QSR1868/4/5/10

Depositions of Ann Reed, widow and shopkeeper. Ann Rogers, wife of William, brickmaker of Riseley. Ada Farrer, spinster of Riseley. Martha Rowney, infant. Susannah Sharman, wife of James and mother of the accused. In the case of Sarah Sharman accused of stealing money from a dwelling house.

8 September 1868

From: 1868 To: 1868

Ann Reed: she lived in Riseley where she kept a shop. Her only sitting room opened into the shop. On Monday 24 August about 7.30pm she had occasion to go for some beer. She shut the shop door and the yard gate leading to the street. She went to the Oak public house about 20 yards from her house and met the prisoner on the way. She saw no one else in the street. She had been gone from her house for about 3 minutes and when leaving the Oak she saw the prisoner coming from the shop. The prisoner stopped by the outer gate until she got to her. The shop door was open. She asked the prisoner why she was there and the prisoner said she wanted half a pound of four penny currants. She served her with the currant and the prisoner paid with a shilling and had change. When she went to the Oak she counted the money in the till, which was a drawer. There had been 11s 6d. She did not count it again until an hour after her return. She took the money from the till as she usually did on closing the shop and found only 8s 6d in silver. 3s 6d was missing. She had not transacted any business since the currants. She had been in the house or the shop since then and the door between them had always been open. A woman named Roberts came in and paid 5s for tobacco in coppers. Another woman came in for some cheese but did not pay for it. Another girl came in for some suckers which she paid for. The prisoner had a mother and father. [cross examined] no one was in the shop when she left it. No one could have come into the shop without her knowing. Part of the money lost was a half crown piece. Ann Rogers: she lived in a house opposite Mrs Reed. She remembered the night of 24 August and saw Mrs Reed going out of her house about 7.30pm. Whilst Mrs Reed was away she saw the young person open the shop door and when she looked again the young woman was at the gate. The door was open. She did not know how long Mrs Reed had gone. Ada Farrer: she knew the prisoner well as she was a companion of hers. She recalled that on 24 August about 7.50pm she had been in the prisoner company outside the chapel gate near the prisoner’s parent’s house and near Mrs Reeds. The prisoner said she had been to Mr Savage’s for some currants, tea and sugar to make her father some currant gruel as he was ill. The prisoner was eating currants which she said her mother had given her. The prisoner had a half crown piece, a sixpence and a penny in her hand. The prisoner asked her to get her half a penny worth of suckers from Mrs Reed’s. They went into Mrs Reeds together and the prisoner gave her a penny to pay for the suckers. The prisoner said the money was her mothers but that half penny was her own. She was not long in the prisoners company as the prisoner’s mother came to fetch her. The prisoner wrapped the money in paper and held it in her hand. The prisoner did not give the money to her mother. She went home. [cross examination] she was confident Martha Rowney was not with her that evening. She did not see Mrs Reed until Wednesday morning when Mrs Reed, the policeman and the prisoner were together. The prisoner said she had never had a half crown and had shown her large and small peppermints. The policeman told the prisoner not to tell lies when she said she had not stolen the money. Her sister Anna was there too. Ann Reed [further examined]: she sent for the prisoner on Tuesday morning and asked her to go for some lard for her. After the prisoner came back she spoke to her about the money. She asked why the prisoner had gone into her house whilst she had been at the Oak. The prisoner replied she had thought her to be back. She told the prisoner of the loss and the prisoner said she hoped she did not suspect her. She went to the prisoner’s mother and asked Mrs Sharman if she had given her daughter any money the previous night. The mother denied doing so. Afterwards at Farrer’s house the prisoner turned out her pockets and had nothing in them. The prisoner’s mother was present. The prisoner said the Swinehead girl had given her a shilling to get some currants with. The prisoner’s mother had said she did not have a halfpenny to give the child. Statement of the accused: she was not guilty and wished to call a witness. Martha Rowney: an infant aged 13 years. She knew Sarah Sharman and she was her constant playfellow. She knew Ada Farrer. She saw Sarah and Ada on the night of 24 August. Sarah came up to her and asked her to look at her money. No one else was with them. She asked Sarah to give her one and the prisoner replied she could not but might give her half one. Sarah did so. When the prisoner said “look at my money” she had produced some peppermints which were a little bigger than a shilling and white. She did not see the prisoner with any money. They stopped and spoke to Ada Farrer. That was before the prisoner showed her the money. Ada Farrer was at her own house. She did not see Ada on Tuesday or Wednesday night. Sarah Sharman told her that her mother had given her the peppermints. They were cousins. Susannah Sharman: she was the wife of James, a labourer, and the prisoner was her daughter. She remembered Monday 24 August and on that day she gave her daughter some peppermints. She recollected her daughter coming home in the evening and she did not see any money. The following morning she was up first and accidently picked up her daughters pocket. She had been looking for something she had lost. There was nothing in the pocket but a necklace and pocket handkerchief. There was no money. On the Monday she had sent her daughter to Mr Bateman’s with a shilling for some change. Her daughter brought it back sixpence short. She discovered she was sixpence short on Tuesday morning. She picked her daughters pocket and it was not there. She woke her daughter and took her to Mr Bateman’s and got the sixpence. She had met her daughter in the street and had called her home about 8.30pm. Her daughter had been with Ada Farrer and several other children playing. She took no notice of the change her daughter brought in that night. She had half a pint of beer and brought her five pence. She did not find out it was only five pence until the next morning.

item

Sharman, Sarah,
Reed, Ann,
Rogers, Ann,
Rogers, William,
Farrer, Ada,
Rowney, Martha,
Sharman, Susannah,
Sharman, James

RISELEY, stealing, brickmaker, shopkeeper