The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-18 00:00:00

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—Yome, MARCH 17.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice Crompton.)
CONSPIRACY TO FORGE A WILL.
John Oldershaw, Joseph Sills, the elder, Joseph
Sills, the younger, William Wragg, Sarah Rad-
bourne, and Mary Wragg (all of whom were on
bail), were charged with conspiring together to
forge a will, purporting to be the will of one
John Jackson, and with offering and uttering the
said will.
Mr. Price, Mr. Middleton, and Mr. Shepherd
appeared for the prosecution ; Mr. Temple, Q.C.,
Mr. Blanshard, and Mr. Dearsley, were counsel
for Oldershaw, Radbourne, and the two Wraggs ;
Sills senior, and Sills junior, were not defended.
Mr. Price stated the case. The deceased John
Jackson was a gentleman of considerable property,
and resided at Stapleford, in Nottinglia,msbire. He
was lord of the manor, lived in the manor house,
had extensive landed estates, had a large amount of
personalty, including money in the funds, and in
addition al ways kept a large quantity of cash by him.
He had the patronage of the perpetual curacy of
Stapleford. He was a man of peculiar and eccen-
tric habits, a bachelor, and dared by himself, and
for two or three years previous and up to the
period of his death the prisoner Sarti Radbourne
was his servant of all work. The present prosecu-
tion was instituted by a person named Searson, who
alleged that he was next of kin to the deceased
Mr. Jackson, who departed this life in January,
1854. At the funeral, Searson, the next of kin,
and other relatives we-e present, but at the conclu-
sion of the solemn ceremony, as is usual on such
occasions, no mention was made, or hint thrown
out, that the deceased had made a will. The de-
ceased by the will, which he should be able to prove
as a forgery, left the whole of his real estate, in-
terest, securities, bonds, bills, and general effects to
Sarah Radbourne, who was described as his trustee,
and to her heirs for ever, except as to the annual
sum of 201., which was left to the clergyman of the
perpetual curacy of Stapleford for ever. By this
will Sarah Radbourne was appointed sole execu-
trix and all former wills at any other time were
revoked. It was dated the 24th of Nov., 1853, and
after the usual attestation clause, the names of the
two Sills appeared as the witnesses. In another
part of the will, John Oldershaw, builder, was ap-
pointed trustee under the will. The learned coun-
sel said he should call before the jury a number of
highly respectable witnesses, who would prove that
the will in question was not signed by the deceased,
the sign iture "John Jackson" not being in his
handwriting. He should also show that the de-
ceased never made a will—that nothing could in-
dues him to do so ; and that on the Monday in the
week when he died a person of the name of Fletcher
used every endeavour to persuade Mr. Jackson to
make a will, but in vain. The case for the prosecu-
tion was that this will was made by John Oldershaw
after Mr. Jackson's death signed by the two Sills,
who pretended to be the attesting witnesses ; that
Sarah Radhourne well knew that no will had been
mad* by the deceased, and that she was fully
aware of everything that took place, and was in
fact privy to a forged will being prepared in her
favour. With respect to the Wraggs he might re-
mark that some little time before the death of the
deceased they called upon an individual named
Barker, who was a sort of amateur lawyer, and
knew a little about the making and wording of wills,
and asked him to write out a will for Mr. Jackson
Barker did so, and the Wraggs took the copy of
Ruth will away with them. The wording of this
document displayed some legal knowledge, as it was
must-led in legal terms. The Wraggs subsequently
waited upon Barker, and asked him to forge the
signature of John Jackson to the will, but he re-
fused to do so. Upon this Wm. Wragg offered to
give him 5,000/. to forge the signature, but he still
declined, and before leaving the house Wm. Wragg
undertook to make Barks wife a present of 1,0001.
if she should succeed in persuading her husband to
lowed° to his application. The learned counsel said
he should not be able to prove this by Barker, for
he was now dead, but that his widow would speak
to the facts he had stated. At the funeral of the
deceased, as he had before said, no will was pro-
duced or read, and Sarah Radbourne entered into
possession of the property, took charge of every-
thing, received the rents, and treated the whole of
the effects of the deceased as her own. Eventually
the next of kin, having heard certain rumours re-
specting the property of the late Mr. Jackson, con-
sidered it desirable to assert his rights. He applied
to administer to the estate and effects of the de•
ceased, as being the next of kin, nothing of the will
having been heard of up to that time. This was
opposed by Sarah Radbourne, who put in the will,
protesting that it was the last will and testament of
the person whose signature it bore, and that the
whole of the property had been left to her. It
therefore became necessary that the validity of this
will should be proved, and the attesting witnesses
were called upon to speak to the circumstances con-
nected with the testator signing his name. The
two Sills were consequently required to give
evidence, but not appearing they were committed
to gaol for cmtempt of court. After remaining in
prison for some time they were released,-and they
then gave evidence in the Ecclesiastical Court, de-
posing that Mr. Jackson had duly signed the will,
and that they were the attesting witnesses. At the
same time Oldershaw offered himself as a witness,
upon which Sarah Radbourne appeared to be in
great distress, aid expressed herself as exceedingly
sorry that she had anything to do with the will,
laying the blame upon Oldershaw, as being the
party who had led her into it. This showed cotn-
plicity on the part of Radbourne with the two Sills
and Oldershaw, the latter of whom, in all proba-
bility, had prevailed upon Radbourne to become
his tool in the transaction. The two Sills, while in
gaol, said that they had done in respect to this will
what would transport them in order to serve Older-
shaw and Rad bourne ; that they could tell what
weuld transport them and the whole party ; that
Jackson never signed the will, and that the whole
affair was a fraud and a swindle. In describing the
pens and ink with which the will was alleged to
have been signed, the two Sills, in their evidence,
differed in many important particulars to Older-
shaw, showing that if these parties had been speak-
ing to the real truth there could have been nu such
discrepancy. It was said there was only one ink-
stand in the room where the will was signed, but
the signatures of the two Sills, and that of the de-
ceased, ware written in different colotu.'ed ink, a
sircumstsnce which could not have occurred with
only a single inkstand. In conclusion, the learned
counsel submitted that the whole of the prisoners
had acted in concert with a common design. The
Sills knew full well that they were appending their
names to a forged will, the Wraggs had offered
money for the obtaining of a forged signature of the
deceased, R idbourne knew that Mr. Jackson never
made a will, yet she c mrsented to a will being
forged in her favour, and Oldershaw had been the
principal m ever in the transaction, having
made the female Radbourne his dupe. From all
thesurroun ling circu costa:ices of the case, the learned
counsel said it was clear that the prisoners had con-
spired together in the forging and uttering of the
will in question, and without entering into the
minor details, which would occupy too much time,
he should proceed to call the evidence.
A large number of witnesses were called, showing
that the deceased always refused with great perti
nacity to make a will, that the existence of any such
document was not known until some time after the
funeral of Mr. Jackson, and the facts in connection
with the part the six prisoners took in the prepara-
tion and execution of the alleged forged will were
,
proved in evidence.
The else for the prosecution occupied all day, and
-was not concluded when the report was despatched

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—March 17.

MANSION-HOUSE.—Mr. James Hill and Mr.
Thomas Brough, coal factors, carrying on business
at 28, St. Mary-at-hill, appeared before the Lord
Mayor, in answer to a summons which had been
issued at the instance of Messrs. Harrison and Co.,
owners of the Ratcliffe Colliery, near Newcastle-on-
Tyne, and which charged them with having, as
agents of Messrs. Harrison and Co., converted to
their own use two bills of exchange of the respective
sums of 100(.-13s. 6d. and 1001., which had been
ru
entsted to them for a specific purpose.
Mr. Sleigh appeared in support of the prosecu-
tion ; and Mr. Hobler attended on the pat t of the
defend nts.
Mr. Holder asked for an adjournment or the
case, on the ground that be had only been instructed
in the matter.

Mr. Sleigh resisted the application, paying that
the summons had been issued on the 6th inst., and
that the defendants had therefore had plenty of
time to instruct any professional adviser upon their
behalf. In addition to this witnesses were in at-
tendance from Newcastle and from several bapking
hous3S.

The Lord Mayor, after a short discussion, said
that under all the circumstances the case must be
at once gone into.

Mr. Sieigh—l have the honour to appear
here,
my Lord Mayor, to prosecute this charge against
the defendants; and it is a charge beyond all doubt
of the very greatest importance whether as regards
them or as regards the mercantile community ge"