Alexander Dew

53

Barbara Lister on 18th August 2024

Digital panopticon shows that it's not known what happened to George Wakeman, the other accused, who had also been found guilty of the lesser offence of stealing property and sentenced to 7 years transportation.

53

Barbara Lister on 18th August 2024

The original charge was highway robbery but Dew was found guilty of the lesser offence of stealing the property. A guilty verdict on the original charge could have led to a death sentence. The story is that a pocket book (wallet) containing very high value banknotes was taken when five or six people surrounded and jostled the person who had been seen collecting them. No weapons were involved or violence/injury to the victim. The serious charge probably reflected facts like how much was taken and where (literally yards from the City of London Mansion House). The cross-examination recorded though sets out to suggest that guilty would be an unsafe verdict (short-comings in fair identification like delay, pre-suggestion about guilt of those held, nobody else in line up than the two suspects etc. and missing witnesses at trial) Old Bailey online has articles on how juries influenced sentencing and how what was published changed over time. At one stage details of successful defence strategies were suppressed, while eventually (much later than this) the main audience was lawyers and the suppression was about "corrupting public morals" instead. See https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/verdicts and https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/about/publishinghistory This is a very interesting case.

135

C H on 7th March 2024

Old Bailey Online GEORGE WAKEMAN. ALEXANDER DEW. Violent Theft; highway robbery. 17th February 1796 Text type Trial account Defendants GEORGE WAKEMAN, ALEXANDER DEW Offences Violent Theft > Highway robbery Session Date 17th February 1796 Reference Number t17960217-9 Verdicts Guilty > Lesser offence, Guilty > Lesser offence Punishments Transportation 164. GEORGE WAKEMAN and ALEXANDER DEW were indicted for that they, on the King's highway, on the 23d of December , in and upon Charles Adam Beckman , did make an assault, putting him in fear and danger of his life, and stealing from his person, a leather pocket-book, value 2s. the property of Charles Adam Beckman , one bank note value 300l. one other bank note, value 100l. one other bank note, value 30l. and three other bank notes, each of the value of 20l. the property of Ann Salt , widow , and Charles Adam Beckman .(The witnesses were examined apart, at the request of the prisoner).(The case was opened by Mr. Fielding.) AUGUSTUS DELAWHISKEY sworn. Examined by Mr. Const. Q. Were you, on the 23d of December, at Wills's coffee-house? - A. I was; I come every day, at twelve o'clock, generally, and stay till Change is over; I go on the Change, but don't leave there till past four; I was there on that day, about half past two o'clock, and heard several gentlemen talking, especially Mr. Young, a sail-maker; I observed, round the corner, four or five people standing, when I was speaking to Mr. Young. Don't tell us what you said to Mr. Young - A. I went out of the coffee-house, with that gentleman, directly. Q. Did you know any thing of these persons? - A. I did. Q. Did you see the prisoners there? - A. Yes; the prisoner Wakeman particularly; I cannot say particularly as to the other; I am almost sure of Wakeman; I used to come to Bow-street, constantly, and sit with the Magistrate, when I had nothing to do, and have seen him there, and in the street, frequently. Q. As to Wakeman you know him? - A. I saw his face that day. Q. Are you sure as to his person? - A. Yes, I am; as to the other I cannot be positive, because they stood with their backs turned, at the corner, and I could not be positive. Q. Have you any belief on the subject? - A. I do believe he was one, but I will not be positive. Q. As to Wakeman, you have seen him at Bow-street? - A. Yes. Q. Where have you seen the other? - A. In the street; I have seen him frequently in the street, but cannot say particularly as to him. Q. You do not know any thing till you returned, and then you heard it from other persons? - A. I know nothing else about it. Q. You saw them after they were taken up? - A. Yes; the next day, I believe, I am not positive; I saw them at Bow-street. Q. And there you gave the same account you have given here? - A. Yes; I observed them at Wills's coffee-house, for a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes. Cross-examined by Mr. Knowlys. Q. As to Dew, you never saw his face upon that occasion, only his back? - A. No; and I am not positive it was his back. Q. That is the only thing you can form a belief upon? - A. Yes. Q. The room was very full at Bow-street? - A. Yes. Q. And a lane was made for you to come and see them? - A. Yes. Q. So that they were the only two objects you had to look at? - A. Yes. Q. Before that, were you not told by some of the officers, that these were the people who were charged with the robbery? - A. They did. Q. You saw them under the report that they were the persons who had done this? - A. Yes. Q. You take upon yourself now to be positive to Wakeman? - A. I had seen his face; I am positive to him. Q. Pray, what is your name? - A. Augustus David Whiskey. Q. Have you always gone by that name? - A. Yes, always; I have been sixteen years in this country, and was never known by any other name. Q. Have you ever been in prison in Poland? - A. I have been prisoner in Russia. Q. I mean a prisoner in Poland? - A. No; no such a thing. Q.That you are sure of? - A. Yes; I was with the confederates; and I can bring proofs from the King of Prussia, and Duke of Brunswick, that I was a gentleman bred and born. Q.Were you never in prison, under a charge of a conspiracy to assassinate the King of Poland? - A. No. Court. That is certainly very improper; we always pity counsel when they have such instructions. Jury. It is certainly very foreign to the subject. Q. Do you go by the name of Count Whiskey? - A. I believe I am entitled, as well as any one; but I always go by the name of Mr. Whiskey; I never go by any such title, though I may have that title by people that know me. Q. What day was this; was it short of five days before you saw these people? - A. I do not know indeed. Q. You must know whether you went to Bow-street the next day after this matter happened? - A. I cannot say. Q. It was five days after they were taken up before you saw them? - A. I do not know whether it was or not. GEORGE LEWIS COLNE sworn. Examined by Mr. Fielding. I was at Wills's coffee-house on the 23d of December; I took Mr. Beckman 490l. in bank notes, and some cash, I think a guinea and a half, and some silver; I paid it to him, and he put it in his pocket-book; we were sitting at one of the tables on the right hand side, a side window, opposite Clarke's, the stationer. Q. Did you observe any thing yourself of any people in the house or out of the house? - A. There were several people in the house, but I did not observe who they were; I went with Mr. Beckman as far as Bank-buildings; he went towards Tom's, and I went towards Batson's, coffee-house, through into Lombard-street. CHARLES ADAM BECKMAN sworn. Examined by Mr. Fielding. I am a merchant , of Birmingham, in partnership with a widow lady, of the name of Ann Sah ; I was, on the 23d of December, with Mr. Colne; I received from Mr. Colne 490l. in bank notes, that I fetched from a bank in Basinghall-street; I have the numbers of them in my pocket-book, (produces a paper). Q. You had other property about you? - A. Yes; making, in the whole, near 300l.; I put it into a red morocco pocket-book, and went across Lombard-street to pay the money. Q. When you were so engaged in this transac tion, did you take out your pocket book publickly? - A. Yes; I saw several people looking on; but I did not suspect any body; I put it in my left coat pocket; when I came out of the coffee-house, I crossed the street over from the Royal Exchange, to the opposite side of Cornhill, over the way, till I came to between Tom's and the Rainbow coffee-houses; there I was hustled by a number of people, four or five, or more; it was a little before three o'clock. Q. Do you mean to say there were at least five? - A. Yes. Q. Describe, as well as you can, the manner in which you were hustled? - A. I went along in a regular way, as all other people walk in the street, till I had passed the door of Tom's coffee-house, then I was hustled at once, in the midst of a great crowd of people. Q. Were there any crowd before to interrupt your passage? - A. No, not all the way; then one of them gave me a very hard push, at the right hand side, and said, let us pass by, make a little room, if you can, to pass by; I looked round, to see what the matter could be; I thought it might be a horse or a cart; and I supposed it must be a pick pocket business, as several such things I had read in the news-papers; I clapped my hand upon my pocket, and immediately missed my book. Q. At the time the people were about you, had you an opportunity of seeing the countenances of the people about you? - A. Yes; I turned myself round immediately, to see who they were, and this man that gave me a push was, I suppose, a couple of yards from me out of sight; the other people ran in order to stop him; but he was instantly out of sight; whether he went into a shop, or down Birchin-lane, I cannot tell; I turned round to see if I could lay hold of any, and they were all gone. Q. During all that time had you seen the faces of the people, so as to enable you to speak to them again, as to make you believe you should be able to speak to them? - A. He that struck me on the arm, I could almost draw his picture, I was so certain of him; I went instantly and crossed over, facing the Exchange, to a correspondent, to whom I related the story; and soon after, I met with another, while I was talking to one Mr. Stevens, a brother to the banker, and told him I had been robbed, because I saw him at Wills's coffee-house, likewise a quarter of an hour before, who gave me a bill in the very same pocket-book, with his name in the acceptance. Q. You communicated your misfortune to Mr. Stevens? - A. Yes; while I was doing so, a Jew boy came up and asked if I was robbed. Q. In consequence of the boy's communication, you thought proper to take him to Bow-Street? - A. Yes, which I did; and I stopped the notes at the Bank. Q. Have you ever heard of any of the notes since? - A. No; only one note that has been in circulation; one 30l. note. Q. This boy gave information to the Magistrates? - A. Yes. Q. Some officers were dispatched to particular places? - A. Yes. Q. When was it, in consequence of any search, that the prisoners were apprehended? - A. I cannot tell how soon they were apprehended; but they were apprehended the very same evening, I believe. Q. Did you see any body at Bow-street that evening, in consequence of their being apprehended? - A. No; it was a couple of days afterwards; as soon as the Magistrate sat, the Monday following, to the best of my recollection, I was robbed on the Wednesday. Q. Look carefully at the prisoners, and tell the Jury upon your oath, whether you are warranted that they are the men? - A. I firmly believe, that both of them were the men, not that I can say that they took my pocket-book, but that they were two of the people that surrounded me when I was robbed. Court. Q. Are you sure these were two of the men that surrounded you, at the time you lost your pocket-book? - A. Yes; I knew them immediately after I saw them at Bow-street. Court. Q. Have you any doubt about it? - A. No; I don't think I can have the least doubt. Mr. Fielding. Q. Where is this Jew boy? - A. He has been taken away for the purpose of not appearing as an evidence. Cross-examined by Mr. Knowlys. Q. You say, at the time you were going by, there was a crowd of people, and some two persons brushed by you, and hit you on the arm? - A. Four or five; it was only one person gave me a push on the arm. Q. As any porter going along might do? - A. No; they seemed to be all in a crowd, and pushed close to me, so as to have an opportunity to take my pocket-book, and he spoke to me to take my attention. Q. You were pushed as you would be in a crowd? - A. Yes, and asked to make room. Q. There was no hurt at all done to you? - A. No; only that I could feel it. Q. That was the only effect it had upon you to draw off your attention? - A. Yes. Q. The person who said to you, "make way," got out of your sight entirely? - A. Yes. Q. You say it was the Monday following you saw these two persons at Bow-street, that is four or five days after? - A. Four days. Q.You had never seen the persons you suppose to have robbed you, from the time the robbery was committed, till the time you saw these two people in Bow-street? - A. No; not from the hour of the robbery. Q. I believe, before you went up stairs, you were told by the officers, that the persons were coming who had committed the robbery? - A. They told me that two such persons had been taken of the names and descriptions I had given of them. Q. The room was very full of people when they were brought up? - A. Yes. Q. And they were desired to make a line, that you might see the two people that stood at the bar? - A. Yes; the Justice desired them to do so. Q. So that you saw these two persons not mixed with any others for you to pick them out? - A. No. Q. Did you not say, or did you say, at Bow-Street, any thing further than that you believed them to be the men? - A. No. Q. You have never seen the pocket-book, or recovered any thing lost upon that occasion? - A. No. Court. Q. When you were before the Magistrate, had you any doubt about the persons of the men? - A. No; I had not. JOHN TOWNSEND sworn. Examined by Mr. Const. On Wednesday the 23d of December, information was given at Bow-street, by a Jew boy, who, I understand, has since absconded; in consequence of that, I and some more other officers went that evening in search of the parties; we took up, I believe, that night, several suspected persons. Q. Did the person, who gave you that information, describe any particular persons? - A. Yes; he gave me the names of all the five whom I knew of course, and we apprehended the prisoners among the rest; they were searched, but nothing found upon them; we apprehended them at a public-house in Clare-street, Clare-market, kept by a man of the name of Liffet, and found them together; I had been in the house before, but they were not there then, and I thought it right to go again, which I did, a little before eight o'clock, I believe it was, and apprehended them. Court. Q. Did you see them come in? - A. No, I did not. Court. Q. Were they in company together, or how? - A. They were not sitting close together, they were near one another. Q. In the same box? - A. No; I believe one sat at the fire-place, and the other in the box; I believe the house was clear, and only these two people in the house. Q. From the information you received, you were in pursuit of others whom you did not find? - A. Yes. Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. This robbery was committed about three o'clock in the afternoon; the place you went to, in order to apprehend these persons, was at a Mr. Lisset's in Clare-market? - A. I went to a number of bad houses. Q. But you went to Lisset's? - A. Yes. Q. You apprehended the prisoners at the bar? - A. Yes. Q. You searched them and found nothing upon them? - A. Nothing relative to the robbery. Q. I believe, at the time you apprehended them, they went very quietly with you? - A. Certainly; there is no question about that. Q. Is Macmanus with you? - A. No. Q. Did this boy come of his own accord? - A. He came with the prisoner, I believe. Court. Q. Was he bound over? - A. Yes, he was. Court. (To Beckman). Q. Did this boy go with you to the Magistrate? - A. Yes, he did. Q. Of his own accord? - A. Yes; he did not go immediately; because he had some fruit, and would not leave his basket, he has been bound over to prosecute, but is no where to be found. Court. I shall certainly estreat the boy's recognizance; and I do it that there may be some further enquiry; the blame must lie somewhere. Wakeman made no defence. Dew left his defence to his Counsel. Wakeman. GUILTY Of stealing the property , (Aged 36.) Dew. GUILTY Of stealing the property , (Aged 30.) Both transported for seven years .

15

Mick Davis on 29th August 2022

see his trial record at Old Bailey website. Charge d with George Wakeman December 1795