The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-26 00:00:00

THE GREAT GOLD DUhT RoRBERY.

There are somo facts ,connected with this extraordinary
casa which have yet escaped public notice.-- FrQui the pro-
ceeTlings at the Mansion-house it would appear that the
parties implicated in this daring act of plunder were not
known until 'the revelation's made by the convict Agar.
That, however, as will be seen, is not correct.
On the receipt of telegraphic news from Paris announcing
the robbery, the City detectives were called upon to act in
the matter, and they so far pushed their inquiries that
within a few weeks after the occurrence they were enabled
to inform the directors that the robbery had been committed
on their line between London and Dover, and who the par-
ties were—Agar and his three accomplices. The company,
however, had some misgivings as to the truth of the of-
.ficers' suspicions. They had great confidence in Burgess
in consequence of the years he had been employed, besides
there might be a doubt as to whether the robbery took place
on their line, but on the Continental ones, and even whether
there had been any plunder at all. With the exception of
a few incidents detailed by Agar the police had acquired
all the principal facts, and a report was presented to the
directors which, if it had at once been acted upon, not only
the whole of the prisoners would have been taken, but the
receivers, and probably a large amount of the stolen trea-
sure recovered. Still, however, they declined to act upon
the officers' representations. Thera was a wssibility of

their being wrong, and there was some suspicion pointed
elsewhere ; and so the affair rested until Fanny Kay com-
municated what shehad heard of the robbery, and confirmed
the report which the officers had months before given.
The antecedents of Henry Agar, the approver, furnish
ample evidence of the convict having pursued a most re-
markable career of crime for some years. That he should
have escaped the ends of justice so long can only be ac-
counted for by the extraordinary cunning and tact which'
he displayed in all his acts of fraud and robbery.

Agar states his age is about 40. He is of the middle
stature, quick and determined in his manners, and possess-
ing some intelligence. For years it was known that he was
associated with a class of systematic bank forgers in what
are denominated large offences. In the pursuit of his nefa-
rious practices various stratagems were resorted to, and
perhaps his most successful scheme was that of advertising
for young men as clerks, or writing to those who had ad-
vertised for situations, engaging them for some kind of ser-
vice, and " testing their honesty" by sending them, gene-
rally at the first interview, with forged cheques to the
bankers. A confederate was always placed on the watch ;
he followed the clerk to the bank, and in the event of there
being any delay, and an evident detection of the fraud, the
principal accomplice had timely notice, so as to enable him
to effect an escape. It was in this way that all traces of
the real delinquent were so frequently lost. The extent of
this description of frauds on banking firms of late years has
reached to a considerable amount. One of Agar's confede-
rates was a man named Nash. He, like Agar, generally
passed as a commercial man. lie was convicted at the
Central Criminal Court about six years since, having bean
detected at the Bank of England in obtaining gold for 8011.
in notes which had been paid by Messrs. Barnett and Hoare
in Lombard-street, on a forged cheque, and which was pre-
seated by a young man who had been entrapped in the
manner previouslydescribed. The forgery was not discovered
until the money had been paid over the counter and the
party had left. The heads of the firm, however, immedi-
ately apprised the Bank of England authorities of the
numbers of the notes nearly at the same moment that they
were presented by Nash, who was at once handed over to
the custody of the detectives on duty at the Bank. Nash
was sentenced to 14 years' transportation. From some cir-
cumstances or other, however, after a servitude of five
years, he obtained a ticket-of-leave, and he is now in the
metropols. Agar, it is stated, was concerned with Nash in
that forgery, and it is believed was the party who watched
the dupe to the banking-house. Agar then took up with
Pierce, and with him pursued the same career, and it
would appear with such success, as to induce Agar to take
several trips to New York, in order to dispose of Bank of
England notes, which were not negotiable in this country,
the numbers having been posted at the bank. They son-
tinned this system of crime up to the period of the great
bullion robbery on the South-Eastern Railway. As stated
by Agar in his evidence at the Mansion-house, the proposed
daring act of plunder was first broached by Pierce, and it
was some months ere they could mature their plans fur car-
rying
on their desperate project. Owing to the strict vigi-
lance kept by the police over the different bullion dealers
in the metropolis for some months after the robbery, the
residue of the stolen gold, somewhere about 6,0001., was, as
Agar stated, buried until a favourable opportunity pre-
sented itself for the disposal of the precious spoil. Soon
after this, probably about a month, Agar was apprehended
on the charge of forgery.,. The circumstances under which
he was detected are worth notice• One day in the month
of August last year a man gave information to the For-
resters at the Mansion-house respecting a cheque (forged)
for 7001. on Messrs. Stevenson, Salt, and Co., the Lom-
bard-street bankers, which had to be given to him to get
cashed on a certain day, and of which he had his suspicion,
as he was promised the handsome gift of 5001. if he suc-
ceeded. The man was taken to Messrs. Bush and Mullens,
the solicitors to the Committee of Bankers, who arranged
that ho should act as he had been directed. The man pre-
sented the cheque at the bank named, and received in re-
turn a bag which he supposed to contain sovereigns, and
proceeded to Bedford-row, where the party had appointed
to meet him. After loitering about some time, a well-
dressed man accosted him. It was Agar, who, observing
two men on the opposite side of the street, said, " Come
on, we are watched;" and, on reaching the corner of Piinces-
street, he added, " Sling the stuff over to me and I bolt."
The man did as required, and Agar took to his heels. Ho
was pursued by the two men, who were Goddard, the offi-
cer, and an assistant of the Forresters ; and a desperate
chase took place before he was captured. He denied being
the man, but the bag was found in his possession. Instead
of containing sovereigns, however, they were 700 farthings,
which Mr. Millions had arranged with the bankers to Sub-
stitute for gold. At his trial a paper paroel was produced
which contained nine copper-plates, 69 bank cheques of
Messrs. Coutts and Co., 49 blank cheques of the East of
England Bank at Norwich, and a number of others. These
were stated by the prosecution to have been placed by
Agar in a party's hands for security. The clerks of Messrs.
Glyn and Co. and Messrs. Coutts and Co. proved that
some of those blank cheques belonged to customers of
theirs whose places had been burglariously.entered. In two
instances cheques for NU and 8001. had been paid. For-
rester also produced Agar's trunk, which were found at
his lodgings, 7, Stanley-place, Paddington-green. The con-
tents comprised some gold, documents and securities of
value (portions of the proceeds of the sale of the stolen
bullion); but as the prosecutors were not in a position to
prove that it was the produce of any particular forgery,
the judge ordered it to be delivered up to Agar. His de-
fence was, that ho had been ensnared by a third party.
The jury found him guilty of the forgery, and he was
transported for life. Pierce was said to be implicated with
Agar in the forgery, and was included in the indictment
on which Agar was convicted. The part he is supposed to
have taken in the affair was in watching the man to the
bank in Lombard-street ; and seeing him come out with
the bag, as he supposed, containing the gold, hastened off
to apprise Agar of their apparent success. Although 501.
was offered for his apprehension, he continued to evade
the vigilance of the police until taken on' the charge of
stealing the gold. Agar was noted for being an experienced
locksmith. Hisexplanation of the way he got an impression
of the key of the bullion safe, and the mode in which he ma-
nufactured it, showed him to be very quick and skilful in
the art. To him is imputed the making of the duplicate key
which opened the iron safe of Messrs. Rogers, the bankers
in Clement's-lane, ou the occasion of the robbery of 45,000'.
some years since. These and other circumstances, it i;
thought, were communicated to the learned judge who pre-
sided on the trial, and led tothe sentence of transportation
for life being passed upon him, which, to those not ac-
quainted with the career of the convict, was con-
sidered a severe punishment, there being no previous
convictions against him. No doubt some extraordinary
revelations will come out in his cross-examination at the
trial. That he has told all respecting the bullion robbery
there can be but little question, and it remains to be seen
whether ho will make a clean breast of it in respect to his
general vicious course of life. It is stated that when it was
proposed to him that he should become approver he ex-
pressed some desire to screen Tester, the clerk, and Bur-
gess, the guard, and only to give evidence against Pierce.
On being informed, however, tleat it was utterly impos-
sible that such a condition could be obtained, ho relin-
quished all scruples in the matter.
The prisoner William Pierce is about 40 years of age,
and has rather a broad Lancashire dialect. He is married,
and has several children. For many years ho was located
in Cooper's-road, Old Kent-road, where' his wife kept a
kind of lodging-house, his nights being principally scent
at the Windsor Castle in that road, the Swan, Old Kent-
rord, and the Peacock, Kenniogten-lane. Prior to being
employed in the printing ticket department of the South-
Eastern Railway Company, from which ho was discharged
for secretly printing tickets resembling those of a large
railway company, ho appears not to have had any regular
occupation, and mixed with an indifferent class of people.
Daring the time they wore employed in arranging the
plan for effecting the robbery of the bullion, Pierce had to
exercise great caution to prevent being recognised in his
journeys to and from Folkestone. In this, it is stated, ho