The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-01 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.—NonwrcH, JULY 30.
(Before Mr. Justice BOSANQUET.
THE EARL OF 'WEIHYSS WRECK.
Charles Oakes, James Allen, and Robert Ward, were in-
dicted-for stealing on the Ist of September last four boxes,
two necklaces, a. watch, chain, and seals, 20 forks and spoons,
four bracelets, and other property of William Pyne, Esq.
William Nesbitt is also included in the indictment, but he is
at present on a voyage.
This case arose out of the melancholy loss of the Earl of
Weml,ss, Leith smack, which was wrecked on the Norfolk
coast, at Brancaster, on the Ist of last September, when many
lives were lost. The trial, which excited the liveliest interest,
lasted eight hours. .
Mr. Sergeant STORKS and Mr. GUNNING were for the pro-
secution ; Mr. ANDREWS and Mr. PRENDERGAST for Allen and
Ward ; and Mr. KELLY and Mr. AUSTIN for Oakes.
The case, as stated by the witnesses in support of it, was
met by a flat and complete contradiction by the evidence for
the defence, and was as follows. It appeared that on the 29th
of August last the Earl of Wemyss smack set sail from Lon-
don for the port of Leith, and that among the cabin passengers
on board were Mrs. Pyne and her son and daughter. That
lady, previous to her marriage with Mr. Pyne, was the widow
of Mr. Macqueen, the West Indian, and was possessed of a great
quantity of jewellery and trinkets of considerable value. A day or
two before her going on board the vessel, Mrs. Pyne had packed
up her jewels in the presence of a female servant, and they
were thus disposed :—in a large tin box were four smaller
ones ; one of them contained a great quantity of brooches,
rings, necklaces, and other articles of that descriptions; two
contained other kinds of jewels, and the fourth contained an
expensive and curious silver Indian mull, and a bead necklace
with a gold clasp. Besides these articles there were several
silver forks and spoons, wrapped up in wash-leather, in the tin
box ; and under the tray of one of the jewel-boxes were a
number of bank-notes. The tin box was secured with a pad-
lock, and tied with a broad riband, which was sealed at the top
and bottom of the box. The servant who saw it packed up
stated that she only saw one seal on the lid of the box, a cir-
cumstance which became of some consequence in the progress
of the trial. This box with its contents, upon being taken on
board the smack. was put under the table in the ladies' cabin.
The vessel sailed, and during the night of Saturday, the 31st
o f August, encountered a terrific storm near the village of
Brancaster, and was wrecked on the shore there on the fol-
lowing morning. The sea rose so suddenly and so vehemently
that before assistance could be afforded the ladies in the fore
cabin, and some other persons, were drowned ; and among the
sufferers were Mrs. Pyne, her son and daughter. During
the early part of the morning of Sunday, the Ist of Sep-
tember, the survivors and several assistants from the vil-
lage were- employed in getting out the bodies of the
drowned, and depositing them in the church, and in the
afternoon they turned their attention to the property on board
the wreck. The prisoner Oakes is a gentleman residing
at Brancaster, and he it appeared was employed on behalf of
the shipowners to go on board, and see that the property of
the crew and passengers was taken due care of; Allen was
the steward, and Ward the cook of the vessel, and Nesbitt,
who has not yet appeared, was the son of the captain. Among
the persons employed to get out the bodies and the property
was a man of the name of Charles Large, and it was mainly
upon his evidence that this prosecution was sustained. The
account he gave was, that he was in the ladies' cabin on the
Sunday afternoon, and that he saw Mrs. Pyne's tin box
found under the table, where it had been placed as already
stated. Allen and young Nesbitt were present at the time,
and the former cut the string with which it has been men-
tioned it was tied, and then pressed his foot against it and
forced it open ; Nesbitt then rent the lid off, and " copped "
it on the deck through the skylight. Allen then took out
some silver spoons and forks, wrapped in wash-leather, and
put them into the side pocket of his jacket. He then took
out of the tin case the box containing the mull, and out of
that he took a bead necklace with a gold clasp, which he
wrested off and put into his pocket, giving the beads to
Oakes, who was then on the deck. It should be observed,
that this and what follows is merely the account given by the
witness Large, and that it was directly and specifically con-
tradicted by the witnesses called for the prisoners. Allen then
put the box containing the mull into a cupboard and locked the
door. Nesbitt next took out one of the other cases of jewels,
and left the cabin with it, and Allen returned from the cupboard
to the tin case, from which he took the larger jewel-box, which_
he placed on the mantel-piece, and when he shortly after-
wards left the vessel he took it under his arm, and carried it
to a public-house called the Ship, kept by one Mrs. Cutting,
and it was never more seen. A few days afterwards the
witness drove a load of goods, which had been on board the
vessel, from the Ship Inn to Brancaster staith (harbour),
whither the crew had removed, amongst which was the case
of which we have been speaking, and Allen and Nesbitt went
with the tumbril. Large called their attention to the tin
case, observing, " That ere's the box you broke open down in
the ship on the Sunday." To this they made no reply, but
merely asked the witness, " Can you tell us where we can
light of a girl to-night ?" In the course of the journey they
produced each some necklaces, and Allen wanted one of Nes-
bitt's, which the latter would not allow him to have, observing
"We can make that all right." In his cross-examination the
witness said, the box had two seals on the top, and not one, as
stated by the servant. He did not say any thing to any magis-
trate or lawyer about what he had seen for many months, but
he stated something about it to two or three labourers* and the
churchwarden the day after the occurrence. He also swore
that Read, the chief-mate, and a Mr. Green, of the preventive
service, were in the cabin at the time the box was broken
open and its contents abstracted, and that they must have seen
what was going on, as they stood close by his elbow. He
was asked whether he had not said to one Neale and one
Simms, before the trial of Reeve last spring, that "if he
(Reeve) would not prosecute him for perjury, he would say,
when he came to the bar, that he knew nothing about it." He
denied having used any such expression. He also •positively
denied having said to. Neale, in answer to a charge of having
sworn falsely, " Never mind that ; I can make a flaw in the
ballad, as I don't want to do Reeve any hurt." He further
stated that he should have taken the things himself that Allen
took out of the box had they been offered to him, as he sup-
posed they were his own, though he had " a sort of imagina-
tion" that all was not right when he saw him put the wet
spoons into his pocket.
The next witness was a boy named Cutting, who stated
that he was the son of the woman who kept the Ship Inn at
Brancaster, to which the crew of the vessel removed on tne
day of the wreck, and at which they remained for some days.
The brewhouse was turned into a kitchen and dining-room
for their use, and on Wednesday, the 4th of September, Nes-
bitt and Allen went into it, and were shortly afterwards followed
by two women. The door of the brewhouse is divided, and
the lower half only was shut. Prompted by curiosity, the boy
looked over the door, and saw Nesbitt break open a small box,
and take out from it a quantity of jewels of various kinds.
Allen handed a necklace to the women, which they examined
and returned to him, and which he put into his pocket. He
then produced a gold clasp, and one of the women asked,
What had become of the beads ?" he answered, that "he
had given them to Mr. Oakes." Allen observed the boy at
the door, and desired him to "be off," upon which he retreated
to the window, whence he saw Allen give some beads to Nes-
bitt. Upon his cross-examination, he stated that this was in
the middle of the day, at the time the crew' were about to go
to-dinner, and when several people were about the premises.
Allen was injured during the storm, and was brought up from
the wreck in a feeble state, but soon afterwards returned to it.
Another person, named Fiddyman, gave evidence, that he was
at the Life-boat public-house at Brancaster, on the 6th of
September, when Allen and Nesbitt were there. The latter
pulled from his pocket a small paper parcel, containing five
gold brooches, which he showed to Allen. Allen said, " They
belong to me," and Nesbitt, assenting, gave them to him.
George Ruthven, an officer at Bow-street for 24 years,
stated that he was employed by the Magistrates to go to Bran-
caster, and make inquiries after the property supposed to have
been lost from the vessel, and he went there accordingly on
the 20th September. On the 22d he saw Allen, and asked
him respecting Mrs. Pyne's tin box, which he described ac-
curately to him. Allen said he well remembered its being put
on board, and his being told to put it under the cabin table,
because it contained valuable property. He said he did so,
but did not remember seeing it any more, and that Mrs. Pyne
had told him to take care, after the ship was in peril, of a
small brown paper parcel, which she carried under the mat-
tress of her bed, in the event of any thing happening to her, as
it was of great consequence. He added, that he had given the
cook (Ward) leave to search the cabin for bottles of beer, and
that he had found the mull and its box in the locker there.
Three days after this, Ruthven was walking past the staid',
when Allen called to him, and said he thought he had found
the box he had been inquiring about ; a light was then pro-
cured, and upon searching the store-room in which the goods
brought from the wreck had been stowed, they found Mrs.
Pyne's tin box much battered, with the lid broken and gone,
and a good deal bruised.
This closed the evidence for the prosecution in this remark.
able case.

It being considered that there was no evidence upon which
to call upon Oakes and Ward for any defence, they were forth-
with acquitted. Allen declined saying any thing, leaving his
counsel to call his witnesses.
The chief mate of the Earl of Wemyss, David Read, was
the first witness called. He said that Allen was considerably
injured by the dashing in of the waters during the storm, and
' that he was carried ashore about 9 o'clock in the morning, and
that he came back in two or three hours. He could not say
if he (the witness) was in the fore (the ladies') cabin at all
during the whole of the Sunday, but " if he was, he saw
no box broken ;" with respect to Mrs. Pyne's tin box,
he swore that he never saw it at all till to-day, and
he was positive he never saw Allen break it or any other
box open. In the afternoon he saw Allen leave the ship,
having a box under his arm ; but that box was not Mrs.
Pyne's, but his own cash box, in which he kept the passage
money and other cash received on account of his employers.
It was a lightish box with a handle, and was certainly (from
the descrition given, for it was not produced) as unlike the
box whichjLarge swore lie saw Allen take away with him as any
two boxes could well be. He did not see Allen in the fore-
cabin, and did not remember being there himself during any
part of the day. Allen had borne an unexceptionable cha-
racter ever since he had known him.
John Oak was employed to "scuttle" (bore holes to let the
water out of) the vessel on the tide going down, and was after-
wards in the cabins taking down the furniture and breaking
open the drawers in order to get out of them the property be-
longing to the ship, that it might be deposited in a place of
safe custody before the return of the tide. In contradiction of
what Read stated, this witness swore that that person was in
the cabin a very long while during the Sunday, and indeed was
the fiat te) go to him in the cabin and ask him to break open
°)P!' of the drawers. When Orik had broken open one of the