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Old Bailey - LAMB SMITH, JOHN DAVIS, Theft, burglary, 6th December 1775

LAMB SMITH and JOHN DAVIS were indicted for burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of James Lewis Desouneaux, on the 18th of November, about the hour of one in the night, and stealing twenty-five pound weight of silk, value 40 l. the property of the said James Lewis Desouneaux , in his dwelling-house.

 

JAMES LEWIS DESOUNEAUX sworn.

I am a dyer, and live in Charles-street, Spitalfields : I went to bed upon the 18th of November at about eleven o'clock; when I got up at six in the morning, I found some of my windows broke open, and I missed a quantity of silk, which, upon examination, I found had been carried through an empty house that is next door to mine; they had got in through that empty house: the silk was taken out of the dye-house: adjoining to my dwelling-house; it is under the same roof: we traced where the silk had been carried to by the black spots, the silk being wet at the time it was taken: I went to Justice Wilmot's and got a warrant, and went to the house it had been carried to, but the silk had been removed from thence: I caused a thousand bills to be dispersed, offering ten guineas reward for a discovery: I heard no more about it till Sunday morning, when justice Wilmot's men informed me they had found my silk, and had three or four persons in custody: I saw my silk at one Ryder's, by the Fleet Prison: it being wet, I begged to have it to put it in a proper state, that it might not be damaged.

Was any part of the house broke? - A place in the casement of the window was broke, large enough for a man to get through, and the empty house next door was as black as a dye-house.

FRANCIS RYDER sworn.

I found this silk (producing it) by the information of one  Wagstaffe, in a garden belonging to an empty house, at a place called the World's-end, Stepney: I also took the two prisoners, upon  Wagstaffe's information, at the Rose, the back of the London Infirmary, Mile-end.

Prosecutor. I can swear positively to the silk, every bit has a different mark; all the marks are entered in our books: if only one knob of it was taken away, I could swear to it: it is silk I am intrusted with to dye for different weavers.

JAMES FRYER sworn.

Yesterday was three weeks (Friday) in the evening, the prisoners and myself, together with Grant and Bean, who are not taken, were all at one Mr. Hutchinson's, a wine-house, in Colchester-street, Whitechapel; we fat drinking there till two or three in the morning, then we talked of going home together: Davis, Bean, Grant, and I went on first, and Smith said he would follow us; we went on till we came to the dye-house: Grant said, here is a nice place to get some silk; we all consented to it, upon which Grant, who lived within forty yards of the place, went home and got an iron crow and some pick-lock keys, then we went up to an empty house, which is the next door; Grant undid the door, and we all went in: Grant opened a little window of the dye-house that looks into the yard; Bean and Grant got in, I stood by the window on the outside, Davis staid in the empty house: Bean and Grant gave me as much silk out of the window as they thought would be enough, and then they came out: we put the silk into a bag, and carried it to Grant's house, which is very near the place; I cannot tell the name of the street, and from thence we carried it to Stepney, and there Bean and Grant proposed to put it in a summer-house in a garden belonging to an empty house: Bean and Grant got over the wall; I handed the silk up to them, and they put it in the summer-house, where we left it.

Was it wet or dry? - Quite wet: then we went to the Ship at Stepney, where we breakfasted; we staid there two or three hours, after which we went to an alehouse in Stepney Church-yard, and staid there till pretty near dark: then Grant said he knew a person that would buy it, one  Wagstaffe, in Angel-alley, Bishopsgate-street; he said he was a man that got his living by buying stolen silk: I asked Grant to go down to  Wagstaffe and ask him if he would buy it; he said he did not like to go because the thief takers knew him, and if they saw him they would stop him: then I agreed to go, and they said they would go to the Black Dog, Mile-end Turnpike, and wait there while I went to  Wagstaffe; we all came together to the Black Dog; it was dark when we came there: I bid them go in and wait till I came to them: I went to Whitechapel, and down Petticoat-lane, there I met Lamb Smith; I asked him where he had been, he said he had been to his sisters; I asked him to go with me to Angel-alley: when we came there, I desired Smith to go into the alehouse and ask for one  Wagstaffe: Smith went in and enquired;  Wagstaffe came out of the alehouse to me; I called him aside: I told him I came from Grant, who wanted to know whether he would buy this silk: Grant said he had sold him things several times; he said he had not money enough about him then to go with me, but any place I would appoint in two hours he would come to me; I appointed the Black Dog at Mile-end turnpike: then I called to Smith, who was about thirty yards off, and asked him to come along; he came with me to the corner of Bishopsgate-street: I then asked him to go with me to Whitechapel: as we were going along in Whitechapel, I asked him to go to the Rose and Crown, next door to the White Raven in Whitechapel road, and wait about an hour till I came to him: I told him before I left him, that a gentlewoman was to come there to ask for me, and if she came before me to keep her there till I came: I then left Smith; he crossed the way to the Rose and Crown, and I went to the Black Dog, and told Bean, Grant, and   Davis I had seen  Wagstaffe, and he would come in about two hours: in about an hour and a half, as nigh as I can guess, he came: Grant seeing him, went out to speak to him; after which Grant called us out, and bid me and  Wagstaffe take a coach: there was a coach standing over the way:  Wagstaffe and I went into the coach, and bid him drive us to the White Horse down the road: between the turnpike and White Horse Grant came up to the side of the coach, and said he would have us get out; I asked him the reason why, he said he believed  Wagstaffe had beset us, in order for the thieftakers to take us: I said I did not believe any such thing; the coachman drove on to the corner of the White Horse that leads up to Stepney Church: I asked the coachman to drive up the lane that led up to the church, but he refused; he said he did not like to go out of the road; we paid him a shilling:  Wagstaffe and I got out; then we met with Bean, Davis, and Grant, and we all five went along the fields to go to the summer house: Grant and Bean got over a fence to go a back way to the summer house, they got within twenty yards of the garden; then they came over the fence again, and said they had been robb'd: we went the same way we had been in the morning; when we came to the place there stood a coach; says Grant, I wonder what this coach is standing here for, I am sure it is for no good: they made a stop, and said they would not go for the silk at all: going by a public house I said let us go in and drink; we went in to drink, and there set Smith: after we had drank about a pot of beer, Bean said we will go up and see if the coach is there still, which we agreed to; they went:  Wagstaffe staid about a quarter of an hour, and then went away, and left Smith, Davis, and me in the box together: we had not sat there half an hour before justice Wilmot's men came and took us three.

Lamb Smith was not at the house when the house was broke open, and the silk taken away? - No: I did not see him till the next day, when I met him in Petticoat-lane.

THOMAS  WAGSTAFFE sworn.

This day was three weeks at night, Lamb Smith told me he had got a quantity of silk to dispose of: he came to me at a public house, the Cock, in Angle-alley; he called me out and said if I could raise 20 or 30 l. he could make a man of me: I told him I had not got so much money; he said the silk was wet: I had received one of the hand bills just before, concerning the silk being stolen out of the dyehouse that morning: I told him I had not money enough, and I could not give an answer within less than two hours: he told me I might find him in two hours at the Black Dog at Mile-end.

Was it Smith that told you this? - It was Lamb Smith that told me: I left him and went into the public house again, and told the landlord what had happened: he advised me to make an information before a justice, and he went with me to Mr. Wilmot's office; where I laid an information against Lamb Smith: I did not know any others that were concerned at that time. Mr. Wilmot's men and I went to the Black Dog, at the corner of the Dog-row, Whitechapel; when I went into the house, Lamb Smith came to me and asked me what money I had brought with me? I told him I had not above four or five guineas; he said I might leave the money with them and take the silk, and they would call for the rest in the morning; that the silk was in a summer house, and they must have a coach to fetch it away; I told them I would go and get a coach: justice Wilmot's men were round the house; I let them know the silk was in a summer house at Stepney, and bid them follow the coach to find it out: Fryer and I got into the coach and the rest walked. Just before we came to the White Horse, Lamb Smith came up and said,

"d - n his eyes, he has brought the traps with him." I said I had not: then he bid the coachman drive on, the coach went as far as the White Horse, then the coachman would not carry us any farther: Fryer and I got out, Fryer paid a shilling, and we went down the lane a little way, and went into a field; when we had crossed another field, two of them got into a garden to take the silk out a back way, but they were prevented: they came out again into the road to go the other way into the garden; we found a coach waiting in the road, which justice Wilmot's men had brought; they swore again, and said they were traced: they then turned back and went to the White Horse; I left the two prisoners and Fryer there, and went again to the Black Dog: I had not been there many minutes before one of justice Wilmot's men came; I let him know where I had left them, and they went and took   Lamb Smith ,   John Davis , and   James Fryer : I went afterwards with Ryder and Lewin to the summer house for the silk, Ryder got into a summer house and found the silk.

Are you certain it was Smith and not Fryer, that came to you at the public house to offer you the silk? - I am certain it was Smith.

FRYER. I am the only man that applied to him. Wilmot's men came to me; and   Robert Lewin said he would give me two or three guineas, if I would only swear Smith was in the robbery with me: I said how can that be done; he said very well, for  Wagstaffe was to have six guineas if Smith was cast, and he has had part of it already.

Q. to  Wagstaffe. Have you had any money? - No, not a farthing.

[The information of James Fryer before the justice was read; and it appearing that his evidence upon the trial was quite contrary to his information before the justice, he was committed by the Court to take his trial for the burglary.]

ROBERT LEWIN sworn.

I attend justice Wilmot's office. On Saturday night, the 11th of November, I went in company with Ryder and  Wagstaffe to a place they call the World's-end, at Stepney; there I saw Ryder take a quantity of silk out of a summer house; we brought it away.

Do you know Fryer? - I do.

Did you tell him you would give him two or three guineas to swear Smith was in this robbery? - No.

Did you never say what  Wagstaffe was to have? - No.

Not that he was to have six guineas, and had part of it already? - No.

DAVIS's DEFENCE.

Somebody persuaded Fryer to swear against me to get the blood money of me, as they call it.

SMITH's DEFENCE.

I did no more than what Fryer asked me to do: I went with him to Angel-alley, he called this man out, I did not know what he said to him: there was a dyer's coat left at my mother's all over dye; I having that coat, which was proved to belong to Fryer, Ryder and Lewin swore it was my coat, and committed me to prison.

LEWIN. I never was in his house.

RYDER. Manwaring and I were at his house; we took up a dyer's coat, and his wife said it was his, I did not swear it was his.

Davis called three witnesses, who gave him a good character.

Q. to  Wagstaffe. When you went towards the summer house, was Smith in company with you? - Yes; we went to a public house to drink.

You did not find him sitting there? - No; he went with us.

DAVIS GUILTY . Death .

LAMB SMITH NOT GUILTY .

Tried by the Middlesex Jury before Mr. Justice ASTON.

Old Bailey - Richard Morris, Benjamin Jones, Jane Turnley, Francis Turnley, Thomas Wagstaffe, John Hodges, Theft, burglary, 14th January 1702

Richard Morris, Benjamin Jones, Francis Turnley, and Jane his Wife, Thomas Wagstaffe, and John Hodges, were indicted for a Burglary, (the 4 firsts as Principals, and the other 2 as Accessarys before the Fact) for breaking the House of the Lady Susan Carew Widow, on the 23d of December last, about 12 in the Night, with intent to Steal the Goods; and also did put one James Beril in fear of his Life. The first Evidence was the Foot-man, who said, That he was assaulted by 3 Persons, who broke in about 2 or 3 a Clock in the Morning at a Window, when he was a bed: He said that their Faces were blackt; and did endeavour to break his Neck, and cried out, Murder him; upon which he strugled from them, and put out the Candle: Then they got a Napkin about his Neck, and dragged him about the Room; but he crying out Thieves, the Watch heard it; and said, that when the Rogues came in, they brought a Pair of Pistols, and a Case-knife, and he strugled with them a good while; then they thrust something into his Mouth to strangle him, but making a noise, and the Watch coming to the Door, they left him; then he let in the Watch who found Jones and Turnley in a Vault under ground, where were Vizards, a dark Lantern, Gaggs, Chissels, Cords, and other things. But Morris was knockt down as he was coming out of the Window, leaving his Coat and Shoes behind him. Morris confest, that he was prevailed upon by one   George Hare , that was a Foot-man in the House, who made him swear, that he might never see the Face of God, if he divulg'd it; then he told him, he would keep his secret; upon which he said, that there was to the value of 3000 l. in the House; then the time was prefixt when it should be done, and told him, that he had sawed a Bar out of the Window, and said, that he should be with him all Night, and had provided a Bottle of Wine, and some Derby-Ale for him; after that was done, they pulled off their Shoes, and walked all over the House and shewed him his Ladies Chamber, and the Window where he had placed Clay upon the Bar, and as soon as it was toucht it fell down: And he let him out the next Morning; afterwards there was a meeting at the Goat-Tavern by Bloomsbury, where  Wagstaffe, Hodges, and his Brother Hare were; when they were gone, he told him, that there was too many to be concern'd in it, but he reply'd, that he was a trusty Friend, and would never betray him; then they made another Appointment to meet at the Cock and Hoop in Fetter-lane, where Hare was to bring Wagstaff, and Hodges to them: He declared, that the Woman was innocent, and knew nothing of it. Jones and Turnley owned, that they met Morris at the Sun in the Wood, who told them. if they would go with him to such a place, the Butler would giv'em a Bottle of Wine; upon which they went into the Kitchen, and were no further when the Watch-man took them. They all denied the Burglary; but the Foot man proved that the Glass was up when he went to Bed but it was found down when the Watch-men came. The Jury found Morris, Jones, and Turnley guilty , but there being no Evidence against the rest, they were acquitted .

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