The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-17 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY INVESTIGATION.

At the Thames Police-court, this day, Mrs. Susan
Mason, an elderly woman, of Bedford-row, Maid-
stone, Kent ; Mrs. Catherine Walker, of Nc. 4,
Hanover-court, Hanover•street, Rotherhithe ; and
Mr. James Johnson, proprietor of the Eastern
Saloon, better known as the Penny Gaff, opposite

Limehouse Church, came before Mr. Yardley to

claim a boy about 12 years old, whose name is
either Brotherton or Walker, and who has been
for many years in the service of Johnson as a
tumbler, and who was for one season engaged as a
sprite in a Christmas pantomime at a minor theatre.

The boy, a sharp fellow, with an intelligent face,
Was present.

Mr. Livingston, chief usher, said that the boy
was given up to his mother upon her application a
few weeks ago, and she then said that the child was
stolen from her in Kent a few years ago, and sold
to Johnson for 30s.

Another woman, Mrs. Mason, claimed the child
as her grandson yesterday, and said that her
daughter (since dead) was his mother, and James
Brotherton, basket maker, of Canterbury, his
father, and that he was born in that city.
Mrs. Walker said the boy was born in Ber-
mondsey, and put in a certificate of baptism in the
Roman Catholic Church, Dockhead, from which it
appeared that Jeremiah Walker, son of Jeremiah
and Catherine Walker, was baptised on the 4th of
July, 1846. He was now within three months of
13 years of age.
Mrs. Mason—He is my grandson.
Mrs. Walker—lt is false ;heis my son, and you
are not my mother.

Mr. Yardley said he was not going to try a
question of the identity of a mother or the identity
of a son. He asked the boy which of the claimants
he preferred?
The boy clung to Mrs. Walker, and said, " This
is my mother, and I wish to be with her."
Mrs. Walker—To be sure, he is my own darling
boy.
Mr. Yardley—How do you know him ?

Mrs. Walker—By a mole on his left side, and
five cowpox marks on his left arm. I saw him
vaccinated.

Mr. Yardley—Millions of people have cowpox
marks on their arms. Is his father alive ?

Mrs. Walker—My husband, his father, is alive.
Mrs. Mason was then questioned, and said she
believed her daughter was dead. • Her daughter
gave birth to a son, and she was afterwards informed
that child was stolen by another woman, and sold
to a showman.

Mr. Yardley said that no doubt Mrs. Mason's
daughter lost a child, but that did not settle the
question that the boy was Mrs. Mason's grandson.
Mrs. Mason said she claimed the boy of Johnson
five months ago.
Mr. Yardley—Why let him remain with him ?
Mrs. Mason—l thought he was in good hands,
and in a fair way of obtaining his living.
Mr. Yardley made inquiries of the boy how he
had been treated by Mrs. Walker, to which he re-
plied, very well, and that he was sent to a ragged
school.

Mr. Yardley said two women lost a child eight
and a half years ago, and the boy could not be the
son of both. He would recommend that the, child
be left in the care of Mrs. Walker, whom he pre-
ferred for the present. He asked what sort of a
place Hanover-court was ?
Inspector Bean, of the K division, said it was a
most wretched pine.

Mr. Yardley directed that the police in Rother-
hithe should look after the welfare of the boy, and
take care ho was not stolen or sold again. The
boy was very lively and intelligent, and he hoped
every care would be taken of him. Mrs. Walker
was a person of drunken habits; but if she' was the
boy's mother she had a right to his custody.
William Collins said he was formerly in the
employ of Johnson as a musician, and saw that
person ill-use the boy in a shameful manner, and
compelled the boy to relieve his necessities on the
floor. He expostulated with Johnson, who said,
" He is not my child ; I bought him for a shilling
and a pot of beer."

Mrs: Mason—The mother took that child from

h? house.

Mr. Yardley said he had done with the case, and
the only way Mrs. Mason could pursue her claim
for the child was by application to the judges for
a writ of habeas corpus ; and, if she made out the
child was her grandson, he would be delivered to
her.

The parties then retired, quarrelling with each
other.

STATE OF TRADE.

LEICESTER, Feb. 16.—There is a fair amount of
business doing in the hosiery trade for the period
of the year ; all useful goods are in request, at
fair prices. The fancy trade continues dull. At
Loughborough, Hinckley, and other county
hosiery districts, trade continues tolerably active,
and the framework knitters, both in Leicester and
the districts around, arc well employed. The pro-
spects of ahealthy spring trade are good. Spinners
are pretty well employed.
NOTTINGHAM, 16th.—The lace trade has slightly
improved during the week ; more is doing in plain
nets, Mechlin nets, and Mechlin quiltings, and,
indeed, the cotton branch generally is in an im-
proved condition ; future prospects are also good.
In silk goods the trade is exceedingly quiet. The
hosiery trade continues extremely brisk, nearly all
branches partaking of the buoyancy. Manufacturers
have plenty of orders on hand, and all arc antici-
pating a good spring trade. The home department
is brisk, and all useful goods are in demand. Stocks
on hand are extremely low, and have been so for
some time past. In the country districts, where
hosiery is the staple manufacture, the operatives
are well employed. Yarns are in good request,
and firm.