The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-05 00:00:00

POLICE.-YESTERDAY.

SOl:TllWARK.—lionnisro TILL.—W, Archer, •
diminutive boy, was charged with stealing a till, containing
a quantity of silver, out of a baker's shop in Trinityatreet,
Southwark. On the preceding night the prisoner and an-
other boy were observed lurking is front of the baker's shop,
and after some little time the former was seen to creep in on
his hands and knees, while his associate kept a look-out on
the outside. When the prisoner arrived at that part of the
shop opposite to the till he rose up, and, making a sp:ing on
the counter, reached over and pulled the till out of its
place, and immediately left the shop. On getting outside,
into the street, he ran down an adjacent turning, and was in
the act of emptying the silver the till contained into his
cap, when he was secured by a person who had
been wa'elt r. g his movements from the moment
he first entered the sh-op until he obtained pos-
session of the property whi,h was found in his possession. •
—A policeman, iu reply to Mr. Seeker, said the prisoner,
although so young, was an expert thief—that he had been
once summarily convicted at this court for a similar robbery
to the one with which he was now charged—that since
that he bad been committed (or trial for another robbery,
convicted at the Central Criminal Court, and sentenced to
three months' imprisonment and whipping, and that he had
only recently come out of g-col, after having suffered the
punish= nt.—Mr. Seeker committed him for trial.
LAMBETH.— CONCEALING • BIRTH.—Mr. William
Barnett, landlord of the Crooked Billet public-house in
Johnson's-change, Rosemary-lane, was charged with having
concealed the birth of an infant, of which a young woman
named Sarah Davey, his maid, had been delivered in his
house. The prisoner had been taken into custody in conse-
quence of the complaint of the father of the young woman
Davey, and the unsatisfactory account given by him and his
sister of the disappearance of the infant and the death of its
mother. Sarah Davey, who had lived in the prisoner's ser-
vice for three years, had been removed from his house last
Wednesday fortnight to the house of his sister, No. 4, Cork-
street, Camberwell, On the following day Mr. Smith, a
medical practitioner, was called in, and attended to her up to
death, which took place on Sunday last, and he gave a
certificate, alleging that her death had been occasioned by
erysipelas. Mr. Smith further stated that the deceased had
not informed him that she had been recently confined, nor
had lie the slightest suspicion on the subject. Previous to
her death. however, the deceased communicated to her sister
the fact of her having been delivered of a seven months' child,
at the house of her master, the day before eke left the house
of Mr. Barnett, and said her master had given a man six
shillings to take the chili away. Mr. Flower, a surgeon in
Camberwell-green, made an examination of the body of the
deceased, and from appearances which presented themselves,
he felt satisfied that she had been recently delivered of a child,
and he gave a certificate to that effect. The statements of
the prisoner and hie sister in reference to the removal of the
deceased, and other important portions of the evidence, dif-
fered widely. The latter said that on the morning of
' Wednesday fortnight the deceased wrote for her, and on her
going to her brother's house she found her there. She com-
plained of being very ill, and said she should accompany her
' to her house in Camberwell, upon which a cab was sent for
' and they rode home together. The prisoner, on the contrary,
' said that though his sister, Mrs. Chambers, had been to his
house on the morning of Wednesday week, she had not ao-
companied his barmaid from there : on the contrary, site'
left half an hour before. The deceased, he said, had com-
plained for some time before of ague and rheumatism, and
insisted on going away on Wednesday fortnight. He endea-
voured to persuade her not to leave, but she insisted on
going, and sent the potman for a cab, gottinto it at the door,
and drove away. lie denied, in the moat positive manner,
that he had any knowledge that the deceased was in the
family way, and said that if she had been delivered of an
infant m his house it was wholly without his knowledge.
; His sister in Camberwell, he said, was in the habit
of washing for him, and on the morning in ques-
with her the washing, amongst
twiohlichswheere tookt
thingsway
belonging
hat mince been sent home clean.—Sergeant Kendall said that
t• on the day before the prisoner distinctly told him that the
young woman who had since died had walked from his houac
to Tower-hill, where site took a cab and drove off. The
prisoner then denied that to his knowledge the deceased
had Leen delivered in his house, but on examining her
bed-room he observed such appearances as to leave no doubt
on his mind that some person had been delivered there.—
Afterhaving been cautioned, the 'prisoner, in reply to the
questions of Mr. Norton, said his family conaisted up to a
fortnight ago of his wife, the deceased, and • potman. His
wife, however, was only at his house occasionally, as she
held a situation in Guy's Hospital. He again declared his
ignorance of the pregnancy of deceased, or of her having been
delivered of a seven months' child. He could not account
for the desire of the deceased to leave his house on the morn-
ing in question, excepting it was her illness, and there was
no arrangement mad* about her return to his service ; en
the contrary, it was his impression that she had left his ser-
vice altogether—Mr. Norton observed that there were con-
siderable discrepancies between the statements of the pri-
soner and his sister, which rendered the case one of a highly
suspicious character; and he must, therefore, call on the
prisoner to put in good bail for his appearance on • future
day. In the interim, he would direct Mr. Campbell to for-
ward to the coroner the particulars that had transpired, and
also the certificate of Mr. Flower respecting the recent de-
livery.—The prisoner was permitted to go at large on his
own bail, promising, however, to produce two sureties on the
following (this) day.
THAMES. DETAINING THE CERTIFICAtE Or A
REGISTER.—Mr. Ir. Pearson, the master of the
shin May Queen, was charged, under the Bth and 9th Vict.,
c. 89, with refusing to deliver the certificate of the registry
of the vessel to Mr. L. T. Wang, the person represented as
having the actual command of the vessel, and as the osten-
sible and reputed owner thereof.—lt was contended by the
defendant that he had a right to keep possessior of the certi-
ficate until a debt owing to him was paid ; while for the
mortgagees of the vessel it was said that they had possession
of her, and that the mortgage was for the purpose of securing
all sums of money due and payable on account of the May
Queen. For Mr. Wang it was argued that he had not
parted with the rights of an owner in consequence of the
mortgage, and that he was • entitled to the certificate.—
The defendant said he had no objection to part with the cer-
tificate oa being paid his account. —After a long discussion,
Mr. Ballantine refused to convict in the penalty of 100/. on
the ground that the mortgagees had already entered into
possession, hut he would recommend that the certificate
should be delivered to the proper officer of custome—Mr.
Wang objected, and said the mortgage only amounted to
1,0001., and the ship was worth 4,0001. If the mortgagees
obtained the certificate, they would no doubt proceed to sell
the ship.—Mr. Ballentine said he could not help that, and if
Mr. Wang thought he was wronged he could apply to
court of law for redress.
Mown FREE TITAN WELCOXIA—Wm. Carts, proprietor
of the Prince Regent public-house, Ratcliff-highway, was
charged with assaulting Thomas Wilson, an accountant, re.