The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVE IN r

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.—March 11%

(Before the Assistant-Judge,)

The Court sat to-day to hear bail cases, and also those of
prisoners in custody standing over from Wednesday.
The first called on was that of James Edwards, the pro-
prietor of " Wombwell's Menagerie of Wild Beasts," and
the indictment thus set forth the offence : —" For that you
unlawfully did erect upon certain land in the hamlet of
Mile-end Old Town, in the parish of St. Dunstan, Stepney,
adjoining to a certain common and public highway,
and near to the dwelling-houses of divers liege subjects of
our Lady the Queen, a certain menagerie or caravan for the
exhibition of wild beasts therein, thereby occasioning a
great number of idle and disorderly persons to meet and
assemble; and by means of divers horns, trumpets, and
other musical instruments did make and cause to be made
in and upon the said land noises and disturbances, whereby
the streets, highways, and other public places adjoining
the said land were greatly obstructed and blocked up, and
the liege subjects of our Lady :the Queen dwelling in the
said houses and passing and repassing along the said streets
were greatly obstructed, impeded, and incommoded, to the
great damage and common nuisance of all the said sub-
jects." There were two other counts in this indictment
varying the statement of the charge.
The defendant in this case is the proprietor of what is
popularly known as Wombwell's Menagerie, and it consisted
of 14 large caravans, filled with wild beasts. On the Ist of
February last the defendant set up his menagerie on a por-
tion of the waste ground just below the turnpike gate in the
Mile-end-road, and continued to exhibit there for abont
three weeks. This piece of land commenced at St. Mary-
street, Whitechapel-road, and extended down the road to
Charrington's brewery, a distance of about three quarters
of a mile, and varied in width from 4 to 30 yards. This land
is the property of the lord of the manor, but the various
shopkeepers had used the waste land in front of their respec-
tive shops for the exhibition of their goods, and in some
cases the ground was let by the lord of the manor to them
at small rentals. The day after the defendant brought his
menagerie on to the ground the police summoned him before
the magistrate at Worship-street, which was adjourned for
a week, and the summons was then dismissed, Mr, Cooke
considering that there had been no obstruction. The matter
was then taken up by the vestry of Mile-end Old Town,who
preferred this indictment against the defendant. When the
defendant was before the magistrate it was stated that he
had subscribed to the local charities a very liberal amount
for the privilege of standing upon this piece of ground, hav-
ing obtained the permission of Mr, Faith, whose premises
were in immediate contiguity. It was also urged that the
defendant was a man of the highest respectability, and that
his menagerie had been patronised by her Majesty, and that
he had on several occasions been allowed the privilege of
standing at Windsor Castle, in the quadrangle within the
park, and her Majesty's household and royal children had
frequently visited it, and only a few weeks ago her Majesty
made the defendant a present of two animals for his collec-
tion. It was also said that this was not by any means a
prosecution carried on by the desire of the inhabitants, but
by a few of the vestrymen, and that a great majority of the
vestry were averse to a prosecution of the proprietor of
Wombwell's Menagerie, as they did not consider it to be
a nuisance.

On the case being called on, Mr. Sleigh applied that it
might be adjourned, as he intended calling upwards of 30 of
the inhabitants of the neighbourhood on behalf of the de-
fendant, to prove that the exhibition complained of was not
a nuisance.

Mr. Poland said if the defendant only chose to plead
guilty, it would not be necessary to trouble the Court with
the case, as the prosecutors would be satisfied with his own
recognizances not to repeat the nuisance.
Under the advice of Mr. Sleigh, the defendant pleaded
guilty.
Mr. Poland said Le wished to call his lordship's atten-
tion to to this case, as it had been denied that this was a
nuisance, but the prosecution had been instituted by the
vestry of Mile-end Old. town, as these beasts were confined
in carriages, and during the whole night they kept growl-
ing and roaring, accompanied by the playing of bands of
music, the beating o:drurns and gongs, with a collection of
a moo of 2,000 or 3,000 persons, and the greatest confusion
prevailed. The crowd that assembled was drunk and rio-
tous. The parish cid not wish to press for any punish-
ment, but such assemblies must be prevented, and, as no-
tice had been given that it was intended to hold a fair on
this ground on Easter Monday, it must be understood that
if such should take place the parties so offending, woul l be
prosecuted.

The Assistant-Judge said that such nuisances as these
could not be allowed to go on in opposition to the wishes of
the parishioners. If the defendant refrained from a repeti-
tion of that which had bwen complained of he would hear
no more of the natter. If, however, he persisted in going
on and offending, he would be at once brought up to ihis
court for judgment, and without any further trial would be
sentenced f, ,r this offence. He should call upon him to
enter into his own recognizances in the sum of £lOO to
come up for judgment when called upon.
David Jackson, 41, clerk, and Henry Whitty, 33, clerk,
were indicted for stealing six sacks of oats, the property of
John Oakley, the master of David Jackson.
Mr. Poland and Mr. F. 11. Lewis (instructed by Mr.
Wontner) prosecuted ; Mr. Orridge appeared for Jackson;
and Mr. Montague Williams for Whitty.
The case occupied several hours, but the facts were briefly
as follow:—The prosecutor is a cab and omnibus proprietor,
keeping upwards of 160 horses, and has three establish-
ments where he carries on his business, one being in Gold-
ington-street, St. Pancras, a second in Grey's-inn-road, and
a third in Little Gray's-inn-lane. The prisoner Jackson was
in charge of the yard: in Little Gray's•inn• lane, and there
acted as foreman while the business was carried on in part-
nership with a Mr. Cranfield for abcut five years. At the
expiration of that period a dissolution of partnership took
place, but Jackson continued to act as Mr. Oakley's fore-
man until tLe present charge was preferred against him.
Some months ago, in consequence of some housebreaking
tools being found secreted on the premises at No. 1.55,
Gray's-inn-road, and from other circumstances that came
to the knowledge of the prosecutor, a watch was set upon
him which continued for a long time by a constable named
Thorogood. On the 12th February, between 7 and Bin the
evening, Jackson came to the yard with a horse and cart
and drove to the gateway. Soon afterwards he came out of
the premises on foot, and looked up and down the road as if
to see that tie coast was clear. The horse and cart was then
driven down the yard by the prisoner Whitty, Jackson fol-
lowing on the foot pavement until it arrived at a corn dealer's
shop kept ty a man named Nicholson, in Little James-
street, leading from Gray's-inn-road to Bedford-row. The
cart here stcpped, and Jackson concealed himself in a door-
way close bj, while Whitty took out six sacks of oats, which
were carried through the private door into the corn chand-
ler's parlour. The cart then left, Jackson following, but on
nearly reaching the yard it was stopped, when Whitty got
out and Jackson took his place and drove up the yard with
the empty cart. Whitty went into a publichouse close by,
the Calthorpe Arms, where he was soon afterwards joined by
Jackson. Cn leaving the publichouse Jackson stopped one
of Mr. Oaklay's omnibuses, and told the driver to put his
friend down at the Elephant and Castle. Jackson was
arrested by Sergeant Cooke, who told him that he was
charged wick stealing six sacks of oats belonging to his
employer, and he replied that he did not do it, but that it
was another man. The sergeant asked hint who the other
man was, and he said he did not know, when he was taken
to the station-house. The premises of Nicholson were
searched, and in the parlour were found six sacks of oats,
one of black and five of white, which were in sacks bearing
the name of Bowyer. Whitty managed to keep out of the
way until the evening of the Feb. 17, when he was met by
Thorogood, in Southampton-buildings. and accosted by him
as Harry Whitty, but he denied that that was his name,
and that Thorogood was mistaken as to the man, on which
Thorogood said he was not, that he knew him well, and
should take his; to the station-house on the charge of being
concerned with David Jackson in stealing six sacks of oats.
These facts were proved in detail by several witnesses.
Mr. Orridge and Mr. Montagu Williams addressed the
Court on behalf of their respective clients.
The Assistant Judge summed up the evidence with his
usual care.

The Jury, after a few minutes' consultation, returned a
verdict of Gzilty against both the prisoners.
Mr, Poland said that in 1850 the prisoner Jackson was
then a private in the 7th Dragoon Guards, and was tried on
the 11th January, 1851, by court martial in Dublin for bur •
glariously entering the quarters of Lieut. Thomas William
Goff, in company with Marley, who was executed for the
murder of a Mr. Cope, assistant to a watchmaker, in Par-
liament-street, some years ago, Marley being then a private
in the same regiment. The way in which this forcible en •
try was effected was by making a hole through the ceiling
from the roam above. The officer was in his room and in
bed at the time, and being disturbed seized Jackson, who
and a scuffle ensued. The
swore he would murder him,
noise caused by this struggle attracted the attention of other
persons in the barracks, and on hearing them come upstairs
Jackson:seized a chairs and put it in front of him for the

purpose of hiding his face. He then rushed downstairs,
knocking several people over, and he would have got away,
but the non-commissioned officer who happened to be at the
foot of the stairs put out his foot and tripped him up. F,ir
this offence he was tried by courtmartial, and sentenced to
be transported for 14 years. He was the companion of
Marley, and gave him a character at hi 3 trial.
Mr. Orridge said there was some mistake about that sen-
tence, as it was immediately reduced to seven years' trans-
portation, and he was liberated in two years and a half.
Mr. Lewis said, in addition to this, about nine months
ago, in a room used,'by Jackson, in Mr. Oakley's yard, a
implements were found. Ono
quantity of housebreaking
day also he went into Mr. Oakley's house in Goldington-
street for some oil, and seeing Mrs. Oakley place £l6O in a
drawer, ho went downstairs for the professed purpose of
warming the oil, which he said was congealed. He remained
downstairs until Mrs. Oakley had left the room, when ho
went up, opened the drawer by means of false keys, took
away the contents and disappeared. The drawer also con-
tained a check, but with a man so adroit as the prisoner it
was unnecessary to say that it was never changed.
John Chown, police-sergeant 5 E, said he remembered
the skeleton keys Leing found in the room in Mr. Oakley's
yard, and he had to investigate the case, and he had a strong
suspicion that Jackson knew something about them.

Inspector Turpin, of the I‘l division, proved that Whitty,

MARCH 12, 1864.

was convicted at the Southwark Police-court on the 6th of
October, 1855, of stealing 581 b weight of tea, and sentenced
to six months' imprisonment. Since that conviction he had
been the constant associate of thieves.

The Assistant Judge said at first he was inclined to think
that Jackson had been induced to commit this robbery by
Whitty, but he then thought it was just the reverse of that.
The sentence upon Whitty was that he be imprisoned and
kept to hard labour for two years; but with respect to
Jackson, from what they had heard and what was known
of him, his offence must be visited with a severe sentence,
which was that he be kept in penal servitude for ten years.