The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-12 00:00:00

CAPTURE OF A SWINDLER.

On Friday afternoon a *Yifeh-looking man,
giving as his name Arthur. Walters, was bronght
before the magistrates on a charge of defrauding
the tradesmen in the town 'of goods. The Binning-
hant Journal says :—" The prisoner has recently
been figuring at Cheltenham, where, taking up his
quarters at the Lamb Hotel, he assumed the title
of Sir William Beddingfield. He was accompanied
by a prepossessing young woman, whom he intro-
duced to the proprietors of the hotel as Lady Bed-
dingfield. The couple assumed and stistained.the_
fashionable style of haat ton, and their bill during
their sojourn of one week at the Lamb amounted to
the sum of £9 los. • • 4ir William had reported
that his uncle, recently deceased, had. be-
queathed to' him large ,Cstates abroad, and
that he and Lady Beddingfield were to pro-
ceed to India on the 6th of the present month. The
scantiness of their wardrobe and the absence of
packages at the hotel were accounted for by the
fitatement that Lady Beddingfield had all her
clothes packed for the voyage. During their stay
at the .Lamb Hotel the prisoner favoured many of
the Cheltenham tradesmen with 'orders, and ob-
tained several packages of goods. . When the pair
wet.? about to depart, and on the presentation of
their bill, the host of the Lamb was coolly told by
the prisoner that he had no money, and that a re-
ioittance on account would be sent to him. He,
however, succeeded in stopping the execution of
some extensive orders in Cheltenham. Of course
the matter, get wind, and the fashionable pair-bolted.
After leaving the Spa Sir William and lady are
understood to have walked five miles, put up at a
roadside public-house, incurred a debt of ss. 6d.,
and then departed for Tewkesbury. The next in-
formation we have of the prisoner is that he came
to this town late on Saturday night, the 26th ult.,
and presented himself at Corbett's Hotel, New-
street, where he gave the name of Howell, and he
represented that he had just arrived from Worces-
ter, and that on alighting at the station he had dis-
covered that he had lost his purse. His luggage he
said would not come on until the following Monday,
and being thus without money or luggage, and
having been refused ddmission at one hotel where
he had applied, he expressed a hope that Mr. Cor-
bett would kindly allow him to remain until Mon-
day, when he expected advices from Messrs. Hors-
fall and Son, of Liverpool, of which firm he was -a
representative. As though in corroboration of this
assertion he took from his pocket-book a bill pur-
porting to be drawn by Mr. Copestake, merchant,
Liverpool, and on Mrs. Corbett asking if he had
any objection to allow her to detain•the bill until
he heard from his friends, he at once replied in the
negative, and placed the document in her hands.
He remained at the hotel until Tuesday night,
when he came in late, and expressed regret that he
had. not paid his bill, but that he had that morning
received a .cheque for £5O, which he had been
unable to get cashed, as he had been very closely
engaged with Mr. Horsfall in purchasing goods at
various manufactories in the town. He continued
in the house until Thursday morning, when his bill
was presented to him, but evading its payment he
took his departure and did not return. On the day
before, however, it appears he went to the ware-
house .of Messrs. Barrs and Sons, Edmund-street,
and asked to look at some low-priced umbrellas and
a selection was accordingly submitted to his in-
spection. He examined them, and said he would
call the next morning. He did not keep his word,
but on the Friday he again looked in, when he
stated that he was the African agent of Messrs. C.
Horsfall and Sou, of Liverpool, and after looking
at some more umbrellas he wrote an order counter-
signing his name as Howell, for a quantity in the
name of Messrs. Horsfall, requesting that a few as
patterns should be sent to him at Dingley's Hotel,
Moor-street. Half a dozen were • accordingly that
afternoon forwarded to this address, and left there
for him.
._On the following day he again went to
Messrs. Barrs' warehouse, and said thathe appri.ved
of the patterns, and that they were to send and take
away, with the exception of one which he wished
to retain as a pattern, and he then asked for and re-
ceived another for his own use, and which it was
understood he should pay for. He at the same time
directed that two dozen morn umbrellas at 13s. and
14s. each should be added to his former order, the
whole to be delivered to Messrs. • Horsfall by the
12th January. The samples were sent for to the
hotel the same afternoon, and five were returned.
This . formed the substance of one Charge against
.the prisoner. Mr. Hawkins, .manager for Messrs.
Barrs, having deposed to the foregoing circum-
stances, Mr. G. IL Horsfall, of the firm of C. Hors-
fall and Son, merchants, Liverpool, was examined.
lie stated that he know the prisoner by the name
of Walker, and- that he was in the employ of their
firm some five or .six years ago, and was with them
for nearly three years, when he was discharged.
Ho went out for them to Africa as assistant to the
supercargo, and afterwards as supercargo. He was
not now in any way engaged as their agent, and he
had no authority' to give the order then produced
on their account. ;The prisoner, for whom Mr.
Ilemmant attended to watch the case, when called
upon for his reply to the charge at once admitted
his guilt, but pleaded' that he had come to Bir-
mingham with isomoney in his pocket, and had no
means of obtaining any. lie was then committed
for trial at the sessions., Had not the prisoner been
thus opportunely eetected there can be little doubt
_he would have vicimised other local tradesmen to
a considerable extent, and for a while most pro-
bably, so plausible was his address and manner of
doing business, with impunity. As regards the
young woman who accompanied him from Chelten-
ham, and who is not married to him, she would
appear to have found her way back to that placo,
and a clergyman having taken compassion on her,
very kindly paid her faro to London, she .having
stated that her friends resided at Camberwell."