The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-29 00:00:00

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CAPTURE OF A SWINDLER.

Great excitement prevailed in Newcastle on
Thursday, in consequence of the arrival of Jeremiah
Winks, an absconded bankrupt, in the custody of
Mr. M. Maguire, a private detective belonging to
Liverpool, Maguire having apprehended Winks at
Melbourne. Winks, it seems, before he came to
Newcastle had been an insolvent in Yorkshire ; he
was also an uncertificated bankrupt, and had suf-

fered two years' imprisonment in York Castle for
fraud. But our business men appear to have been
strangely careless in making inquiries with respect
to his antecedents, for he had thrust himself into
respectable mercantile circles, and had been per-
mitted to establish himself unchallenged as a wine
and spirit merchant, as the representative of a large
insurance concern, and as the agent of several dis-
tilleries and breweries. In June of last year he
absconded from Newcastle after realising every-
thing belonging to the estate within his reach. He
took a young woman, his deceased wife's sister,
with him, and married her at Liverpool before he
set sail for Australia. The liabilities upon his estate
were found to be very large, and the assets nearly
nil. It was discovered also that he had been swind-

ling to a large extent, and Maguire was despatched
by the Bankruptcy Court by the overland route to
apprehend him. 'Maguire left Southampton on the
20th of July last, and reached Melbourne on the
10th of September. On arriving at Melbourne he
at once communicated the object of his mission to
the police authorities of that city ; and from Mr.
Nicholson, chief superintendent, and Mr. Scott,
deputy-superintendent, he received the most valu-
able assistance. Having preceded by nearly five
weeks the date at which the expected vessel was
due, he occupied his leisure time by going from
place to place ; but his attentions were pretty
closely confined to Queenscliffe, a station about
50 miles from Melbourne, at which ships were
usually telegraphed from Cape Ottway. Here he
often remained for several hours, and sometimes all
night and all day ; and on the night of the Bth of
October, ascertaining that the Auber Stetsin was

passing through the" Heads," he went out to sea
in an open boat, in company with two members of
the Melbourne detective force. It was a very bitter,
squally night, and in this somewhat perilous situa-
tion they remained till three o'clock in the morning
of the 10th, after an exposure to the elements of
i some four-and-twenty hours. At the expiration of
that period Maguire hailed and, accompanied by
one of the detectives, went on board the long-looked
for vessel, while she lay in the bay at anchor, about
10 or 12 miles from Sandbridge Pier. Provided
with a light he went into the cabin in which lay
the prisoner and his wife asleep. He awakened
them, and made known the purpose of his errand.
At the appearance of the strange visitor Winks
seemed at first to be a good deal surprised; but in
a short time recovering himself he expressed his
satisfaction at being captured, and said he had
thought of returning home by the Great Britain.
The formality of searching was next gone through,
the bankrupt and his wife being separated from
each other while that work was being performed.
Only £75 was found upon them. It was, it
appears, the intention of the fugitive emigrants to
proceed to Ballarat, about 100 miles from Mel-
bourne, where another sister of Mrs. Winks resided.
The vessel having reached the port, the prisoner
was taken into lodgings with his capturer, while
Mrs. Winks and the children were temporarily
accommodated in another part of the city. It
occurred to Maguire that the most advisable course
would. be to take Winks before the magistrates,
but the prisoner expressing his reluctance, on
account of his wife's relations, to go through that
ordeal, his request was kindly complied with.
For the departure of Mrs. Winks and the girls
preparations were now made ; tnd Maguire having,
with a similar spirit of generosity, paid their passage
to Ballarat, and having besides left a little money
in the hands of the stepmother, they proceeded on
their journey. The parting was distinguished by no
extraordinary outburst of feeling on either side, and
Winks soon was homeward hound. For this pur-
pose he embarked, in charge of his detector, cn
board the Roxburgh Castle, on the 15th of October.
There were about 100 passengers besides, and the
passage was rather a rough and tedious one. On
the sth of November, the vessel encountered no
fewer than 60 icebergs, some of which reached the
length of from seven to ten miles. In this preca-
rious position the ship continued for a day and a
half when, by steering a little further northward,
she again got into smooth and unimpeded waters.
Throughout Winks behaved himself in a most
becoming manner; having been previously in-
formed by the officer that if he did so he would
deal with him in a gentlemanly spirit; while, if he
acted otherwise, the consequences would be diffe-
rent. Till within a very short time of the arrival
of the vessel, the fellow-passengers were in total
ignorance of the notorious personage on board.
Winks has been handed over to the magistrates.