The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-01 00:00:00

THE LATE FORGERY AT COUTTS'

RE -EXAMINATION OF CAPT. RICHARDSON,
MANSION-HOUSE.—(THIS DAY.)
Considerable excitement was created this morning is
the neighbourhood of this Court, as it was known the°
Captain William Richardson, chairman of the Tenbury
Worcester, and Ludlow Railway Company, was to be
brought up a second time before the Litrd Mayor, on a
charge of having altered a cheque on COutts' banking'
house, from the sum of 101. to 5,000/. The cheque for
101., it will be remembered by our readers, had bee"
signed, in the first instance, by the chairman
and, again, by Thomas Stevenson, and William Letch'
mere Whitmore, two of the directors, who afterwards
returned the cheque to the prisoner. On its being pre'
sented at the banking-house, the amount appeared as
5,000/, which was honoured, and five 1,0001. notes were'
paid to the person who presented the cheque. It after-
wards appeared in evidence, that these notes were taken
to the Bank of England on the same day by the pri"
soner, who received gold in exchange, he giving his ad:
dress " Linen Hall, Dublin." and Furnival's Inn Hotel'
in town. Subsequent inquiries led to the prisoners
being taken into custody.
At twelve o'clock this day the Right Hon. the Lord
Mayor took his seat. Aldermen Wood and Musgroile
sat beside his Lordship.
After the morning cases had been disposed of,
Captain William Richardson was placed at the bar at,
two o'clock.
Mr. Bushe, of the firm of Bushe and Mullins, appeared
to prosecute ; Mr. Woolf, from Mr. Flower's office, tar
peered for the prisoner.
Mr. Bushe said that, on the 7th of July, a Board Of
the Tenbury, Worcester, and Ludlow Railway Ce°l--
pany was held, when a cheque was drawn for 104
signed by Captain Richardson, and containing on tile.
counterfoil the name of the person to whom 1;
was intended to be paid. Th,:t person was 11°0
present. On the 20th of the same month the ',041/0
cheque, signed by the prisoner and by 111_,
of the directors was presented at itessrs.
bank, purporting to be drawn for 5,0001., which IT;
paid by one of the clerks in five 1,000,/. notes. Th
next part of his case would be to bring borne the fs,'
se
that on the same day the prisoner himself, tinder a fstltie
name and address, changed three of these tic tes °fber
Bank of England. The rest of the case wa.l rat be
complicated, but it all tended to the same thing, t, 'lst or
amount received from the cheque had come into th, P
session of the prisoner. and
Robert Hare, called and examined.—He was cleric id
cashier at Coutts' bank. On the 20th of July he Pale
cheque produced, in five notes of 1,000/. each• irete
numbers were dated the 13th of February, and 'Lid
96,087, 96,091-2.3-4, consecutive numbers. lie e-e,id
not identify the person to whom hp -roe
the cheque. He paid these notes tO are
account of William Richardson, William Letci`nrop,,
Whitmore Thomas Stevenson, and another Pee
Three of ;hose persons were authorised to dray'', -I. 01
Richardson being always one of the party. The prinelt,
partner of Coutts' house was Edward Majoribanks,Ll
The instructions to the banker's clerk on entering c'al
to the account of the railway company was then pro/f.•
by the witness. It was precisely the same as sire°
stated by him. He (witness) did not know the prie.o°'
personally at the time the account was opened.
Cross-examined by Mr. Woolf—The account W
opened with Messrs. Coutts by the gentleman mentionaeo
in April. He had no doubt that the genuine signaturri,
were affixed to the cheque. It was regarded as a Eng
vate account, Messrs. Coutts declining to do anYtbal st•
with railway companies. There still remained
balance of 5001. or 6001. in the hands of the banker,". the,
Mr. W. Pulsford examined—Was secretary to
Worcester, Tenbury, and Ludlow Railway CotePs.ao.ii,
Had been secretary since its first forma° 5,
The offices of the company were at 140' in
New Palace-yard, Westminster. He found of •
the minute-book of the board of directors a meeting
the 7th July. That minute was verified by the sig°os,,,
ture of the chairman and directors in the usual Wsaitt
Captain Richardson was present at that meeting,
signed the minute. ha& •
Mr. Bushe read from the book—" And also t-, sof
cheque for 10/. be given to Mr. Howell's messenger
his services," with the initial letters W. R. attache"; ars
Witness's examination continued—He 1.0,,,1111,"b0ak
entry in the cheque-book in Captain -tlie gr.;
son's writing —"No. 11, Messenger from or-
Howell, his services, July 10," He ben for-
a letter from this party, and a conversothil; cb-
lowed, in which gentlemen round the ta". piece'
served that they would give a sovereign 00
rather than this sum should come out of 11° fro'
Of the company. He afterwards received d is'
Captain Richardson a cheque for 10/., which egret pia
every respect with the counterfoil. It Was then
signed by Captain Richardson himself. Looking a '
cheque produced, he could see that the
to,
ference consisted in the cheque being the
for 5,000/, instead of lot, and ill _.cteli
addition of two more signatures. Having been inst.!: o,
11
by Captain Richardson to get these signatures, „,01,
closed the cheque to Mr. IN hitmore. (The letter'
W.%*
110.
was produced to show that a note from WI f
enclosing the cheque, was posted on the day f 0 430
ing, Bth July). He found also on the cheque 70
the date had trout the 7th been changed to ttre Lep
July. He was positive that the " one' had not l'irti
placed before the " seven" when the simple wasoto
drawn. (The witness then read the letters at-ld-rekhreS
to the directors, requesting their signaturea "doeo
cheques, one being the one in question. The cl!f
came back for the respective sums of 100/ 9O/..
es they had gone. Another signature was att-jiis;
to the cheque afterwards—that of Mr. Stevenson, iv tb°
witness subsequently obtained. The signatures, Thy,
best of witness's belief, were not in the order in w
they appeared in the cheque produced. lei';
(The examination was proceeding when our report
,ja;

IRISH MARBLES.--The recent importation of
of
marble from Ireland was made on the recommendation pioilf
Royal Highness Prince Albert, who expressed his e
.4Atolie,
to a deputation of the Council of the Society gti,cti•
which he is president, of the applicability of t'7iitor-0
samples of which had been sent over for their ohleia-I,,es, jr•
gation, to various economical and ornamental plirPtllol,.,Po'
is not generally known that the position of his R
ness, as president of the Society of Arts, is not me ob'
rare, for although he does not take part in its "if Ptioll
proceedings, everything brought to its investigaticTo'
'flitted to his private inspection. Amongst other /iv: 00
qualifications the Prince Consort is a good chemist. ,
ANOTHER FATAL ACCIDENT AT LONGTO''st 'eff
Wednesday a most lamentable accident occurreLo toe
Sparrow's Gould-street, coal-pit, Longton. Some '''',' act," e
playing together on the pit-bank, when the clotkP‘beco-tp,
of them, named John Ford, about eight years of ag,t", (100
entangled with the chain attached to the eng."-,eagr 000,
which, in revolving, drew the child with great I'oll'l, ou,teo
a portion of the machinery, and crushed his nee" 001 85
arm in a frightful manner. The unfortunate boy hel
the accident only about two hours. An inquest; Via!pcilkire
the Three Tuns Inn, yesterday, before W. Harding, ',"pfar-
a verdict of "Accidental Death" returned.—Skto for)
Mercury. 42 ,c;
~
1.0
SUICIDE AT CHELSEA.—ShortIy before -of CO"
last night a young woman, whose name, resideasee:Vgne
flexion was not known, committed suicide in the je'tbe
very nearly opposite Cremorne Gardens entrance, ovigli..to
ing from the embankment into the water: Ala mm ade
clothes of the deceased remained in sight several be 040
from the want of a boat very little exertion could it io,ocl
to save her. From her dress and appearance of '-
appear that she had been leading a life of prod:4
lot
prostitution.
sto
AMERICAN ELOQUENCE.—The following ;.3
0, 40
from a speech of General Buncum in favour
" Mr. Speaker—When I open my eyes, and look,' ye05;101
vast expanse of this country—when I see how Iltion to be
freedom has caused it to rise in the scale of ,he
expand on every side—when I see it growing, ew 5111_7WL.,1
ing, like a spring freshet—l cannot resist the i( orig.
day will come when this great nation, like a ycalM fo._olo
boy, will burst its straps, and become entirely too- the 5f.e,.46
boots. Sir, we want elbow room—the continent, :ta
continent, and nothing but the continent—and w ot_Ztielri-5
it. Then shall Uncle Sam, placing his hat upon tt
rest his right arm upon the Oregon and California
left upon the eastern seaboard, and whittle away
power, while reposing his right leg, like a free ••••-•'
Cape Horn ! Sir, the day will— the day must COrc r
York Sun.
DEGRADING PUNISHMENTS IN THE ABBY."- On to
recent order of the Commander-in-Chief, !;),„rerelbe
officers of regiments, battalions, or depOts, ar,..er_efl tit in
sentence military offenders to solitary coile Ir, 4,1180._ the
cells, or " black holes," as they are technicall., 0 ,:-er to
many cases, as soon as a prisoner is deliveredlxt.'.,ir,y.ne,
g:Arris.on provin; of the Royal Artillery, that P,,,,,-s!rtio
or,L;--rs to crop the hair tit the deliuquent c141,_ tori)eorgo
On Sundas the whole of the men. Who inayle!o ee e ,t 4
•coo—
confined arc marched to the barrack chape a _
.„syi
armed escort, and placed in the chapel In..
place, With the armed escort on either side of taw