The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-05 00:00:00

LAMBETH.

Henry Taylor, Henry Toplis, and Jane Conville,
were placed at the bar before Mr. Elliott, for further
examination, on a charge of being concerned in an
extensive robbery at the dwelling-house of Mr.
George Stiff, proprietor of the Weekly Times and
London Journal, in Streatham-place, Brixton.
Mr. Parry, the barrister, attended to prosecute,
and Mr. Games appeared on behalf of Taylor and
Toplis. _ _ _

From the statement of Mr. Parry it appeared that
the robbery had been craftily and cunningly con-
trived, and that property, consisting of gold and
silver plate, and a gold box, amounting to over 1001.,
were carried away. It seemed that the prosecutor (Mr.
Stiff) has a printing establishment close to his country
residence, at which the London Journal is composed
and printed, and that at this establishment the pri-
soner Taylor and Toplis had been engaged us com-
positors but a fortnight before the robbery. Toplis
had been discharged. On the evening of Tuesday
week a young man knocked at the front door, and
'upon its being answered, and told that it was the
residence of Mr. Stiff, he said that a serious acci-
dent had occurred at Mr. Stiff's shop in the
Strand; that a heavy weight had fallen on the
young woman there, and that her sister, if
she wished to find her alive, must hasten there
as fast as she could. Fanny Ploughman, the house-
keeper of Mr. Stiff, and the person thus addressed,
believing the young man's representation, and having
no person in the house at the time, locked all the
doors carefully, and by the aid of a cab got to the
Strand as quickly as possible. Oa entering her mas-
ter's publishing establishment, she saw her sister, and
was satisfied that she had been hoaxed, but on her re-
tnrn to Brixton she discovered that, during her ab-
sence, the house had been entered by thieves, all the
rooms ransacked, and about 201. in gold and silver, a
gold watch, several articles of plate, and a gold
snuffbox carried away. Suspicion was attached to
the male prisoner, from Taylor having been identified
as one of three persons who were seen in front of Mr.
Stiff's house about the time of the robbery, and his
companion Toplis alto strongly resembling one of
them. A stronger suspicion attached to Taylor from
his telling a fellow-workman, some time before the
robbery, that it was his intention to plant Costello (a
discharged compositor) and others in the house of his
master. It was further proved that Taylor, on the
Monday after the robbery, had sent a lad in the em-
ploy of Mr. Stiff, to post a letter, addressed to Cos-
tello, at his lodgings in Parker-street, Drury-lane,
though on the same day he denied all knowledge as
to the place of residence of Costello. The only sus-
picion attached to the female is that of her living with
Costello, and a print belonging
been found at her lodgings. to Mr. Stiff having
On the part of Toplis, Mr. Games called a respect-
able-looking female named Blackmore and her
daughter, both of whom swore positively that on the
cvening of the robbery that person had been in their
presence in the Southwark-bridge -road, from 5 to 7
o'clock.

Witnesses were also called to prove an alibi on the
part of Taylor, but their testimonynot was so
perfect innocence of both of his
satis-
factory,theitccleads
iathteevipcliacciety heof
Awiar.s
stitrs
alleged to be at was in
Mr. Games, upon the strength of the evidence pro--
qtuheested their immediatepremises.
on the contrary, urgedcdluiAcccierdts.„ urgedpsoadrrrye,
discharge.
engaged with a further re.
expectation of much stronger evi-
dence mand, on the assertion of Inspector Ernmerson and
the him in the inquiry,
on a future day. The Learned Gentleman also
urged the remand on another ground, and that was,
that from all the evidence, it was quite palpable that
the robbery must have been
that they were in
committed by a person
perfectly acquainted with the house. In proof of this,
he mentioned that a gold box, presented to Air. Stiff
by the persons employed by him, as a mark of esteem
and respect, and upon which he had set such a value,
as to offer a reward of 501. for its recovery, had been
taken from inside a pianoforte, where it had been placed
for better a?curit3'.
Mr. ELLIOTT did not feel justified in further detain-
ing Toplis or the female prisoner, but remanded Tay-
lor to a future daY

EXTRAORDINARY SEIZURE of STOLEN
PLATE and JEWELLERY in the CI 7'Y.
A very remarkable seizure of stolen property of
the most valuable description was effected yesterday
by the officers of the Detective Police Force, on the.
premises of a gold and silver refiner, hitherto having
gy named Richards, of Bootle, near
a high character in the trade, and carrying on exten-
sive business in the heart of the city of London.
Within the past few days a robbery of plate to a
very large amount from the residence of a Roman
Catholic clergyman
Liverpool,' has
been reported to the authorities at
Scotland-yard, who, on being made acquainted with
the circumstances at once
placed the matter in the
hands of Inspector Lund and Sergeants Whither and
Shaw, three active officers of the detective force,' for
,
investigation, The result of the inquiries made by
these officers was a visit on their part, about noon on
Wednesday last to the
extensive premises of Mr.
Thomas Charles Sirrell, gold and silver refiner, of 53
and 54, Barbican.on entering the shop Mr.
U b, r.
i,u n d thattol d morning.
m r
Lund at once directtd his brother officers to seize
two large packages which were
lying upon the coun-
,
p
ter, and at the same moment, addressing Mr. Sirrell,
he inquired whether he had received a letter from
Liverpool
had, and at once handed a letter over to Mr. Lund
for his inspection.
. SAirf tr eerl 11‘r
gtihlaa.ntell
it at its contents,
as his unpleasant
duty to inform him that he must consider himself in
custody on suspicion of receiving stolen goods.
The two packages referred to were then opened,
and their contents found to consist of the produce of
two robberies recently effected in the neighbourhood
of Liverpool, one of them being that of Mr. Richards,
of Bootle. Mr. Lund having satisfied himself' thus
Sirrell
w replied that he
far, now left the house and premises in charge of
Sergeants Whicher and Shaw, and himself proceeded
to the Lothbury offices of the Electric Telegraph
Company. Arriving there, he availed himself of the
information gained from the letter handed to him by
Mr. Sirrell, and telegraphed to Mr. Dowling, the
chief of the Liverpool police, requesting that he would
immediately apprehend two persons named Macaulay
and Maguire, whose addresses • and description were
given. Mr. Lund then returned to Barbican, and
by his direction Mr. Sirrell was conveyed in custody
to the King-steeef station of the police force; in
Westminster. Within a short half hour telegraphic

intelligence was received in London, from Mr. Dow-
ling, to the effect that both Macaulay and Maguire
were in custody. It was also suggested that Mr.
Sirrell might be sent down to Liverpool, to be
brought up in custody with the supposed thieves on
the following day. The Commissioners of Police
having been consulted, considered this to be the best
arrangement, and Mr. Sirrell was accordingly sent
down in custody on Wednesday night.
Meantime officers had been left in charge of his
premises, and a very superficial examination of the
stock contained in the two houses disclosed consider-
able proof of the nature of his dealings. An immense
quantity of plate bearing crests and cyphers, and evi-
dently stolen property, was found in various places,
and no less than five crucibles were at work when the
officers entered. The number of watches discovered
is almost incredible—upwards of 300 of them have
the cures torn off, and only the works are remaining.
Among the others are several costly gold watches with
seals and appendages complete, and altogether the
amount of propsrty supposed to be stolen, which has
been taken possession ot; is said to exceed in value any
seizure since the days of Ikey S','jmons.
In the course of Thursday and yesterday, all the
stock of plate and jewellery was removed by the police
from the premises, and taken to Scotland-yard, where
it will remain for the present for the purpose of iden-
tification. Mr. Sirrell has been in business in the
same shop for 37 years. He is a widower, and has
only one child, a daughter, aged about 20 years. His
business was carried on in a most liberal style, and he
always employed three shopmen.
The prisoners were brought up before the county
magistrates at Liverpool on Thursday, and, after
hearing the formal charge, the magistrates remanded
them until Tuesday next.
The very complete manner in which the officers of
the detective force, with Mr. Lund at their head, per-
formed the difficult duty intrusted to them, has given
great satisfaction to all parties.