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

CAPTURE OF. A. SWINDLER.

On Friday afternoon a stylish-looking man,
oivine• as his name Arthur Walters, was brought
before the magistrates on a charge of defrauding
the tradesmen in the. town, of goods.. The Birming-
ham. 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 preposs-,essing young woman, whom he intro-
duced to the proprietors of the hotel as Lady Bed-
dingfield. The couple assumed and sustained the
fashionable style of kraut ton, and their bill during
their sojourn of one week at the Lamb amounted to
the sum of £9 10s. Sir William . had reported
that --his uncle, recently deceased, had be-
queathed •to him large estates abroad, and
that he and Lady Bddingfield were to Pro-
ceed to India on the 13th of the present Month. The
scantiness of their wardrobe and the absence of '
packages at the hotel were accounted for by the
statement 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
were about to depart, and on the presentation of
their bill, the host of the Lamb was coolly told by
the priAnier that he had no money, and , that a re-
mittance on account would be sent to him. He,
however, succeeded in stopping the execution of
some Cheltenham.extensive orders in Of course
thematter got wind, nnd 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 lie 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 admission 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.
Be 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,
hilt '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 approved
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 ho should pay for. He at the same time
directed that two dozen more 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, managerfor Messrs.
Barrs,' having deposed to the foregoing circum-
stances, Mr. G. 11. Horsfall, of the firm of C. Hors•
fall and Son, merchants, Liverpool, was examined.
He stated that he knew 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 year:s when he was discharged.
lie went out ter them to Africa as assistant to the
supercargo, and afterwards as supercargo. He was
not now in any way engaged as their agent, and ho
had no authority to give the order then produced
on their account. The prisoner, for whom Mr.
Itsmmant attended to watch the case, when called
upon for his reply to the char;,re at once admitted
his guilt, but pleaded that ue had come to Bir-
mingham with no money in his pocket, and had no
means of obtaining. any. He was then committed
for trial at the sessions.. Had not the prisoner been
thus opportunely detected there can be little doubt
himmletr- of
lie would have viciinikd other local tradesmen to
a considerable extent, and for a while most pro-
bably, so
doing business, with impunity. As regards the
plausible was his address
andfro m Chelten-
ham, manner
appear
poa upmen,a garntdoh
womanvlaiNo, who vi hfs accompaniedoounhodther r
maiv‘.ito him, she would
, amarried
yback to that place,
and a clergy Man having taken compassion on her,
very kindly paid her fare to London, she having
stated that her friends resided at Camberwell;'