QSR1867/4/5/9a

Depositions of Henry Hutchings, shepherd of Biddenham. Charles Ellis, labourer of 20 Priory Street, Bedford. James Johnson, labourer of Biddenham. James Smith, inmate of Bedford Union Workhouse. Charles Cheshire, police constable of Bedford. In the case of Lewis Barratt, accused of stealing a sheep.

17 September 1867

From: 1867 To: 1867

Henry Hutchings: he was shepherd to William Golding of Biddenham. On 18 December 1866 there were 92 sheep in his master’s field and they were folded. The fold was in the corner of Cauldwell’s piece in Biddenham. About 8am on 19 December he was at the fold and counted the sheep. There were 91. James Johnson came up and had counted them. He examined the fold and found one hurdle had been opened and from that hurdle they found the track of a sheep and mans footmarks. They appeared to be of 2 men. The tracks went into a wheat field. The track went through the gateway and from the gateway up the hedge side to the right hand side for about 8 chains. From that point the track went through a gap on the right hand side, about 4 yards into the corner of another wheat field. There they found the skin of a sheep. The sheep belonged to his master. There was great deal of blood in a drain about 3 yards form there the skin was and the liver, head and entrails were in the skin. He would swear to the head being of one of his master’s sheep. Charles Ellis: he was a labourer and lived at 20 Priory Street, Bedford. On the morning of 19 December he had had been draining fro Mr Golding in a field called Gilbert’s willows in Biddenham. He got there about 7am and saw a sheep skin, the 4 feet and innards of a sheep all wrapped up together in the skin. The head was in the skin and lay on the bank. The skin was lying in the corner of the field about a chain and a half from where he had started work that morning. He tracked the marked of a sheep and a man’s feet from where the sheep skin was lying to the fold in which Mr Golding’s sheep were folded. He saw the marks of 2 men’s feet at times. He afterwards went on with his work and come to quantity of blood in the bottom of a drain. The sheep’s footmarks were from the fold to the field in which the skin was lying. James Johnson: he was the foreman to Mr Golding and lived at Biddenham. He remembered the morning of 19 December. Ellis came to him and said he had found a sheep skin and the head and four feet. He immediately went into the fold and found a track out of the fold and followed the track to where the skin was lying in a corner of Gilbert’s willow. There were the tracks of 2 men and a sheep. There were marks of blood on a gatepost 2 or 3 yards from where the skin was. The legs appeared to have been cut off at the gate post. His master’s mark was on the skin. James Smith: a shoemaker and an inmate of the Bedford Union. He had been in the employment of the accused in December in Prebend Street. He and his master went out on an evening about a fortnight before Christmas. They went up by the Old Workhouse Field at Biddenham and into Clover Field. They looked to see if there were any sheep. They turned back into Mr Golding’s field and his master got over the hedge and drove the sheep up to the corner. One got stuck in the mud. His master took hold of the sheep and led it to the hurdle and told him to undo the string so he could let it out. He did so with a knife and pulled up a stake. His mater led the sheep out and he put the hurdle back in place to shut the others in. His master led the sheep through the gateway towards Bedford and then turned to the right and had hold of its wool. He walked a little behind. His master led the sheep to a drain and tied its legs. After his master had tied its legs, he struck the sheep and cuts its head about half off. The animal was let bleed until it was dead and then drawn into a corner close to the gate and skinned [detailed description]. His master left the skin with entrails wrapped up in the corner. He thought the head was left hanging on the skin. They went home and his master and his wife cut it up. A week or 2 after that they moved from Prebend Street to George Street. The mistress burnt the bones and after she had burnt them she smashed them to powder and she thought they sold about 12lb of fat somewhere. The sheep were in a big fold and his master had taken a sack with him. He had taken a little bag. The master had a bill and a knife. He thought the master took 2 shoulders and part of a sheep with him when he moved from Prebend Street to George Street. They had eaten some of the sheep before they moved. His master had cooked the leg because he had company at Christmas time. Mr Kilpins, Mary Tinsley’s Cook, was there and a young g man was with her by the name of Revitt. Revitt was from Wellingborough. He partook of the leg with them at Christmas. Statement of the accused: he knew nothing about it and that was all he had to say.

item

Barratt, Lewis,
Hutchings, Henry,
Ellis, Charles,
Johnson, John,
Smith, James,
Cheshire, Charles,
Golding, William

stealing animals, sheep, shepherd, Bedford Union Workhouse, Bedford Priory Street, Bedford Prebend Street, BIDDENHAM, Christmas