The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-14 00:00:00

The Union Bank Forgery Case.

OnTburs'layJohn Henry Greatrex, Sewell Grim-
shay?, and Thos. Grimshaw were placed at the bar
of the high Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh,
charged with the forgery of nearly 1,400 E 1 notes of
the Union Bank of Scotland. The indictment

charged the prisoners under the Act 45th Geo. 111.,
cap. 89, with forgery and the possession of forged
documents, as also at common law with forgery and
uttering. There were 21. charges, the first relating
to the forgery of 1,323 notes, as per inventory, in
the premises of Greatrex,who was a photographer in
Glasgow, the second to the possession of these notes,
the third and fourth to the possession on the part of
the Grimshaws of the said notes, and the remaining
charges to the forgery of individual notes, and to
the uttering of them in shops in Glasgow, Greenock,
Stirring, Edinburgh, and Dalkeith. The prisoners
pleaclett " Not Guilty."
The first witnesses called were Mary Gibb, Elizabeth
Robertson, Margaret Sinclair, Elizabeth Kennedy,
and Alexander Hutcheson, who had been employed
by Greatrex. Their testimony was to the effect that
the Grimshaws had in the spring and summer of
1866 come constantly to the premises of Greatrex,
that a room (formerly the laundry of the house)

was cleared for some operations unconnected with

photography, in which the Grimshaws constantly
worked from an early hour in the morning till a late

hour at night, and that Greatrex also spent much of
his time there, especially latterly, when his business
as a photographer began to fall off. A new lock
was put upon the door and no one was allowed to
enter it. Some of the witnesses had seen a small
copper-plate with the word " tine" upjn it ; and
Sinclair, who was the domestic servant, had seen
stones brought to the kitchen fire to dry, on one of
which she had seen something that she thought was

a picture. She was not allowed to go into the laun-
dry for water, as formerly. About the end of July
the things were removed to a room on the street
floor, and she saw a large machine removed which

she now identified as the lithographic press shown

her. The witness Kennedy saw something like the

shape of a £l-note on one of the lithographic stones.
Several Witnesses were then adduced to prove the
materials and apparatus purchased by the prisoners.

A person like Sewell Grimshaw had bought a quan-
tity of " loan" paper, such as is used for bankers'
receipts, and resembling bank note paper, from
William Anderson, stationer, Glasgow. David

Greig, engineer, Klinburgh, bad sold to Greatrex a
lithographic press, on which he hal paid £5, leaving
the balance still due. He bought the press, stating
that he had introduced a new mole of photography.

Alexander Leggie, Edinburgh, received an order in
August for two lithographic stones, to be " nice
cream-coloured and pure, as they are for a parti-
cular purpose." William Spowart had. given Grea-
trex instruction in lithographic printing, and evi-
dence was led as to the purchase by Greatrex and
Sewell Grimshaw of a type case and types, type
leads, and transfer paper. Thu next class of wit-
nesses spoke to the subsequent sale of the materials
so bought at the rooms of Hutcheson and Dixon,
auctioneers. William Telford deposed to purchasing
the press, stones, and rollers, which he gave up to
the police in the condition in which he bought

them. Alexander :Nl‘Call, superintendent of police,
after the forgeries were. rumoured, traced the
lithographic stones to Telford's, and they were then
put into the hands of George M'Denald, litho-
graphic printer, who deposed that them; was no
visible impression on them when he received them,
but, by the application of a preparation: used
for briNging up faint impressions, be brought
up on one of the stones the impression of a Union
Bank note, and on another there were indications

in two places of the word " One." These impres-
sions corresponded exactly with the forged notes.
For lithographing the notes the impression must
have been carried to the stone from a plate by
transfer paper. The numbers on the notes were
evidently stamped in with types. The signatures
appeared to have been written, but the words " p.
accot." and "p. cashier" were impressed on the
stone. John Cairney deposed„..tlrat the forged
notes were producA in two
printings, the word
" One" being printed separately from the rest of the
note. It would probably take four days to print
1,300 cope of the two impressions.
The case was resumed on Friday, when Jane Weir,
who had accompanied Greatrex in his flight to Neu'
York, was examined. She had been for some time in
the employment of Greatrex. The Grimshaws began
to come about the place in Jan., 1866. They took
no part in the photo.-;raphic department, but worked
in a back room formerly used for lumber. Greatrex
often went down to the room where the Grimshaws
were. When Greatrex was wanted in the photogra-
phic department they had often to go down for him
and knock at the door of the secret room, which he
would only partially open. She had seen stones at
the kitchen fire, as if drying; no such things were
used in photography. About six weeks before Great-
rex left Glasgow he told her what they were doing
in the private room. They were out walking, for
they hail become acquainted by that time, when he
told her that he and the Grimshaws had been mak-
ing experiments, and ha 1 found out a way of making
Union Bank notes. They had tried photography,
anti afterwards galvano-photography, but these had
failed, but they had succeeded by engraving the
note on a copper pl mte and transferring it to the
stone for printing. Ile told her it was Sewell Grim-
shaw who engraved the plates, and that Thomas was
to advance the money and give his assistance gene-
rally to the work. On subsequent occasions, almost
daily, Greatrex toll her how the work advanced.
He took her into the room one day when the Grim-
shaws were at dinner and showed her one or two of
the printed notes. She saw the printing press and a
stone upon it from which the first impressions were
evidently being taken in a blue ink. Some time after-
wards Greatrex told her the notes were completed,
and he said he had. written the signatures. She saw
bundles of the notes in a cupboard. About this time
Greatrex proposed to her to leave the country with
him. She was to tell her father she was going on her
holidays, which she did. She went to Aberdeen to
stay with some friends while Greatrex and the Grim-
shaws were to go about the country and get notes ex-
changed. Greatrex came to Aberdeen unexpectedly.
He came to inquire for a remittance of £3O he had
sent her. ,she had received no such remittance. She
had gone to Hosehilt, and had not got the telegram
he sent her from Stirling. The telegram was as
—" From J. 11. Rivers, Stirling, to Jane Weir,
46, Dee-street, Aberdeen. £3O sent. Have you
received it? £6O more sent to-day." Greatrex had
called at Dee-street before following her to Rosehill,
and had got the letter with the £3O, and the £6O
arrived that day. She went with him to Forsyth's
Hotel, and on her return from the station, whither
she had gone to inquire for two boxes which were to
be forwarded in the name of Mr. Rivers, she found
Greatrex in an excited state, he having seen in the
newspapers an account of the discovery of the for.
gery. lie said he should require to leave immedi-
ately, and left for London that evening. He told
her to address to him as " Mr. Gray, Brown's Pri-
vate Strand, London." She left for
London two days after and joined Greatrex. They
then went to Mitchell's lodgings, Waterloo-row,
where they lived for a week. In the course of that
time he was in receipt of the Scotch newspapers
containing the news of the forgery. At the end of
time week they resolved to go to New York, and went
to Southampton together. He took a passage by
the I lerman, and want of-T She waited a
week I:tter for the boxes from Aberdeen, but they
did not come. When she reached New York Greatrex
was on the pier waiting for her. They went first to
a hotel, and afterwards to lodgings, where they
passed as Mr. and Mrs. Parker,which was the name
they sailed under. A few weeks after her arrival
there Greatrex was apprehended by Suprintendent
M'Call, and taken back to Scotland. While in
Aberdeen Greatrex told her that after reading the
newspaper he had burnt the forged notes in his
possession.

Cross-examined--There were no bad notes among
the money sent to her in Aberdeen. Greatrex gave
her money to bring her home from New York.
Evidence was then led to show that Sewell Grim-
shaw was an engraver, and was " so good a work-
man that he generally got the finest jobs," ;::lad that
be had a set of extra line tools. John Gilmour, of