The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-01-15 00:00:00

A LAD STOLEN BY GIPSIES:

At Stratford Petty Sessions on Monday, Louisa
Gumbrell, 21, a gipsy, living in a van at Freemason's-
road, Custom House, was charged with being con-
cerned, with her husband, in unlawfully decoying and
detaining Frederiek William Russell, from the ens-
tody of his father, Frederick Russell, since August,
1884. Mr. S. C. Hadley prosecuted; Mr. J. W. At-
kinson, defended. Frederick Russell, a ship's carpen-
ter, of Toronto-road, Leytonstone, said that on the
1884 August Bank Holiday his boy went on to Wan-
stead-flats to see some shows there. He was then
10A years old, and after he left home on that
day the witness saw no more of him until Satur-
day last. Finding be did not come home on the
evening of that Ban] Holiday the witness went in
search of the lad, but failing to find him gave infor-
mation to the police. Inquiries were made, but with-
out avail. On Saturday, at about ten o'clock in the
morning, the witness was proceeding to Woolwich,
and when going towards the Custom House Railway
Station he saw a lad in Freemason's-road. The lad
was carrying a baby, and the witness, fancying he
recognised the lad as his son, stopped and looked at
him. The boy went into a shop to buy some sweets,
and the witness followed and looked closely at him.
raking off his hat to find some scars, he saw two, and
then asked the lad, "Ain't your name Frederick
Russell?" The boy, looking up, commenced to cry,
and said, "Why you are my father."—Mr. Atkinson:
That was a very nice recognition, but we admit the
identity of the child.—The witness, continuing, said
that when he spoke to the boy the prisoner came up
and called gruffly to the boy, "Come here." The
witness asked her if the baby was her child, and
she said " Yes." He asked her to take the
baby, as the lad was his son. She then said, relative
to the lad, "1 took the boy out of charity, as he said
he had no father, but a stepmother." The witness
said he wanted to know nothing about that, and,
taking the lad away, he went to the police-station at
Canning-town, where he gave information, and the
prisoner was charged later at the Harrow-green
Station. When the lad left home all the clothes he
had on were nearly new. The lad Russell was next
called and was sworn. He said that on Bank Holiday
in August, 1884, his mother dressed him in his Sunday
clothes, and he went on to the Flats. There were
lots of shows there, and he walked about all day. At
night about five o'clock, a man spoke to him and said,
"Come along with me." The man took him by the
hand, and led him to a van on the Flats. When he
got there the witness was about to cry, when the
prisoner said, "Let him stop here." He stayed, and
later on, when he wanted to go home, the prisoner
pulled him back by the coat, and beat him. The next
day they left the Flats, and at some country place the
man told him togo with him and to leave his boots be-
hind, as they would not belong. After he lefttis boots he
saw no more of them, and thenceforward had to go
barefooted. He afterwards heard the prisoner say
that "one of the Smiths" had pawned the boots.
They afterwards went hopping, and the witness had to
pick hops. He often tried to go away, but was
brought back, and the prisoner had beaten him. She
had also kicked him. They were hopping about three
weeks, and afterwards went to Green-lanes, Totten-
ham. They also went to races—at Ascot, Hampton,
and Epsom—and from the time the man took him
until he met his father on Saturday, he never had an
opportunity to go home.—The lad, in cross-examina-
tion by Mr. Atkinson, said that at one time he did
escape from the prisoner, and he went with some other
gipsies for two or three months. He was not kindly
treated. The Bench remanded the prisoner, and re-
fused an application for bail.