Thomas Johnson

135

C H on 25th March 2024

Old Bailey Online JOHN WILLIS. THOMAS JOHNSON. SARAH JAMES. Theft; housebreaking, Theft; receiving. 5th September 1833. Text type Trial account Defendants JOHN WILLIS, THOMAS JOHNSON, SARAH JAMES Offences Theft > Housebreaking, Theft > Receiving Session Date 5th September 1833 Reference Number t18330905-8 Verdicts Guilty, Guilty, Guilty Punishments Death, Death, Transportation 1290. JOHN WILLIS, alias JOHN HUTTON , and THOMAS JOHNSON , were indicted for feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of William Goodman , on the 21st of April , at Hillingdon, and stealing therein 1300 yards of silk, value 160l.; 700 yards of lace, value 70l.; 60 shawls, value 45l.; 345 handkerchiefs, value 54l.; 80 scarfs, value 15l.; 15 spoons, value 12l.; 1 clock, value 5l.; 1 table-cloth, value 4s.; 1 imitation-cigar, value 2d.; and the sum of 2l. 5s. in copper monies, his property : and SARAH JAMES was indicted for feloniously receiving, on the same day, at the same parish, 48 yards of silk, value 5l.; 4 handkerchiefs, value 1l.; 1 scarf, value 5s.; part of the said goods, so as aforesaid feloniously stolen, well knowing them to have been stolen , against the statute, &c. MESSRS. ADOLPHUS and PHILLIPS conducted the Prosecution. WILLIAM GOODMAN . I am a silk mercer , and live at Uxbridge, in Middlesex, in the parish of Hillingdon . In consequence of information which I received on Sunday morning, the 21st of April, I went down stairs, about five o'clock, and found my private door wide open, and my shopdoor was forced open - the goods in the shop were scattered in all directions; many silk rollers were lying about; the silks had been taken off them - I missed from twenty to thirty pieces of silk - I missed two wrappers of shawls, worth 60l. or 70l., and a whole box of lace, worth about 100l. or 140l.; the whole loss we estimate at 400l. and upwards - my desk in my shop was broken open; I lost nine papers of halfpence from that desk, containing 5s. worth each, and each paper was marked with a figure of 5s. - the iron chest in the shop was safe; there had been an attempt made on it certainly, but it had not succeeded - I found a chisel very near the iron chest, it did not belong to me, and a bunch of keys, which had been taken out of my desk; they were in the desk the night before - I have a cupboard in my breakfast parlour, and from that was taken twelve or fourteen silver spoons - I missed some cigars, and a variety of other things - I observed something very indecent had been transacted in the house - there was an imitation of a lighted cigar taken - I went into the kitchen, and found part of the pannel of the door cut out; the aperture enabled a person to put his hand through and undraw the bolt; the door was open - the pannel was cut out of the cellar-door, which was open, and a small window at the back of the house had the glass taken out, and the cross-bar and two squares of glass were taken out; a person could get through there into the house - I tried it myself - my house was safe when I went to bed - Willis's father keeps some stables at the back of my house; he goes by the name of Hutton there; these stables are about four or five hundred yards from the back of my house - I saw the chisel applied to the door by Attfield, it corresponded with the marks exactly - when Johnson was taken we found two chisels in his room, they were applied, and fitted exactly the impressions where the places were broken open; one chisel had a small piece broken out of the corner, and the space was wanted in almost every mark - Brock afterwards showed me a piece of silk, and Prendergrass produced a piece to me - I went into Newgate soon after Willis was taken into custody - it is about two months ago - I found the female prisoner in Newgate, and Willis too - the female prisoner had a light puce silk dress on; I considered the silk the dress was made of mine; I had one a similar colour, and a short length of it, and from the appearance of it I considered it mine. VALENTINE BULLER . I am shopman to Mr. Goodman, and live in the house. On Sunday morning, the 21st of April, I was called up about five o'clock, and went through the premises - I observed the place broken open, and the property removed - I afterwards went to the stables of Hutton (Willis's father) and could see there the traces of a cart or narrow wheeled chaise from Hutton's stables into the street, and pursuing the track of the wheels I found a piece of lace, which I believe to be Mr. Goodman's; there is a mark in pencil of the length of the lace; it is one of our shop marks, but not made by myself - I have seen Willis before at Uxbridge in company with his father, and believed him to be the son of that man. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. When did you track the wheels? A. On the 21st of April, the morning the robbery was discovered - the constable ( James Darvill ) went with me - the stables are four or five hundred yards from the house. Q. Do you go along the highway to them? A. No, it is a sort of enclosed yard belonging to three houses - it was a dewy morning, the grass was wet with dew - it was not market morning, it was Sunday - I had not looked at the same place the night before - I should judge from the appearance of the grass that the tracks had been just made; the dew appeared to have been brushed off - it was a narrow wheel. JAMES DARVILL . I am a constable of Uxbridge. On Sunday morning, the 21st of April, I was called up in consequence of a robbery, and went to Mr. Goodman's house - I observed the track of a wheel leading from the High-street down to the stables, in the direction it would come from Mr. Goodman's house - I traced it down to Hutton's stables; the track was quite visible - I thought Hutton's horse had been stolen from there, and called his man up; it was a fresh track, the dew was brushed off - I received from Buller a chisel and some lace. MARTIN SPENCELEY . I am a groom. I was in the employ of Mr. Batty of Uxbridge - in April last, I slept in Mr. Hutton's stables - I know Willis; Hutton passed as his father - I was sleeping in the saddle-room on the night of the 20th of April; Mr. Hutton gave me leave to sleep there - I knew Johnson before; I never saw Johnson in Uxbridge before, but Willis had lived there with his father - while I was in the saddle-room I saw Willis, he awoke me by tapping at the saddle-room window, he asked me where the keys of the gates were, I said they hung up on a nail near the door; Willis then came in and said,"Johnson has come down, and we have brought a horse and cart;" I said, "Have you?" he said, "Yes;" and they brought the horse and cart into the yard, turned the horse out, and brought the horse into the stable; there was only one horse in the cart; I don't exactly know what sort of a cart it was; it was a light cart; there had been no other cart up the yard that morning, not to my knowledge - Johnson and he both came in the stables; Willis instantly got a light, he got it in about a moment; I don't know how he got it, he got it from something he brought with him; there was no tinder-box there - Johnson lit his pipe, and Willis told me in Johnson's hearing, that they were going to crack a bl-y crib - I don't know what that meant, but fancy it meant to break into a house - Willis fed the horse with oats - they went away in about twenty minutes - I cannot say at what hour I was awoke, I had not a watch, but imagine it was near four o'clock when they went away; they came at near one o'clock I suppose - they came back, I did not see whether they brought anything with them - when they went away about four o'clock, they took the horse out of the stables, put it in the cart, and went away - I was in bed, but I could hear them do that; and about half-past five o'clock I heard of Mr. Goodman's house being robbed - the constable came down into the yard about five o'clock; I got up, and dressed myself - I saw nothing found - I did not see the prisoners when they came back; but I heard them stirring about, as if in a great hurry - the horse, according to what I could see as I lay in bed, was a chesnut horse, about 14 hands, 2 inches, as near as I can guess. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. You were lying in bed, and the horse in the yard? A. No, the horse was in the stables; there was no stall in the stables, he was standing by a rail - I thought it was a dark chesnut; almost a brown - I did not understand what they meant when they said they were going to break a b-y crib - I rather judged it was to break into somebody's house - I have had nothing to do in that way myself - I remember living in Northumberland - I was never charged with robbing any body there - I did not live at a public-house - I was never charged with robbing my master, nor any body else - I was never taken into custody till I was taken on this, and then I could not find bail - I was fetched from Cambridge by Mr. Goodman and an officer - I was taken into custody then, and brought on this charge; I told this story after that; I had not told a word about it before I was taken into custody; I never told it, except to one man, named Maddox - he is not a particular friend of mine; he was a friend, and he was not; he lived with Mr. Hutton at that time - he lets out flys, and horses, and gigs - I know where Mr. Goodman lived - I heard of the robbery about half-past five o'clock - I went to Cambridge soon after Epsom races, about two months after the robbery; I staid at Uxbridge until Epsom races, that was about three weeks - I knew where the prosecutor lived, but did not give an alarm; I might have got 20l. if I had gone near him, but I had no hand in it, and did not wish to make a disturbance; there was 20l. reward offered; it is not offered still that I know off; I have not the least notion of getting any part of it now - I was out of place when I left Uxbridge; I went to Epsom, and got a place with an old master who I had lived nine years with, and staid with him till Mr. Goodman fetched me away; I went with my old master to Cambridge; his name is Edwards, he is a gentleman jockey - I did not bring seventy sovereigns from Epsom; my pockets were very clear when I returned from Epsom; I did not show any body seventy sovereigns, and say I had made a good thing of it there, nor did I show any money. Cross-examined by MR. DOANE. Q. Is there not a reward still offered for the robbery? A. I don't know; I know there was a reward before I left Uxbridge, and I suppose it will remain - I don't expect to get any portion of it; I never said I had made a good job or good thing at Uxbridge; I remember being at the Ben Johnson, in Shoe-lane - I never said there that I had made a good thing at Uxbridge, and had been to Epsom races; I made nothing at Uxbridge but what I earned by hard work; I worked for Mr. Batty, that was the only thing I made money by there; I was never charged with robbery at Newcastle; I lived with Lord Kelburn in Scotland - I was never charged with committing robbery there; I know a man named George - I did not go with him to Scotland, I went with him to Yorkshire; I was never charged with robbing his mother - I don't know whether he was; I never knew George charged with robbery while I was with him; there are several George's - none of them were charged with robbery while I was with them; I saw the tracks of the wheels, there were two tracks; I looked at them in the morning, as a good many people were looking at them; the cart was in the yard, and I was in the stable in bed; I could not see the cart from my bed - I saw it once - I stood by the stable door then; I was in bed before they came with the cart; I got up to shut the gates, and saw them going out, they had not got quite out; there were only two tracks on the ground; the cart only had two wheels - I saw the prisoners plainer than I saw the horse. MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. It has been said you said nothing about this, what was your reason? A. Because I was rather under obligations to Hutton; not being in regular service, he gave me leave to sleep in the saddle room, I did not wish to make any disturbance, as I had no hand in the robbery, I thought they would find it out soon enough - I mean that I saw only the marks of two cart wheels. JOSEPH JESSOP . I am a carpenter, and live at No. 3, Charles-street, Commercial-road, Whitechapel. Willis and the female prisoner lodged in my house as man and wife; they lodged with me six or seven weeks; on Sunday, the 21st of April, about half-past seven o'clock in the morning, I heard a horse and cart drive up to my door; I took my little boy and went to my door, and saw Willis and Johnson in the cart; Willis got out and went up stairs, and left Johnson in the cart; I saw Willis come down, and Johnson handed him a large parcel, wrapped in brown wrapper; Willis took it up stairs, came down and took a second parcel; he took them from out of the underneath part of the cart below the seat; I walked away into my back parlour, and heard one of the prisoners go up stairs twice; I returned again to the door, and Johnson said to Willis, "I think that is all;" he said "No, there is a small parcel," which he gave to Willis who went up stairs; it appeared to me to be five shilling papers of coppers tied up; I walked away from the door; they both went up to the room, and in five or ten minutes Willis came down, and drove away with the horse and cart; the horse appeared to be driven very hard, and it was very hot; Willis returned in ten or twelve minutes and knocked at my back parlour door, and paid his rent with five shillings worth of copper; his rent was 3s. 6d.; I asked him to take the change; he said, his wife should come down and take it; there was a figure of five on the brown paper; I untied the parcel of halfpence, and put the eighteen pence out; the female prisoner came down and fetched it; Johnson dined with them that day, and stopped all day until towards evening; I am not a judge of horses, but it appeared a chesnut horse, with a white face and white foot. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. Did you know that he came to your house from Tooting, where they lived before? A. No; I don't know where they lived, but they told me they came from Uxbridge; the halfpence were tied in a handkerchief, but it appeared papers of copper; I looked at the paper they paid me, that had a figure of five on it - I looked particularly at it; that was all that was on it I am sure; it is very common to make halfpence up in five shilling parcels; they saw me standing at the door, and must have known that I saw what they were doing; they continued to lodge in my house for four or five weeks after. Cross-examined by MR. DOANE. Q. Have you ever said you would do all you could to convict the prisoners? A. Not to the best of my knowledge; it is possible I might have forgotten saying such a thing; I did not say I should like to hang the whole lot - on my oath, I did not; I never said anything at all like it - I will take my oath to the best of my knowledge, that I never said I would do all I could to convict the prisoners; I can only swear to the best of my knowledge; if I ever said so respecting any one of them, I have forgotten it - I don't recollect it; I believe I never did - I never had any quarrel with them. HARRIET JESSOP . I am the wife of Joseph Jessup; Willis and the female prisoner lodged at our house; I remember Willis and Johnson coming to the house on the morning of the 21st of April, in a little chaise cart; it had a lightish horse; I saw them take two or three large parcels out of the cart, wrapped in brown wrappers - I saw nothing else taken out; they owed us one week's rent - I had not asked for it; it was only due on the Saturday; Willis brought the five shilling paper of halfpence to the back parlour door, wrapped in a brown paper, and it was marked with a figure of five, with a long mark after it; I burnt the paper; in about two or three hours the female prisoner brought me several little bits of lace down and gave to me - I gave them up to the officer; I am a dress maker; on the Wednesday, she brought me down two pieces of silk, a piece of puce-coloured silk measuring eight and a half yards, and a piece of lavender-coloured silk about forty yards; I made her a gown of the pucecoloured silk, and made a dress and bonnet of the lavender-coloured silk, and returned her the remainder; I think twenty-two or twenty-three yards were returned to her, because she cut two or three little pieces off herself to make a bag of; she gave me a yards and a half of the lavender-coloured silk afterwards; I made up nothing else for her; she never paid me money; I considered the pieces of lace sufficient to pay me for making the puce-coloured gown, and she gave me a yard and a-half of silk for making the lavender-coloured, and a little bit more; I saw in her possession a very handsome shawl, and four very handsome handkerchiefs; the shawl had a handsome green middle, with a reddish border - the handkerchiefs were French colour; I don't know what you call them; some of them were figured - I gave her a shilling for a scarf and made her a bonnet for it besides; all the things I had from her were delivered to the officer; I sold the yard and a half of silk to Mrs. Allen - I cut off a little bit to make it a yard and a half - On Saturday evening Willis and James went out together; nobody was with them; the woman returned about nine o'clock, as near as I can guess; she came and sat in my back parlour, and told me she had been as far as Charing-cross with her husband, and that he was gone to Uxbridge to fetch their things home; when they took my apartments, they said they came from Uxbridge - they said they had been lodging at Uxbridge; they brought nothing with them but what they had on their backs; Johnson was in the house all day on Sunday, and dined with them - I did not see any of the goods at that time. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. You always considered the woman Willis's wife? A. I did; I never knew otherwise; these transactions were all done while they were living together; I don't know the value of the scarf; here it is, it is a gauze one; soon after they came to lodge with me, I remember their getting some goods from a tally shop; I did not recommend them to the shop particularly; Mrs. Willis knew very well where the shop was; I went with her to the tally shop, and she procured some goods there; a tally shop is where you pay so much a week for goods; I did not advise them to go away and leave the tally man without paying for the goods; I had not a word with them about going away - I had no idea they were going away; I don't know what amount of goods they had from the tally shop - I don't know what the bill was; they had the goods from the tally shop about a week before they left. COURT. Q. That was after the 21st of April? A. Yes; they had been but three weeks with me on the 21st of April. MR. BODKIN. Q. Had they any goods from the tally shop before that Sunday? A. Not to my knowledge; I had not been with them to the tally shop before that. ELIZABETH ALLEN . I am a single woman, and live at No. 3, Charles-street, in the house of Mr. Jesop; I purchased of Mrs. Jessop a yard and a half of silk; this is it I am certain - I gave it up to the officer. THOMAS BAGLEY . I live at the corner of the street in which Mr. Jessop lives. On the morning of the 21st of April, I saw the two male prisoners in the street, and a cart; they stopped at Mr. Jessop's house; I saw a time-piece hauded out and carried into the house by one of them; he took it out of the cart and took it in himself. WILLIAM BROCK . I am shopman to Mr. Law, pawnbroker, No. 1, Commercial-road. On the 27th of April, Willis pawned eighty-four yards of silk at our shop for £4 10s., in the name of John Willis, No. 3, Charles-street; I took it in; I had seen him once or twice before, and am quite certain he is the person; on the Wednesday following, Woodman came to the shop and brought the same duplicate as I had given to Willis; and he(Woodman) took forty-two yards of the silk, the remaining forty-two ramained in my custody; I have it here - I am certain this is part of the eighty-four yards Willis pawned at the shop. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. Did you know Willis before? A. Yes, he gave me his own name and direction. WILLIAM WOODMAN . I am a jeweller, and live in French-alley, Goswell-street. I bought a duplicate of Willis; I gave him 1l. for it - it was for eighty-four yards of silk, pawned at Law's, at the corner of the Commercial-road - I went there, and took half the silk off, and left half there; I sold the half, and pawned the half which I left for 2l. 10s.; that produced appears to be the same. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. How long have you known Willis? A. About sixteen months - I have seen him at sales, and have been with him at sales, and have seen him buy silks and things at sales - I always considered him a man who dealt in such things; I have seen Jessop several times - I went to Lambeth-street to give evidence, but was not called; and when I came outside the door, he stood there with his wife, and I presume his lodger - when I came out, he was abusing the reporters for not inserting the robbery in the paper. Q. Did you hear Jessop say he would do anything? A. When I came out, he said he should like to transport the whole lot, and he should not be particular what he said in order to do it - he said that in my hearing; my wife said, "Is that what you say? - you cannot transport me" - he said, "No; I know I cannot transport you." MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. Did he mean to include you and your wife in the lot? A. I persume so; I was perfectly sober, and knew what he said - I think he is capable of saying anything. SAMUEL PRENDERGRASS . I am a constable of Lambeth-street. On the 5th of June, I apprehended the female prisoner and Willis, in Newcastle-court, Strand, in a two-pair of stairs back room; I searched the room - there was a chest of drawers in it, and there I found two silk dresses, this zephyr handkerchief, a sham segar, and a small piece of silk - I saw Willis pay 6s. to a woman of the house; he said it was for a week's rent - the house is a common brothel. Cross-examined by MR. DOANE. Q. Do you know Jessop? A. Yes; I did not hear him say any thing about what he would do. MATTHEW NEWMAN . I am a principal turnkey of Newgate. The female prisoner was in my custody, and was discharged at the Special Commission - when she was discharged, I asked her for a gown which she had been in the habit of wearing - it was a puce-coloured silk gown; she said she was turning it - I said Attfield the officer was waiting for it; she said she would fetch it from her ward, which she did, and gave it me; I gave it to Attfield - this is the gown; it has my initials on it. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. How long had she been in prison? A. About three weeks; she was not there on this charge, it was on another charge of which she was tried and acquitted. WILLIAM ATTFIELD . I am a police officer of Worship-street. On the 25th of June, I apprehended Johnson at No. 23, Harp-alley, Farringdon-street; I took him to the station-house, in Black Horse-court, and told him he was charged on suspicion of being concerned with others in breaking and entering the house of Mr. Goodman, at Uxbridge, and stealing a quantity of silk, plate, and other articles - he said he was never at Uxbridge in his life, and knew nothing about it; I asked if he knew a man named Willis, at No. 3, Charles-street, Commercial-road; he said he knew him perfectly well, and had been there a good many times - I found a phosphorus bottle in his pocket, which I produce; after finding that in his pocket, I went back to the house in Harp-alley with Mr. Goodman; and in a back room, on the second floor, in a table drawer, I found two chisels, and a bunch of keys; two of them are latch keys - when before the magistrate, at the office, the chisels were produced, he said they were his chisels; I took those chisels out of the same drawer as I found the keys in - on Thursday, the 27th of June, I went to Mr. Goodman's at Uxbridge, and examined the premises - I examined the inside of the cellar door, I observed a mark where the staple was drawn, and a mark about three inches under that; I applied this large chisel to the marks on the cellar door; it exactly fitted the indentations - one corner of the chisel had been broken, and that corner was wanting in the impression, and there was a notch in the chisel which corresponded - I have not a doubt that chisel was used for that purpose - I observed the kitchen door had part of a pannel taken out, and there were two impressions there, which I applied the chisel to, and they corresponded - there was the deficiency in the corner of the chisel, in one of those impressions - on the shop door leading from the passage, there were two impressions, apparently of the same chisels, they fitted it; I observed impressions on the cupboard; I applied the smaller chisel to one of the impressions, and it corresponded in every respect, and the larger chisel corresponded with some of the impressions on the cupboard door as exact as possible, and on a cupboard, on the left hand side were impressions, and both chisels fitted them - a large desk, in the shop was broken open, on which I found ten impressions of the large chisel, several of them very clear, and one impression of the smaller chisel - Newman gave me a puce coloured gown, which I produce - on the 24th of June, I received a zephyr scarf from Mr. Jessop - I received a yard and a half of lavender coloured silk from Mrs. Allen. WILLIAM GOODMAN re-examined. I can identify many of these things, but can only positively swear to two of them - I lost such things as these; I have a scarf exactly corresponding with this in my pocket, and the silk has a mark on it; I bought it at Morrison's; this scarf I cannot swear to - this puce coloured gown, which the female prisoner had on, I can swear to, by an ink mark on it, which is the mark of my young man, who is present - I have pattern prints here, corresponding with all the silk and all the lace; I identify them positively, but have not a mark on them - I lost such things, and have corresponding things remaining behind, and I have marks on the other two. MR. BODKIN. Q. When you sell silk, you do not rub off the private mark? A. I cannot, it is in ink. VALENTINE BULLER re-examined. My mark is on this puce coloured gown, and this puce coloured silk was marked by me also - I can see the figures "84" - the other things resemble goods we lost - I believe them to be my master's property - this imitation cigar I cannot say any thing about. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. Let me look at the mark "84" - was this marked at your house, or the manufactory? A. At our house - the manufacturer charged it as 82 yards - I marked and measured it, and made it "84" - the manufacturer don't mark the length; I mark all the goods that is not a fashionable colour particularly; it is saleable - we only had this one piece of that colour; the gown is a different colour; we had eight yards and one-eighth of that, and that is the mark on it - it was a remnant; we had not sold it - we had had that some years, being a short length; it is about three years since we had the whole length - I had seen it a week or ten days before the robbery; one or two other persons served in the shop, besides my master - but the silk goods fall particularly under my department. MR. GOODMAN. I had such a cigar as this, and lost it. Johnson's Defence. I am quite innocent. Sarah James 's Defence. I am quite innocent. Margaret Sconser , of Easton-street, Spafields, and Mary Grub , gave the prisoner James a good character. WILLIS - GUILTY - DEATH . Aged 20. JOHNSON - GUILTY - DEATH . Aged 22. JAMES - GUILTY . Aged 19.