The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-13 00:00:00

THE GREAT BANK OF ENGLAND

FORGERIES.

Some very extraordinary proceedings have come
:o light in reference to the robbery of the Bank

paper from the mills, and the subsequent attempts
at forgery, and also the circumstances under which
the detection of the prisoners took place, which, in

a matter of such grave importance to the public,

will doubtless be read with interest. There appears
to be no doubt that for a very considerable period
a " plant," as it is termed, was made upon the
mills, by the professional bank-note forgers, with
a view to get possession of some of the genuine
note paper, and it may be stated that one of the
principal difficulties that has stood in the way of
those persons putting forged notes into circulation
has been the paper, a spurious note being detected
almost instantly by any one acquainted with the
matter by the difference exhibited in the touch and
substance of the paper, and it was thought that if
this could once be overcome forgery might be car-
ried on to an almost unlimited extent. In reference
to this subject it may be taken as a positive fact
that one of the prisoners now in custody is known
to have expressed his opinion after the genuine
paper had been obtained possession of, that a forged
note might be taken to the Bank of England and
gold obtained for it over the counter. Every endea-
vour, therefore, was made by the gang to effect this
object, and from inquiries that have been made there
appears to be no doubt that for a long period, ex-
tending over several months, schemes of all sorts
were resorted to with a view to tempt some of the
workmen employed about the mills to betray their
trust, and unhappily at length these proceedings
were successful, and the long-wished for moment
arrived when the parties found themselves in pos-
session of the genuine bank-note paper, which they
believed would enable them to become the possessors
of boundless wealth. It appears, however, that the
gang were very cool and cautious in their proceed-
ings, and although they had succeeded in the object
they had so long contemplated, nothing was done
precipitately, but they set about deliberately to
make all the necessary arrangements for a great
coup. It may be stated that the Bank of England

notes are all engraved upon a different description
of paper, a certain description being employed for
£5, another description for £lO, another for £5O
notes, and so on; and before anything was done the
forgers resolved upon having a full supply of each
kind of paper, so that the business might be done
in a regular and systematic manner, and it is quite
certain that the genuine bank-note paper was in
their possession for a considerable time before any
attempts were made to engrave forged notes upon
it, and it is probably owing to this great caution on
thier part that a much greater amount of mischief
was not effected ; for, owing to the delay in the
operations of the marauders, very few notes
were printed on the genuine paper, and through
the activity of the police and the energetic steps
taken by the officials of the Bank of England, the
whole affair was discovered before the extensive
system of forgery contemplated could be carried out.
It would not be prudent to state the circum-
stances which led to the discovery of the proceed-
ings that had taken place between the forgers and
the persons employed at the paper-mills ; but, im-
mediately the discovery of the robbery took place
it was palpable to the officers employed that some
one engaged upon the premises must have abused
his trust, but the difficulty was to obtain a clue in
the right direction. The detectives, however, by
the most persevering inquiries and a determination
not to be baffled, at length obtained information
which led to the apprehension of the boy Brown,
and when he found that he had no chance of escape,
and that the officers were in possession of informa-
tion upon all his proceedings, he expressed his
readiness to make a clean breast of it, and from
this time the officers had a comparatively easy task
to perform, although from the wily character of
the offenders they had to deal with, a good deal re-
mained to be done, and much caution was neces-
sary to be employed before full success could be
obtained.
The affair of the robbery having to a certain ex-
tent been settled, the next step was to endeavour to
trace out the parties who were guilty of the more
serious offence of forgery, several forged notes, prin-
cipally of £lO and £5, engraved upon a portion of
the stolen Bank paper, having by this time come
into the Bank of England, and the inquiries made
by the detectives speedily led them to Birmingham,
where the man Griffiths was taken into custody.
This man appeals to be an extraordinary cha-
racter. It will be remembered that when he was
taken he was in the act of printing forged Bank
of England notes, and when he saw that the
game was up he freely admitted his guilt, at the
same time stating that he had been engaged in
the same nefarious pursuit for a period of 17 years.
It will be hardly credited that the ostensible occu-
pation carried on by this prisoner was that of a far-
mer, and he occupied a small farm a few miles from
Birmingham, where all his forging operations were
carried on ; and, although the detective officers of
Birmingham, whe are probably as shrewd as any
men of their class, entertained some suspicion as to
the nature of his proceedings, it would seem that
they did not consider there was sufficient to justify
them in interfering with him until the present
occasion.