John Margetts

342

Maureen Withey on 14th February 2023

Thomas Bowman was also transported on the Calcutta.

342

Maureen Withey on 11th February 2023

Tasmanian Records. https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON22-1-2P006JPG Per Calcutta. John Margetts, Convicted at Middlesex. 20 May 1801, Life. --------------------------------------------------- Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 11 February 2023), May 1801, trial of JOHN MARGETTS RICHARD HALL THOMAS BOWMAN REBECCA MARGETTS (t18010520-20). JOHN MARGETTS, RICHARD HALL, THOMAS BOWMAN, REBECCA MARGETTS, Theft > burglary, Theft > receiving, 20th May 1801. 458. JOHN MARGETTS , RICHARD HALL , THOMAS BOWMAN , and REBECCA MARGETTS , were indicted, the first three for breaking and entering the dwelling-house of John Sylvester , about the hour of twelve in the night of the 7th of May , with intent to steal, and stealing one hundred and four blankets, value 40l. the property of the said John; and the other for receiving the same, knowing them to have been stolen . Second Court. Charging them to be the property of William Sellman .(The case was opened by Mr. Knapp.) JOHN SYLVESTAR sworn - Examined by Mr. Knapp. I live at No. 9, Goswell-street: On the 7th of May, I had a quantity of blankets in my possession. Q. Do you know Mr. William Sellman at Witney? - A. I know him very well, he lives at a little village near Witney; these blankets were in my warehouse. Q. How is your warehouse connected with the dwelling-house? - A. The dwelling part of the house is over the warehouse: On the 7th of May, I went to bed between eleven and twelve o'clock; that part of the warehouse was perfectly secure at that time; I got up about a quarter before seven in the morning, and discovered that the second room was broke open; there are four rooms on the lower floor, all of which contained blankets the night before; it was a room next to Arthur-street, the window-frame seemed to be forced in, it laid upon a pile of blankets, about three yards distance. Q. Was that a sash-window, that lifted up and down? - A. No; it was a fastened window, all the glass was broke. Q. Was the wood-work broke also? - A. Yes; it was all forced in together. Q. Did that make such a hole that any man could get in? - A. Yes. Q. Did you miss the blankets? - A. I cannot say as to that; I don't know what quantity of blankets Mr. Sellman had. Cross-examined by Mr. Alley. (Counsel for Margetts.) Q. Is the rent of the warehouse paid by Mr. Sellman? - A. The rent is paid by the company, at Witney; it is the dwelling-house only of myself. Q. The part of the house that you occupy you pay the rent for of course? - A. No; there is no separate rent paid. Q. I wish to ascertain whether there is an internal communication from the warehouse up to the house, or only a communication to the street? - A.There is a door-way, or what you call a gate-way; there is a communication from the warehouse to the other part of the house. THOMAS ROSE sworn. - I am servant to Mr. Sylvester: On the 7th of May, I secured the warehouses about half past seven o'clock at night. Q. What was in the warehouses at the time you secured them? - A.These blankets, which I saw at the prisoner's. Q. Are you sure that these blankets you saw in Margett's house were in that warehouse over night? - A. They were; the next morning, about seven o'clock, I discovered that the warehouse had been broke open; I found all the shutters up secured as I had left them over night but one, which was unkeyed within-side, which surpized me; I went round the warehouse to let the shutters down, and as soon as I let the shutters down, I saw the window bursted in, and the frame lying, I suppose, three yards from where it was bursted in, it laid upon a bundle of blankets; I informed my master of it, and he went to Worship-street; Armstrong, Ray, and two more officers came, and I went with them to a house No. 6, French-alley; between eighty and ninety yards, or thereabouts, there are some ruins at the back of the warehouse, and French-alley lies at the back across these ruins; the back of Margett's house looks into the ruins. Q. Who lived in that house? - A. The prisoner, Margetts; we found ninety-eight blankets there, up one pair of stairs. Q. What would be the value of those blankets? - A. Forty pounds; we found all the blankets in one room, but in different parts of the room. (The blankets produced). Q. Look at those blankets, and tell us if you know them? - A. I am sure they are the same, they were in the house the night before; I have not doubt at all about it. WILLIAM SELLMAN sworn. - Examined by Mr. Knapp. I am a blanket weaver, at Witney: I saw these blanket in Mr. Sylvester's warehouse on the 7th of May, at night; I saw them again the next day at Margett's house, they were the same that were at Mr. Sylevester's the night before; and I have seen some of them to-day; they are the same, I am sure they are the same. Cross-examined by Mr. Alley. Q. I understand you contribute towards the rent of this warehouse in town? - A. The master of the company pays it; we are a company of blanket-makers, sixty or more. Q. These blankets are sent from the country to be disposed of? - A. Yes. Q. Sylvester acts as an agent, or servant for you? - A. Yes. Mr. Knapp. Q. Sylvester is answerable to you for the deposit of these goods? - A. If they are lost I should think so. Q. Niether you, nor any of the sixty that you speak of, ever slept in that house? - A.I never did. WIILIAM HUMPHREYS sworn. - Q.Do you produce any thing? - A. There was a ticket I wrote put upon the blancket, and one of the officers shewed me the same ticket again at Margett's house; I shall know the ticket when it is produced, Masou has got it; I had seen the blankets over night in the warehouse, and I saw the same blankets again at Margett's. JOHN ARMSTRONG sworn. - I am an officer belonging to Worship-street: On Friday the 8th of May, I went to Margett's house, I believe it might be a quarter, or twenty minutes, after ten o'clock, I had before been at Mr. Sylvester's house and seen the window broke in; I then went to No. 6, French-alley, and knocked at the door, softly, the woman prisoner came and unlocked the door, and Ray and I got in; Mason and Vickery were gone round, Mason to the side, and Vickery to the back part of the house; she said, yes, he was; she then opened a side-door, there is a passage that leads into the lower room; I went in, and there was Hall and Bowman sitting on one side of the room. Q. Did you know Hall before? - A. Yes, I did; and I have seen Bowman. Q. Did you knwo Margett's? - A. I have seen him, but I don't know him so well as the others; Margett's was sitting in a chair the opposite side of the room; I then went up one pair of stairs, and on the tester of a bed laid this house-pistol. with the handle outside, I drew three slugs out of it, it was prined; in that room I found all the blankets that are now here; I then observed the prisoner, Bowman and Margetts, their clothes were all over covered with blanket-wool, as if they had been carrying blanckets; on Hall's coat there was not that appearance, but across his shoulders there was a parcel of white. Hall. I was sitting against a white wall at the time. Armstrong. It appeared to me as if he had been getting through a hole, or it might be sitting against a white wall; I then searched a cupboard in the room where the prisoners were, upon the ground-floor, where I found these three crows, and these three picklock keys, and two other pistols, loaded with ball, and primed, a dark-lantern, and a bottle of phosphorus; and in the same room a centre-bit. I then went up stairs into the garret, and in this bag were those twenty eight picklock-keys, and a ripping chisel, (producing them); the prisoners were then secured and brought to the office. Q. Did any thing pass that was material? - A. Margetts said he had no lodgers. Cross-examined by Mr. Gleed. (Counsel for Hall and Bowman.) Q. Hall and Bowman do not live in this house? - A. I do not know; I found them there, and the door locked. Q. Margetts keeps the house? - A. Yes. Q. Had these men's coats the appearance of any thing more than a poor man's coat would naturally have from laying it upon his coverlid? - A. No. Q. Had you no conversation with Hall and Bowman? - A. I don't think I had. Q. What did Hall say to you when you came into the house? - A. I believe Hall said, it was unlucky for him that he was there. Q. Did you not go to Hall's lodgings afterwards? - A. Yes; I went to where he said he lodged, but I found nothing there. JOHN RAY sworn. - Examined by Mr. Knapp. I was with Armstrong: I went up stairs after the prisoners were secured, and I saw the blankets in the room; then I went up stairs into the workshop, it appeared to have been a silversmith's shop;I went to the fire-place, there was no grate fixed, but with a stick I tried the bricks, and found one of them move; I immediately took the brick out, and put in my arm as far as I could, and found this horse pistol, and a great number of keys, some of them picklock keys; and these picklock keys, in this bag, I found lying upon the work-bench; two of them appear to be quite new, just made. Q. Do you recollect that either of the prisoners said any thing at the time they were apprehended? - A. No, I do not. Q. Did you know either of them before? - A. Yes, I knew Hall very well; I did not know Margetts; I had seen Bowman; I afterwards went to Hall's lodgings, and found a jacket and a brush lying close by it; Margetts and Bowman's coats were very much covered with blanket wool; Hall's coat upon the shoulders was covered with white. PETER MASON sworn. - I am one of the officers belonging to Worship-street; I went with Armstrong and Ray, to No. 6, French-alley; in the room below, where the prisoners were sitting, I found a bit of paper. (Produces it). Humphreys. This is the paper that was put upon the blankets; it is my hand-writing. Sellman. This is the paper that I put upon the blankets; the top of it is my writing, and the other is Humphreys's; he is my nephew. Mason. Hall and Bowman's coats were covered with wool, the same as mine is now I have been carrying the blankets; the same day, I went with Vickery to Bowman's lodgings, and there I found a dark lantern, two centre bits, a small crow, several keys, two latch keys, a spike gimblet, a spring-saw, and a key that is partly manufactured into a skeleton key. Cross-examined by Mr. Gleed. Q. Do you not know that he is a carpenter or chair-maker? - A. I saw some chairs in the room. Q. Are not these instruments necessary in the business of a carpenter or chair-maker? - A. I cannot say. JOHN VICKERY sworn. - Examined by Mr. Knapp. I know no more than the other witnesses; I saw these things sound. THOMAS BARLOW sworn. - Examined by Mr. Knapp. I am a hackney coachman: In the night of the 7th of May, I was in Goswell-street, about half past one in the morning, it was a very dark morning; I was going home, and met three men under the gateway, close to the back of Mr. Sylvester's warehouse, as I was going up the court; I do not know who they were. Court. Q. Were the men standing still, or walking? - A. Two of them were walking, they passed me, as I passed them; the other was standing still a little further on, in the court, quite close to the warehouse. Q. What is the name of the court? - A. New-court. Q. Do you know whereabouts the window is that was broke open? - A. No; they were about as far off from the warehouse as I am from you. ELIZABETH FRANKLIN sworn. - Examined by Mr. Knapp. I live in Arthur-street, about four yards from the warehouse, fronting the warehouse window: About ten minutes before two o'clock in the morning, it was very dark indeed, I heard a very great crashing at the window. WILLIAM HEARNE sworn. - Examined by Mr. Knapp. I am a watchman in Arthur-street; I know the prisoner Hall perfectly well.PQ. Do you know Sylvester's house? - A. Yes; I saw the prisoner Hall in French-alley, about ten minutes or a quarter after two o'clock, somewhere thereabouts; he went down an alley towards Sylvester's house. Q. Have you any doubt of that being the prisoner Hall? - A. I have no doubt of it, I have known the man so many years. Mr. Gleed. Q. He was going home, was he not? - A. He could go that way. Mr. Knapp. Q. Was it his direct way? - A. No; but he could go that way; he lives in Turk's Head-court. Court. (To Sylvester.) Q. The Company pay the rent of the warehouse, and you pay the rent of the dwelling-house? - A. No, I don't pay any rent; I act as the agent of the Company. Mr. Alley contended that the indictment could not be maintained, inasmuch as it ought to have been charged to be the dwelling-house of the Company, and cited the case of Ann Hawkins from Mr. Justice Foster, as follows: "At the Sessions at the Old-Bailey before Easter Term, 1704, Ann Hawkins was indicted for breaking the mansion-house of Samuel Story , in the night-time. It appeared on evidence that the house belonged to the African Company, that Story was an officer of the Company, and that he and many other persons, as officers of the Company, had separate apartments in the house in which they inhabited and lodged, and that the apartment of Story was broke open. It was holden by Holt Chief Justice, myself, and Baron Bury , that the apartment of Story could not be called his mansion-house, because he and the others inhabit in the house, merely as officers and servants of the Company, and thereupon the Jury was discharged of this indictment, and it was amended and laid to be the mansion-house of the Company." Mr. Gleed followed on the same side. Court. (To Sylvester.) Q. Are you a married man? - A. Yes, and have seven children. Q. And a servant? - A. Yes. Q. Do they all live in the house? - A. Yes. Q. The lease of this house is in the Company? - A. Yes. Q. They pay you a consideration for your agency? - A. Yes. Q. And part of that consideration is the house you live in? - A. Undoubtedly. Mr. Baron Graham. If hereafter any doubt should occur upon the reconsideration of this subject, the prisoners shall have the benefit of that doubt, but, at present, as far as my own judgment will guide me, I am clearly of opinion, for the purpose of sustaining such a prosecution as this, that this is certainly the dwelling house of Sylvester; for though true it is the rent is paid by this Company in the country, and though it is persently true they have a lease of this house, yet it would be quite perverting the use of common language, to say this is the dwelling-house of the Company, because, most evidently, the only use the Company make of this house is, for the purpose of furnishing a dwelling to their agent, and a warehouse for the commodities there deposited; that being the case, it strikes me as precisely the same thing, as if they paid Sylvester as much more as the rent of the house would amount to, and he, in point of fact, paid the rent; but the bargain happens to take another shape; they prefer paying the rent, and giving him and his family a dwelling towards that salary which he was to receive from them; it strikes me, therefore, that it is essentially and truly the dwelling-house of the person who, with his family, occupied the house, and that certainly comes within the law of burglary; for it would be absurd to suppose that that terror, which is of the essence of the crime, can be carried to Witney, in Oxfordshire; I shall, therefore, leave it to the Jury with this provision, that if my brothers should entertain any doubt about it, I will put it into a state of further adjudication. Mr. Justice Grose I am of opinion, it is absolutely necessary to justice, that this house should be considered, in point of law, as the house of Sylvester, but if, for any reason hereafter, we should be induced to doubt, it will be perfectly right there should be another indictment, for the country are extremely interested in such a case as this being brought before a Jury. I wish to know whether it has not happened in this place that a prosecution has been commenced for a burglary, in breaking open some of the halls in this city, in which, undoubtedly, the Corporation do not live, but in which their clerks generally live. Mr. Knapp. My father, as your Lordship knows, was clerk to the Haberdashers' Company, which was broke open, and there the Court held it to be for that purpose my father's house. Margett's defence. I am innocent of the crime; a ledger, of the name of Joues, who had left my lodgings the night before, came to me, and said he was under disagreeable circumstances, he expected an execution in his house, and wished me to let him bring these things in; he left them between four and five in the morning, and said he would take them away at dusk, and while I was at breakfast, the officers came; I am a silversmith by trade. Hall's defence. I am totally innocent of the robbery; I called for a box that he had to mend. Bowman's defence. I went to Margetts's to fetch a table to mend, and while I was there, the officers came and took me. Margetts called three, and Bowman four, witnesses, who gave them a good character. John Margetts , GUILTY , Death , aged 29. Richard Hall, GUILTY , Death , aged 30. Thomas Bowman , GUILTY , Death , aged 26. Rebecca Margetts, Not GUILTY . Second Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Baron Graham.