John Davis

135

C H on 6th April 2024

Old Bailey Online JOHN DAVIS. HENRY ROBINSON. GEORGE HIRT. Theft; burglary, Theft; receiving. 5th February 1844. Text type Trial account Defendants JOHN DAVIS, HENRY ROBINSON, GEORGE HIRT Offences Theft > Burglary, Theft > Receiving Session Date 5th February 1844 Reference Number t18440205-541 Verdicts Guilty, Guilty, Guilty Punishments Transportation, Transportation 541. JOHN DAVIS alias Blythe and HENRY ROBINSON were indicted for burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Edwin Leaf, in the night of the 10th of Oct., at St. Alban, Wood-street, with intent to steal, and stealing therein, 1800 yards of ribbon, value 50l.; 140 handkerchiefs, 12l.; and 72 yards of silk, 8l.; his goods; and GEORGE HIRT for feloniously receiving the same, well knowing it to have been stolen; against the Statute, &c.; and that Davis had been before convicted of felony. MR. CLARKSON conducted the Prosecution. ALEXANDER THWAITES . I am clerk to Mr. Edwin Leaf, silk warehouseman, Wood-street, Cheapside, in the parish of St. Alban. I have the charge of the warehouse—I secure it at night, and open it in the morning—on the 10th of Oct. I secured the warehouse at twelve o'clock at night—I went round the premises, and saw all the bolts and fastenings were secure—I observed the counting-house window was perfectly secure—I went into the ribbon-warehouse—the ribbons remain on the counters at night, with paper covered over them—the handkerchiefs are secured from being soiled by wrappers and papers—part of them were on shelves, and part on the counters—they were perfectly safe that night—I went down to the warehouse at seven next morning, entered the counting-house first, and found a drawer in which I keep cash, had been broken open since left it the preceding night—my desk was also forced open, and there was a ladder placed against a shelf in the counting-house, on which books are kept, that would enable a person to get up to the counting-house window, which is a sky-light, very easily—that sky-light had a square of glass taken from it, which would enable any person outside to get into the counting-house—they might get there from a court at the back of the premises on to the flat leads—there are three shelves, which they might use as a ladder to get down from the sky-light—I found a screwdriver on the desk, a taper, and a box of lucifer-matches—there is not the slightest difficulty in getting from the counting-house into the warehouse—it is on the same floor, the ground-floor—I entered the handkerchief department of the warehouse first, and found the wrappers which covered the shelves had been lifted up, and remained in that state—I did not miss anything from there myself—I went into the ribbon warehouse, and found the papers which had covered the ribbons thrown on the floor—I saw some ribbons were gone—I could not tell how many—the locks, and bolts, and everything remained as I had left them the night before, except the sky-light—about thirty young men reside in the warehouse, and sleep in the house—the warehouse forms part of the house, and is under the same roof. Cross-examined by MR. WILKINS. Q. Is there an internal communication between the warehouse and dwelling-house? A. Yes, a door. WILLIAM WHITE . I am in the employ of Mr. Leaf, and am the ribbon buyer. I went to the warehouse at nine o'clock in the morning of the 11th of October—I had left between eight and nine overnight—the ribbons were then all perfectly safe—when I came in the morning I found the papers removed from the counter, and fifty or sixty pieces of ribbon taken away—rolls are half-pieces—they were worth aboat 50l.;—a portion of them were patterns, which were engaged by me for Leaf and Co. in Aug.—they were coloured—the other portion were black ribbons, and open to other warehouses—about the 8th of Nov. I was in the prosecutor's warehouse, and William Waller, who lives in Bridge-street, Southwark, and is a customer of ours, came there, about eleven o'clock in the morning, and brought ten pieces of black figured satin ribbon for sale—there were twenty rolls—our black ribbon was undressed—I knew them again when he produced them, and detained them—I afterwards produced them to Mr. Leaf. Cross-examined. Q. Did you engage them from patterns? A. Yes, from Abraham Riley, of Coventry—a portion of goods were shown to me, and I selected them—I have seen Hirt before in our warehouse, but never sold him anything, to my knowledge—I am not aware of having sold him a quantity of orange ribbon in August—I think I have seen him there more than once. MR. CLARKSON. Q. Were any ribbons produced by the police, which you recognised? A. Yes—they were coloured satin—I do not remember the quantity—it was nearly the whole of those lost. Prisoner Robinson. Q. Can you swear the same patterns of ribbons are not in other bouses at Coventry? A. I never saw any in any other house—I go to all the houses in Coventry almost every week, to see their stock. WILLIAM WALLER . I am a linen-draper, and live at No. 4, Bridge-street, Southwark. On the 8th of Nov. I went to the warehouse of Mosenden, a general dealer, in the Minories, to make a purchase—among other things, he produced to me twenty half-pieces of black ribbon—in consequence of what he said to me, they were sent home to me, with other goods—they were the same as he had showed me—in consequence of directions I received from him, after keeping them a day or two, I took them to Mr. Leaf's, and produced them to White—I offered them to be dressed, or for sale—the sale was effected—an explanation then took place—a price was agreed on, and he kept the ribbons, but did not pay me for them. Cross-examined. Q. What were the ribbons charged to you? A. Mosenden charged me 11s. 6d. the piece—Hirt's face is familiar to me, but I do not know where I have seen him—I do not know him in the fur trade. HENRY NATHAN . I live in Camomile-street, and am a merchant, entirely in drapery and haberdashery goods, not in the general line. I have known Hirt seven or eight years, as a commission man—he once kept a warehouse in Gutter-lane—he frequently came with samples of goods, and also has taken samples from my place—he produced a quantity of black and coloured ribbons to me three or four months ago—part of the black was undressed—I have since seen ribbons in possession of the police, which correspond in appearance with those produced by Hirt—they are precisely the same—he asked me if I would buy them—I said, "No, they don't suit me"—he then said, If u you do not think proper to buy them of me, I will introduce you to my principal"—I said, "They won't suit me"—he said again, "Are you frightened to buy them? if so, I will introduce you to the principal, to whom they belong"—before he made that observation, I said to him, "Hirt, you are getting on in trade; I never saw you with a parcel of goods before"—he said, "They don't belong to me,"and asked, if they did not suit me, would I recommend him to a customer—I said, "You know the ribbon trade as well as I do"—he mentioned several names, asking if they would suit so and so, and, among them, Mosenden—I said, very likely they would, as I had seen Mr. Mosenden that morning, and sold him a similar lot of goods—he then left, as I supposed, to go there—he had left the ribbons in my passage for a quarter of an hour or so before I saw them, and said be would go and get a sample of bandanas, which sample he brought—it was two pieces—he asked if they would suit me—I said no, they were too common—he took away the ribbons and bandanas. Cross-examined. Q. During all the time you have known him has he borne a good character? A. I always knew him to be a poor man, and never knew anything against his character—he has repeatedly brought samples of ribbon to me—they were very common spun bandanas—I made the observation about never seeing him with such a stock before, after he said I need not be afraid. BENJAMIN JOSEPH MOSENDEN . I am a warehouseman, and carry on business at No. 7, Minories. On the 17th Oct. Hirt came there and brought a parcel containing ribbons—he said he had got a quantity of ribbons for sale—I asked how he came to me, being a total stranger—he said he had shown the ribbons to Mr. Nathan, who they would not suit, and be told him they might suit me perhaps—I said I was busy and could not look at them then, if he would call in an hour I would see if I could purchase them, and he left them, he came in about an hour, and I purchased the lot at 25l.;—it consisted of forty-nine pieces and a half—I agreed to give him 10s. a piece—some were worth 8s., some 12s., and some 13s. or 14s. a-piece. Q. Are the whole worth as much as 50l.;? A. Nothing of the kind, I speak of their fair value to sell in a warehouse—I received an invoice of them which I produce—I gave him a 20l.; and a 5l.; note—my father wrote the numbers of the notes on the back of the invoice at the time I gave him the notes—the 5l.; note was 49049, dated 12th August, 1843—I sold a portion of the ribbons to a customer, and gave a portion of them to Mr. Waller—I offered them to him for sale at 11s. 6d. a piece, the undressed satin—he would not buy them, he did not think them cheap—I asked if he would get them dressed for me in the City, they were not fit for use—he said he would, and asked me to give him a price with them—I said 11s. 6d.—they were sent on sale, or to get dressed—it was a portion of what I had bought of Hirt—the other portion I had in my warehouse, and afterwards delivered them to the police inspector, Sparey, sealed up. Cross-examined. Q. I find the prisoner's address is on the back of the invoice "Geo. Hirt, 7, James-street, Hackney-road?" A. Yes—my father entered the number of the notes on the back of it in the counting-house—I took it out and gave Hirt the money—I do not think he knew I had taken the numbers—the goods were left on the counting-house desk for about an hour when he went away—25l.; is a fair price for the goods—I never saw Hirt before. JOHN KEMPSTER . I am a clerk in the Bank of England. I produce a 20l.; note and a 5l.; note, No. 49049, dated 12th August, 1843—the 5l.; note was paid into the bank by Hankeys on the 24th October—I gave sovereigns for the 20l.; note on the 17th October. WILLIAM NELSON . I keep the Nelson's Head, Nelson-street, Hackney-road, and know Hirt. On the 13th Nov. I changed a 5l.; note for him—I made no mark upon it, but he wrote his name on it. Cross-examined. Q. How long have you known him? A. Two years—I always considered him a very respectable man. COURT. Q. Where does he live? A. He lived for about twelve months about one hundred and fifty yards from me at Haggerston, but for eleven weeks before the 20th Nov., (when he was missing,) he lived at 7, James-street. ADAM SPAREY . I am an inspector of the City police, and live at the station-house in Moor-lanc—in consequence of information I received on the 10th November I went to Mr. Mosenden's warehouse—and on the 16th November I received from him twenty-eight rolls of ribbon (a portion of the ribbons were given to me at the time of the robbery to farther my inquiry)—on the 8th January Hirt was brought to the station by Tyrrell—I asked if his name was George Hirt—he said it was—I said I had a warrant against him——he was about to say something, but I said he had better reserve what he had to say for the Magistrate. Cross-examine. Q. Did not you find a great many invoices on him? A. I did. ROBERT TYRRELL . I am a constable, and act at the General Post-office. I know Hirt—I took him into custody on the 8th of Jan.—I met him in Hoxton, and told him I heard he was wanted respecting some ribbons, he must come with me to the station—he said it was a bad job, that he was only an agent, and all he got was 24s.—I said why did he not come forward—he said he had been in the country, and intended to come forward. Cross-examined. Q. How long have you known him? A. I have known him in the fur line perhaps twelve months or two years—I never knew any thing against his being a decent and honest man—he said he had been selling goods in the country for a gentleman named Lazarus, of Little Britain. ROBERT TAYLOR (City police-constable.) On Saturday, the 13th of Jan., I received twenty rolls of black ribbon, which make ten pieces, from James Pearse, who is in the employ of Mr. Leaf—on the 5th of Dec. I took the prisoner Robinson into custody, and asked if he knew a man named Hirt—he said he did very well—I said, "Are you aware that Hirt has been selling some ribbons which have been stolen from Messrs. Leaf, of Wood-street?"—I said, "I am informed you are the man who took the ribbons to Hirt to sell"—he immediately answered, "I know nothing of the ribbons, no further than a man named Davis brought some ribbons and silks and asked me if I could sell them for him; I recommended him to Hirt"—I asked if he would give me a description of Davis—he said he represented himself as living in Church-street, Coventry, and that he believed he was now stopping at Stamford-hill. JAMES PEARSE . I am in Mr. Leafs service. I delivered some ribbons to Taylor the officer—I received them from Barnet, Mr. Leafs clerk, in the counting-house. JOHN WESTLEY BARNET . I delivered some ribbons to Pearse—I got them from Mr. Leaf. Cross-examined. Q. Have not you sometimes sold Hirt goods? A. I believe we have—I do not know about ribbons—I know he has dealt at our place. EDWIN LEAF . I am the prosecutor—I have no partner. I handed some ribbons to Barnet—I received them from Mr. White, the witness. Cross-examined. Q. What sort of bandanas were they that were stolen? A. I know nothing of them. ROBERT TROTTER HARDY . I am the buyer of bandana handkerchiefs for Mr. Leaf. When I left the premises on the 10th of Oct. they were perfectly safe—I came again at nine o'clock in the morning, and missed some instantly—they were printed, and some China—none of them were common spun—I missed altogether from twelve to twenty printed ones, and six or twelve pieces of China—the value was a little above 20l.;—I have since seen six pieces of printed bandana in possession of John Walls—I believe them to be part of what were stolen on the night in question—I have seen another piece in possession of Peto—they were printed, and two others in possession of Cotton—they are all printed—I believe all I have seen to be part of the stock lost that night. JOHN WALLS . I am assistant to Mr. Wood, pawnbroker, Ashby-street, Clerkenwell. I produce six pieces of bandana handkerchiefs pawned on the 11th of Oct. by the prisoner Robinson for two guineas—I have the counter duplicate here—I asked him who he brought them for—he said he brought them for Mr. John Davis—I asked if he knew them to be his own—he said yes—I asked if he was a linen-draper—he said he was not exactly a linen-draper—I said, "What, does he keep a tally shop?" (which is a place where people pay for goods weekly) he said, "Yes he does"—I asked if there was any thing wrong in his affairs, if there was any fear of his becoming a bankrupt—he said, "The fact is, he is on the eve of bankruptcy, but they will all be redeemed again"—I heard of this robbery afterwards, and on the 31st of Dec. I accidentally met Robinson at Bow—I asked if his name wai not Jones (he had pledged them in the name of Jones, Tabernacle-row)—he said, "No, sir, my name is not Jones"—I said, "Indeed"—he said, "No it is not"—I said, "You live in Tabernacle-row, do you not?"—he said, "No"—I said, "Where do you live?"—he said, "I live at Hoxton"—I said, "Where have you been to?"—he said, "I am going to Stratford"—I told him he was going the wrong way for Stratford, that I was going there, hot he was coming from it—he said, "Then I will turn back and go with you"—I said, "No you will not, we will go ahead now; you know me, I suppose, don't you?"—he said, "No, sir, I do not"—I said, "You surely must know me, at Mr. Wood's, at the corner of Ashby-street, St. John-street-road?"—he said, "No, sir, I do not"—I walked on with him some distance till I met u officer—I told him this man was wanted—he took him, and we came to London. JOHN WILLIAM PETO . I am shopman to Mr. Brown, pawnbroker, Ryder's-court, Leicester-square. I produce a piece of printed bandana hand-kerchiefs, which I took in pawn on the 14th of Oct., for 10s., from the prisoner Robinson, in the name of Thomas Williams, Bunhill-row—I have the counterpart of the duplicate. CHARLES JEANS . I am in the service of Mr. Hawes, pawnbroker, Kingsland-road. I produce two pieces of printed bandanas, one pawned on the 14th of Oct., for 10s., in the name of John Johnson, Wellington-street; the other on the 16th of Oct., for 7s., in the name of James Grant, Wellington-street—I cannot be positive, but believe it was Robinson pawned them. FRANCIS COTTON . I am a pawnbroker, and have one shop at No. 28, Hackney-road, and another at No. 90, Shoreditch. I produce two pieces of printed bandana handkerchiefs, pawned on the 16th of Oct., in the Hackney-road, for 8s., in the name of John Brown, No. 20, Wellington-street—I have no knowledge of the person—here is the counter duplicate—I gave a corresponding ticket to the person pawning it—another piece was pawned at the shop in Shoreditcb, on the 2nd of Nov., which I produce—I have the counter duplicate of that—I was not present when it was pawned—the young man who took it has left. THOMAS MAYNARD . I am assistant to Mr. Edwards, pawnbroker, No. 162, High-street, Hoxton. I took a piece of printed bandana handkerchiefs in pawn on the 14th of Oct., in the name of James Brown, No. 7, Flemmiing-street, for 7s.—I believe it to be the prisoner Robinson—I gave him a copy of the duplicate now produced. ANN SWIFT . I am a widow, and live at No. 12, Lloyd's-row, Clerkenwell, On the 17th of August the prisoner Davis took a room at my house, in the name of Blythe—while he was bargaining for the room, I saw the prisoner Robinson walking up and down—I am sure he is the man—he was ontside the door—Davis took a furnished bed-room, and took possession of it the next day, and Robinson brought two boxes, and told me they were for Blthe—I assisted him in taking them into Davis's room—they both came together the same night, and remained that night in the same room—Davis continued there till about the 16th of Nov.—Robinson was generally there, and slept with him mostly—they used to go out together—they did not come home regularly—Blythe was in the habit of staying out all night at times—when that happened Robinson went out with him, and neither of them returned—I cannot recollect whether that happened much in Oct. or not—I saw Davis come home one morning without his hat, I cannot say when—I cannot say whether they had gone out together the night before that morning—he brought a carpet-bag home with him that morning—I cannot say bow long that was before he left the lodging—after he left the lodging, Robinson came and fetched things away two or three times—he said he came for shirts once—I did not go into the room with him—Pearse, the police-inspector, came to my bouse about the 22nd of Dec.—I showed him the room Davis had been lodging in—I pointed out to him the boxes, and saw him take possession of the carpet-bag—I cannot say whether it was the one Davis had brought home one morning, because he had three at different times—I know it was one he had brought there—Pearse came again the next day, and broke one of the boxes open—the other was open—he took some duplicates out—while they were lodging in the house, I saw two pieces of ribbon once in a chest of drawers in Davis's bed-room—one was all black, the other a black ground with colours, but I cannot speak to them. JOHN HULL (police-sergeant.) I searched Davis when he was brought into custody, and saw two small keys taken from him, and handed to Pearse, who opened the carpet-bag now produced with them. EMMA SAINDERS . I am servant to Mr. Young, who keeps a coffee-house, at No. 209, Shoreditch. The prisoner Hirt lodged there at one time—he sometimes slept there a night or two, and sometimes three or four nights—then he would go away, and not come again for a fortnight—the last time he lodged there about five nights, ending on the Saturday night before he was taken—he had been absent. I think, about three weeks before those five nights. CLARENDON HYDE PEACH . I five in James-street, Hackney-road. The prisoner Hirt rented a house of me from the 23rd September till the 9th December—I did not see him for the last five weeks of that time, but his wife remained there that time. MARY STAPLETON . I keep a lodging-house, No. 10, Wellington-Street, Kingsland-road. On the Thursday after last Shrove Tuesday, Mrs. Robinson, who took our lodging, came there—I saw the prisoner Robinson the same evening—he stopped at my house till the Monday night that he was liberated from the Compter—he was sometimes out at night, and for three or four days together—I knew Davis by the name of James—he was in the habit of coming to see Robinson often—sometimes not for a week, a fortnight, or month, but sometimes frequently. NICHOLAS PEARSE (police-inspector.) On the 22nd December, in consequence of information I went to Mrs. Swift's house—she showed me a room and pointed out two boxes and a carpet bag—I took the bag to the station in Bunhill-row—the officer on duly produced a key in Hirt's presence—I unlocked the carpet-bag with it and found another carpet-bag in it which was unlocked, and in it was twenty-two skeleton and other keys, a centrebit, and an instrument belonging to it which is used at times to break into houses—I went there again the next day and broke open a box—I found in it a duplicate belonging to Wood's shop in Ashby-street, two of Hawes, two of Cotton's, and one of Edward—I have compared them with the duplicates produced by the policeman. FRANCIS COTTON re-examined. These two duplicates are mine, one is the one I gave the person who pawned the goods with me on the 16th October, the one of the 14th is not here, this is dated 2nd November. WILLIAM WHITE re-examined. I have examined the different ribbons produced, they form almost the whole of the ribbons lost on the night in question—these are undressed black ribbons, the identical patterns we missed—we paid 27s. a piece for the black ribbons—the narrow coloured ones 12s. 6d.—the other widths 16s. and 24s.—the greater portion of them are the wide ones at 24s. DAVIS' Defence. I bought them. JOHN MARTEN . I am a constable in the employ of Ward and Co., Wood-street, warehousemen—I produce a certificate of the conviction of Robinson, which I got from Mr. Clark's office—(read)—I was present at the trial—he is the man. ROBERT CROWE (City police-constable No. 469.) I produce a certificate of the conviction of Blythe which I got from Mr. Clark's office—(read)—I was present at the time—Davis is the man. (Samuel Lazarus, a fur manufacturer, gave Hirt a good character.) DAVIS— GUILTY . Aged 22. ROBINSON— GUILTY . Aged 40. Transported for Life. HIRT— GUILTY . Aged 47. Transported for Ten Years.