William Burgess

Level 218

Dianne Jones on 23rd May 2022

RICHARD BORD. I am a clerk in the Consol-office in the Bank, on the 3rd of Sept. I received from Mr. Sutton, a clerk in the same office, two tickets—(looking at them)—these are them—I received them from him for the purpose of effecting a transfer—they are usually deposited in a box, and we take them out as we are going on entering—these came into my possession from Mr. Sutton—he was somewhere about the Transfer office passing over tickets—I saw the prisoner in the Transfer-office at that time—I am uncertain whether I received the tickets from the hand of Mr. Sutton, or whether I may have taken them from the box, but they came direct from him—I received them in the Transfer-office—I am employed in the Transfer-office—the prisoner was not in the office at that time—he made his appearance a few minutes afterwards—I happened to have the number of tickets in my hand when he came up—there were several other clerks assisting there, and he came up and inquired who entered stock for the name of Oxenford—I replied that I did—I had these tickets then in my hand—he then asked me if I would oblige him by entering them directly, as Mr. Oxenford was waiting—I therefore proceeded to enter them in the Transfer-book—whilst he was waiting I asked him if he knew Mr. Oxenford, having known the name many years ago, before I was in the Bank—he replied that he did—he was an old friend of his—I said, "He must be getting an old man now"—he said he was—when I had completed it I said, "Where is Mr. Oxenford?"—he said he was outside minding the horse—that he (meaning himself) had got an early off that day, and they were going down to Gravesend together—I supposed by that that he had done his business for the day, and had leave to go away early—he then went out to fetch Mr. Oxenford, and shortly returned with a gentleman, and asked me for the book—he then asked, "What gentleman will see it?"—it is the custom that one clerk should witness the transfer, and that another person, in attendance with the party transferring, should witness his identity—it must be some person known to the Bank—the prisoner took the book and took it to Mr. Ingall, another clerk, who was close by, sitting in the same office—at the same time I heard him say to the person who had come into the office, "Come along, Willey," or some such expression as that, "it is all ready"—I saw him and the other person come up together—I did not myself witness the act of the transfer of this stock—I did not see the signature—I afterwards accompanied John Forrester, the officer, to the United States—we left London on the 18th of Sept.—we ultimately went to Boston, and found Elder in Federal-street, No. 51 (we had been to a variety of other places first)—it was on a Thursday, about the end of Oct.—he was passing by the name of Ellis—I recognised him as the man who had come into the Bank with the prisoner, after his going out to fetch Oxenford, who he said was minding the horse—I told Forrester that he was the man—Forrester took him by the coat and said, "Your name is Joseph Elder, and you are lately from London"—he was afterwards committed to prison, and I heard afterwards that he had destroyed himself—I went with Forrester to Nahant where the prisoner escaped from, but did not go up to Brewster's Island. Cross-examined. Q. You were not examined before the Magistrate at all, I believe? A. No. JAMES SUTTON. I am a clerk in the Consol-office. I compared these two transfer tickets with the account of William Oxenford, and afterwards delivered them to Mr. Bord to enter in the transfer, in the Bank books—that means filling up the printed forms for the purpose of transferring the Stock, according to the tickets taken from the box. Cross-examined. Q. You were not examined before the Magistrate? A. No. THOMAS INGALL. I am a clerk in the Consol-office. I was in the Consol Transfer-office on Tuesday, the 3rd of Sept., and remember seeing the prisoner there—when I first saw him he was a few feet from me, on the public side of the counter—there was a person with him—I knew the prisoner well, but not the other person—the prisoner called my attention by saying, "Perhaps, Mr. Ingall, you will see this?* (meaning, that I would perhaps witness the transfers)—he bad the transfer receipts in his hand—the book was on the counter—I took the receipts from him—I have no recollection of answering him—the person he had brought with him then signed these transfers "William Oxenford"—my place at the counter was about six or seven feet from where Mr. Bord stood. Q. How was the book transferred from Mr. Bord to you? A. So far as I recollect, the prisoner merely brought the book a little nearer to me, but did not come immediately opposite to me—he brought the book from Mr. Bord, and I think he brought it forward, and placed it in the position in which it was signed by Elder—the prisoner, in the meantime, or immedi­ately after, read to me the amount transferred, from this book, and the names into which the amount was going, and I checked him on the stock receipt or tickets which I had in my hand at the time—these are the tickets that I had in my hand at the time—my signatures are to them—the amount transferred is, (reading,) "6305l.3s.5d., to George Shum Storey, John Petty Musprat, William Cotton, and Matthew Whiting"—I found that cor­responded with one of the receipts I had in my hand—nothing had passed between me and the prisoner, before this, as to who the person was that he brought—after the person had signed the transfer, the prisoner wrote in "William Oxenford," and his own name at the back, as the witness to the identity of William Oxenford, the person making the transfer—this is it—"Witness to the identity of W. Oxenford, W. Burgess, Bank"—the words "Witness to the identity" are in print; the name "W. Oxenford" was written in ink by the prisoner, and then he signed his own-name, describ­ing himself as of the Bank—when he had signed his name, the book was turned round by the prisoner to me, to examine the transfer, to see that it had the signature of William Oxenford, that he was properly identified, and that the witness to the identity was named there—I signed it as the attesting witness—I then handed the prisoner the receipts, of which this is one, and he walked away—I had previously signed my name to it—I do not recollect whether the receipt was signed before it was placed in my hand, nor do I recollect seeing Elder sign it—it was signed as it now ap­pears when it was in my hand, with the exception of my own signature—I put my signature to it at the time the prisoner read the amount from the transfer-book, and I checked it on the receipt—that receipt was handed by me to the prisoner—it had been signed by Elder, in the name of Oxenford, before it was put into my hand—I do not recollect seeing it signed by Elder—Elder went out with the prisoner. Cross-examined. Q. I understand you to say that you do not remember seeing this receipt signed by anybody? A. I do not—I have witnessed the signature of the party—it is constantly the case that receipts are brought and not signed in our presence—it is frequently the practice for brokers to come with persons who are about to transfer, with the receipts already signed at their office—they acknowledge it as their receipts, of course—this was passed over to me, and I assumed it to be right, and put my name to it as the witness—I was not noticing this transaction from the time the application was made to Mr. Bord—Mr. Bord was about six or seven feet from me—he was not the very next person attending to business; there was one between us at the counter at the time, Mr. Tomkins—these books lie on the counter in the office, and are pushed along from one to the other as they are required—the book would be presented towards the public side of the counter for the transfer to be executed—I have a very considerable number of these transactions in the course of a day, at times—I do not generally keep hold of a corner of the book while the party is signing, and then draw it back to its right position opposite myself—I have very rarely held the book while a party is signing it—as soon as it is signed, I quite as often draw it back as the party pushes it back—I certainly do not watch the party, to see, more than is necessary for the transaction of the particular business—the book is either draws back by ourselves, or returned by the broker. Q. At this distance of time I suppose you cannot say in which way this particular transaction was done? A. As far as my recollection serves me, Burgess turned the book round—I think I can be positive of it—to the best of my recollection he did so—I will swear positively that he did so—there was nothing remarkable in this transaction to call my attention to it—I cannot tell how many transfers took place in our office that day, because I am not engaged in the whole of them—I cannot tell how many I was engaged in—I should imagine there must have been a good many after this on that day, because it was a heavy day with us—it is impos­sible to say whether the transfers appear in the book in the order in which they were-made in the office, except with regard to these two—I do not find one just before or after it in which I have been the attesting witness—whatever 1 attend to I put my name to—I do not see any other in this book that day which I put my name to—I see no other in this book except these two transfers of William Oxenford—there appears to have been six other transfers that day—it does not appear by these entries that I witnessed any except those of Oxenford—there are other books in which I probably witnessed on that day—without looking at the books I cannot say whether I did or not, but the probability is that I did—I do not positively remember—to the best of my belief I should say I did. Q. Can you remember, in any one instance that occurred that day, whether the party coming pushed the book to you, or you drew it back, with the single exception of this transaction? A. I cannot, nor on the day before, nor the day after. Q. Will you explain, then, what there was peculiar about this transac­tion to enable you to swear with any degree of positiveness as to how the book was treated on the occasion of this particular transfer? A. The thing came to light in a few days after; and I endeavoured, as well as I possibly could, to bring to my mind all the circumstances that had taken place—I was examined before the Magistrate. Q. Is this the first time you have stated that fact of the prisoner's pushing the book? A. I do not recollect whether I was asked the ques­tion before—I cannot positively recollect whether this is the first time I have stated that the book was handed or pushed to me by the prisoner—I think it is. Contd...3 --

Level 218

Dianne Jones on 23rd May 2022

TRIAL TRANSCRIPT: 212. WILLIAM BURGESS was indicted for feloniously uttering a forged transfer of a certain share and interest, viz., £6,305.3s.5d. in the 3 per Cent. Annuities, standing in the name of William Oxenford, with intent to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England: 2nd COUNT, stating his intent to be to defraud William Oxenford: 3rd Count, with intent to defraud George Shum Storey and others. THE HON. J. STUART WORTLEY with MESSRS. ADOLPHUS and CLARKSON, conducted the Prosecution. WILLIAM SMEE, Esq. I am the chief accountant at the Bank of England. I produce a copy of the account of William Oxenford, taken from the Bank ledger, which is a public authentic book, kept at the Bank of England—I have examined it with the ledger, and it is a true copy. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. Is it your handwriting? A. It is not—I believe it is the writing of a clerk named Beaton—I compared it with the book, I think, the day before yesterday—I did it alone, looking first at the paper and then at the book—Beaton was not assisting me in the comparison—I so carefully examined it that I can swear that it is accurate in every respect. (This account being referred to stated, that William Oxenford was possessed of the sum of £9,800. Three per Cents., and that £6,305.3s.5d. of the same had been transferred to G. S. Storey and others, and £1,894l.16s. 7d. to H. Mortimer.) COURT. Q. This means that Mr. Oxenford was entitled to those sums of stock? A. On the credit side you will find he is credited for £10,000, and on the debit side, in the early part of April last, he was debited £200., leaving a balance of £9,800.—the two subsequent sums are the sums in question—this is from the ledger of the Consols. MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. Was the prisoner employed in the bank in September last? A. He was—his duty was such as to give him access to all the ledgers in the Transfer-office; and were he to go to any particular ledger, no question would be asked him, conceiving it was his duty to do so—he was employed in the Power of Attorney office—he would know the whole course of business, and could furnish himself with whatever particulars he wanted. Q. Did he at any time apply to you for leave of absence? A. He did—I am not certain whether it was on Saturday, the 31st of Aug., or Monday, the 2nd of Sept.—the probability is that it was on Monday, the 2nd of Sept.—he asked leave from the 3rd of Sept. to the 5th, which he had given him—he did not return at the end of his leave. Cross-examined by MR. BODKIN. Q. How long you have been in the employment of the bank? A. Forty-three years—the Three per Cent. Consol office is a separate room to the Power of Attorney office, in which the prisoner's business was performed—it is not in a separate part of the building, it is contiguous—it may he said to be a separate office, though intimately connected with the Transfer-office—he had a duty to perform in the Consol-office in going to put limitations on Power of Attorney, and for various other inquiries that he clerks in the office may call on him for. MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. Do you mean that these offices are separate buildings, or only separate rooms? A. Merely separate rooms—there is a door separating the Transfer-office from the Power of Attorney office, just as you go from a front to a back parlour—you merely walk from one room into the other—he had access to the Consol books in every way whatever. COURT. Q. His duty was with reference to powers of attorney generally for every species of stock, I suppose? A. Yes—in order to enable him to perform his duty with reference to the preparations of proper power of attorney, he would have access to the books, showing the different state of accounts, as well as the Consols—he would go into the Consol-office, take up the ledger, and open it, and no question would be asked, the clerks considering it part and parcel of his duty—if he was instructed to prepare a power of attorney for £1000. for A. B., part of a sum of £2000., he would have authority to examine the books, in order to see if A. B. was entitled to such a sum. WILLIAM OXENFORD I live in John-street, Bedford-row—I was formerly in the Custom-house for many years. In September last I had a sum of £9,800 in the Consols—I never transferred, or consented to the transfer of any part of that money—I never signed any paper or power what ever to any person to do so—I never saw the prisoner in my life till I saw him at the Mansion-house—I never knew a person named Joseph Elder—this signature of "William Oxenford" in this transfer-book (looking at it) is not my writing—I can see, with out my spectacles, that it is a forgery—I never empowered anybody to write that for me. Cross-examined. Q. Had you accepted this stock? A. I do not know—I may have done such a thing—I left it to my broker, who is a most respectable man—I have always been in the habit of receiving my dividends personally—the Bank books would have a great many signatures in my handwriting. MR. ADOLPHUS. Q. There are two transfer-books signed "William Oxenford," are there not? A. Yes—neither of them are my writing. COURT to MR. SMEE. Q. Is it a very common thing for persons to have stock transferred to them without accepting it? A. Exceedingly common—I should think nine persons out of ten do not accept. Contd...2 --

Level 218

Dianne Jones on 23rd May 2022

TRIAL: 16 December, 1844: William Burgess was convicted of forgery (details below) at the Old Bailey. He had been arrested near Boston, having fled to America on the Britannia steamer in September, 1844, with an accomplice named Joseph Elder. The two men called themselves Ellis and posed as uncle and nephew. Joseph Elder "did away with himself" shortly after his capture, in Boston, according to the arresting officer, John Forrester (https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/). --0--

Level 68

Leonie Dolley on 12th April 2013

William was transported for uttering a false transfer of stock. It says in the archives supposed to have drowned at Norfolk Island 15\3\1847.