The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-05-10 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CHARGE AGAINST
A SERVANT.

At the Stratford (Essex) Police-court on Monday,
Kate Atkins, 19, a respectably-dressed persott, de-
scribed as a domestic servant, late of 1, Albert-villas,
Woodford-green, was charged with unlawfully and by
force taking away Frederick George Earnshaw, aged 8
years, from the lawful custody of his father, Frederick
Earnshaw, and with breaking and opening a cup-
board and stealing a portmanteau, a box, about £4 in
gold, silver, and bronze, and other articles the pro-
perty of Frederick Earnshaw, from 1, Albert-villas,
Whitehall-road; and she was further charged with
obtaining four pairs of ladies' kid button-boots by
false pretences, with intent to defraud Samuel Cut-
forth, draper, of Woodford-green, on the 31st March.
Mr. Atkinson appeared to prosecute, and from his
opening remarks and the evidence given, it seems that
the prisoner has been in the employ of Mr. Earnshaw
for about ten weeks as domestic servant. On Friday
evening, the 2nd inst:, Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw went
out at about a quarter-past seven o'clock, having
previously seen their three youngest children put to
bed. The eldest, Frederick George, was accorded the
privilege of sitting up; and after his father and
mother had left the place, the prisoner commenced to
remove a number of articles, and she asked the lad if
he would care to go to London. She took some
articles out of the lad's toolbox, and when the boy
told her that they were his, she said, "Never mind;
they will come in handy. This is not the first
time I have taken a lock off." She then broke
open a cupboard, took out a portmanteau and
box, packed some things up, and then took from a
box a sum of money amounting to about £4, the
j accumulation arising under a singular manner, Mr.
Earnshaw stating that every time he had a child born
he put coins from a farthing up to a sovereign into a
box dated the same year as that in which the birth
occurred. Mr. and Mr. Earnshaw returned home at
about a quarter to eleven o'clock, and finding the
garden gate open and failing to get any response to
his repeated knocks at the door Mr. Earnshaw
became alarmed and then burst open the door.
The lights were all found burning, and it was
found that the tea things prisoner should have
washed were put away uncleaned. The lad was
missed, and the place appearing to have been ran-
sacked and various articles taken away information
was given to the police. A description of prisoner
and the lad was put in the Police Gazette, and on
Saturday afternoon Detective Johnson, when at
Liverpool-street Station, sav the prisoner and the lad
come out of a waiting room He fancied the descrip-
tion tallied with that o tie advertised missing
woman and child, so he addressed the prisoner, add
asked, "Your name is Kate Atkins, is it not ?" upon
which the prisoner replied "No." Johnson then
addressed the boy, and remarked, "Surely your
name is Freddy Earnshaw?" and the lad replied in
' the affirmative. The prisoner was then arrested,
and it was discovered that ;she was at the station
waiting to take the train for Colchester, which was
timed to start twenty minutes after Johnson accosted
the prisoner. In the case of the boots, these were
obtained by the prisoner from Mr. Cutforth on the
representation that they were for a customer named
Mrs. Allen.
The Bench remanded the prisoner.

In the four months ending April 30, there left tne
United Kingdom for places out of Europe, 72,385
persons of British origin, 15,841 foreigners, and 788
persons whose nationality was not distinguished, the
total thus being 89,014, which is a decrease of 21,477
emigrants as compared with the eorresponding four
months in 1884.
The second reading of the South-Eastern and Channel
Tunnel Bill, which was to have been moved on Tuesday
in the House of Commons, has batn postponed until the
14th inst. Mr. Chamberlain und Mr. Northcote have
intimated their intention to move its rejection.