The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-12-16 00:00:00

OBTAINING MONEY BY FRAUD.

At the Mansion Mae, In Loudon, Charles Carpenter,
aged 47, described as a inissi.mary, was charged on remain!,
with obtaining money by fraud.

The prisoner, who had taken the name of the Rev. John
Chapman, became in July last a subscriber to the read-
ing-room of the City of London College in Lemlenhall-
street, and from that time to the present he had
frequented the room very much, and had written and
received letters there. In another part of the building
some ministers of various Christian denominations held
a daily prayer meeting, and the prisoner sometimes
attended the service. In the middle of July he, repre-
senting himself to be the Rev. Mr. Chapman, wrote a
letterto Colonel Charles Young Bazett, of Springfield,
near Reading, dating it from the prayer meeting room at
the College, and stating in effect that the Christian,friends
attending there had taken up the distressing case of the
family of the late Rev. T. Welch, formerly a Dissenting
minister at Reading, who were in extreme poverty
and want, and that he would be glad to take charge of
any sums which might be collected on their behalf.
Colonel Bazett sent the writer a check for 1,2 10s.,
which the prisoner duly acknowledged. Afterwards,
however, he was lead to suspect that the affair was not
quite correct, and he communicated with the City
This resulted in the arrest ef the prisoner
by William Smith, one of the detective officers. Upon
hun were found various letters enclosing sums of
money, including £1 from the Earl of Aberdeen, ki is.
from Mr. Donald Dalrymple' M.P., £2 2s. from Mr.
Coats, of Paisley; and El Is. from Mr. Arthur Wells,
of Nottingham; which appeared to have been contri-
buted for the relief of two families named Welch awl
Morton. The prisoner had also written to Dr. Forbes
Winslow a touching letter asking him to assist the
family of Mr. Welch, and referring him, as an midi*
tional appeal, to "St. Matthew, 25th chapter, 40th
verse." Enclosed in the letter was a circular giving
particulars of the case, and stating that among others
Lord Granville had forwarded a donation of £2 25.,
Lord Malmesbury, £2 Is. ; the Bishop of Bath and
Wells, 1:1 is.; the Bishop of Llandaff, Et ; and the
Rev. Dr. Octavius Winslow, of Brighton, El Is.
It was proved in evidence that the ministers officiat-
ing at the daily prayer meeting at the City of London !
College knew of no such cases of distress as those men-
tioned by the prisoner, and that he had no authority
from them to collect money on any pretence whatever, or I
to use their names in any way. It was also elicited from
witnesses that the prisoner's real name Was Charles I
Carpenter, that he had formerly been a relieving
officer at Bermondsey, awl that in March, lfifs+, he was
tried at the Surrey SWsriiollS for obtaining £lO by means
of a forged cheek, and WAS sentem,ed to 12 months' !
hard labour. In the present instance he had, it was
alleged, obtained nearly. £lOO. For the defence, a wit- I
ness nanusl Welch, the son of a deceased Dissenting I
minister, was called, awl proved that the prisoner had
given him aboot his, in money, and some tea, sugar,
and bread occasionally. Ile was not aware, however,
that so large a sum had been sent to the prisoner on
his behalf.

The Lord Mayor aenteneed the priaoner an a rogue
and a vagabond to three montha' hard labour.