The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-23 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF BEGGING LETTER
W.RITiNG.

CAUTION TO THE PUBLIC AND BENBVOLBNT.—Tie public
are no more secure from the behind back knife of the
assassin than they are fram the wily machinations of
begging letter writers=scoundreis who live in luxury and
ease at the charge, not only of the wealthy lord and com-
moner, but even at the expense of the middle and humble
classes of society. Too cautious to rob, too lazy to work,
and too proud to beg decently (if begging can be called
decent), they go about, like roaring liens, seeking those
who may be gullible enough to contribute to their
sottishneas and debauchery. The publie are, however,
beginning (to use a nautical phraie) to " look out,"
and, after the exposure of gangs of, begging letter
imposters for the last few years, by means of the
newspaper press in England, Ireland, and . Scotland, it
must be the fault of any one who allows such ruffians to
impose on them. For some months past, the members of
the gang have been very quiet. It appears that There
are in London, Dublin, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liver-
pool, Birmingham, and 'other large town, regular depots
of these blackguards, and that the gangs comprise men
and women, rehiefly well educated and in!clligent 'perions,
who seem to have got off Dad's barorietege, and. Burke's
peerage, at their fingers end. In fact, some of them
seem to know more about noble and other families, thin
the said families know about themselves or their ancestors.
The detective police of Liverpool, for some time past, have
been on the "nose," of two members of the confraternity,
and between the arrest of one of the party, and this expo-
sure (which we hope all our cotemporaries will copy for
the purpose of exposure), we trust the game is up, at
.least in Liverpool and vicinity, " for ever and a day."
The mischief done by this gang of daylight marauders to
not so great to their victims as .it is to hundred 4 of poor
and deserving creatures, who might, by the bounty and
benevolence of charitable persons,- be relieved from man)
trials and privations, bat for the suspicion attached to
applications, when made by the moat legitimate objecti 0!
relief. Yesterday, detective officer John Scott brought up
before Mr. Mansfield, at the police court, a well-.dressed
female, about 30 years of age, whose name was
given as Mary Anne Smith, alias Brown, with
a dozen of other aliaks, Brown being her real
name, charged under the following peculiar cir-
cumstances, with attempting to obtain money by false
representations, from Lord Dillon, Lord Carnarvon, Mr.
Carew, of Deconoort, the Rev. Dr. Coombe, of Ramsgate,
&c., Mr. Block defended the prisoner, Mr. Scott said he
arrested the prisoner on a charge of having attempted to
obtain money from Lord Dillon, of Oxfordshire, by means
of forged d .cuments, letters, &a. The casewill be better
understood by the publication of the following letters. The
first is an endorsement on the back of what purported to be
a distress warrant for rent, alleged to have been put in on
the prisoner, and this warrant was forwarded (with the
endorsement on it) to the several persons from whom money
was sought to be obtained. Tee object was to prove that
the warrant was genuine, and that such a deserving person
was the applicant, that she had received from the parish
the sum stated. Toe following is the endorsement
Parochial Office, Christ Church, Lancashirbi
April 16, 1857.
‘By an order of the guardians the sum of £2, for the benefit
of Mrs. Anne Clarke and family. The same paid to Anne
Clarke, at this parochial ,office aforesaid, the I,3th day of
April, 1857. (Signed)
J. B. BROWN, Relieving Officer.
The next document was a let er purporting to have been
written by Anne Caok (the prisoner) to a myth named
" Mr. James Howard," arid this letter we give verbatim 'et
literatim. Here it is :
I have lived in Liverpool nine years, and my husband died
the 13 June, 1855, and left ma with five young children,
and soy poor old mother, to maintain. She is living with
me, and is now in her forty.four qld, and for the last
two years has gone quite childish, and don't knoW hardly
what she says or do, and I have been laid up twenty-seven
weeks; nin4teen of them I .was confined to my bed, and
through my long illness I can't pay my landlord, and he has
put in burn bailiffs. I have now borrowed a warrant to show
the parish officers, and never troubled them before, and
they have now ordered me £2, and have settled 2s 6d a
week on my poor mother, which will be a great help to me.
My mother's father was a servant to Lord Dillon, in Fi z-oy-
square, in London, and at Loughin, in the county of Ros-
common, Ireland, and Ditchley, in Oxfordshire ; also, my
mother said . her father, in 1805—I think she said in the
month of June, but I aiut sure aboat the month—he got
my mother in service with the Right lion. Henry Augustus
Dillon, at 3, in York:street, in Marybone, in London. I
think mother said he was at that time a member o' Parlia-
ment for Ireland ; but mother said her father left Lord
Dillon two years after she got in with Mr. Henry A. Dillon,
and went and- opened a publicbouse. Mother went in 1805,
and she said they got a country-house at Ditchlcy, in Oxford•
shire. (Slgned) Mas. ANNE COOK.
It would appear that the benevolent feelingS of " Mr.
James Howard,"(one of the swindlers, Nil is a dozen aliases)
were so touched by this precious document that he at
once wrote the following letter to Lord Dillon, and vs
will be seen. " Mr. James Howard" assumes an air of
independence and familiarity with his lordship, that the
bait would have no doubt taken, had he not been " taken
in so often before," as he naively expresses it. Hear Mr.
Howard, as the aovacate of the much deserving Mrs.
Cook :

Liverpool, 41,Tithebarn-street, lath April, 1857.
Mr. James Howard presents his 'compliments to the Right
Hon. Viscount Dillon, and, at the earnest entreaty of Mrs.
Cook, begs to submit the enclosed warrant for his charitable
consideration. If greater claims do not prevent his lordship
from contributing, a more deserving case cannot well, be. Me.
J. Howard trusts the motive which actuates him in complying
with the request be deemed an apology.
Anything to equal the impudence of this, we have not
before heard, His Lordship, however, did not " present
his cohipliments" in return, to " Mr. James Howard,"
but he was inquisitive enough to write the following letter
to Mr. Clough, Chief Superintendent of detective police,
a very different personage from "Mr. James Howard.P—
Dytehley, Enstone, April 19, 1857.
Sir,—l have been so ftequently taken in by forged docu
ments, that I ven:urp.to trouble you with the enclosed, and
you will much oblige me if you would ascertain whether they
are genuine, and if Mrs. Cook is really- what she sta`es.
may as well mention that my father never lived in Fitzroy
square, and the last of my family who lived there died about'
twenty three years ago ; nor do I believe my father ever lived
in Yoik street, Marylebone.—Apologising for troubling you,
I remain; &c , • DILLON.
The receipt of this letter from his lordship considerably
damagedethe prospects of " Mr. Jarn'es Howard" (we like
to quote the " name) and Mrs. Cook, as will be seen
quickly, for a whole posse of detectives were put on the
scent, and the result was that Scott picked her 9p.in Key
street. Mr, Bluck asked ScOtt if the prisoner had got
mai money from Lord Dillon ? and lie reeliei she bed
not. Mr. Clough : Hire are the leVers. Mr. Block :
But I object to the reading of them. Mr. Clough : Bat
I will read them, and give them to the reporters also, so
that they may get publici y to warn the public, against
such vagabonds. Mr. Bluck : Very well, sir; but
I want to know what these letters have to' do with
my client ; 'in fact; I want to know the charge
against her, as it seems to me she has hen arrested
very wrongfully., Scott : I will tell you just not, sir,
what the- charge is. She refused to tell me where she
lived when .1 arrested her. He then ceded Mr. Joshua
Ashley, who keeps a public house iti-Saint Anne street, and
he sj.l: The prisoner, some months ago, called at my
house,-and asked if she might have letters lift there for
her. I asked her why she made the "request;; and she
said she was an ophylster ess, and that she: was out the
greater portion -of the -day, and if her letters were not left
at stone place where she could get them, it wouldibe a great
lois to her. I thought she was telling the truth, and
I allowed her to have her letters lett at my house. She
came some days after, and asked if a letter fOr " John
Thompson" had come ?" I said there was not. After
that Mr. Murphy, an inspector of the detective police,
came, and from what he told me I was on the watch. A
few days after that, a letterdid come for John Thotopson,
and when she called I refused to give it to her, except
John Thompson came with her. He never did come.
Ameher letter came for him, but the primmer nor Jelan
Thompson did not appear, and I gave u;i theletters to
Murphy.. Cross-examined by Mr. Black That was four
or five months ago. When Mr. Murphy called on me, he
told me she was attempting to ob.ain money Under false
pretences. When she called for the letter, I told her she
must send John Thompson, but 'she did riot isend, hint.
Inspector Murphy said, he received instructions from the
Mayor on this point, arid in consequence he fount that a
letter- had been written to Mr. Carew of Devonpert, and
that the impostors expected a reply. lie called on Mr.
Ashley, and informed him of the.facts. A lettor did come,
but-it did not c3ntain any money, and thr,n he addressed a
letter containing some money and Sent it 'to Mr. AshleYs.
He waited there three or four days, bat the prisoner did
not come. A letter was sent to Lord Carnarvon by the
prisoner and - her confederates, and is reply to that, as his
lordship, like Lard Dillon, had been " done," a registered
letter, with a chive for £2, was sent, but when the pri-
soner called for the letter, she was toll it could
not ba- given to any one but the person to whom
it was addressed, as it was registered, and.
she then went away, saying she would bring the person,
but she did not return. Mr. Bluck : Then you were
beaten by a woman—you did not catch her ? .No, I was
not beaten by a woman—l could have caught her, but I
wanted also to catch her man. Mr. Bluck : But she
"done" you, she did not come back with her man.
Inspector Murphy : I know where to get her at any
time. Sarah Miller. an eating house keeper,living at