The Express.
London, England, 1852-12-16 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 16, 1852.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.

OLD COURT.—YRIITINDAY.
Bayou Ma. Juana, Wabortur.
Wastare threiry 7i, a respectable looking ass, de-
mi bed ua *Jot was Who'd for forging a doom
W for ~ with Weed M fraud.
Mr. Haddlesteee Irvin opened the ors, mad detailed
the CiftIISISIMIIINI, whisk wen of rather, as easeoseillaary
character, the Oteleateg whines was maimed
Mrs. Cadmium Will depend that in sailled et No. le,
oesege-eleeet. ber beam% ales was
as Mira: se made dial awe at Obelelnee. Me. The
poissein was as VW/ Mali Wu with then, ead
shortly that bee barhaare death he milled bleb and
essatmenatal bee eileatiak adodd be de all hi Ids
pewee to alkalis lbe aims ran aril& the wee Mann by
dee era et bar hashes/ Mt bribed WI as Merest Is
a payee eseeeirea. ellaseel Oltegete, ea. se
the deesblar et a asedret et that sky, yri te as

lethally of 20f. per annum from a fend known as the
Merehaata' Feed, in Glasgow; and upon the prisoner
waking ea offer to go to Glasgow to arrange these
matters for her, she gave him en authority to do so,
and also to negotiate the sale of some interest
.be herself had in a small property in the same
city. Witness at first objected to dispose of this property,
..n account of her brother being entitled to a share of it,
and as she had not heard of him for ten years, she was not
aware whether he was alive or not ; but epos the prisoner
telling her that he had met a person in the Strand who in
formed him that be was present when her brother died in
New York, she consented to dispose of the property. She
was subsequently informed that she was admitted to the
annuity, but the money we. received by the prisoner, who
however accounted to her regularly for the payment,
hot merely gave her small seers, and from the Bed of
January to the 6th of October, in the present year,
ail she received was 141. 6s. 10d. The prisoner told
her that the better course fur her to adopt was to
numbest' an annuity with the money she received
for her interest in the property, and he said that he would
purchase the annuity for her, and arrange all the legal
matters connected with it. In the month of July, 18/51,
she went by appointment to the prisoner's chambers in the
Temple, to complete the sale of the property in question,
and after she had excreted the deeds, a sum of 2141.
wets handed over to her I. the presence of the prisoner,
and she was about to put the mosey into her pocket,
when the prisoner told her not to take the money home
with her, as she might be robbed of It, or the house might
take fire, and that r. would be much safer to place it is a
hank. Witness consented to this being done, and accom-
panied the prisoner to the Commercial Beak in Henrietta-
street, Covent-garden, to lodge the money. She retained 4
sovereigns fur her immediate purposes, and the temainiag
2101. was left in the bank to the joint acuount of the pri.
ironer and herself, and the prisoner explained to her that
the money could not be withdrawn without both their sig-
natures. They went away from the hank together, and
when they arrived at Temple Bar, the prisoner asked her
to lend ham a sovereign, and she gave him one of the four
she had retained. She never gave the prisoner authority,
after this to withdraw any portion of the money at the bank,
and the cheque of 661., which was the subject of the in-
dictment, and all the others that were produced were for-
geries. The signature was a very good imitation of her hand-
writing, but it was a forgery, and she gave the prisoner
any authority to sign her came to a cheque, and she had
received no portion of the money. The prisoner continued
to give her small sums of money until the month of July of
the present year, when, in consequence of her being premed
for rent by her landlord, inquiries were made, which ended
in the discovery that the whole of the money bad been
withdrawn horn the bank; aed after this the prisoner
came no more to the chambers he had formerly occupied
in the Temple, and she beard nothing of him until
October, when he was taken into custody upon the present
charge.
Cross-examined—She bad been acquainted with the pri-
soner fur about two years before her husband's death, and he
WAS on very intimate terms with them both, and was the only
person who followed her husband to the grave. While her
husband was alive they were supported by his literary mea-
-1 pations as an ocessloaal writer for the magazines and news-
papers. The husband had given up hie own profession and
they were in bad circumstances, and the prisoner used to
give them some pecuniary assistance, but of a very trifling
character, ezceediog half a crown, and sometimes so
small a sum as fourpenee. They had no claim whatever
upon the prisoner, but her husband had attended profes-
sionally upon his'father's family, and this was how they
became acquainted. The prisoner paid her various sum. of
money after her husband's death, but upon any occa-
sion mon than one pound. file did not pay the expenses
of her Ithaband's funeral, but she believed that he ob-
tained the money for it from some of the friends of her
family. The prisoner received the annuity from the
Merchants Fund at Glasgow on her accouat ; butehegave
hint no authority to sign her name to any paper in con-
nexion with the annuity. A book was here shown to the
witness, containing a number of items of supposed pay-
ments by the prisoner; but the declared that the greater
portion of them were fictitious, and that during the present
year she had received no more than the sum she had mea-
timed, and said also that she had never seen the book in
question until the present time. She went on to state that
during the whole of the latter pert of the year 18.51 the
prisoner told her that be was making arrangements to et
an annuity for her, and that be paid her Its. a week during
that period; but she denied positively that she ever
told theprisoner he was to keep the 2101. and pay her
an 'needy of twelve shillings a week for it. She also
denied having told the prisoner's housekeeper that she bad
given him the money, and that be was to pay her an
annuity for it. She said that Charlotte Arnold, the pri-
soner's servant, had frequently brought her small sums of
money, but she declared that she never told her that these
sums were paid on account of the annuity. She never, on
any occasion, gave the prisoner authority to write her name,
and was quite sure that she saw any of the cheques
that bad been produced before they were sent to the
bankers, and that with regard to one of them for 61.,
which was particularly pointed out to her, that she
did not, in the presence of Charlotte Arnold and
the prisoner's housekeeper, pass a dry pen over her name
after it had been written by the prisoner. She also denied
having said to the prisoner's servant that she and her free-
hand mast both have been starved if it had not been for the
tandems of the prisoner.
Ite-sx indeed—The prisoner himself Mid her that he had
received 841. 10s. from the insurance sempas
_y, and in June,
1851, he told her also that be one q_uarter's
annuity, from the Glearow Masdraid last The pri•
miner left his chambers, awl the Wild Mk find him after
the discovery that the money had bees drawn out of the
bank. The prisoner's servant brought her 10s. is October,
shortly before the prisoner was taken into custody. The
whole of the money paid to her daring the two years would
not exceed 601. - -

Mr. Edward Little, the manager of the Commercial
Banking Company of London, proved that the prisoner and
Mrs. Wand came to their estailishment,in Henrietta-street,
Covet-garden, on the 26th July, 1861, and they paid in
the sum of 2181., as •joint account, sad went away toge-
ther. In about two hours the prisoner came to the bank
alone, and obtained the cash for • cheque of 261., drawn in
the joint names of himself and the prosecutrix. Other
cheques came in very soon afterwards for different amounts,
and in the beginning of the mouth of September the whole
of the balance that remained was drawn out by a cheque for
6f. While the prisoner was in custody at the House of
Detention, the *Bowies letter was received at the bank
from him:, . . . .

-.
" Gentlemen, —My mind is in the greatest anxiety, as
you may well imagine, with respect to the position in which
lam plated. Helyiurr, as I do, on your desire not to pro-
memo me, I trust to being able, between this end the day
of trial, to make some arrangement with Mrs. Wood for the
reimbursement of the 2101. To the last moments of my
existents will I feel the effects of what has occurred. With
all my accesses comparatively correct, every item of them
provable, I have not, from Dec., 1861, to the present mo-
meat, defrauded Mn. Wood of a farthing, and all that I
have now in hand is 51. 7s. Od., besides the 2101. The land-
lord said I owed him 10!.. but I am security by note of
hand for him for more, awl I cannot owe him anything till
lam relieved from such security. As I told you before,
these cases of alleged trawls about the cheques, arose from
the simple fact of my expecting to be married the day be-
fore the very first of them was made payable, and I did not
know that it would be called a new account. —Your irate.
lid servant, W. H ."
One or two other witnesses were examined, and this closed
the cam for the prosecution.
Mr. Parry addressed the jury for the defence, with his
usual ability, and after observing upon the painful position
in which he was placed, in having to defend a gentleman of
the station of the prisoner swots so very serious a chewy., and
which, io the event of a conviction, mast for ever ruin his
prospects, and prove his utter destruction, he said he should
pmduce evidence to show that the prisoner in whit he had
done had acted with the entire authority of the prosecutrix.
Charlotte Arnold deposed that site and her aunt were in
the service of the prisoner. She remembered in March,
1881, being present when the prosecutris told the prisoner
that he was to sign all her papers for her, and she at the
mote time amid that trouble had made her so nervous that
she could not write her name. She also heard the prose-
eutrix say that she had given Mr. Harvey the 2101., and
that he was to allow her an annuity of 12s. a week for it for
the rest of her life, and she said at the same time that she
wished it was thousands instead of hundreds, as both
she and her husband must have been starved but for
his kindness. She likewise said that in September, 1851,
she remembered Mrs. Wood coming to the pri-
soner's chambers in the Temple, and she saw him take
a cheque-book from his desk, and he said it was the lust
6/. that remained of the 2101., and he should draw it out,
and the proseentri: in reply said, " Very well." The pri-
soner asked her if she would write her name herself, and
she replied, " No, write it yourself, as you always have
done ;" and after the prisoner had done so he wiped the
pen, and put it, dry, into the pros/Nutria's hand, and asked
her to draw it over her name, and is did so. The prisoner
on this occasion told her sad We anal to take notice of
what took plate. The witness then Mend that she was in
the habit of frequently taking numey to the prosecutrix,
and sometimes she said to her that it was on account of her
annuity, and she said that she was very much obliged.
She said she also remembered, in 1861, taking the book
that had been produced to the prosecutrix, and she
told her that it was a statement of the money that
she had received from the prisoner, and he wished her to
look over it and see that it was correct, and on the follow-
ing morning the prosecutris returned it to her, and said
that she had counted over the money and it was all right.
The witness also said she was present when the prisoner
borrowed the sovereign from the prosemitris, and she stated
that after he bad done so, he told proseeutris he should go
back to the bank and draw out 261., and the prosecutris
reply,
said la " Very well." He likewise stated that on
the some afteratean she look the sovereign the prisoner had
borrowed MAID thepgftecatrix.
Creatermenined—Did not know where the prisoner went
to live after he left his chambers in July, 1852. Witness
used to go to the chambers for his letters, and she gave
them to him in the street at different places where appoint-
ments were made. The prisoner generally same to the
lodgings occupied by her and her aunt, but he did not live
there. They had been obliged to paws nearly all the
clothes they possessed, but it was not done to supply money
to the prisoner, but all the duplicates were given to him.
She refused to JOH Mrs. Wood any informatioa where the
prisoner mold be foond.
Rheas Heffernies, aunt to the last witness, gave andante
of a similar character to that which eke had deported to re-
, biting to the prosecutris Aeriegg admitted that she had given
the prisoner the 21W. in consideratfaa of his paying her en
annuity of 12s. a week.

Cresi-ensalited—Did net knew when the prisoner lived
between July sad the period when be wee taken late one
tidy. He eine to her wive almost nay day, dad her

niece used to go and fetch his letters. Mrs. Wood wanted
to know his address, hut she: did not giro him any infor-
mation, and she alto refused to tell her where his mother
lived. She was sic years in the prisoner's service, but
never had any regular wages from him. It wu
understood that the money was to remain in his
hands, and she would have let him have thousands it
she had had them, as she had so mach confidence in
him. She had lent him money, but not within the
last twelvemonth. She had never accused the pri-
soner of having ruined her by his drunkenness and extra-
vagance, but she might have arid something
of the sort to the policeman when she was in a passion, as
she was a woman of " very warm temperament." (A
laugh.) It IMO possible she might also have charged the
prisoner with breaking her bonnet and knocking her down.
What occurred, however, was her own fault, as she ob-
structed the prisoner when be wished to leave the room, and
he merely pushed her. She might also have told the
policeman that the quarrel arise open lice refusal to sign
some paper at the prisoner's request. The prisoner had
scribbled something down, and wanted her to sign it, and
she refused, but it was "all shout nothing."
Several witnesses were examined to prisoner's character.
The prosecutriz was recalled, and she declared in the must
earnest and positive manner that there was no foundation
fur the statement of the two witnesses who had been exa-
mined for the defence, and that no such transactions as
those referred to by them ever occurred between her and
the prisoner.
Mr. Justice Wightman then summed up, and the jar;
almost immediately returned • verdict of bushy.
The learned judge, is miming sentence, said that the
pris;uer had been convicted of • forgery of • very se-
rious character. It waa an offence which, under say
cireninst.nces, was a most grave one, but in the present
ease it was peculiarly aggravated. He had in the moat
cruel and heartless manner deprived the poor widow of all
she possessed is the world ; and he could not help consi•
dering that it wee an additional aggravation of his crime
that he had brought forward the two women who had been
examined an witneves, but upon whew evidence it was
quite clear not the least reliance could be placed. He then
rentenced the prisoner to be transported for 16 years.

Ting POLICE COURTS.
GUILDHALL.
W. Wainwright, a tobacconist, 25 years resident at
08, Fore street, was brought up on remand charged with
having feloniously received a large quantity of cigars to
the value of about 801., knowing them to have been stolen.
Alderman Kelly deeming that nothiag beyond a ease of
suspicion had been made out, and that only upon unaup
ported testimony of a doubtful character, coming, ma it did,
irons the thief, discharged the prisoner, who was immc•
diately liberated.
_

THAMES.
Jan While, a powerful young man, was charged wit►
committing a garotte robbery on IR. Kipling, an iunneepir
oat of business.

Prosecutor, who was in great pain from the assault, de.
posed that be was assailed by three men, on Monday night,
in Sutton•street, Commercial-road ; that one of them
placed his arm out witness's throat, and dragged his bead
back, at the same time comprtiving his neck in such a man•
nor that he was almoat strangled, and utterly unable tii
speak. His aseallant held his head, while his companions
rifled his pocket. Ile struggled, and kicked out at the
thieves as hard as he was able, on which the prisoner struck
him • violent blow on the abdomen. lie became quite
exhausted, and fell on his knee, gasping fur breath, when
fortunately • pcliceman came up, and the villains Bed.
Directly he recovered his senses, he put his head in his
pocket and missed his money. It was safe when he parted
from his wife, half an hour benne. His throat was injured,
and he bid been spitting blood at intervals all night. The
prisoner was one of the men.—Remanded.