Samuel Fare

338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 11th July 2024

New Town Charitable Institute Admission dates: 17 Jan 1881 to 25 Feb 1881, 01 Apr 1881 to 05 Oct 1881 Ship to colony: Emperor Alexander New Town Charitable Institute: POL709-1-18 page 35 (17 Jan 1881 to 25 Feb 1881) POL709-1-18 page 160 (01 Apr 1881 to 05 Oct 1881) Discharged; At own request. Able to work New Town Charitable Institute: Name; Samuel Fair ** POL709-1-19 page 111 (08 Apr 1883 to 10 Jul 1883) POL709-1-19 page 187 (18 Aug 1883 to 20 Nov 1883) POL709-1-20 page 46 (15 Dec 1883 to 18 Mar 1884) POL709-1-20 page 124 (13 Apr 1885 to 28 Jul 1885) 1887 - Possible Death Record. Name; Samuel Fair. Date of death: 02 Jun 1887. Age; 77 years old. Last known residence: New Town Charitable Institution, New Town Date of burial: 03 Jun 1887. Cornelian Bay, Pauper, Section A, Number 488

135

C H on 1st March 2024

Old Bailey Online SAMUEL FARE. Violent Theft; robbery. 3rd January 1833. Text type Trial account Defendants SAMUEL FARE Offences Violent Theft > Robbery Session Date 3rd January 1833 Reference Number t18330103-82 Verdicts Guilty > Lesser offence Punishments Transportation Before Mr. Justice James Parke. 333. SAMUEL FARE alias SLEITH was indicted for feloniously assaulting Benjamin Couch Danby , on the 19th of December , at Enfield , putting him in fear, and taking from his person, and against his will, 2 handkerchiefs, value 1s. 6d.; 1 cigar-case, value 1s.; 1 purse, value 1s., and 11s., his property . MR. CLARKSON conducted the prosecution. JOSEPH MATTHEWS . I was in the service of Mrs. Perry, at the Crown and Horse-shoe, Enfield. On Wednesday, the 19th of December, Mr. Danby came to our house - the prisoner was there, among other persons; they remained there till about ten minutes after eleven o'clock at night; I was in the tap-room when there was a difference between my master and the prisoner - master shook him, and told him to get up off the bench, for he should not lay there - the prisoner threatened if he pulled him up again, he would knock him down; I did not see him produce any thing - they had three or four pots of beer and half a pint of gin; when Danby went out, he staggered about, and I told Fare to take care of him - he came to him when I called him - I led him over the bridge, and then called to Fare, who came and took hold of him, and so did Cooper - Wagstaff was making water at the corner of our house; he went after them - they went in a direction to Wagstaff's house; I observed that the deceased had some shot and powder with him at the public house - I heard next morning that he had been murdered. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. I believe the deceased was so tipsy he fell against the pales? A. He went against the pales - he appeared so tipsy he was likely to fall, if somebody had not held him up. JOSEPH PERRY . I am landlord of the Crown and Horse-shoe. On the 19th of December Danby and others were at my house - in the course of the evening I went into the tap-room, and saw Fare and some others laying asleep - I laid hold of Fare, and told him to get up; I went into the bar, and heard Fare and another grumbling about my disturbing him; I went in, and asked him what he was grumbling about - he said if I pulled him up again he would knock me down; I told him not to come into my house again; he said it was a public-house, and he should come when he liked - he said, "D-n you, you would not serve me so, but you think I can't pay for a pot;" he put his hand into his pocket, and produced two shillings and a sixpence; Danby produced his purse several times in the prisoner's presence, and I could observe that there was money in it - it appeared to be shillings or sixpences; he took a shilling out to toss with the prisoner - it did not appear to have any half-crowns in it - I could form a judgment of that by the size of the bulk; I should think there were from 12s. to 15s., as far as I could judge - I went up stairs before they left; I desired Mrs. Perry not to draw them any more. Cross-examined. Q. Fare had been drinking, had he not? A. No; I did not see him there till eight o'clock; I believe only one pot of beer went in - I had not seen him drinking, but before they left more beer was sent in. RICHARD WAGSTAFF . I am a baker and live at Enfield. On the night of the 19th of December I was at the Crown and Horse-shoe public-house; Fare was there in the course of the evening - we came away a little after eleven o'clock; Johnson, the prisoner, Cooper, and the deceased went out altogether; I went with them as far as my house - we all left at the same time; my house is about a hundred yards from the Crown and Horse-shoe; the deceased was intoxicated: they all passed me at the corner of the house; Johnson and Fare led him along, one on one side, and the other on the other - I was behind them, with Cooper; we proceeded in that manner until we came to my house, and there I parted with them: they were going in a direction towards Sheffield's house. JOHN COOPER . I was at the Horse-shoe on the night of the 19th of December - I remember the party leaving the house about ten minutes after eleven o'clock; Fare was one, and the deceased was another - Fare and Johnson led the deceased along the road; after Matthews went in, I was behind with Wagstaff - they went just by Wagstaff's house; Wagstaff went into his house - I know Sheffield's house; they did not go quite so far as there: Fare and Johnson were leading him, and just before they got to Sheffield's, I saw a scuffie and a pushing about with them, and Fare fell down - I did not go up to them - the deceased caught hold of my arm, and Fare went away directly he got up; he was not on the ground half a minute - Fare lived with his mother, at the Holly-bush - I did not see which way he went; I never saw any thing more of him after that - I afterwards proceeded as far as Holt White's-hill, and while there I did not observe any body meddle with the deceased's pockets, or turn either of them inside out. Cross-examined. Q. Did you not state yesterday that you saw a person in Holt White's-lane take a handkerchief out of Mr. Danby's pocket? A. That was up the lane, when the man was killed; Johnson took a handkerchief from his jacket. COURT. Q. From his jacket pocket or his breast? -A. It was about his breast that he took it from. MR. BODKIN. Q. Was not the handkerchief taken from his jacket after he was murdered? A. Yes - I had been knocked into the ditch, and he upon me, and when I had an opportunity of seeing, Johnson's knees were on Danby's body, and his hands on his head; it was starlight and freezing; I was about three yards from Danby when the pushing took place. Q. Did it appear to be larking among drunken men? A. Yes - I did not know they were doing any harm; it appeared to be larking - Sheffield's house is seven or eight yards from Wagstaff's; Fare went away about a minute after Wagstaff went into his house - Wagstaff did not advise me to go home as he went in; he had done so about half a minute before - he said it would be better for me to go home; the prisoner was about four yards off - he could not hear that as Wagstaff did not speak loud - the prisoner had been drinking with the decased and Johnson; I do not think he was at all tipsy. Q. Fare was thrown down with this pushing? A. I do not know that he was thrown down; he went on the ground - I had my eye on him from the time Wagstaff went in till he fell down. MR. CLARKSON. Q. Were you able, from the position you were in, to tell whether he was robbed or not at that time? A. I cannot tell one way or the other; I heard no money rattle when Johnson took the handkerchief from Danby's pocket; I was near enough to hear if there was any - I was about four yards off; Johnson did not produce any silver to me after the murder - there was an opportunity to rob Danby near Sheffield's house, if they were disposed to do so. Q. Is there a passage between Wagstaff's and Sheffield's? A. Yes, it goes up the high road; it is a narrow passage by a public-house - the scuffle was in the footpath at the side of the passage: the road runs two ways - there is a little road branches off into the high road; that is what I call the narrow passage - the scuffling was in the footpath at the bottom of the passage, about ten yards from the high road, in the passage. JURY. Q. Do you know if he kept his money in the same pocket as the handkerchief? A. I do not know. COURT. Q. Was it a silk or cotton handkerchief that was taken from him? A. I do not know, I had not hold of it; it was the handkerchief which was thrown into the river; the passage goes up into the road - it leads from the public-house to the chase-side road; we did not go out of the road - the passage was in the course of our way. JOSEPH PERRY . When I saw the deceased produce his purse from time to time; he always put it into his right-hand breeches pocket, I am confident of that, for I had seen him pull it out the day before at the Holy-bush, and observed how very careful he was in putting his purse away. MR. BODKIN. Q. How late did you see him with the purse? A. About half-past ten o'clock; I am certain he then put it into his right-hand breeches pocket - I went to bed after that, and cannot say whether he pulled it out again; I heard he was tipsy when he left the house. JOSEPH MATTHEWS . I saw the deceased produce his purse after my master went away: I did not notice what pocket he put it into, I think it was his inner pocket; I know he did not put it into any pocket in his jacket; I know he put it down below. JOHN COOPER re-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. Where Fare fell was there any ditch on the side? A. No. It was a level ground - he fell against the fence; it was on the right-hand side going along: the scuffling was hugging one another, pushing each other about - there was not much struggling. JURY. Q. Did you observe who commenced the struggling? A. Johnson apparently: Danby did not resist the struggling as offensive or troublesome - he was not in a state to resist it; I cannot say whether he was sensible enough to take it as a joke - I do not think there was struggling enough to make Fare fall down; they were only hugging and pushing about: he was not pushed down. JOHN MEAD . I am a constable of Enfield. On the morning of the 20th of December, I received information of the murder; I went to the spot, and saw the deceased's body - I observed a cap and gloves in it, with the body; I took Fare into custody on the Thursday morning, about ten minutes after eight o'clock: (it was about half-past eight when I got home;) I took him at his mother's house, in chase-side, near the Holly-bush - if persons were going from the Crown and Horse-shoe, to the Holy-bush, they would pass Sheffield's house to go to the footway, and along the chase-side road: he would be in a direct line to his home when he was with Cooper, and the deceased in the chase-side road - his mother keeps a small cottage; there are two little rooms down stairs, and two up stairs - she has a family, but I do not know how many; I did not search the cottage: I took Fare to the watch-house - I searched him there, and found on him four knives and 4d. in halfpence, a penny-piece, the bowl of a tobacco-pipe, some shot, a key, and two sixpences; I have known Fare from his infancy - he had been living in different families: he has lived at his mother's for some months; it is my duty to attend the parish officers at Enfield - Fare was a pauper of the parish, and received relief on the 19th at the poor-house, I saw him there that Wednesday morning, and in the afternoon; I was in the committee-room with him when they gave him an order for 2s. 6d. - I said,"Give it to me Sam;" I passed it over to the master of the house, who handed him two shillings and a sixpence in my presence - I cannot recollect whether he was in the habit of receiving relief before that; when he came, he applied for work or relief, saying he had got no employment, and he could not starve - the chairman said, "A youngman like you, coming for relief, you let yourself down very much to come as a pauper;" I know he said, "I must have relief or starve," or something like that - I showed Mr. Addington the tobacco-pipe bowl; Watkins searched his mother's house - I took a key from him, which I applied to a box at his mother's house, in company with Watkins; it opened the box. Cross-examined. Q. Have you been in the habit of attending the committee when giving relief? A. Yes, for some years; persons sometimes get relief who are not really in want. MR. CLARKSON. Q. Are you not sure he said he must have relief, for he could not starve? A. Yes, I am sorry to say that is a remark too often made. RICHARD WATKINS . I am a Bow-street horse-patrol. I received information of the murder, and Fare, Johnson, and Cooper were apprehended; I saw the body at the Serjeant - I did not notice the cap and gloves - I went and searched the prisoner's house while he was taken to the watch-house by Mead - I found a box in the house, and asked his mother a question about it; she gave me an answer, in consequence of which I broke open the box, and found in it 11s., and two duplicates - Mead and I afterwards applied a key to that box which opened it - I had not the key when Mead took Fare - Mead afterwards produced it; I had opened the box in Mead's absence, and found in it 11s., all in shillings - it was scattered about loose in the box, a little distance apart, as if it had been dropped in; there was nothing else in the box but a few old buttons - I produced the key before the Coroner - I do not know whether what the prisoner said was taken down - he was examined as a witness - a person was writing - I am sure the key Mead produced fitted the box. Cross-examined. Q. There are several persons living in this cottage? A. I believe they are all one family; I do not know how many there are in family. JOHN MEAD. It was the key I found in the prisoner's possession which unlocked the box. WILLIAM WHEELER . I am a labourer, and live at Enfield-chase. On Thursday morning, the 20th of December, at half-past five o'clock I was going to work; as I passed down Holt White's-lane, I found a corpse; I got assistance, and came back to the spot; I found the body had been murdered; I found a cap on the spot, with a pair of gloves; some shot and two halfpence laid close to the body - it was brought down to the Serjeant public-house, and taken possession of by Mead; the deceased's left-hand trowsers pocket was turned inside out; the right hand pocket was in. JOHN MEAD. I took possession of the cap and gloves at the Serjeant, but not the halfpence; the shot was then in the cap; when I searched Fare I found a very small quantity of shot loose in his waistcoat pocket, with the bowl of the tobacco pipe - I did not take them all out; they are the same size as those found with the body; I found no shot in the deceased's clothes - I did not search. Cross-examined. Q. The shot was inside the cap? A. Yes, when I saw it - I understood it was picked up, and put in the cap; here is all the shot I took from Fare, he had more, but it was a very small quantity. Re-examined. The shot was produced before the Jury; that found on the ground and on the deceased were compared, and they were the same shot, No.4. JOHN CUFFLEY . I keep the Serjeant. On the morning of the alarm I went to Holt White's-lane, and saw the body of the deceased; I got there about a quarter to seven o'clock; Wheeler and several others were there; I saw the cap, the gloves, some halfpence, and some small shot laid by the side of it; I do not think the face was downwards, but it had been moved; I put the gloves into the cap; there is about three quarters of a pound of shot in the deceased's pocket now - the deceased had half a quarter of a pound of shot in his rough jacket pocket I think; in turning the body over, some might have fallen out. Cross-examined. Q. It is a very common size shot? Yes. Upon comparing the shot produced, some corresponded in size and the rest differed. JOSEPH MATTHEWS. I gave the deceased change shortly before he left the public-house that night, and gave him 4d. in halfpence; that was the last time he paid me any thing - I cannot say whether it was all in halfpence. Cross-examined. Q. Did you notice which pocket he put it into? A. No; he put it into some of his pockets - he did not pull out his purse to put it in; I do not think he put it into his trousers pocket. JOHN MEAD. I found eight halfpence and a penny-piece on Fare; when I went to the spot where the murder was committed - in searching about, I picked up a halfpenny - I saw no more; the two had been found before, as I was told - Watkins searched Johnson. RICHARD WATKINS . I found a shilling on Johnson, that was all the money I found on him. PETER ADDINGTON . The deceased was a connexion of mine by marriage, and lived at my house, at Enfield, from the 12th to the 19th of December, and accompained me in my rounds to my customers - I drove a cart; he had been out with me on the Wednesday on which he was murdered, and on the Tuesday and Monday - on the Wednesday morning I lent him the bowl of a tobacco-pipe; I should know it again, (looking at it) this is it; I had it about twelve months, and used it to load a gun, and lent it him for that purpose; I can take on myself to swear this is the bowl I lent him - here is a little bit broken out of it - I passed the Holly-bush with him on Tuesday, the day before the murder. Cross-examined. Q. There are several bits broken out of it? A. No, only in one place; I only broke it in one place, that is inside - I never knew any body else charge a gun with a bowl. MR. CLARKSON. Q. Is it a bowl with figures on it? A. Yes, here is a greyhound on it, and a leaf worked up the back - I never noticed more than one greyhound on i- I broke this piece out myself - I am quite sure it if the same bowl. JURY. Q. Do you know if he had different size shots with him? A. I cannot tell. MR. BODKIN. Q. In what pocket did he keep his shot and the bowl? A. I believe in the inside jacket pocket. THOMAS NEWMAN . I am a labourer, and live at Enfield. On the day before the murder, in the morning, I was with Fare by the Holly-bush - Addington and the deceased went past in the cart; Fare asked me if that was the man who had got all that money which they talked so much about; I said I did not know no more than a child; he said he wished he knew whether it was him or not; for if he could light on him in the dark he would cut his wizen; but he would have some of it. Cross-examined. Q. I suppose you went and told the nearest constable you could find? A. No; I told one Brown on the Thursday night; nobody else was present; it was about half-past nine o'clock in the morning. WILLIAM WALKER . I keep the Rising Sun, at Enfield, about a quarter of a mile from Addington's - it leads on to the Chase side-road. On the morning before I heard of the murder I saw Mr. Danby at about half-past twelve o'clock, Wednesday morning - he came to my house; I had given him change for a sovereign on the Tuesday night; I gave him 20s.; he returned me one to pay for some gin and water - I gave it him all in shillings. JURY to JOHN COOPER . Q. You say Fare fell towards the paling - was the deceased's face or back towards Fare? A. Fare had hold of the right-hand side of the deceased when he fell. Q. Was Johnson twisted about at all? A. A little; he was on the left-hand side. MR. BODKIN. Q. After Fare left you, on which side of the deceased did Johnson walk? A. On the right-hand side all the way; I should think he had an opportunity of taking any thing from the deceased if so inclined - the struggling lasted about half a minute; Fare had hold of him; I did not see him meddle with his pockets. MR. CLARKSON. Q. On which side of the deceased was Fare? A. On the right-hand side; he had an opportunity of robbing him if so disposed; I could not see whether he had his hand in his pocket - he was on his right side all the time till he left; he did not tell us he was going away; he left without saying a word. Q. Was the road light? A. There is a hedge; it is not so light as the Chase-side road. JOHN CUFFLEY. I was present when the deceased's clothes were examined; there was some halfpence and a sixpence I believe found; I had the key of the room all the time, till the Inquest; nobody could get at it. RICHARD WATKINS. I examined the deceased's clothes at the Inquest, and found a sixpence and a foreign halfpenny in the inside jacket pocket - there was no other money on him at all. MR. ADDINGTON. I lent him the bowl between nine and ten o'clock on Wednesday morning; he was shooting that day. Prisoner's Defence (written). I most solemnly declare my innocence of the charge - I am accused of having in my possession a tobacco-pipe bowl, some shot, and 11s. in silver, the supposed property of the deceased Benjamin Couch Danby, which has been attempted to be proved, by circumstantial evidence only, to have been the property of the deceased; I submit to your Lordship and Gentlemen, that there is no proof that the deceased was robbed by me, nor indeed was he, which I most solemnly declare; I do trust, that your Lordship and Gentlemen will not deem the possession of a tobacco-pipe bowl, and which I had had upwards of one month previous to the day in which the unfortunate and dreadful business was committed, and which I had used at least three weeks previous to the murder, on which day I had been shooting birds on the Chase, in company of Henry Keep, Thomas Moles, and George Hill, all of whom would have proved they saw me with the tobacco-pipe bowl, which I then used to charge the gun with powder, with which I shot the birds - the gun had been lent me by a person named William Cufflin ; the shot found also upon me was part of what I had on that day, and are No. 4 shots - the above persons were present yesterday to prove these facts, as my instruction to the Counsel would prove: they all of them having been subpoenaed, and were in attendance, but in consequence of my acquittal of the murder, they have thought themselves discharged from their subpoenas, and never contemplated being called upon this day, as evidence to prove that for which they were in attendance yesterday - placed as I am this day before you, entirely unprotected by any friends as to character, who were all present yesterday, to prove that I was not the dissolute and abandoned character the newspapers has made me appear to be; I throw myself upon your protection, certain my unfortunate case will recommend your best attention and consideration - my Lord and Gentlemen, my case is in your hands, and I anxiously look forward to a favourable result; I forbear to say any thing respecting the evidence of the approver Cooper, and shall leave him to a wicked conscience, but a merciful and just God. Seven witnesses gave the prisoner a very good character. GUILTY of stealing from the person only . Aged 22. Transported for Fourteen Years .

135

C H on 1st March 2024

Description Alias Sleith. Born 1811. Place of birth Enfield Gender male. Hair red, brown (reddish brown). Eyes hazel. Distinguishing marks pitted pockmarked Has tattoo no. First recorded 3rd January 1833