James Smith

135

C H on 25th February 2024

Old Bailey Online ISAAC HART. JAMES SMITH. ELIZABETH SMITH. ANN PUMMEL. Theft; burglary, Theft; receiving. 15th January 1800 Text type Trial account Defendants ISAAC HART, JAMES SMITH, ELIZABETH SMITH, ANN PUMMEL Offences Theft > Burglary, Theft > Receiving Session Date 15th January 1800 Reference Number t18000115-35 Verdicts Guilty, Guilty, Guilty, Not guilty Punishments Death, Death, Transportation 105. ISAAC HART , JAMES SMITH , ELIZABETH SMITH , and ANN PUMMEL , were indicted, the two first for breaking and entering the dwelling-house of John Roberts , about the hour of seven in the night of the 29th of December , and burglariously stealing a cotton gown, value 5s. four calico window-curtains, value 1s. a child's frock, value 1s. 6d. a dimity petticoat, value 1s. a silk handkerchief, value 5s. and two yards of lace, value 3s. the property of the said John ; and the other two for feloniously receiving the same goods knowing them to have been stolen . JOHN ROBERTS sworn. - On Sunday the 29th of December, I lost a cotton gown, a dimity petticoat, a child's frock, a silk handkerchief, a workbasket, four calico window-curtains, and two yards of lace; I went out and left them upon the table in the bed-room; the bottom part of the house is my own, another party has the other part; it is at No. 22, in Carter-street, Bethnal-green ; my wife and I went out, and fastened the bottom sash; the other people that lived in the house were at home, over head; I went out about one, and returned about seven; I had put the shutters together before I went out, but had not fastened them, only by a bit of wood that I put in; when I came back, I found they had been moved, there was a mark of dirt upon the wood work of the window, they must have opened the window to get in; when I came home, the prisoners, Hart and Smith, were taken; I saw the property again on the Tuesday, at the office; when I came home I missed them immediately; Armstrong, Mason, and Ray, had the prisoners in custody; I went to the office on Monday, but I could not give a proper account of the things; and the next day my wife went with me, and she swore to them. JOHANNA ROBERTS sworn. - I lost some property on Sunday the 29th of December; I left some of the things on the dresser and some on the table when I went out between twelve and one; I did not come home till Monday evening, and on the Tuesday I saw them at the office. PETER MASON sworn. - On Sunday the 29th of December, about seven in the evening, I was going along Brick-lane, in company with Ray and Armstrong; at the end of Carter-street we heard a noise of several people talking; we went up and saw the two men prisoners surrounded by a number of people, close to Roberts's house; we searched them, but found nothing; there were the wet dirty marks upon the window where they got in; on the Monday the two women came to the office to see the men, and we took them into custody; they all four lodged together; we got information of their lodgings, and searched them, where we found the goods turned up in one of the beds; there were two bedsteads in one room; I have had the property ever since. Mrs. Roberts. This is my gown; it has my own work in it; this is my boby's frock that I took off that Sunday morning; and a flannel petticoat. JACOB JIGGETS sworn. - All the four prisoners lodged in my house; they have one room; I do not live in the house myself; the officers came, and searched one bed and found nothing; then they searched the other bed, and found the things, James Smith and Elizabeth Smith pass for man and wife. Prisoner Smith. It is a common lodging-house for any body to sleep for a night. Q.(To Jiggets.) Is it a common lodging-house that any body sleeps in for a night? - A. Not that room; they have that room to themselves. James Smith 's defence. I was making water, and two men came up and laid hold of me, and asked who I was; I thought they had been a press-gang; I told them I was a seafaring young fellow; and they took me to that man's house, and searched me, but I had nothing about me. Hart's defence. I was walking in a different street, and two men laid hold of me, and took me among a parcel of weavers; they said I was a Jew, and they would do for me; they said I had been robbing a house; I never saw any thing of the property. Elizabeth Smith 's defence. I know nothing at all of it. Jiggets. I have known Elizabeth Smith three years; she has lodged with me off and on; I never knew any harm of her. Hart, GUILTY , Death . (Aged 15.) Jas. Smith, GUILTY , Death . (Aged 25.) Eliz. Smith , GUILTY . (Aged 21.) Transported for fourteen years . Pummell, NOT GUILTY . Tried by the second Middlesex Jury, before The Lord CHIEF BARON.The