Ann Pugh

343

Maureen Withey on 28th August 2025

Convicts Application to Marry. Joseph Clarke, per Mariner (3), age 30; 7 years; Free; and Ann Pugh, per George Hibbert, age 22; Life; Bond; Sydney. Date of Application, 23 Jan 1835.

116

Tony Beale on 27th March 2021

Old bailey Online OLD COURT, Thursday, February 20th, 1834. First Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Justice Patteson. 321. MARY ADLAM and ANN PUGH were indicted for stealing, on the 8th of January , at Enfield, 12 silver tablespoons, value 9l.; 10 silver dessert-spoons, value 4l.; 2 silver gravy-spoons, value 30s.; 2 silver sauce-ladles, value 16s.; and 9 silver forks, value 6l. 15s.; the goods of Rose Riddell , in her dwelling-house . Ann Pugh pleaded Guilty , aged 20. ROSE RIDDELL . I am a widow , and live in my own house at Enfield - the prisoners lived in my service at the time in question - Adlam was my cook - on the morning of the 8th of January I was asleep and heard a noise, a knocking at my door, and asked who was there - I was answered by both the prisoners, that they were sure the house was robbed, as the window of what I call the servant s'-hall was down and the pane broken - I got instantly out of bed - immediately opened the door and went down with the prisoners - I did not ask what made them think the house was broken open - I went down stairs - found the windowsash down and the middle pane broken, a chair under the window, and a spoon lying close behind it - I turned round to the cupboard where the plate was kept, and found both the drawers open - the plated articles were all left, but I found twelve table-spoons, ten dessert, two ladles, two gravy-spoons, and some tea-spoons missing - I took up the remainder of the things, and while I was going out of the room it occurred to me that the key of this room door was generally outside the door - on this occasion it was inside, that is the servants'-hall, where the plate was kept, and where the window was broken - I said to the cook, "How came the key inside the door?" - she replied, that when she came down stairs the door was locked - and when she picked up the spoon and gave it to me she said,"I dare say the person who had taken these things in their hurry has dropped the spoon" - I had parted with a groom a day or two before that, and I happened to say at the time, perhaps it might have been the groom who did that out of a pique, and the cook said, "If I was you, Ma'am, I would have a search warrant in the morning and search his house" - I took no notice of that, and they insisted on my going round into the different rooms, for they said they were sure somebody must still be in the house - I went with them, but found nobody - I went up stairs to bed. The value of the silver I missed was 20l. or 25l. - some of it was old silver - Adlam said they were washing in the washhouse when they heard some silver rattling - they were both together, and both said the same thing, but not together - Adlam said while she was washing she heard a noise in the servant's-hall, and that they took a light and went to see who was there, or what was the matter, and they saw the sash down, the window broken, and the silver taken away - I went to bed, and between eight and nine o'clock Pugh came up to me, with five tea-spoons in her hand, which she gave me - Adlam was not there- when I was disturbed in the morning, I went round to the doors and found them all locked, and the windows fast except that one - I had not been in the servants'-hall the night before. Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Is your groom here? A. No - he is a grown-up man - his name is Edward - the prisoner had a little black box - it was large enough to hold the spoons - I did not search her box at any time, because the spoons were found between three and four o'clock in the afternoon - Mead, the constable, brought them to me. JURY. Q. Was there a lock on the drawer the plate was kept in? A. There was on the cupboard in which the drawers are - there is not a lock on the drawers, because the cupboard-door locks them in. WILLIAM FOX . I have lived in the prosecutrix's service five months last January - on the morning of the 8th of January, I was called up by the prisoner - I have the care of the plate - I put it into the drawer in the butler's pantry the night before, and shut the drawer - the windows were shut and the shutters, but the screws were not put in - I locked the door of the room the night before, and left the key outside, and went to bed - I sleep in the adjoining room, three or four yards from the place - I was awoke in the morning - I do not know what awoke me - I got up at a quarter past four o'clock - I was awoke about three quarters of an hour before that, and did not go to sleep again - I heard the rattling of silver in the hall (which is a room next to mine, and the room in which the plate was kept) - and I heard it in the kitchen next - and I heard footsteps and talking in the kitchen, and silver rattling - I heard the rattling of the silver first, and then the talking - I heard nothing else - there were about two persons talking - I did not understand their voices - I could not tell who they were by their voices - it seemed like the housemaid's voice - I looked at the clock when I got up - it was just twenty-five minutes past four o'clock - I went into the kitchen and saw both the prisoners - Adlam left the kitchen about a quarter to five o'clock - I saw her come back - she brought in five tea-spoons with her and gave them to me - they were wet and muddy - she said she had picked them up on the green - it was about five o'clock - she had been out about a quarter of an hour - it was quite dark then - I do not recollect whether she took a lanthorn out - we were burning candles in the house - there is a lanthorn generally kept in the kitchen - I do not remember seeing it there when she was absent - it might have been there without my seeing it - I wiped the spoons, and put them into the drawer where the plate was kept - I did not give them to the other prisoner - this was after mistress had been down stairs. Cross-examined. Q. Did you shut up the drawer after putting the spoons into it? A. Yes - I did not lock the cupboard - the housemaid came into the hall and took the five spoons up to mistress - they are the spoons Adlam said she had found, and gave to me - she might have had the lanthorn out and I not perceive it - I was a little frightened - the housemaid's was the only voice I could recognise - Edward was the groom - he was nothing else - he did not live in the house - he was an ordinary labouring man, who came and acted as groom - by pushing the shutter down a person outside could open it - Edward was discharged before this - I am sure of that - he had no right to come to the house - he did not come after he was turned away - he came one night - how often he might have come without See originalClick to see original my knowledge I cannot say - I do not recollect whether there had been rain the night before, nor whether the lawn was wet or dry - I do not know how far Edward lived from mistress - Adlam has lived there since October - I do not know how many trunks she had. COURT. Q. Before you went to bed, had you locked the cupboard where the plate was kept? A. Yes, and left the key in it - I do not know whether the window was broken or not the night before - I had not looked at it - I had seen it at seven o'clock that night, and am sure it was not broken then - the shutters are inside the window - the shutters were put up, but not screwed - I do not know where the screws were. JURY. Q. Were there any fastenings to the windows? A. Yes, a latch inside - it is a sash window - it was the bottom pane of the upper sash that was broken, just over the latch. COURT. Q. What night was it that Edward came there? A. I think it is on the 7th, the day before this happened - I do not know at what time of night he came - he did not stay all night - it was either Monday or Tuesday, I cannot say which - this happened on Wednesday morning - I think it was on Tuesday he came - I am not quite sure of it - he went away soon after he came - he came about seven or eight o'clock at night - he did not see my mistress - he stayed a short time, and went away soon after. JOHN DENTON . I am gardener to the prosecutrix - I do not sleep in the house - on the morning of the 8th of January, I went to work about seven o'clock - I went first up to the stable, and saw the new groom, (not Edward) - I went to work after this, and afterwards went to the house - I examined the premises where the window was broken - there were no footsteps outside, either on the green or the gravel walk - there is a gravel walk immediately under the window - I tried to lift up the window, but could not, because the bottom sash was pressed down so hard - the broken pane was in the top sash, which was down below, and the bottom sash above - they stuck fast and could not be moved - I and a carpenter afterwards tried to move them, but could not - the carpenter was obliged to get tools to do it - it had been wet that night, and there had been a great deal of wet before - the paths outside the window were soft - I could not see one footmark there - I did not leave any footsteps there in walking particularly - about the middle of the day I went into the house, I looked on the floor by the window, I saw no footmark there. Cross-examined. Q. How long were you outside the window on the gravel walk; a good while, I suppose, trying to lift it up? A. Yes; we left footmarks then, but not when I went to look at first. COURT. Q. How high was the broken pane of glass from the ground? A. Six feet, I should think - I could not reach it with my hand outside. JOHN MEAD . I am beadle of Enfield - in consequence of information I went on the 8th of January to Mrs. Riddell's house, about one or two o'clock in the day, with Richard Watkins - I saw the prosecutrix there - I went into the butler's room and saw the window broken - I did not observe any glass on the floor - I saw glass outside, and two drawers in the butler's room were open - I did not observe any footmarks on the floor, but it was so long afterwards, I did not take notice - I am sure there was no glass on the floor - I went outside the house with Watkins and the housemaid (Pugh) - I examined the place and observed the path under the window - there were footmarks there then, as if there had been a great many people about - the window had been put up before I came - I afterwards searched the house, but found nothing - I went into the back yard, and found in the dust bin, wrapped up in a blue apron, a quantity of plate which I have had in my possession ever since - I found the silver in this apron - I brought it into the house - I think the first person I met in the house was Adlam - I had not seen what was in the apron then, but only judged it by the weight - I said to her,"Whose apron is this?" she said it belonged to the other prisoner, Ann, who was present herself - I then took Pugh into custody - while Pugh was going to the cage she said something - I went to the house next morning and took Adlam into custody. Cross-examined. Q. About what time in the day did you take Pugh? A. I think about two o'clock in the afternoon, and I took Adlam about eleven o'clock next morning - I had not left her in custody of anybody - she had power to go wherever she liked.(Property produced and sworn to.) RICHARD WATKINS . I have heard Mead's evidence; it is all true. Elmira Tarf , widow, 4, Grenada-place; and William Smith , a clerk in the office of treasurer of the navy, gave Adlam a good character. ADLAM GUILTY . Aged 31. - Both Transported for Life