Joseph Salter

343

Maureen Withey on 11th January 2023

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 11 January 2023), December 1798, trial of JOSEPH SALTER (t17981205-53). JOSEPH SALTER, Theft > grand larceny, 5th December 1798. 54. JOSEPH SALTER was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 25th of November , a wooden till, value 1s. and five shillings in money, the property of Mary Thomas . MARY THOMAS sworn. - I keep a chandler's shop in Fleet-market : On Sunday night, the 25th of November, I saw the shop door open, and a woman holding it; a young man went out to see what was the matter; I then heard the till fall; I went behind the counter, and saw the prisoner there; I called out that there was a thief, and the young men that are here as witnesses came to my assistance. Q. Which way do you believe he came in? - A. At the street door. Q. What became of the woman at the door? - A. She ran away. Q. If he had come walking in upright, should you have seen him? - A. Yes; I gave charge of the prisoner to the watchman. WILLIAM BEDFORD sworn. - I am an apprentice to a gold-beater; I was at the prosecutor's house on Sunday evening, the 25th, about a quarter past ten; we observed the door being held open about five or six inches; Mrs. Thomas asked me to go to the door; I went as quick as I could to the woman at the door, and asked her what business she had there, and she ran away; upon shutting the door, I was alarmed by the till and the money falling on the ground; I was by the side of the counter; I looked over the counter, and saw the prisoner on his knees; upon seeing him, he instantly went upon all fours, upon his hands and knees; he must have gone all round the counter, which is about seven feet and a half long, to get to the till, and the till went quite close to the back of the counter, eighteen inches long at least: my brother came out, and I went and got a watchman, and when I came back, the prisoner was there, and my brother with him behind the counter. Q. If he had come in upright, must you have seen him? - A. We must. THOMAS BEDFORD sworn. - I am the brother of the last witness; I was at Mrs. Thomas's on Sunday, the 25th, with my brother; we observed a woman looking in at the door several times; we supposed it was some neighbour whose curiosity had led them to look who was there; my brother went to the door, and she went away, and while he was returning from the door, I heard the till fall; I went behind the counter, and saw the prisoner upon his hands and knees; I asked him what he did there; he said, he wanted a pint of beer; I desired my brother to go for a watchman, and he was taken to the Compter. SAMUEL HUTCHINS sworn. - I took the prisoner into custody; I asked him what he did there; he said, he wanted a pint of beer, and if we would let him have a pint of beer, he would be very much obliged to us. Q. (To Mrs. Thomas). How much money had you in the till? - A. I cannot tell exactly. Q. Was there five shillings? - A. Yes; a great deal more than that. Prisoner's defence. I was very much in liquor, and how I came there I do not know. GUILTY (Aged 18.) Transported for seven years . Tried by the London Jury, before Mr. COMMON SERJEANT. ---------------------------------------------------- Colonial Secretary Index. SALTER, Joseph. Per "Minorca", 1801. 1810 Jan 9 Granted certificate of freedom (Reel 6038; SZ758 p.55) 1810 Jul 21 Of Hospital Wharf. Issued with licence to retail beer, ale and porter (Reel 6038; SZ758 pp.72-3) 1811 Mar 6 Of York Street, Sydney. Received spirit licence in Feb 1811 (Reel 6038; SZ758 pp.181-3) 1815 Apr 1; 1816 Apr 6 On lists of persons licensed as publicans; for 1815 & 1816 at Sydney (Reel 6038; SZ759 pp.54, 192) 1817 Apr 19 Publican of the Lord Nelson, Sydney. On list of persons licensed as publicans for 1817; at Sydney (Reel 6038; SZ759 p.341) 1818 Feb 16 On list of applicants for beer licenses in Sydney (Reel 6006; 4/3498 p.63) 1818 Dec 31 On list of prisoners sent to Newcastle per "Lady Nelson" (Reel 6006; 4/3499 p.238) 1821 Dec; 1824 Jul On monthly returns of prisoners punished at Newcastle (Reel 6023; 4/1718 pp.139, 188a) 1823 Mar 24 On list of convicts removed from Newcastle to Port Macquarie per "Lady Nelson" (Reel 6019; 4/3864 pp.396-7) -------------------------------------------------- Court of Criminal Jurisdiction. Thursday. Yesterday Joseph Salter, a long-known dealer in Sydney, was arraigned upon a charge of forgery, uttering, and having in his possession a number of forged notes, being of the Bank of New South Wales, some of which were by him passed away on or about the 12th of September last, and a great number found upon his person, concealed in both his shoes, the day following, when apprehended. William Thorn, the constable who apprehended him, swore to his taking 35 notes of the Bank of New South Wales out of his shoes, and that the prisoner at the bar, upon the detection, in a supplicating tone of voice, requested him to destroy them. He afterwards told him he had received them from a person of the name of John James, who had formerly kept a public house in Castlereagh street. Mrs. Gotham deposed to the prisoner at the bar calling in at her house in Bligh-street, about 12 at midnight, accompanied by a Mrs. Celia Wright, and an Elizabeth Remnant, both of whom remained with several other persons in the same room with her until 6 o'clock the next morning. Mr. R. L. Murray, Assistant Superintendent of Police, proved the fact of the prisoner's examination, whereupon a great number of forged Bank Notes were found in his shoes, and that six others of similar form were proved of his passing. A witness of the name of Elizabeth Remnant, who had been one of the party at Gotham's with the prisoner at the bar, and who had gone thither with him in company of Celia Wright at midnight, swore to the prisoner at the bar having a bulk of notes in his possession; to his having given to her several for the purpose of purchasing liquors, which she expended as directed, all which proved to be forgeries upon the Bank. The witness had seen a bulk of bank notes in the prisoner's possession the same night and morning, and had no reason nor possibility of doubting those produced in evidence to be those identically received by her from the prisoner to pass away for the liquors she had gone for: the prisoner at the bar had also said he had received £10 at the Bank that day, and that he expected to receive £5 more the day following. Witness further said that she had picked up near a sofa upon which the prisoner at the bar had reclined himself upon occasionally, six or seven Bank notes, all of which proved afterwards to be forgeries; and these, from every point of evidence that could be taken, proved circumstantially to be part of the parcel of notes which had been observed in possession of the prisoner, and which he either must have dropped accidentally, or have been robbed of by the witness; which latter suggestion was the more probable, as the prisoner had next morning complained to Mrs. Gotham, the woman of the house, of his having lost notes, which were not afterwards found or traced, except as forgeries. The notes paid away by this witness and Mrs. Gotham were clearly established to have proceeded from the prisoner at the bar; and he in his defence setting up no kind of denial, rested upon a statement of his having received them from one John James, formerly a prisoner in this Colony, but who had been within the last 12 or 14 years a dealer of the lower order; and this unhappy man, it was generally known, had committed suicide in September last, in a watch-house, shortly after his being apprehended for the same offence which brought the prisoner Joseph Salter to the bar. Six notes had been actually passed away; and the prisoner at the bar had 35 others of a similar kind found in his shoes when apprehended. The witness Elizabeth Remnant had stated her finding six or seven notes on or near a sofa in Gotham's house in the morning of the 13th of Septemder, which could only have been dropped or have been stolen from the prisoner at the bar ; but in all respects so prevaricated in the delivery of her testimony as to induce the Court to place her in charge of an officer in attendance. She was afterwards committed for gross prevarication until the Court should be pleased to order her releasement. The prisoner said in his defense, that he had received the entire number of forged notes found on his person, as well as those he had passed away, from the unhappy suicide, John James; and received a good character from several persons with whom he had been occasionally concerned in trade for 12 or 14 years. By an Act passed in the 41st of his present Majesty, the prisoner at the bar was made amenable, under three distinct counts, upon two of which he was found guilty and remanded for sentence. Sydney Gazette, 12 Dec 1818. ---------------------------------------------------- Criminal Court. Joseph Salter was last brought to the bar, convicted of having passed away and uttered several forged bills on the Bank ot New South Wales, with intent to defraud the President and Directors thereof. A motion for arrest of judgment was made in his behalf, which was over-ruled. At the close of the observations which fell from the Court in opposition, His Honor remarked to the prisoner, that as he had not learnt that any previous conviction had taken place here under the statute beneath which the prisoners case fell, the Court had thought proper to pass upon him the sentence of transportation for the term of seven years to Newcastle. Sydney Gazette, 19 Dec 1818.