The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-02 00:00:00

RECOVERY OF THE NOTES. &C.,
STOLEN FROM MESSRS. ROGERS &s u
CO.bee t
As we have frequently had to recur to the
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we believe, hitherto been made public. It is to he
regretted, perhaps, that more publicity has not been
given to the proceedings which have taken place since
the robbery was discovered, because the most absurd
and unfounded rumours have been current, which
would at once have been silenced by a brief statement
of facts.
On Monday morning, the 25th of November, 1844,
on opening the door of the strong room at the usual
hour of commencing business, it was discovered that
one of the boxes placed in it on Saturday night, con-
taining all the Bank of England notes in hand at the
close of business, and other valuable securities, had
been removed, together with 1,2001. in gold, con-
tained in the usual canvass bags ; making, in all, up-
wards of 48,000/. in notes and gold, exclusive of bills
of exchange, cheques, &c.
Attention was, of course, in the first place directed
to ascertain by what means the thief or thieves had
obtained access to the strong room. There were no
marks of violence on any of the doors or windows of
the house, and the lock and door of the strong room
were to all appearance the same as usual. It was
evident, therefore, that the lock had been picked either
by false keys, which was almost impossible, or by copies
of the keys used at the bank having by some means
been obtained by the robbers. We believe the last
supposition is now thought to be correct. Suspicion
did not immediately attach to any one; all the
persons engaged in the establishmentgavea forsati the
sfac-
tory account of themselves, and accounted
manner in which they had respectively been engaged
on the Sunday, the day preceding the discovery of
the robbery. The porter had also been out all the day
by permission, and had been seen to leave the bank in
the morning at the time he stated. We believe the
partners were quite satisfied with the explanations of
their clerks, and fully exonerated them from any
participation in the robbery. It would, of course, be
out of place for us to state whom they did suspect,
no criminal proceedings having been taken against
any one, from the absence of all means of proving
the crime; but we feel convinced, from the facts we
know, that the robbery will not ultimately go un-
punished. There is at present a difficulty in obtain-
ing legal proof of the crime, which may hereafter be
supplied.
A reward of 3,0001. was immediately offered by
Messrs. Rogers and Co. for " the apprehension of
the guilty party or parties," and restoration of the
property; and lists of nearly all the notes were made
out, and distributed throughout the kingdom, and
subsequently all over the world. Mr. Hobler,
the solicitor employed by the Bank, took the most
efficient means of proving, if necessary, the ser-
vice of these lists on the Continent ; and by in-
serting them in this Magazine for some time, he
would have been able to prove their delivery to nearly
every bank in the kingdom, if required. By these
means, the negotiation of the notes was effectually
stopped ; and as all the 1,000/. notes stolen were dated
the 13th of May, 1844, the Bank of England, when
applied to by Mr. Hobler, called in and cancelled all
the outstanding notes of that date, excepting those
stolen, and thus afforded a further means of detection.
Subsequently the Bank of England also allowed
Messrs. Rogers and Co. the full amount of the notes
on their undertaking to guarantee the Bank against
any claim which might be made upon it, and giving
satisfactory security.
In this✓ state the matter remained until about a
twelvemonth since, when, in consequence of informa-
tion received, it was believed that the stolen property
was secreted in a house at Islington. The grounds
of suspicion did not, however, justify a search-
warrant being issued ; but as other stolen pro-
perty was believed to be secreted there, a warrant was
obtained, and 600/. in sovereigns were found
concealed. The money, however, could not be
identified, and no proceedings were, therefore, taken.
The thief or thieves had acted very judiciously at the
time of the robbery, in not taking any of the silver
coin from the strong room. In order to save them-
selves the trouble of opening the bags, to see which
contained gold, they had cut the sides of each bag
with a knife, and so ascertained its contents.
In addition to the notes specified in the lists as
stolen, about 4001. more (chiefly in 51. notes) were
taken ; and as the numbers of some of these were
known, it was hoped that if any of them were nego
tiated, a clue might be obtained to the guilty
parties. The thieves, however, were evidently masters
of their craft ; and instead of attempting to pass
the notes, they entered into negotiations for the re-
turn of the property. Amongst other ingenious
modes of effecting this, one party undertook to find
out by mesmerism where the property was concealed;
hut Messrs. Rogers firmly declined to receive back
their property on any terms which should screen the
guilty party or parties from justice, and hence the
matter has stood over till the present time.
The whole of the notes specified in the lists have
now been recovered, together with the other valuable
documents contained in the stolen box. We are not
aware of the precise manner in which this has been
effected, but we believe it has cost the firm two
thousand six hundred pounds, being the amount of the
reward offered during the present year for the reco-
very of the property ; the original sum of 3,000/.
having been reduced by Messrs. Rogers, who intended
to decrease the reward annually.
If the notes had remained unclaimed for five years,
the Bank of England might have declined paying
them, and could have pleaded the Statute of Limita-
tions as a bar to any action for their recovery; but as
the Bank have never refused payment of their notes,
under any circumstances for such a reason, it is not
probable that they would have adopted this course in
the present case. If, therefore, any of the large notes
had been presented for payment by a party who
could have shown the probability of his having taken
them without " gross negligence," he would no doubt
have been paid by the Bank, and Messrs. Rogers and
Co. must have borne the loss. The measures of Mr.
Hobler, the solicitor, were, however, so well con-
trived, that it was scarcely possible for any of the
larger notes to have been taken in ignorance of the
robbery. As we mentioned at the time, certified co-
pies of the list of notes were served by notaries, or
other official parties, on all the money changers and
bankers on the continent, and the usual channel for
negotiating stolen notes was therefore closed.
We believe we are correct in stating, that the re-
covery of the property is mainly attributable to the
excellent precautions adopted by Mr. Hobler, the
solicitor of Messrs. Rogers, whose experience in mat-
ters of this kind enabled him at once to stop all at-
tempts to circulate the notes ; and had there been the
slightest clue to the manner in which the robbery had
been committed, and the place of concealment of the
property, he would no doubt have succeeded in bring-
ing the guilty party or parties to justice.
A knowledge of the facts connected with this great
robbery may he useful to bankers, on the occurrence
of any future case of the kind.—Bankers' 3faga2ine

BISHOP Or NOTTINGHAM.—It is said that Dr.
Wiseman has received instructions front the Pope to re-
model the ecclesiastical arrangements of his communion
in England. Heretofore, England has been a missionary
station, under the superintendence of vicars-apostolic.
But the present order of things is now to cease, as his
doliness considers that Roman Catholicism has made
sufficient progress to warrant the re-establishment of the
hierarchy, with all its ramifications of ecclesiastical go-
vernment—deans, chapters, archdeacons, ecclesiastical
courts, &c., as it existed in this country prior to the
Reformation, and as it at present exists in Ireland.
There will, it is said, be two archbishops for the pro-
vinces of York and Canterbury, with eight bishops
subordinate. These new bishops will take their title
from the chief centres of Roman Catholic influence, such
as Birmingham, Nottingham, and Liverpool. Dr. Wise-
man, it is said, will- succeed, under the new title of the
Bishop of Westminster, to the administration of the
affairs of the London district, in the room of Dr. Grif-
fiths, deceased.—Nottingham Review.
REVISING BARRISTERS' COURT.—On Tuesday last
William Blanshard, Esq., one of the barristers appointed
to revise the list of voters in the election of knights of
the shire for the West Riding of the county of York,
held a court in the Mansion-house, in this town, for the
purpose of revising the lists for Doncaster and the sur-
rounding parishess. The overseers attended from the
several townships, and brought with them the original
notices of claims and objections, &c. No objections
short made,
and
the business was transacted in a very
thespace of time. In consequence of the neglect of
nofMelton-on-the-luill in not having
sent latein acivleisrtaeofr es, the whole of 'the electors in
that parish were disfranchised until the next period of
revisi, n.—Doncaster Gazette.
EXPLOSION OF FIREWORKS.—bast evening, about
six o'clock, considerable alarm was created in the imme-
diate vicinity of Little Surrey-street, Blackfriars-road,
in consequence of an explosion of combustible material,
used in the manufacture of fireworks, taking place upon
the premises belonging to Mr. G. Murdy, pyrotechnist.
From inquiries made, it appeared that Mr. Murdy was
engaged filling some cases with composition in the back
room on the ground floor, where, from some unexplained
cause, the material exploded, setting fire to a number of
other description of fireworks, which also went off with
a terrific noise, demolishing several panes of glass in
the window, and firing the contents of the room. In an
instant the whole of the parties in the room, consisting
of Mr. Murdy, a boy, and a young child, were encircled
with fire, and, owing to the suffocating nature of the
effluvia emitted from the composition, it was with great
difficulty that the parties could breathe. The three par-
ties were found to be so severely injured that they were
sent to the hospital.;

ICI C%

THE SUN,