Michael Flynn

341

Maureen Withey on 26th February 2022

Old Bailey: MARTIN FLYNN, MICHAEL FLYNN, THOMAS FLYNN, Theft > burglary, 18th September 1837. Offence: Theft > burglary Verdict: Guilty > lesser offence; Guilty > lesser offence; Not Guilty > unknown Punishment: Transportation MARTIN FLYNN, MICHAEL FLYNN, and THOMAS FLYNN were indicted for burglariously brearking and entering the dwelling-house of Hannah Hickman, about one in the night of the 16th of August, at St. Anne, with intent to steal, and stealing therein, 17 spoons, value 4l.; 1 pair of sugar-tongs, value 1l. 10s.; 1 handkerchief, value 2s.; 1 penknife, value 1s.; the top of a mustard-pot, value 8s.; 7 shillings, 6 sixpence, 360 pence, and 960 halfpence, her goods and monies; and that the said Thomas Flynn had been before convicted of felony. HANNAH HICKMAN. I keep the Rainbow public-house in Queen street, Ratcliffe, in the parish of St. Anne. On the night of the 16th of August, about ten minutes to twelve o’clock, I retired to bed—Dowler, who manages my business, was the last person up—I saw the house was fastened up myself—I always do so—Dowler and I went up stairs about the same time with my mother and servant—the back door was bolted at the top and bottom—I arose at a quarter to six o’clock in the morning—when I came down Dowler was up—he called up stairs to me, and gave me information that the house had been broken open—I found the place ransacked—there was a cupboard in the bar which had no lock on it—I missed from there ten packages of copper money, of five shillings each, some penny pieces, and some halfpence—I also missed eight silver tea spoons, two silver table spoons, one salt spoon, one mustard spoon, one silver top of a mustard pot, one pair of sugar tongs from a tea caddy, and five plated tea spoons, a silk handkerchief and a penknife—the value of the whole was 16l. or 18l.—the till was taken out of the bar and placed in the skittle-ground, and was empty—the writing-desk was taken out of the bar-parlour, broken open, and the papers scattered about—it contained nothing of value—I had used a bit of an old newspaper to pack the copper up in, and had paid particular attention to what was on it, for after tearing one up I found an anecdote of Grimaldi, and regretted that I had torn it up—I used it to pack up one of the parcles—I have not found any of my property, but I have seen the piece of newspaper since—it was brought to my house the morning of the robbery, by Shepherd, the policeman—I had packed up the coppers about a week or fortnight before. JOSEPH DOWLER. I conduct Mrs. Hickman’s business. On the night of the 16th of August I went to bed about ten minutes before twelve o’clock—all the fastenings of the house were secure—I fastened them myself—I arose at a quarter before six o’clock, and found the house had been entered through a fan-light over the back door—the fan-light was broken in pieces—I found the back door shut to, but not fastened—it was unbolted—one of the shutters was taken down from the front of the bar—that shutter does not communicate with the street, but the passage—I found a considerable quantity of property taken away—there was a desk in the bar-parlour had been broken open, and I found it in the skittle ground, and the papers strewed about—Shepherd afterwards produced a gouge and chisel—I have been a turner—a gouge and chisel appeared to have been used in opening the desk—on applying them to the desk they corresponded with the marks—I had seen the prisoners Michael and Thomas in the house the night before—I saw them from a little before ten o’clock till a little after eleven o’clock—I saw them go away—I discovered some lucifer matches strewed about the passage, which had not been there the night before—it was broad day light when I discovered the robbery. Cross-examined by MR. PAYNE. Q. How was the fan-light broken? A. One square of glass in it was broken, and the pieces of glass laid in the yard—the door was fastened by a top and bottom bolt—the opening in the square was one foot four by eleven inches—I am quite sure I fastened the bolt myself—I live in the house as a friend of Mrs. Hick man’s, and manage the business. MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. Was the hole big enough for the body of a man to pass through? A. It was. COURT. Q. Did you observe the wall at the end of the yard? A. Yes—there was a hole in the wall for a man to put his foot in, to get on the top—it was on the outside—it was a hole in the brick, and was newly made—it appeared to have been kicked in by a toe. JAMES SHEPHERD. I am a policeman. On the morning of the 17th of August, in consequence of information, I went to the Rainbow, public-house—I observed the back part of the house, and the fan-light—an entrance might have been effected that way—I did not notice the wall then—I saw it after wards, and there was a mark on it—it is the wall at the back of the house, leading into an alley called Gin-alley—it was a mark big enough for a person to put the toe of his shoe in—by getting over that he would get into the skittle-ground, and go to the back-door—the prisoners live in Fox-court, which is at the back of Gin-alley—you must go out of Gin-alley into Narrow street, and then there is Fox-court—it is about fifty yards from the public-house, but twenty yards as the crow flies—I went to the prisoner’s house, about half-past seven o’clock in the morning—I tried the latch of the street-door—it was fastened by the top bolt—I could not get in—I knocked, and at last Martyn Flynn opened the window above, and asked what I wanted—I told him I wished to speak to him—(I was in my uniform)—he said, “Very well, I will come down”—he came down, and it appeared as if other persons were stirring in the house, and instead of opening the door, it was fastened by the lock and bottom bolt—I tried the shutters, they were also fastened—I knocked several times before he answered me again, and when he did answer, he said, “Wait, there are females in the room, let them dress themselves”—I waited some time, but he did not open the door—I asked for admittance at the next house on both sides, but was refused—I sent Judge to watch the back of the house, while I endeavoured to get in at the front—while he was gone Thomas Flynn opened the up stairs window, and said, “The man you are looking for is not here”—I told him to come down and open the door—he said he had nothing to do with it, he was only a lodger—the window was then shut down, and I heard somebody in the house say he had thrown something down—by this time Judge returned, and said he could not get in at the back—I sent for a ladder, and placed it against the window—Judge went up and came down again—I went up, and Martyn Flynn had a gimlet with which he had bored through two sashes, and was holding the handle of the gimlet in his hand—Michael had a hammer, and Thomas was in the room with them—the foot of the bed came against the window, and there was a poker and tongs on it—I told him to open the door, I wanted to speak to him about a case of felony, and if he did not open it, I must break in—Martyn said he would not, for a hundred such as me—I came down, and we both tried the street-door, to force it—but it appeared the strength of the whole three was forced against us, for after we got it partly open, so as to get a staff in, it was closed against us—we began to open the shutters, and Martyn then said he would open the door, and did so, and I got in—the three prisoners were in the lower room—a young woman, who, I believe, was the daughter, and an elderly woman was lying in bed, apparently bed ridden—I looked about, and found this gouge lying on the floor in the lower room—I went up stairs, and in a cupboard found this chisel—I came down again, and Thomas Flynn had escaped—we secured the other two and brought them away—the young woman, on my entering, began to cry, before I went up stairs, and Michael said, “What are you crying for? they can’t hang us for it”—Martyn was present, and Thomas was up stairs then—there are only two rooms in the house, one above and one below and a small yard—there were two great mastiff-dogs in it—Martin rents the house, and the other two live with him—I have always understood so, and seen them about there—after leaving them at the station-house I came back, and found Thomas Flynn in the house—I searched a box, and found a piece of newspaper in it—the box was in the lower room—I found the gouge in the lower room, and the chisel in the upper room—I showed the paper to the prosecutrix—it was open, and had all these folds and creases, as if it had contained halfpence—there are, apparently the marks of penny pieces, copper stains—I have tried the gouge and chisel to this desk—there are marks on the desk, and to the best of my belief they were produced with these instruments—the gouge in particular fits very accurately, both outside the lid and inside—you could hardly get a feather in—and the chisel, also, will fit, with the gouge placed alongside—one appears to have assisted the other in breaking it open. Cross-examined. Q. Where did you find the chisel? A. Up stairs, and the gouge below—the paper was in the box—I pointed out the copper marks before the Grand Jury, but they are faint now. COURT. Q. Is that the gouge and chisel? A. Yes—I was present when Dowler examined the desk with them—I have had them in my pos session ever since. ROGER JUDGE . I am a policeman. I went with Shepherd on the morning in question, to the prisoner’s house—I heard him demand admittance, and knocked at the door—Martyn Flynn rose up the window, and said, “What do you want?”—Shepherd said, “I want to speak to you”—he said, “Very well,” and came down, but instead of opening the door, he put on the bottom bolt and the lock—I went round to the back of the house to see if I could get an entrance there—the wall is about eight or ten feet high—I found two mastiff dogs there, but they did not bite, and I got into the yard—I knocked at the back door with my truncheon, but got no answer—I went to the front and got up at the window by a ladder, and there was Martyn Flynn in the centre of the top room, with his daughter on one side, and his son Michael on the other, pressing the window down against me—I got it up about six inches, and Michael said, “Let me have the hammer, I will clench him”—I said, “Will you?”—he said, “I did not mean you, I meant to clench a nail”—they bored the gimlet through the sash to hold it—I got down, and Shepherd went up—I afterwards got hold of the shutters, and when he heard them being broken, he said, “Don’t break them open, and I will open the door,” and he opened it—when I got in, there was Martin Flynn, Michael, and the daughter, sitting down, crying—Michael said, “What are you crying about, they cannot hang us for it?”—I went up stairs, and Thomas was there—he rose his foot as if he was going to strike me—I got into the room—he refused to come down—I collared him and brought him down stairs—I returned up stairs to look for property, and when I came down he was gone away—when I went up the ladder at first, I saw Thomas in the room—he was standing behind the others, and the poker, tongs, and shovel were by the side of the bed. JOSEPH DOWLER re-examined. Here is where the gouge and chisel fit the marks—(showing them.) MR. PAYNE. Q. Would not any sharp thing make that mark? A. No—here is the point of it—these things were tried before the Magistrate—the mark was more plain at first than it is now. See original Click to see original COURT. Q. What height from the ground is the fan-light, on the out side? A. About six feet, and under the fan-light is a step or seat projecting from the side of the door-post—it is about a foot wide, and about two feet from the ground, and four feet from the fan-light. HANNAH HICKMAN re-examined. (Looking at the paper.) This is the same account of Grimaldi—I tore the paper, and this is torn in the way I usually do tear—I wrapped the halfpence in exactly such a paper as this, the folds and all—when it was first brought to me there was the round mark of the penny-pieces—the impression was very perfect then—I read the anecdote of Grimaldi, and thought it would be amusing to somebody, and regretted tearing it, as I often give old newspapers to persons going out in ships—I cannot say it is the same piece of paper, as there are more editions than one—it was either the Morning Advertiser or Herald—Dowler has no interest in the business—I have been married, but my husband is dead. Michael Flynn’s Defence, I went into the skittle-ground over night—that is all. GEORGE DEVERELL. I know the prisoner, Thomas Flynn, and remember his being convicted of felony, in this Court, two years and a quarter ago—I got this certificate of his conviction from Mr. Clark’s office—(read.)— I was present at his trial—he is the person. MICHAEL FLYNN— GUILTY. Aged 36. THOMAS FLYNN— GUILTY. Aged 18. Of breaking and entering, but not burglariously. Transported for Fifteen Years. MARTYN FLYNN— NOT GUILTY.

341

Maureen Withey on 26th February 2022

National Archives. Criminal Petitions. HO 17/5/99 Prisoner name: Michael Flynn and Thomas Flynn. Prisoner age: Michael aged 26 and Thomas aged 18. Prisoner occupation: Both ballast heavers. Court and date of trial: Old Bailey Sessions September 1837. Crime: House-breaking, the victim Hannah Hickman. Initial sentence: Fifteen years transportation. Gaoler's report: Character not known. Petitioner(s): Ann Flynn of Ratcliff [Middlesex] (the prisoners' mother). 28 people of Ratcliff including the prosecutrix (names and addresses given). The prisoners. Grounds for clemency: They pleaded innocence, but because they refused the police admission to their house they were charged; at the time of the crime, Thomas was at home and Michael was too drunk to have been capable of the crime; the brothers are their elderly parent's only support; did not provide any evidence as to their innocence at trial because too poor to employ a lawyer. Other papers: Covering letters from C E Jenkins forwarding the petitions and requesting a delay in transportation. Sworn statements from Sarah Barnett, John Walker, James Ash, Ann Flynn, Martin Flynn and Ellen Flynn. Confession to the burglary from Joseph Andrews a convict on board Fortitude. Letter from [L Owen] of Justitia Hulk stating that he has spoken to Andrews who denies knowledge of the crime but that a prisoner named James McConachy confessed that he committed the crime. Additional Information: Prisoners on board Justitia hulk. Date, 1837 Sept; 1838 Aug. -------------------------------------------------- His brother Thomas Flynn also on board.