From: 1893 To: 1893

Louisa Rolls: She was on the Bromham Railway Bridge one Monday afternoon. Maud Wright and Henry Church were with her, and it was about 2.45pm. While they were there a man came up to them. The man was the prisoner, and he asked them if they would come along with him. She and Maud Wright refused to go; however the prisoner took her hands and pulled her along. He took her to and lifted her and Maud Wright over a stile on Bromham Road. The prisoner took them into the middle of a spinney and laid her on the ground. The prisoner lifted her clothes and got on top of her. The prisoner was on top of her for about 10 minutes, though he did not hurt her. When she got home she made a statement to Mrs. Wright. [Cross-Examined] The prisoner pulled her along and he did not sit on the tile while she got over. [Cross-Examined by the Bench] The prisoner was the first to the stile. [Cross-Examined by Prisoner] She did not run anywhere and the prisoner did not say that Mr. Peacock was coming and she ran under the arch. She had not got any peas. She didn’t remember where the prisoner was when she came out of the arch. She did not send the little boy and girl back but they left. She went with the prisoner nearly to his house. She did not hear the prisoner say that she should not go into Mr. Peacocks again as he would be having her up. Maud Wright: A 7 year old. One afternoon she was with Louisa Rolls on Bromham Road Railway Bridge and Henry Church was with them. It was a long time ago. A man, the prisoner, came up to them and spoke to them. They did not reply to the prisoner. The prisoner then dragged her and Louisa Rolls away. She could not remember how they got into the spinney with the prisoner. The prisoner then lifted up Louisa Roll’s clothes as she was in a ditch and then he lay on top of her. The prisoner did not say anything about Mr. Peacock or any peas. [Cross-Examined by Prisoner] She did not remember who got to the stile first and she did not get over the stile. She did not run under the archway and she did not go back after peas or the little boy. She did not ask the prisoner for the time or say that she should wait for her father to come home. [Re-Examined] She did not remember whether she got over the stile herself or was lifted over. Henry Church: He was on the Bromham Road Bridge one afternoon with Louisa Rolls and Maud Wright. The prisoner came up to them and spoke to both the girls. The prisoner asked the girls to come along with him but they refused. The prisoner then took the girls’ hands and took them down the road to a stile. The prisoner got on the stile and lifted the girls over. He went over the stile as well. The prisoner and the two girls then went under an arch. They were having a game and went to hide under the arch and the prisoner went to them. He saw the prisoner lay Maud Wright down and lay on top of her under the arch. Her clothes were up, she pulled them up herself. The prisoner undid his own clothes. When he got home he told his mother what he had seen. [Cross-examined by Prisoner] He was along from the prisoner and the girls under the arch. They all went right down Bromham Road and he saw the prisoner sit on the stile a long time before the prisoner went home. When the prisoner told them to go back for peas there was something the matter with them. When the prisoner went up to the stile he caught hold of the girls’ hands. Francis Barclay William Phillips: A member of the Royal College of Surgeons in practice at Bedford. On 20th he examined Louisa Rolls and found no marks. Henry Quenby: A superintendent stationed in Bedford. He received a warrant and on Wednesday 2nd he received the prisoner from police at St. Ives. He read the warrant to the prisoner. The prisoner said that he thought the girl’s name was ‘Wright’, however he corrected the prisoner and said that she was called ‘Rolls’. The prisoner then said that he never went near her. Charles William Shields: A societies inspector at Bedford. He took out the warrant on the 22nd. The distance from Bromham Road Bridge to the stile is about 400 yards. The arch is 19’ long, 3’ high and 3’ wide. William Dickinson: ‘I am an innocent man’

item

Rolls, Louisa,
Wright, Maud,
Church, Henry,
Phillips, Francis Barclay Willmer,
Quenby, Henry,
Shields, Charles William,
Dickinson, William

BROMHAM, railway bridge, indecent assault, spinney, surgeon