William Pritchard

343

Maureen Withey on 12th August 2020

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 12 August 2020), May 1814, trial of WILLIAM PRITCHARD (t18140525-22). WILLIAM PRITCHARD, Theft > theft from a specified place, 25th May 1814. 481. WILLIAM PRITCHARD was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 11th of May , two ounces and half an ounce weight of gold, value 10 l. 10 s. the property of Henry Jackson and William Jackson , in their dwelling-house . JOHN WILLIS . I am in the employ of William and Henry Jackson . The prisoner worked for my masters. On the 11th of May, both my masters put me in the loft; the loft is over the shop. I could see every thing that passed in the shop, when I was in the loft, by means of holes, which I had. I saw the prisoner come in, in the morning. I was put in the loft before seven in the morning. The prisoner came to work between eight and nine in the morning. About one o'clock, there was no one in the shop but him, (that was before he went to dinner, ) I saw him take a bit of brass wire from a drawer under his work-board; with that, he forced out a piece of gold wire from a hiding place, placed under this board. Q. Where did the hiding place appear to you to be - A. It appeared to be in the skirting boards. Q. How long was the piece of gold wire - A. About five inches. He cut it in several pieces, and put it into the fire loose, blowed with a pair of hand bellows; then he took it out of the fire; he wrapped it in a piece of paper, and tied it round with a piece of iron wire. He went to the forge, and drove a nail about a yard up the forge chimney, and hung it upon the nail, which he had put in the forge chimney. Q. You could not see up the chimney of course - A. No. I saw the parcel go up in his hand, and his hand came down without it. Having done that, he went away to dinner, and while he was at dinner, I communicated to my master what I had seen; mymaster went into the shop. I remained in the loft all the time; I never left it. I continued there by my master's direction. The prisoner came into the shop in about an hour after he had gone to dinner; when he came into the shop one man was there then; the man remained in the shop about five minutes, and went away. The prisoner then was alone. Then the prisoner went to several of the men's drawers, and came back with several pieces of gold wire in his hand to the forge. Q. Are you able to say you saw him take it from the men's drawers - A. No. I saw him go the men's drawers in the shop, but I cannot say that he took wire from them; but he returned with several pieces of wire in his hand to his own boards. COURT. Did you see what he had in his hand - A. I did; they were pieces of gold wire. Mr. Arabin. Is the ceiling of the shop a high one or a low one - A. A high one. Having weighed them; he took them to the fire, and did the same as before. He raked it out of fire; one of his shop-mates came up at the time. He took it from the forge, and put under a flat iron without a handle, he put a lump of lead on this flat iron; he put his elbow on the lead, and turned round in conversation with his shopmate; the shopmate talked with him a few minutes, and afterwards went to his own board, and they both continued at work. While the shopmate was at work, the prisoner wrapped it up in a piece of paper, and put it into his own drawer. Q. These boards that the men work at have very high backs - A. Yes. Marsh, the shopmate, could not see what the prisoner was about, by any manner of means. When the other workman went away, the prisoner was then alone in the shop. He took the gold out of his drawer, tied the gold round with a piece of iron wire, and went to the forge chimney again; he appeared to hang it in the chimney, the same as he did the last. After that, he went to his work; another man came up. He was left alone again about seven o'clock; the other man was gone. He got upon the forge; he was partly up the chimney; he took these two parcels of gold down; he stood a long time in great agitation with them in his hand. I saw them in his hand. He took a chisel of one of his shopmates, and forced up a brick from under the forge in the chaircoal-hole, he tried to dig a hole; he found it too hard; he put the brick in the same place, and covered it over with charcoal dust, as before. He stood upon a stool, and tried to force the ceiling with the chisel; finding he could not do that, he got down, and stood several minutes with it in his hand; he then went down stairs with it; he was in his working dress then. I saw him come up stairs without any thing in his hand; he had been washing himself in the yard in his working dress, a waistcoat with sleeves. Q. Does the way down to wash lead to the charcoal cellar - A. It does. After he went into the yard, he put on his coat, handkerchief, and hat, and then he looked over the bannister of the stairs several times to see if his master was in the way, then he went away. I saw him do no more. Then I gave the signal to my master. Q. You say these parcels were put up the chimney; did you see him do any thing to them - A. I saw him go up the chimney with a hare's foot in his hand to black the parcels. Mr. Knapp. How long have you lived with your master - A. Four months. Q. There was one man in the shop when Pritchard was in the shop, his name is Marsh, was not there a man of the name of Gosling too - A. Yes; he was there about five minutes after Pritchard came from dinner. Q. Were you to be paid for your trouble in watching - A. Master said, I should not lose any thing. I lost by being up there. Q. Was there no sum promised you - A. Master promised me a guinea if the property was found on the prisoner. HENRY JACKSON . I am a watch-case-maker ; I am in partnership with my brother, William Jackson . Q. Does the shop adjoin the dwelling-house - A. It is just at the gable end of it; there is no communication between the dwelling-house and the shop. It is the dwelling-house of me and my brother. There is iron railing in the front of the house. Q. How is the roof of the house - A. The roof of the house is considerably above the shop; it is only one story high. Q. You and your brother placed the boy in the loft - A. Yes. In the loft you can see every thing that passes in the shop. I placed him there at seven o'clock in the morning; I removed the ladder, so that it was impossible the boy could get down. About two o'clock, I and my brother went into the shop, when no one was in the shop; I saw a piece of gold on the forge, by the fire; it appeared to have been raked out of the fire. That is all I saw at that time. I gave the boy directions to give me a signal when the gold was taken away. Q. At any time in the evening, did you lock yourself in the accompting-house - A. I did, about seven o'clock, near dark, I heard a person come down stairs. and go out of the shop door. Q. If a man wanted to wash himself, he could wash himself in the washhouse without going out of the door - A. Yes; the washhouse is direct opposite the accompting-house door. Q. Did that man go into the washhouse door, whoever he was - A. No. Q. In going out of the shop door does it lead to the charcoal-cellar - A. It does. COURT. That is the charcoal-cellar - A. It is out at the door, level with the washhouse. Mr. Arabin. What time elapsed before any man returned - A. A minute, or a minute and a half. Q. Could he in a minute and a half have gone to the charcoal-cellar - A. Yes; it is not more than four or five steps. Upon my hearing a person return, I looked through the key hole; I saw it was the prisoner, and saw him go into the washhouse passage; he was in his work dress. After that, I heard him go up, as I supposed; I did not look then; I was fearful he should see me. I soon afterwards heard him come down; I saw him passthe accompting-house window. The signal was given; nothing was found upon him. COURT. What day was this - A.Wednesday, the 11th of May. On Sunday, the maid and I was upon searching; she was moving a German stove in the charcoal-cellar, that we put by for the summer season. She said, there it is; I took it in my hand; I said this is it by the weight of it. These are the two parcels. Q. Let the boy look at them - Willis. I believe them to be the parcels; I saw the manner he packed them up. Mr. Henry Jackson . This is the parcel the boy described he saw him weigh. Mr. Arabin. Is it gold - A. It is gold wire, melted in the fire would it look like that; the value of the gold in both the parcels is about eleven pounds. I cannot answer for the quantity there is in each, one perhaps, as much again as the other. Mr. Knapp. The gold by melting has quite a different appearance to what it had before - A. Yes, in point of form. Q. When the person came down stairs, be he who would, you did not see him - A. No, I did not. Q. Be that person, whoever it was, whether he went to the charcoal-place or washhouse, you do not know; you did not see them - A. As far as I can guess, he did not go into the washhouse. Q. That person had the opportunity of going to the charcoal-place or any where else, just as he pleased - A. Yes. Q. And when you did see him, you looked through the key-hole - A. Yes. Q. You saw it was the prisoner that was coming in again - A. Yes; that person went up stairs. Q. Whether that person went up stairs, you do not know, you did not see him - A. I heard him go up; it must be him; there was no other person came in during the time. Q. Now, attend to me. You said the maid pointed out to you the parcels you now produce - A. Yes; she saw them first. Q. Was this the Sunday after the Wednesday - A. Yes. Q. Is the charcoal-cellar, a place to which each of your men might go to between the Wednesday and the Sunday - A. Certainly. Q. Had you gone to the charcoal-place - A. I had searched; I did not think of looking there. Q. Any other person might put it there as well as the prisoner - A. I should think it possible. Q. What is Mr. Gibbons - A. A watch-maker. Q. Mr. Gibbons lives in the house, and has a great part of it - A. Yes. Mr. Arabin. You are confident it must be the prisoner, you had no other workman in the house, had you - A. No; at that time they were all gone. WILLIAM JACKSON . Q. Your house is in the parish of St. James's, Clerkenwell - A. It is. Q. Tell us who this Mr. Gibbons is - A. Mr. Gibbons, myself, and Mr. Simpson, were partners; last August we dissolved partnership. When we had dissolved partnership. Mr. Gibbons continued to occupy the same part of the house that he had before. No rent has been paid but for the shops since. One hundred and five pounds a year is the rent of the house and shops; that includes Mr. Gibbon's shop and mine; there is a distinct rent upon the shops; the rent. I pay for my shop is thirty-four pounds three shillings and fourpence a year. Q. Is there a distinct rent for the shops, and a distinct rent for the house to be paid by Mr. Simpson - A. There is, by agreement. The rent of my shop is thirty-four pounds three shillings and fourpence. Q. How much for your part of the house - A. Twenty-six pounds, as long; as we continue, and Mr. Gibbons has his part of the house the same. Q. Does that include his shop - A. No; there is a distinct rent for the shop. Mr. Gibbons's rent of the shop is seventeen pounds six shillings and eight-pence; When we separated partnership, the rent of the shops was to be paid by three persons. The whole of the premises belongs to Mr. Simpson. Q. Did you place this boy in the loft with your brother - A. I did. Q. What is the length of the shop - A. About twenty-one feet in length, about nineteen or twenty in width, and the height of the ceiling is between seven and eight; The holes were sufficiently larger enough for any one to see the whole that was done in the shop. One night I watched myself and on. Tuesday my brother; we were tired of the job. We placed this young man there for the purpose of detecting whoever might roll us. Between two or three o'clock, I left him in the loft; he could have no communication with any body else; it was impossible. About two o'clock, I went into the shop with my brother; I saw a piece of gold lay on the forge, close by the fire. I looked up the chimney, and saw a parcel tied round with a piece of binding-wire, hung upon a nail; I distinctly saw it fastened to the nail by a wire; I saw the parcel now produced; I have not the least doubt it is the same parcel; it was blacked in the same way; the paper was discoloured black. I saw the impression of a hand in the chimney, as if a person had got up. Then I went away. The lad said, he could not see a part of the shop so clearly; we made him a fresh hole at the time we went up. When the boy told me what had passed; my brother said, he would give him a guinea. I said, he had done wrong; however I said he should have it if it was found upon him. After the prisoner was taken, I went up again; we looked up the chimney to see whether the parcel was there; it was gone. I have weighed the parcels to together; the weight is two ounces ten pennyweights; the value is upwards of eleven pounds. Q. Have you missed any gold wire - A. Yes; we have missed wire repeatedly. Gold wire is an article we use in the watch-case making; we never melt gold wire in large pieces; we never melt gold wire except small ends. ELIZABETH ELLIS . I am a servant-maid. I was present when Mr. Jackson searched the charcoal-cellar; I found the piece of gold on the ground,under some fire stove; they were but the parcels When I found them, Mr. Jackson took possession of them. JOHN MARSH . I work for Mr. Jackson. The prisoner him worked about two years for him, as near as I can recollect. On Wednesday, the 11th of May, I left the prisoner in the shop at six o'clock in the evening, I am desire it was not late than half after six. I left no other person at work; the prisoner was at work while I was there, and no one else to my knowledge whatever. THOMAS GOSLING . I work for Messrs. Jacksons. On the 11th of May, I went to work about ten o'clock in the morning, I found the prisoner there. I went away about half past one. I will not be certain whether I left him there at the dinner hour nor who went first. THOMAS ROWLINS . I am a constable. I searched the prisoner's lodgings. I found this crucible. I searched him on Wednesday evening, and his lodgings on the same day; I searched his body. I knew they were his lodgings. He told me he lived at No. 9, Swan-street, Bethnal-green. Mr. Jackson. This crucible appears to have gold in it. Prisoner's Defence. After Mr. Gosling came, I went and asked Mr. Jackson if he could give me any thing to do; he gave me a couple of dials to make; I went about my business. The occasion of my stopping late at the dinner hour was on account of a job I had to do. The prisoner called seven witnesses, who gave him a good character. GUILTY - DEATH , aged 26. Second Middlesex jury, before Mr. Justice Le Blanc. ------------------------------------------------------ NSW 1828 Census (Nov 1828) William Pritchard, age 39, T.L. Baring 1815, Life, protestant, householder at Parramatta. Has 4 horses and 20 cattle at Parramatta and at Bullivo. He lives with a servant, George Horn, 39, F.S. John Barry 1819. William signed his name. -------------------------------------------------- Sydney Gazette, 23 Jul 1829. CONDITIONAL PARDONS respectively dated 27th May, 1828, and granted to the undermentioned Individuals, viz. William Pritchard, per Ship Baring (1 )