The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-17 00:00:00

LAMBETH-STREET.

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF ALLEGED SWINDLING.—
Yesterday John Jones, a servant in smart livery, and Wil-
liam Griffiths, applied to the Hon. G. C. NORTON for his
advice and assistance, under the following extraordinary
circumstances :

Lea, the officer who introduced the parties to the Magis'
trate, said that an application had been made to him a few
days ago for his interference in the case, and, from what he
could learn from the parties, its outlines were these :
About six weeks ago a lady, who represented herself as the
wife of Sir James Grant, applied to Mr. Denton, a horse-
dealer and livery-stable-keeper in Whitechapel, in conse-
quence of an advertisement in one of the morning papers, to
purchase a pair of handsome ponies, and ultimately agreed to
give one hundred guineas for them and a handsome phaeton
and harness. On agreeing on the purchase Lady Grant, as
she styled herself, told Mr. Denton that, owing to the ab-
sence of her husband, Sir James, in Ireland with his regi-
ment, her servants, at her country residence in Devonshire
were continually getting drunk, and she in consequence
discharged them, and wanted to hire another set it; their
place. Mr. Denton, believing that the lady was what she
represented herself, recommended the applicant Jones to
her as a footman, and she at once hired him. With this
appendage, and while driven about in the phaeton of Mr.
Denton, she had called upon various tradesmen in different
parts of the metropolis, and gave orders for goods of diffe-
rent descriptions to a very considerable amount. At one
shop in Holborn her order for upholstery alone amounted
to 5501., and at another in King William-street for ranges,
ironmongery, &c., to nearly the same sum. Her orders
were, however, fortunately countermanded by both Mr.
Denton and the servant Jones on their discovery that she
was a mere impostor, and thus the parties were saved an
immense loss. The statement of Jones, with respect to the
conduct of the female in question was the most extraordi-
nary he (Lea), had ever heard, and proved her singular
character.
Jones here entered into a minute detail of kis residence
and travels with Lady Grant, which drew forth much
laughter. It appeared from his statement that, about three
weeks ago, her Ladyship and himself embarked on board
the _Monarch Liverpool steamer, at Blackwell, to proceed
to Exeter, neither having in their possession at the time a
single shilling. Notwithstanding this, however, she had
the best of everything on board, and on landing at Dart-
mouth she made such specious representations to the cap-
tain that he permitted her and him (Jones) to go on shore
without paying a farthing for their voyage and expenses
while on board. Here she expressed some disappointment
at not finding letters with remittances ; but she was not
long in want of the needful, as she made an application to
Mr. Vincent, the agent of the Steam-boat Company, stat-
ing the manner she had been disappointed in remittances,
and representing that she had a large quantity of goods at
Cotton's Wharf, London, to be shipped for her country re-
sidence, and that she would give the vessels for which he
(Mr. Vincent) was the agent a preference for their con-
veyance. Mr. Vincent on this invited her to his house
and gave her 51. She next went to Totnes, and or-
dered to be driven by post to Exeter, but, her money
falling short before she got half her journey, she or-
dered the same post carriages to drive her back to the
Stars Inn, at Totnes, and from this was afterwards
forwarded by the mail, by the landlord, without her
paying him his bill. She subsequently took a house
at a village called Bradninch, from a Mr. Matthews, and
lost no time in setting a number of men to work in digging
a well, and doing other work about the place, and gave
directions to the landlord of a neighbouring inn to purchase
a couple of good milch cows. She also engaged a pew in
the parish Church, when she attended service twice on the
Sunday she was there, and was paid the most marked at-
tention to by the parish authorities, and formed a subject
of considerable curiosity to the inhabitants, who were
anxious to have a peep at her, and who talked about the
great benefit her ladyship would be to the parish by her
residence there, and the honour she would confer upon
their congregation. She next returned to Dartmouth, and
made a second application to Mr. Vincent for more money ;
but he refused her more than the 5/, he had before paid to
her, but advised her, if she was the person she represented
herself, to write to Colonel Seale, the Member of Parlia-
ment for the borough, who would no doubt contribute to
her immediate wants. She did so, and the Gallant Colonel,
on calling on her, gave her two sovereigns, and subsequently
a check for their fare to town by the mail. On her arrival in
town she put up at a tavern in the neighbourhood of Char-
ing-cross, and while there she engaged a gardener, a foot-
boy, a nook, a housekeeper, and a lady's maid or com-
panion ; the latter being the daughter of a respectable
surgeon. These, except the latter, she had sent to an inn
in the Borough, where they were provided with necessaries
for some days ; but the landlord at length, seeing not the
slightest prospect of being paid, and that her Ladyship,
who had herself taken up her residence there was in fact
pennyless, he turned them out of his house on the evening
I before. The applicants, in conclusion, said that on that
I day Lady Grant had shown them a printed paper with a
large seal on, which she represented as her life policy, upon
which she was on the next (this) day about to raise 1501.,
and that all would be right ; but they (the applicants)
having no doubt that if she received the money it would
be by misrepresentation, considered it to be their duty to
come before a Magistrate and make a statement of the
whole case.
Mr. NORTON here asked the applicants if they thought
the female in question was in her proper senses ? They
replied that she undoubtedly was ; and in reply to some
further questions they said she was about forty-five years
of age, of much ease of manners and fluency of speech,
but her appearance was anything but ladylike, as she had
not a second change, and wore the
,same things for three
weeks.

Lea, the officer, said that she was well known at a house
in Birr-street, St. Katharine's, where it appeared she was
at present stopping ; that she was a Scotchwoman, and
though she had been in needy circumstances at times, it
was believed had been at one time respectable.
Mr. NORTON could do nothing in the matter, as the ap-
plicants and Mr. Denton had by their very proper conduct
prevented the delivery of any part of the property.
Lea said he had no doubt the publication of the affair
would produce some tangible charge against the accused,
and the parties left the office.

EXPRESS.—We recorded last week the extraordi-
nary exertions made to obtain early intelligence of the pro-
ceedings at the nomination of Members for East Cumber-
land, on Thursday last. We inadvertently stated that the
same rider went through from Shap to Carnforth—whereas
it was a young man in the service of Mr. Jackson, went for-
ward from Kendal. The same enterprising parties con-
veyed the result of the polling on Monday and Tuesday
last, to London, with equal expedition. On the former of
these days the express, which left Carlisle about four in the
afternoon, reached the King's Arms inn at seven minutes
past six o'clock, having travelled forty-three miles in very
little more than two hours, of which distance the journey
from Shap was performed by young Richardson of that
place in forty minutes. A young man of the name of Ed-
ward Sill went forward to Carnforth, where he arrived at
ten minutes to seven, having changed his horse at Hale.
On Tuesday, the express left Kendal at eighteen minutes
past six in the evening, and reached Carnforth at seven mi-
nutes to seven. The intelligence would travel this way to
Warrington, from which it would he conveyed to Birming-
ham by a carriage along the rail-road, especially hired for
the occasion. From Birmingham it would resume its first
mode of journeying to London, and reach the metropolis
about daylight in the morning succeeding. Is there any
country but England where the caterers for the public ap-
petite evince such enterprise ?—Kendal Mercury.
THE PRECIOUS METALS.—The exportation of
gold and silver coin from the port of London to foreign
ports during the past week, ending the 15th instant, is as
follows :—Gold coin to Rotterdam, 174 oz. ; ditto to Mau-
ritius, 6,900 oz. ; silver coin to Boulogne, 1,800 oz. ; date
to Rotterdam, 21,380 ounces.