The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-23 00:00:00

Cruel Swindle at Oiford.

Daring the past week the adage, as applied to marriage,
There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," has been
remarkably verified by an event which has afforded much
gossip amongst all classes at Oxford, and elicited no little
amount of commiseration for those who have unfortunately
been victimised. '

The chief personage in this romance is a certain indi-
vidual who adopts the name of Wade:Chater, who some
two months since took up his abode in that city, and pro-
fessed to be an engineer in connection with the carriage
works of the Great Western Railway. He obtained a
lodging in Thames-street, St. Aldate's, with a respect-
able widow, and shortly after he had resided in the
house it appears he made overtures of marriage to
the daughter, which, were accepted, and it was arranged
that the wedding should come off at an early day. Having
thus far succeeded in one object his efforts next appear
to have been directed to raising the necessary funds for
completing the happy event, and an extraordinary stroke
of good fortune came opportunely to the fellow's aid, by,
' as he alleged, the decease of his godfather, a gentleman of
the name of Wado, who left him, as he' represented, a
rent-roll of £B,OOO or £lO,OOO a year, derived from Datchet
Park, near Windsor, exclusive of personal property esti-
mated at £25,000. This circumstance was duly commu-
nicated to the family, and the young lady's good
fortune was looked on with no little amount of
envy by the fair sex. No doubt seems to have
entered the minds of any one, and the idea of the
genuineness of the story was further strengthened by the
fact that a considerable amount of correspondence was
carried on and telegraphic messages were continually
arriving, and ultimately a will was produced, purporting to
be executed by Mr. Wade, bequeathing the estate to Chater
Thus it was that matters prOgressed until the happy day
drew near, which was fixed for Thursday, Sept. 14, but there
was some hitch in the legal arrangements, and the affair was
postponed, and Tuesday last, the 19th inst., was named for
the consummation of the happiness of the affianced pair,
and immense numbers ,congregated in the High-street,
curious to witness the cortege, which was to be of a splen-
did character. But, alas ! another hitch occurred, which
entirely altered the current of the proceedings ; the bride-
groom was not forthcoming, and there were ugly rumours
that his career had been one of gross deception. Extensive
preparations had been in progressior some time in antici-
pation of the event. A suburban villa at Summers-town
had been taken on a leaselor several years, orders were
given to a large upholstery firm, and the house was fur-
nished in splendid style ; a wedding trousseau, of an ela-
borate character, was prepared ; Mr. Boffin was engaged
to provide a wedding breakfast and cake suitable for the
occasion, with wines, &c., of choice vintage ; and Mr.
Stroud's stud of horses and carriages were to be brought
into requisition, that gentleman's instructions being to
prepare ten pairs of greys—a work of no little difficulty
—which, however, was fully accomplished. The ceremony
was to be performed at St. John the Baptist Church
(Merton College Chapel), the service was to be. choral,
and the choirmen and choristers were to be made partici-
pators in the festivities on the occasion. Every member of
he family was to share in the fellow's good fortune, a set-
tlement was to bo made on one and another, and the bride
was also to be allowed a handsome jointure. But all were
doomed to disappointment ; the bridegroom failed to put
in an appearance, and has not since been heard of. It
would appear that ho alleged that it was necessary be
should visit Datchet for the purpose of arranging for the
spending of the honeymoon, and also for doing some legal
business in London, and on Sunday he departed by the
Great Western Railway for that purpose, appointing
to meet the brothers of the young lady at Slough, in
order that they might accompany him to his estate at
Datchet. They according'iy Vent to Slough, and after
waiting in vain at the station some hours for the arrival
of the young heir, they proceeded to Datchet, where they
ascertained that no persons of the names of Wade or
Chater were ever known in the locality, and that there
was no such place as Datchet Park. For the first time
misgivings began to flash uron them that they, their
sister, and the whole family had been made the victims of a
cruel deception. They then proceeded to London to an ad-
dress given by Chater, which ?roved fictitious, and after
consulting a directory a person of the name was discovered.
Thither they hastened, but no due to the missing one was
found. Here their mission eaded, and they became the
hearers of the ill news to their friends. There, of course,
was consternation, and the effect upon the young lady can
be readily imagined; and as it is said ill news travels fast,
it came to the ears of the variots tradesmen who had been
so liberally patronised. Tho tpholsterer lost no time in
conveying the furniture back t) his warehouse ; the wed-
ding cake, breakfast, and wines were treated in the same
manner, though the latter had 'Considerably diminished in
bulk, and, worst of all, it transpired that the poor widow,
who was to have resided with her daughter in their new
residence at Summerstown had broken up her home, and
the fellow had succeeded in obtaining not only the value
of most of her furniture, but or savings, amounting to
about £3O. Another member of the family was induced
to part with £lO. A female friend, the dressmaker, also
suffered to the extent of £4O. The dresses, &c., as well as
the suits of clothes, were not paid for, an 1 it is said that he
obtained the greater portion' of the young lady's clothing
under pretence of conveying it to Datchet Parkin readiness
for their arrival.

The affair has created an amount of excitement in this
city which has not existed since the time Dick Swallow,
the then messenger of Nev College, was transformed and
introduced by the fellows of that society as " Sir George
Bayswater," to the ball at the Star Assembly Room,
given in honour of Mr. Donald Maclean's roturn as member
of Parliament for Oxford.. The bride cake, which was of
the most costly character, was exhibited in the shop win-
dow of Mr. Boffin, and wsz an object of attraction to ad-
-miring crowds. Cards of admission to the Church were
issued, and Merton-street, long before the hour at which
the ceremony was fixed to take place, was crowded by per-
sons of both.sexes, who were anxious to get a sight of the
wedding party. The whole female population seemed to be
on the qui vice, and some time elapsed before they could be
persuaded that the affair was a swindle.

MARKETS—This Day.

COVENT GARDEN.

The market is seasonably well supplied with fruit and
vegetables, the demand fo; which is steady, as follows:
FRUIT—Pine apple; 5s to 7s; hot house grapes, 2s 6d to
5s ; filberts, 9d to is 3dper lb ; plums, 2s 6d to 3s 6d ;
damsons, is 9d to 2s 6d ; apples, is 3d to 2s 6d ; pears, is
3d to 3s 6d per half sieve; lemons, 4s to 8s; oranges, 14s
to 18s ; walnuts, is to 2s per 100; peaches, Os to 10s per
dozen.

- -
VEGETABLES —Cauliflowers, is to 2s ; red cabbages, is
6d to 2s 6d ; white do., 94 to is 3d; celery, 10d to is 9d ;
horseradish, is to 2s per doz heads ; greens, 2s 6d to 3s ;
turnip; 2s to 2s 6d ; carrots, 4s Gd to os 6d ; onions, is Gd
to 2s per dozen bunches; cucumbers, 3d to is each; cos
lettuces, is to is 3d per score.