QSR1869/4/5/16

Depositions of Edmund Graver, foreman of Park Farm, Woburn. George Green, foreman of plumbers at Park Farm, Woburn. John Litchfield, innkeeper of Woburn Sands. James Bennett, grocer's apprentice at Leighton Buzzard. Jonas Barrettt, shipper of good at the railway station at Woburn Sands. George Beeson, checker at the St Mary's Bridge railway station, City Road, Derby. Joseph Adams, 40 Copeland Street, Derby, a carman. Horatio Cade Simpson, manger for Messrs Cox and Company, lead merchant of Derby. William Shepherd, superintentdent of police for the division of Woburn. Joseph Pearce, labourer of Ridgmont. In the case of William Farr, labourer late of Woburn, accused of received 200 pound weight of lead knowing it to be stolen.

22 September 1869

From: 1869 To: 1869

Edmund Graver: he lived at Park Farm, Woburn and was a foreman there in the employment of his Grace the Duke of Bedford. There were some hovels and stable in the parks near Froxfield [?] gate. They stood in 3 separate lots. There was a stable, a hovel and a chaff house under each roof which had leaden gutter at the back of the building. The gutter was enclosed between the building and the park wall. The last time he saw the lead was in the first week of April. It was safe then. There was some hay in the stable which remained from April to 17 September. When it was removed there was damp to be seen between the wall and the stable which came through into the stable. Upon searching he found that a portion of the leaden gutter had been removed. Part of the gutter remained. On Saturday 18 September he was present when part of the gutter was cut off by George Green, the plumber and the portion was patterned with some lead the superintendent had. It fitted exactly. George Green: he was living at the Park Farm in Woburn and was foreman of the plumbers there, in the employ of his Grace the Duke of Bedford. There were several hovel and paddocks near to Floxfield [?] Gate in Woburn Park and the stable adjoining. On 18 September he went with the superintendent of police to the said hovels and stables and found some lead had been removed from the buildings in the park. There was lead remaining on the roof of one of the buildings. The hovel and the stables were all under one roof. The superintendent had some lead in his possession which he patterned with the remaining lead on the roof. They fitted exactly. He cut a strip if the led on the building which formed part of the gutter and delivered it to the Superintendent. It was that strip which matched exactly. There was a quantity of flashing missing from the buildings. It was 4 feet 6 inches long. He would say there was about 200 pound weight of lead missing and had a value of 40 shillings. The narrow slop of the lead was what he cut off the building and the other pieces were what the superintendent had. John Litchfield: he lived at Woburn Sands and was an innkeeper. He knew the prisoner and had dealt with him. On the Tuesday before Whitsuntide, in the month of May, he was passing through Woburn on his way to Leighton market. He saw the prisoner and another man in Woburn. The other man asked him if he would buy some lead and he said knew nothing about lead. He told the man he was Newport the next day and he should see if Mr Odell, who bought that sort of thing. He saw Odell and asked what he was to give for the lead and Odell mentioned 12 shillings a hundred weight. On his return from Newport he saw the prisoner Farr and said he would give him 11s 6d a cwt for the lead. The prisoner made no reply. The following Thursday the prisoner and another man brought the lead to his house. It was in 2 bags and he threw them down in the yard. Farr had 2 empty tea chests with him and he gave him directions to have the lead packed. He gave the prisoner 34s 6d for 3 cwt of lead. He sent the lead down to the station at Woburn Sands and went with it. It was consigned to Messrs Cox and Company of Derby. There was a cord nailed on to the tea chest. The lead was sent in the tea chests. He had asked the prisoner several times since who he had the lead from and the prisoner always said he did not know. [cross examination] he did not ask the other man his name but the man said his name was Peace. He never asked where the lead was or how much there was. He sold the lead to Mr Odell. There was 300 weight and some odd pounds. It was 6 weeks ago that he gave the money to Odell. He bought the cart about the same time. It was 10am when he first saw the prisoner and about 3pm when the lead was brought. He had never seen the lead since before today. He never looked at the lead or saw it out of the bags. He saw the boxes at the station buy no what was in them. He couldn’t say that the lead produced was the same as he never saw it all. The ropes on the chests were his and he could swear to the chests. He did not put the ropes on. The witness, Pearse was not the man who came with the prisoner. Farr told him the same day that the other man paid him a shilling for carrying the lead. James Bennett: he was apprentice to Mr Emery the grocer. On 13 May he was in Mr Emery’s shop at Woburn. Emery had a shop there and in Leighton. He sold 2 tea chests to the prisoner. Farr paid 10d for the chests. The chests were similar to those produced. Jonas Barrett: he was a shipper at the Woburn Sands station and lived in Aspley Guise. On 13 May between 4 and 5pm he received 2 chests at the station by Mr Eve’s cart. They were brought to the station by Mr Litchfield and Mr Eve’s man. He saw the directions put on the chests by Mr Litchfield. They were directed to Messrs Cox at Derby. By the orders of Mr Odell they were sent to Cox. The 2 tea chests produced were similar to those sent. The weight of the chests and content s was about 3 cwt and 27lbs. Litchfield informed him the chests contained lead. George Beeson: he was a checker at Derby and was in the employ of the Midland Railway Company. On 13 May he checked 2 chests of lead which he received from Rugby. They were put upon a stage for Pickford to deliver them to Cox and Company, Derby. He believed the chests produced were the same. They were originally invoiced from Woburn. Joseph Adams: he lived at Derby and was a carman to Messrs Pickford at the Midland Railway Company. On 15 may he took 2 boxes of lead to Messrs Cox’s Lead Works and delivered them there. They were tea chest similar to those produced. They were corded the same. Old lead did not often come in boxes. Horatio Cade Simpson: he was a manager of Messrs Cox and Company. On 15 May 2 boxes were delivered by the railway company. The last witness was the carman. In consequence of a telegram received before the goods were delivered from Superintendent Shepherd, the goods were placed on one side for inspection. On 20 May the superintendent came to Derby and he delivered the boxed to him. The lead was unpacked in his presence and the boxed contained sheet lead, rolled up. They had been sent by the directions on the box from Mr Odell at Newport with who they were in the habit of doing business. The 2 chest produced were similar to the boxes received and were tied with the same rope. Superintendent William Shepherd: on 14 May he received a quantity of lead which had been sent By Mr Litchfield from Woburn Sands railway station to Derby consigned to Messrs Cox and Company. He sent a telegraph message to Messrs Cox to detain the lead until they heard from him. From further enquiries he learnt that the prisoner had sold the lead to Mr Litchfield on the previous day. On 15 May he went to the prisoner’s house and saw him. He saw he had heard that the prisoner had sold some lead to Litchfield and the prisoner relied he had not. He asked the prisoner to give an account of how he came by the lead and the prisoner said he must go and see before he gave account for it. The prisoner turned himself round as if to walk away and went a step or two but then came back and said that he may as well tell the truth. The prisoner said he was going past the turn that went to the Brickhouse Green in his cart and a man was standing at the corner with something in sacks and a barrow. The man asked if he was going to Hog Stye End and he said he was. The man asked him if he wanted to earn a shilling and asked him to take the boxes to Mr Litchfield. The man lifted the sacks off the barrow and put them into his cart. He could see they were something heavy. He took them in the cart and the man followed behind with his barrow. When he got to the Sands he went into Mr Litchfield’s yard and the man came and took the bags from the cart and gave him a shilling. The prisoner said that was all he knew about it. Asked if he knew the man the prisoner said he was a stranger to him but he had been told his name was Thomas Pearse of Ridgmont. He went to Ridgmont and found a Thomas Pearse there aged 14. On 20 May he went to Derby and fetched the chests from Messrs Cox and Company. On 17 September he received information that a quantity of lead had been stolen a building in Eversholt. He took a portion of the lead he had bought from Derby and compared it with the lead. It corresponded exactly. He apprehended the prisoner the same day and charged him with receiving the lead well knowing it to be stolen. The prisoner said he knew nothing about it but afterwards said that the man who put the sacks in the cart was names Joseph Pearse of Ridgmont. Joseph Pearce: he lived at Ridgmont and was a labourer. He knew the prisoner by sight but had not had any dealings with him. He did not know Litchfield. He had not asked the prisoner to take lead from Birchmore Turn to Woburn Sands. On the Thursday before Whitsuntide he was working for Mr Brown at Brixton on the other side of London and remained another 3 weeks. Statement of the accused: he reserved his defence.

item

Farr, William,
Graver, Edmund,
Green, George,
Litchfield, John,
Bennett, James,
Barrett, Jonas,
Beeson, George,
Adams, Joseph,
Simpson, Horatio Cade,
Shepherd, William,
Pearce, Joseph,
Duke of Bedford

WOBURN, WOBURN SANDS, Derby, RIDGMONT, receiving stolen goods, lead, railway worker, foreman, plumber, innkeeper, manager, carman, Woburn Sands station