William Walton

135

C H on 9th March 2024

Old Bailey Online WILLIAM WALTON. GEORGE TINGEY. MARY COOK. Theft; simple larceny (from 1827), Theft; receiving. 16th February 1832. Text type Trial account Defendants WILLIAM WALTON, GEORGE TINGEY, MARY COOK Offences Theft > Simple larceny, Theft > Receiving Session Date 16th February 1832 Reference Number t18320216-225 Verdicts Guilty, Guilty, Guilty Punishments Transportation, Transportation 731. WILLIAM WALTON and GEORGE TINGEY were indicted for stealing, on the 25th of January , 215 pairs of shoes, value 25l. , the goods of James Game ; and MARY COOK was indicted for feloniously receiving the same, well knowing them to have been stolen . TWO OTHER COUNTS, stating them to belong to Charles Winter . TWO OTHER COUNTS stating them to belong to Samuel Brown . JAMES GAME . I am a carrier from London to Enfield . On the 24th of January I received a hamper at the Four Swans, Bishopsgate-street; it appeared to be full; I never saw it open - I helped it into the cart myself; it weighed nearly 1 1/2 cwt.; I was to take it to Mr. Brown at Enfield; I left London about half-past five o'clock in the evening, I missed the hamper at Edmonton, near the Horse and Groom - I had to leave a message close to the Angel at Edmonton, and think it must have been taken while I went there, as it was safe when I left; my lad was in front of the cart, and it was taken from the back; the prisoner Cook lived at Tottenham, and sold coals about in a cart; I went with a constable that night, but did not find the property, - it was found by another constable that evening. WILLIAM MANNING . I am a shoemaker, and live at Norwich. On the 21st of January I packed seventeen dozen and eleven pairs of shoes in a hamper, and sent them to Mack's office, to be conveyed to the Four Swans, London - I have seen twenty-seven pairs and an odd one at Edmonton, and am quite sure they are part of what I sent, from two or three circumstances. Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. Are you the manufacturer? A. I am foreman to Mr. Hunter - we stamp a mark on all our shoes, but I identify these by other circumstances. RICHARD DENNY . I am porter to Mr. Winter, at Norwich. I took the hamper to Mack's office, to be conveyed to Brown, at Enfield. ROBERT CARTER . I am book-keeper at the Four Swans. On the 25th of January a hamper came to our inn, directed to Brown at Enfield, and left in Game's errand cart. WILLIAM BLANSHARD. I am porter at the Four Swans. I put the hamper into Game's cart. MARY CATLIN . I live in Eaton-place, Edmonton; I go out to work - I know all the prisoners; Cook lives at Tottenham - I have seen both the other prisoners at her house. I met Walton on the 27th of January, between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, alone, near Mr. Coventry's door, at Tottenham, about a quarter of a mile on this side the Bell; the errand-cart passed at the time - Walton went towards Enfield; I saw him about five minutes after the errand-cart passed - he went in a direction towards Edmonton. THOMAS CARTER . I am a hair-dresser, and live at Tottenham, and know all the prisoners by sight - Cook lived near me. On the 25th of January, as the watchman was calling nine o'clock, I was standing at my door, and saw two men cross the road and pass me; it was Walton and Tingey; they went up the yard leading to Cook's house, which is in the yard my back door opens into - a fence parts my yard from theirs; Cook is married - I am quite sure of Walton and Tingey; one of them had a bundle under his arm, and the other a great bulk under his coat, which prevented my seeing what it was - I saw him turn into the yard leading to Cook's house. Tingey was taken into custody that night, and Walton a few days after; I saw them in custody at the Angel, and was positive of them - some shoes were produced at the examination, which Manning claimed - I gave the officer information of what I had seen. Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. What time of night was it? A. The watchman was going past nine o'clock - I was at my front door; my shop was open - they both passed me, and I knew them; I had seen Tingey at Cook's house before - he had the bundle under his arm; it seemed as large as four or five of these large boots. JOHN INGRAM . I am a constable of Tottenham."On Wednesday night the 25th of January, about nine o'clock I was shutting up my shop; I am a hair-dresser - Carter came and gave me information; I immediately went to Fowler, Forster, and Aylin, and we proceeded to Cook's house - her husband was not at home; we found Mary Cook , her daughter Eliza, Tingey, David Blair, and a man named Hagan there, but not Walton, and there was a man in possession with a distress-warrant for rent; I went up stairs, and they all sat there, playing at dominoes - we found nothing in that room; I then went up to the next room, which has two beds in it, and there found twenty-three pairs of new shoes and an odd one - we brought them down, and took the prisoners into custody; I asked the broker if the shoes were in his inventory; he did not claim them - I have known Mr. and Mrs. Cook nine or ten years; they did not deal in shoes - they sold coals about in a cart: Manning claimed the shoes before the Magistrate - Walton was then in custody. Cross-examined by MR. CLARKSON. Q. Tingey was not in the room you found the shoes in? A. No - the man in possession was not playing with them. Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Mr. Cook was not in the house then, but you cannot tell how long the shoes had been there? A. No; I believe Cook is now in Newgate, on another charge - I went to the house about twenty minutes after Carter gave me the information. JOHN FOWLER . I am a constable. I went to Cook's house with Ingram, and found twenty-three pairs of shoes and an odd one, strewed on the bed - Tingey and Mrs. Cook were there; I had taken Mr. Cook to Newgate on another charge that morning, having apprehended him on the Tuesday - he could not have been present when the shoes were brought there; Hagan and another were discharged before the Magistrate - I saw Camp find a piece of paper in Cook's house. JOSEPH FORSTER . I am a constable. I was with Fowler and the others; we got to Cook's house at near ten o'clock- Mr. Cook had been sent to Newgate that morning - I saw Tingey, Mrs. Cook, and several others playing at dominoes - Fowler and lugram went up stairs; I stood at the door, to prevent the prisoners leaving the room - I found a large clasp knife in Tingey's pocket: there had been a rope round the hamper, which was cut; I saw part of the cord, which was found near where the shoes were lost. BENJAMIN AVLIN . I am a barge-owner. I know all the prisoners - I went to Cook's house on the 25th of January, with the constables; I stood at the door while they went up - they called me up, and I saw the shoes in the bed room. JOHN CAMP . I am a constable of Edmonton. On Wednesday evening Game informed me of his loss - I apprehended Walton on Sunday morning, about four o'clock, in bed, at his mother's, at Edmonton; I told him it was for stealing shoes from Game's cart - he denied the charge, and said it was the first he had heard of it: on the day after the robbery I went to Cook's house, to search for more property, and in the room where the shoes were found I found this paper laying by the side of the bed - it has been apparently burnt with a candle and dropped down. WILLIAM MANNING . I know these shoes - they have all our stamp on them; one pair was made by our apprentice - I know his work; that pair was sent in the hamper; this paper is part of the invoice which was sent with them. WILLIAM BOYSON . I am a watchman. On Wednesday evening, the 25th of January, about half-past seven o'clock, Game's cart passed me in Claremont-street, in the upper part of Edmonton, about a quarter of a mile on this side the Angel, and about twenty minutes to eight Walton and Tingey passed me; they were going after the cart, walking very fast in the same direction - I saw Walton again about ten minutes past nine o'clock, coming in the same direction as before; I did not see that he had any thing with him - he was against Mr. Brooks', going down the lane towards his own home; I saw Camp, and told him. Walton's Defence. I was not in the house that night. Tingey's Defence. I went to Cook's, but took nothing with me. Cook's Defence. When I go out on business I cannot say who goes into my place - there are no locks on any of the doors. JOSEPH FORSTER. There is no lock on the street door- I did not observe the bed-room doors. WALTON - GUILTY . Aged 22. TINGEY - GUILTY . Aged 24. Transported for Seven Years . COOK - GUILTY . Aged 51. Transported for Fourteen Years .