QSR1898/1/5/14

Depositions of Elizabeth Buckingham, Alfred Dickens, Alice Franklin and Frederick Harris. In the case of George Senior, accused of stealing a sum of money.

14 January 1898

From: 1898 To: 1898

Elizabeth Buckingham: wife of Thomas Buckingham, innkeeper of Houghton Regis. On 11th January between 4.30pm and 5pm, the prisoner came into the “Wheat Sheaf” Inn. The prisoner asked for a half pint of beer and she served him. When the prisoner was paying he took a penny out of his pocket and said that it was the last penny that he had. She put the penny into the till and then left the bar for a minute or two. She then returned to the bar to attend to the drayman. When she went to the bar again the prisoner was there alone. She admitted the drayman and then she left the bar again for two or three minutes. She returned to the bar to draw some beer for a customer which she took away. The prisoner was still at the bar. She had no occasion to go to the till then and did not notice anything peculiar. The prisoner was standing by the bar. She was away from the bar for about three or four minutes and returned to find the prisoner had gone. She had occasion to change six pence and found the dish containing the money and the contents had gone. There was about six to eight shillings in the till before and she was sure that there was also a two shilling piece and several sixpences. She was sure that nobody could have entered the bar without her knowing it. The door between the tap room and the bar was wide open. Anyone in the bar could have reached over and opened the till. She couldn’t see the till from where she was. [Cross-Examined] The drayman came into the bar while she was there and she saw the drayman leave. Alfred Dickens: labourer of Houghton Regis. He went into the “Wheat Sheaf” at 4.45pm on the 11th January. He went straight into the tap room. He saw a man, whom he couldn’t recognise again, leaning on the bar. He called from some beer and Mrs. Buckingham fetched it from the bar. He was in the tap room for some four to five minutes talking to Mr. Buckingham. The door leading into the bar was open but from where he sat he could not see the man standing at the bar. He heard some money jingle as if in a basin and almost immediately after he saw the man leave, bidding Mrs. Buckingham, “Good evening”. A minute or two after the man had left Mrs. Buckingham went into the bar and exclaimed that the money was gone. No one besides the man he saw leaning on the bar went into the bar whilst he was there. [Cross-Examined] He didn’t speak to Mrs. Buckingham when he heard the money jingle. Alice Franklin: landlady of Dunstable. She recognized the prisoner as he had come into her inn on 11th January at about 5pm. The prisoner called for a glass of beer and she served him. The prisoner gave her six pence and she gave him five pence change. The prisoner then asked if she would oblige him with a two shilling piece for four sixpences. She gave the prisoner two separate shillings as she did not have a two shilling piece. The prisoner had another glass of beer and then left. [Cross-Examined] She was certain of the date and time. She had only seen the prisoner once before on New Years Eve. She remembered him well because the prisoner addressed her by name and referred to his previous visit and she was certain of the time because the prisoner said that he was going by the 5pm train. Frederick Harris: police constable stationed at Upper Houghton. At 5.10pm on 11th January he received information from Mrs. Buckingham. He found the prisoner at 6.10pm at Church Street Station, Dunstable. He was not in uniform but he told the prisoner who he was and that he should take him into custody on a charge of stealing money from a till at the “Wheat Sheaf”. The prisoner was he knew nothing about it and that he had taken his ticket for Sandy and wanted to go. He told the prisoner that he should search him and he took from the prisoner’s pocket a two shilling piece, two separate shillings, a halfpenny and a railway ticket for Sandy. He took the prisoner to the “Wheat Sheaf” and upon searching the prisoner again he found a bundle of basket makers’ tools with him. [Cross-Examined] The prisoner was quite willing to accompany him. George Senior: Nothing to say.

sub-file

Buckingham, Elizabeth,
Dickens, Alfred,
Franklin, Alice,
Harris, Frederick,
Senior, George,
Buckingham, Thomas

HOUGHTON REGIS, DUNSTABLE, SANDY, Landlord, Landlady, Public House, stealing, money, police constable