Mary Clark

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C H on 16th February 2024

Old Bailey Online MARY ANN CLARKE. ELIZABETH BERRY. Theft; theft from a specified place, Theft; receiving. 21st June 1815. Text type Trial account Defendants MARY ANN CLARKE, ELIZABETH BERRY Offences Theft > Theft from place, Theft > Receiving Session Date 21st June 1815 Reference Number t18150621-70 Verdicts Guilty, Guilty Punishments Transportation, Transportation 750. MARY ANN CLARKE was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 2nd of June , two bags, value 4 s. twenty-one pounds weight of feathers, value 30 s. one tablecloth, value 3 s. and two fur tippets, value 30 s. the property of John Eddison , esq. in his dwelling-house . And ELIZABETH BERRY , alias SMITH , was indicted for feloniously receiving the same, she knowing them to he stolen . CHARLES GIMBER . I am a constable, and was set to watch in Gough-square , early in the morning of the 2nd of June. Soon after four, I saw the prisoner, Mary Ann Clark , come out of Mr. Eddison's house, with a canvas bag in her possession. Mr. Pooley. Did you stop her - A. I did. I asked her what she had there; her answer was, a few feathers. I asked her where she was going; and she told me to Pancrass. I informed her I was a constable, and she must come back with me. Mr. Pooley. Now, before she said any thing, did you make her any threat, or any promise, or did you say any thing to her, which might induce her to confess - A. I did not. I asked her what she was going to do at Pancrass; she said, she was going to take the feathers to Mrs. Smith; in Edmund-street, near Battle-bridge. I asked her whether she had ever taken any there before; she said, she had, and she had been in the habit of doing so. I asked her whether she used to take them in the manner she was taking these; she said, she had taken some in a tablecloth, which I should find in the one pair back room, at Mrs. Smith's, likewise two tippets in a chest of drawers in the back parlour. She begged very hard for me to let her take the bag which she had when I stopped her, back to her master's, for she should be hanged. COURT. Did you take her to Mrs. Smith's - A. I did not. I took her to the Compter, and got to Smith's at about half past nine. Q. You mean the woman at the bar - A. Yes. Mr. Pooley. How did you get into the house - A. Over the wall, and in at the back window, the first thing I saw in the back parlour was, the chest of drawers that Clarke told me of, and upon opening it, I found the two tippets as described by her. Smith was not in the room at the time. As soon as I went out of the parlour, I opened the door, and let in Mr. Eddison, junior; we then went into the one pair of stairs back room, and found an immense quantity of feathers. I saw no person belonging to the house at that time. I saw a pair of scales, hung by the fire side, and there were several bags, which contained feathers, which were picked; in the corner of the room there was a great quantity of feathers loose and picked. COURT. This was the room of which Clarke told you - A. Yes. Mr. Pooley. Did any one come in whilst you were there - A. Yes; a boy, who was called by the name of Thomas Smith , but his proper name is Gatemeads; I got some information from him. Q. Did Smith come in - A. Yes, in about half or three quarters of an hour. I told her then that I came in consequence of some information which I received from Clarke, that some of Mr. Eddison's property was there. I asked her where she got the feathers; she told me she got them from Clarke, to make a bed with, for Mr. Eddison. I asked her whether she got the tippets to make a bed also; she said, no, one was Clarke's, and Clarke had given her the other for her own wear. I asked her where she got the tablecloth; and she said, Clarke had brought feathers in it. When I took her to Guildhall, I asked her if she had ever disposed of any feathers; she said, no; these were the only feathers that were brought to her, and they were for the purpose of making a bed. At first, I thought that I had seen her in Gough-square; and I asked her whether she had been there; but she replied, she had not. Mr. Pooley. Have you got the feathers here. COURT. Nobody can swear to feathers. You must prove their identity from the prisoner's own mouth. (The several articles produced by the witness.) Witness. These I found in the lodgings of the prisoner Smith, accordingly to the direction I received from Clarke, and they have never been out of my possession since. JURY. We should wish to know whether there be any, and if any, what mark upon the tablecloth - A. I. Eddison at full length. THOMAS GATEMEADS . Stood up. - COURT. Q. To Gimber. Is that the boy that came into the room at Smith's - A. Yes. Mr. Pooley. Q. To Gatemeads. How old are you A. Thirteen in September last. Q. Is it a bad thing or a good thing to tell a lie A A bad thing. Q. Where do persons go that tell lies - A. To a bad place. Q. Are you aware that there is a God who punishes his sinners, and these who speak falsely - A. Yes. Q. Then mind and speak the truth. Do you remember Gimber coming to your house - A. Yes, when I came home, he was in the room; I live with Mrs. Smith. I know Mrs. Clarke. Mrs. Smith had a child of her's to nurse. Mrs. Clarke used often to bring feathers to Mrs. Smith between the hours of six and seven in the morning. I have heard her say that she lived with Mr. Eddison, in the presence of Mrs. Smith. She used to bring the feathers in bags, and once she brought them in a tablecloth; I did not see the tablecloth come in; but I saw it after it was come. I used to be employed in picking feathers; and when they were picked, Mrs. Smith used to send me to sell them to a Mr. Neville, a broker, in Brewer-street, Sommers Town; the first time, I received six shillings for what I took, and another time five; I got eleven shillings altogether; I got two shillings a pound for some. Q. When you got the money, to whom did you take it - A. To Mrs. Smith. Q. How long before Gimber came, did you go to sell any feathers - A. About three days before. JAMES NEVILLE . I am a broker, in Brewer-street, Somers Town. The last witness came to me on the 23rd of May, with a lot of feathers, consisting of three pounds, and I paid him two shillings a pound. He came with another lot, and he got two shillings and six-pence a pound for them. COURT. Did you know from whom the lad came - A. I thought from his father and mother; he went as the son of two people who lived next door. FRANCES CLAIRIS . I am landlady of the house in which Smith lived. She took the whole house of me. Somebody lived with her, and they lived together as man and wife. BENJAMIN NEWMAR . Q. You are in the employ of Mr. Eddison - A. I am. Q. Look at those tippets, (the tippets shown to the witness,) do you know those to be the property of Mr. Eddison - A. They are; I made them myself; they cost between eight and nine shillings; but one of them I think where made up, would cost thirty shillings; they have never been in wear. MR. JOHN EDDISON . I am a furrier. Q. Look at that tablecloth, is that your property - A. I have no doubt but that it is; it may be worth three shillings. Q. Had you such feathers as these - COURT. You know Clarke admits that these are his feathers. Mr. Pooly. Do you deal sir in feathers. - A. No further, sir, than I sell those which are plucked from the swan skins. The prisoner Clarke was a servant of all work in my service, I know no more of her than that I have heard her name mentioned. One of the bags has upon it, "stolen from John Eddison ." SAMUEL BARKER. I am attorney for the prosecution. I was at the house of Smith with the officer. Smith said she came by these feathers in the manner in which Gimber has related. Smith's Defence. It all all false. Clarke's Defence. When I was first stopt, it was near upon five o'clock. The officer who took me just out of sight of the house, asked me where I was going, and some other questions. He then took me to his own home, and thence to Mr. Smith's in Gough Square; and Mr. Smith told me to make a friend of him, and tell him all about it. The officer then took me to Giltspur-street Compter, and I do not think the prisoner Smith knew that the feathers were stolen. Clarke called several witnesses who gave her a good character. CLARKE, GUILTY , aged 34. Transported for Seven Years . SMITH, GUILTY , aged 35. Transported for Fourteen Years .

43

Peter Fox on 30th December 2023

Mary Ann Clarke of ship 'Mary Anne' given permission December 1817 in Sydney to marry Alfred Sims (Free).

338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 5th September 2021

Convict Indents; Mary wife of John Clarke. Trial; 21 Jan 1815. Native Place; London. Age; 34

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Penny-Lyn Beale on 20th September 2020

New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849. New South Wales - 1825 WIFE of Alfred Sims. Campbelltown