QSR1898/1/5/5

Depositions of Emily Jane Wheeler, Lilian Wheeler, Ralph Symes and Richard Clarke. In the case of George Cole, accused of stealing an earthenware pint pot.

23 September 1897

From: 1897 To: 1898

Emily Jane Wheeler: the wife of John Wheeler, landlord of the Anchor Inn in Maulden. Around the month of September the prisoner came into the inn during one evening. The prisoner had a pint of beer served to him in a blue earthenware mug. She went out of the room into the cellar and when she came back up the steps she saw the prisoner leaving the inn with the mug in his hand. She asked the prisoner where he was going with the mug and he replied that he would be back in a minute. The prisoner returned in about 15 minutes. She asked him for the mug and the prisoner replied that he had brought it back. She said that she did not believe him but she could not be sure as there were several similar mugs on the table. The prisoner assured her that he had brought it back. On 15th December she went to the prisoner’s house to ask him to serve and work. She saw the pint pot on his mantel shelf. She identified the mug by the position of the stamp. She asked him to have a look at the mug and brought it away with her, though the prisoner came after her and took it back. She then informed the police. Lilian Wheeler: the daughter of Emily Jane Wheeler and John Wheeler, living at the Anchor Inn in Maulden. She identified the mug as her father’s property by the position of the stamp and a blue ring at the edge. She had washed the mug many times. Ralph Symes: a police constable stationed at Maulden. On 15th December from information received from Mrs. Wheeler, he went to the prisoner’s house and found the pint pot. The prisoner said that he had bought it at Ampthill about 3 months ago. He took the pot to Mrs. Wheeler and she indentified it as her property. He went back to the prisoner’s house and told the prisoner that the pot had been indentified as Mrs. Wheeler’s property. The prisoner replied that the pot was not hers and that he had bought it at Ampthill off a man with a van there. He asked the prisoner for the name of the man from Ampthill and he replied that he did not know the man’s name but that he was short. Another man standing by said that the prisoner means Mr. Clarke, who comes from Marston. The prisoner added that the man was Mr. Clarke. He asked the prisoner if he meant the man whose hands shake and the prisoner replied that he did. Richard Clarke: an earthenware dealer of Marston. He did not have a pot in his possession like the pot belonging to Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, and he had never sold one to the prisoner. George Cole: I reserve my defence.

item

Wheeler, Emily Jane,
Wheeler, Lilian,
Symes, Ralph,
Clarke, Richard,
Cole, George

MAULDEN, AMPTHILL, Marston, landlord, dealers, police constables, stealing, earthenware