Charles Osborne

341

Maureen Withey on 18th February 2025

CAUTION TO MERCHANTS AND TRADERS IN DUBLIN. Systematic Thievery. —The King, at the prosecution of William Andrews, against Charles Osborne and Thomas Osborne. The prisoner, Charles Osborne, was indicted for stealing two yards of cloth, the property of Mr. Andrews  and the other prisoner for receiving same, knowing it to be stolen. Mr. Finlay stated the case most ably. appeared that the prosecutor was Mr. William Andrew, the highly respectable proprietor of the Irish Woollen Warehouse in Castle-street, and the prisoner, Charles Osborne, was a messenger or porter in his employment (or upwards of nine years. It was his duty to fold up parcels of goods sold, be delivered by the street messengers, and occasionally betook directions of where they were to be sent, and labelled them accordingly for delivery; his salary was 12s. a week. The other prisoner, Thomas, was his brother, and a shoe maker by trade. It was for some time suspected that he was not conducting himself honestly, as he used to be attired, after hours of  business were over, in the most fashionable clothes; had an elegant watch, gold chain and seals, and altogether  was a dandy of the first water. On Sundays used to ride a fine horse, frequented taverns and such places, where he passed himself off as a salesman to the Irish Woollen Warehouse, having a commission  on all the sales he might make, and took unlimited orders accordingly. He, however, continued to elude all vigilance, until an accidental circumstance took place which led to the discovery of the system of plunder   which he had carried on successfully for upwards of twelve months. Mr. Finlay, next entered into the facts of the case as detailed in evidence. James Taggart, a porter in the Irish Woollen Warehouse, being sworn, said —On the 30th of July I saw the prisoner, Charles Osborne, remove a remnant of blue cloth, containing about one yard and a quarter, from the lower to the long wareroom, and leave it in a recess—this was not where such pieces were kept—l intended to watch the prisoner, but was called away on other business—on my return I found the prisoner standing near where the cloth was —he stooped under the counter and went away I then searched for the cloth, but could not find it—before it was removed I saw the prisoner write a label for a parcel, directed to Mr. Fortescue, Mr. Armstrong’s, Wormwood gate”—in the course of the day   …. …. The Recorder briefly recapitulated the evidence, and the Jury, without hesitation, found the prisoner, Charles Osborne, guilty. There was no evidence produced against the other prisoner, he was accordingly acquitted. Before he Recorder pronounced sentence, his Lordship called on Mr. Barrington to know what was the probable extent of  the robbery committed. Mr. Barrington said, that in all there were not less than ninety four parcels ascertained to have been sent out, within the last 12 months! from Mr. Andrews’ warehouse by the prisoner, to different public-houses and tailoring establishments, where he was in the habit of calling or sending for them. Mr. Andrews (he said) could not have lost less than three hundred pounds on an average. The Recorder then proceeded to pass sentence. His Lordship dwelt particularly on the enormity of the prisoner’s crime, aggravated, as was, the systematic manner in which it was so long carried on. Three other bills of indictment had been found against him for similar offences. The severity of the law was not visited upon him so much for the crime, as that his fate might serve as a warning for others holding like situations,  and for the general good of the public. His Lordship felt the Court would not be doing its duty to the country if the prisoner was not sent out of it. The sentence of the Court therefore was, that he be transported beyond the seas  for the term of seven years. Saunders’s News-Letter. 10 Sep 1830.

341

Maureen Withey on 18th February 2025

Irish Convict Database, by Peter Mayberry. Charles Osborne, age on arrival, 21, per Waterloo (2) 1831. Tried 1830, at Dublin, 7 years, for Embezzlement. DOB, 1810. Native place, Newry Down Co. Single. Protestant. Clerk.