George Anderson

135

C H on 1st March 2024

Old Bailey Online GEORGE ANDERSON. WILLIAM TUCKER. Theft; theft from a specified place. 3rd January 1833 Text type Trial account Defendants GEORGE ANDERSON, WILLIAM TUCKER Offences Theft > Theft from place Session Date 3rd January 1833 Reference Number t18330103-178 Verdicts Guilty, Not guilty Punishments Transportation 432. GEORGE ANDERSON and WILLIAM TUCKER , were indicted for stealing, on the 14th of November , at St. Sepulchre, 28 sovereigns, 4 half-sovereigns, 4 crowns, and two 5l. Bank notes, the monies of John Hayford , in his dwelling house . JOHN HAYFORD . I am a lath-render , and live in St. John street, in the parish of St. Sepulchre . On Wednesday, the 14th of November, at eight o'clock in the evening, I saw my money safe - it was kept in a drawer in my bed-room; I had 41l. there - there were twenty-eight sovereigns; four half-sovereigns; two 5l. Bank notes, and four 5s. pieces; the prisoners were both my apprentices - my drawer was locked; Anderson slept in my house - I had not seen him in the house myself after eight o'clock, as I went out at eight; the drawer was then locked, and the bed-room door was bolted - I left my wife at home; I was sent for in half an hour, and went to my bed-room; I found the drawer laying on the ground and the money gone - I think it must have been done by a picklock-key; I saw no marks of violence on the drawers - the key had been left in my bed-room door, and when I left the house, the back door leading into the yard was bolted; neither of the prisoners were in the house when I returned - I went to Tucker's father-in-law, who keeps the John of Jerusalem public-hosue, opposite Aylesbury-street, and there found both the prisoners in the back parlour, (Tucker generally left the house about four o'clock;) I have not seen a farthing of the money since - I stopped the notes at the Bank, but have not heard of them; the prisoners seemed to experience grief at my loss, and Anderson came home. The week before the robbery took place, Tucker had said at tea-time, that he was in want of shoes, and said he did not like to ask his mother for any money, because of the old man, meaning his father-in-law - I have since the robbery seen new shoes in his possession; he has bought one pair of boots and one pair of shoes, and has got his watch out of pawn since the robbery; I did not know that his watch was in pawn - he had been in cuscustody, but discharged for want of evidence; I took him again on Thursday, the 29th of November, and before that I had seen him in possession of new boots and shoes, and his watch; my wife has died since that. Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Tucker has been taken up twice? A. Yes, he was taken on the night of the robbery - Anderson was examined against him at the first examination by the Magistrate's order. GEORGE NORMAN . I am a jeweller by trade, and live at No. 10, Peter-street, Cow-cross. I know both the prisoners; Anderson came to my place on Sunday, the 11th of November alone; he said he was very short of money, and he said, so help his God, he and Tucker intended to rob his master before the week was out - he said he had pick, or picks in his possession, sufficient to do it, he had been in the bed-room that day - he put the pick in the lock; he said it stuck in the lock - he said he had got it out, but he had scarce time to get it out, as his master came suddenly into the room; he said he had made an excuse to go into the room for some boots - I had seen Tucker at his mother's house on the 10th, the day before; Anderson was not present - he said they intended to do the robbery at supper-time, when the old man was gone out; Anderson said Tucker would go down into the kitchen first, and bother the old woman as much as he could - I understood him to mean his mistress, and to make as much noise as he could in coming down stairs, so as to enable him to go into the room without being heard, and while he was going down Anderson was to go into the room, and attempt the robbery - this was told me on the 11th; he said Tucker was to go up stairs and receive the property of him, and then Anderson was to go down stairs, and bother the old woman about some onions, which were in a net, and which he knew he should not get - that was all that passed; Anderson came to my place again on the 16th - I knew where Hayford lived; he told me the job was done, and said he had thrown the picks down the privy, for he was afraid to keep them in his possession - I never saw them with any picks, but believe one has been found in the privy since; I gave my evidence at Hatton-garden - I said I did not believe they intended any such thing, and it had slipped my memory - I said I should look in the newspapers, and if I saw an advertisement, I should give information; he said, if I would keep quiet, and not make any bother about it, he would try and get me a few pounds - I said I should do nothing of the kind, if I saw any thing I should certainly go - I saw him again on the 29th, and then saw he was altered in his dress and purse, and that strengthened my suspicions; and I that day went to Mr. Hayford's house, and asked him if he had met with any loss; I told him the conversation the prisoners had with me, and they were taken up - I have worked for masters as a jeweller, and likewise on my own account. Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Did you state to the Magistrate the conversation you had with Tucker? A. No, I omitted that: I told the Magistrate Tucker had said so help his God he would have the old man's money, but not the conversation we had at his mother's house; I forgot it - I am married; I have gone by the name of Johnson, as I got into trouble about a crown-piece, having been seen in company with a person who uttered it - I have gone by another name but forget what; I have gone by the name of Jackson, but only when I was in trouble - I have been in trouble two or three times about bad money; I went by the name of Simpson for the same reason - I did not know the money was bad - I was only in gaol for a day or two; I was discharged, as I was innocent - I do not think I have gone by any other names; I have been in two or three gaols, but only for a day or two - I was in Horsemonger-lane, the Compter, and Clerkenwell; I have had a dark-lantern in my possession, but never had a centre-bit or crow-bar - I lodged at Mrs. Penhall's - I had her back room second floor; I only had one room; I left a dark, lantern behind me there, but not a centre-bit or crowbar - I left there suddenly, but left some shirts and stockings behind, for my rent - I owed her 7s. 6d. I took her keys with me - I went to ask her to let me have my things, and said then I would write to the country for some money, and give her her keys; I left a chisel behind - it may be a ripping-chisel; I left no pick lock there - I do not know what a picklock is; that is the chisel I left there; I had it from my brother, to do a job with - this screw-driver is mine. Q. Look at this (producing a pick lock key)? A. I swear I never saw that till now - my father lived at the Bull-inn, at Norfolk; I was there about six weeks, on a visit; my mother lives five miles across a common, and I had the lantern to go there with. COURT. Q. How long was you in prison on these charges? A. Several days on each; I was never tried, but discharged from the office. ELIZA WOOD . I live in the same house as Norman lives in - I have lived there between four and five months; Norman has lived there the same period of time I did not inhabit the same part of the house when I first went there, I lived in the front room, on the same floor as the back room I now live in; I know Anderson, and have seen him there a hundred times - he came there of an evening, to pass half an hour when he had time; he came to see us both as a companion and friend - he was more intimate with Norman than me; on Sunday, the 11th of November, 1832, I heard him say he was short of money, and that he should rob the old man, Mr. Hayford, before the week was out, with an oath; I do not exactly recollect what he said on Sunday - he came again on Monday, the 12th, about half-past six o'clock, and from that to seven; he came on Sunday from half-past six to nine - I heard him say, on Monday, that his master had a sum of money for wood, which he had boarded, and which, I believe, he said, he was going to pay for wood; he had then in his possession a sort of instrument, which, he called a pick, which, I believe, was made from an iron skewer - I saw it, and broke it, puting it into the spout of the tea-kettle; this was before this charge was made against him; he then said he would make haste home before his master, (he had been with his master to measure the wood), and he should try the pick in the lock; his master, I understood, was then gone to measure the wood - he said he was going with his master to assist in measuring; I heard nothing further that evening, but on Tuesday, the 13th, he called about the sametime, he said that he had tried the pick in the lock and it would open the drawer - he said then, with an oath, that he would have the money before the week was out; nothing further passed - I saw him again on the Friday following; he was in the room about ten minutes before Norman came in;(what he said on former occasions did not pass in Norman's hearing - I believe Norman was in the room on the Wednesday night, but not on the Monday or Tuesday - we all three stood together on Friday;) Norman must have heard it - he said the job was done; I suppose he meant the robbery - he said he was a sort of evidence taken up against Tucker, his fellow apprentice, and when taken by the Policeman (meaning Mr. Hayford's son), that he had a pick, or picks in his pocket, and that he asked leave of the Policeman to go to the privy, and had thrown them into the privy - I saw him again on the Wednesday after the Friday: he said then that he was going up to Hatton-garden on Tuesday, as a witness against Tucker - I did not see him again till about the middle of the week; it might be Thursday or Friday - he then said that the old man had done no good - it was all hushed up; he did not explain what he meant; he said Tucker had been discharged: he came again on the Sunday, and appeared very flush of money, and said he had been tossing with Tucker - I saw silver in his possession; he said he had won 8s. or 9s., and he said he had bought a new great-coat, which he had on; and he never had it before - he at first said that he had bought it of Tucker, and then that he had bought it in Field-lane for 14s. - he paid 1s. for a pack of cards, on Sunday morning; he bought them of a person up stairs in the house I lived in - he paid 18d. for an umbrella, and he changed 3s. or 4s. in the day - I saw him do all this; nobody was in the room but myself - he came again in the afternoon, and changed another shilling - when he came in he sent for a pint of ale, then for a quartern of gin, and then a quartern of rum, changing a shilling each time, and every time I saw him, he was always flush of money. Cross-examined. Q. Now Mrs. Ward - ? A. My name is not Ward - I am not married; the prisoner had more money than he used to have - he had several shillings, and before he never used to have sixpence to spend - I have known Norman six or seven months, and have lived with him for the last three or four months, as his wife - I am not ashamed to admit it; many have done wrong -I never cohabited with any body else; I was in service before I lived with him - I was servant to Mr. Douglas, at Whitecross-street prison, and left there in June. Q. Where did you get acquainted with Norman? A. I first met him in Holborn; I drank with him there at a public-house - I was then living with my brother; I do not know what I drank; that is a very frivolous question; it was a little rum and shrub - I did not recollect before what it was. Q. Did you believe Anderson when he said he meant to rob his master? A. I did not, from the character he gave his master - I believe him a very wicked youth, who would do any thing for money; I never knew where his master lived till he was taken - I never heard any thing of Tucker being concerned. GEORGE NORMAN re-examined. I have known one of the prisoners eight or nine months, and the other five or six; I became acquainted with them through an intimacy with Anderson's sister - I first heard of their intention on the 10th, from Tucker, and on the 11th, from Anderson. ANN HALLS . I live on Mr. Hayford's first floor, 52, St. John-street; my husband is a stationer. About a quarter after eight o'clock, on the 14th of November, I heard an unusual noise - Mr. Hayford had left the house at eight; it was a running up and down the kitchen stairs - I do not know who it was; I went down about half-past eight o'clock, to Mrs. Hayford, into the kitchen; I did not see either of the prisoners - I took a light, and saw the drawer laying on the bed-room floor, and some plate, and a watch left in it; I called Mrs. Hayford up, and sent my husband for Mr. Hayford. Cross-examined. Q. Did you hear any noise in the bed-room? A. I heard a noise - I never said I did not think it came from the bed-room. JOHN HAYFORD , JUN. I am a Policeman. On the first examination of Tucker, the Magistrate ordered me to take Anderson into custody; I went to my father's premises, and saw Okell, a workmen, and asked him for Anderson -I went into the privy, and found him standing upright, and all his clothes on him perfect; I took him to the office - at that examination, he was examined as a witness, and Tucker was remanded for another examination; he was discharged afterwards, and taken again on further evidence being discovered - I was present when the privy was searched; I was in the shop while the soil was looked over outside the shop, by Newton, who produced a pick. Cross-examined. Q. Only one pick was found? No; how long Anderson had been in the privy I cannot tell. JAMES NEWTON . I examined the soil in the necessary of Hayford's house - I did not see Anderson in the privy; I saw him outside - I found the picklock-key in the soil; I saw it tried to the prosecutor's drawer, and it opened it. Cross-examined. Q. I suppose you searched as carefully as you could? A. Yes; I have been a constable five years - I have seen some picks like the one produced from Norman's lodgings. THOMAS OKELL . I live at No. 2, Mitre-court, John-street. I have worked for the prosecutor a number of years - I know both the prisoners; Tucker came to me on the 20th of December as I was at work, and asked me to go for him (he spoke to me in the shop) to fetch a watch out which was pawned for a sovereign - I went to 117, Ratcliff-highway, got it out of pawn, and delivered it to Tucker; it amounted to a sovereign and 1s. the interest; and he wore it afterwards - I told my master the next day that I had taken the watch out of pawn. Cross-examined. Q. Was it not hung up where his master might see it? A. It was hung up stairs in the shop where it formerly had - there was no concealment about it; I think it had been in pawn from the 18th of October. RICHARD KENT . I live in St. John-street, nearly opposite Mr. Hayford's. I sold a pair of shoes to Tucker, and a pair of half-boots, on the 27th of November - they were new, and came to 15s. together; he paid me in silver 8s. 6d., for one, and gave me a sovereign to change for the other, and to get the sovereign, he appeared to let his trousers down to get it out of the lining, as if it was secreted; he appeared to take it from the lining, but I did not look -I am sure he did not take it from his pocket. Cross-examined. Q. Did he not do this before your face? A. Yes; he stood in front of the board. THOMAS HANDLEY . I am a constable; I apprehended Anderson on the 29th of November, in his master's kitchen - I told him I wanted him on suspicion of robbing his master; he said he had not robbed his master - he was going to take physic, but threw that in the fire, and said, "This is physic enough for me;" I took him before the Magistrates - I found 2s. 9d. on him; I neither threatened nor made him any promise - he said quite voluntarily as he went along, that he had no money at all that his master could swear to - he said there was nothing but the notes that he could swear to, and it would be a long time before he would see them. Cross-examined. Q. Was any body present at this conversation? A. No. Anderson's Defence. What the witness says I told her is false. Tucker's Defence. What Norman and his good lady has said concerning me, is false, on my oath, and what this man says about the shoes - my mother finds me in clothes, and gave me money to provide them. - READ. I am Tucker's mother - my husband keeps a public-house in St. John-street. In November last I gave my son two sovereigns and a half to buy a great coat, but he bought shoes instead; he bore a good character - Hayford said at my house, within a week or two of his being charged with this, that he was a good lad. MARY PENHALL . Norman lodged with me, an left a fortnight before the 3rd of September; he took the keys with him - I broke open his door, and found the things produced. ANDERSON - GUILTY . Aged 19. Transported for Life . TUCKER - NOT GUILTY .

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JD Stubbs on 19th February 2024

George Anderson was from London. Transported for life in 1833 at the age of 19 for robbing his master. Early in 1838 his master Henry Dangar had him flogged (100 lashes) for leaving his post. He was then sent to Myall Creek station where he was the hut keeper, a lower position than a stockman. Had a relationship with a young Aboriginal woman, named Ipeta. He refused to take part in the Myall Creek Massacre and was appalled and disgusted at the behaviour of the perpetrators. He was crucial in the arrest and identification of the perpetrators and was the key witness at the trials, despite fearing for his safety.

4

Valerie Castles on 8th May 2023

Occupation apprentice lath render. Robbing master. See Old Bailey records 1 Jan 1833. Witness in Myall Ck trial 1838.

338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 27th January 2021

New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, Indent No; 112 Trade; Lath Render Offence; Robbing Master Certificate; 41/1766