The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-12 00:00:00

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TIIE WILLS FOIIGERIES.
• - -
CENTRAL CRIMINAL COT/RT.
OLD (_:Ol71:7'.
. ,
(11,:fure 311% Partin G RNLI', Mr. JuAiec
and Mr. Justice MAULE.)
Shortly. after ten o'clock, their Lordships , took their
seat; on the bench, and William Henry Bai.bee,...ft,shaa
Fletcher, and Georgiana !)prey were then plated at the
bar foe trial.
Befeire the indictment was real over, ,-• •
lir. WILKI'Ss said he had an applicatic.:n to to
the Court, on behalf. of the prisoner Itarb.y. Althc.ttg.h
he had pledged hiniFelf yesterday not to challenge the
jurors, he had now an affidavit which stated that justice
could not be done to the prisoner, unless he had a. sepal.
rate trial. In case the Court granted this, Barbty would
cal. the oiler prisoners as what sees on his behalf, and
their evidence would be very material to its defence.
Mr. Baron GURNEY asked the Attorney-General
whether he had any objection to the proposell course.
The ATTORNEY-JANNE:RAI. COUNT not _consent to: it,. he
believing that it a ould greatly e,nbarrass trio preeecution.
Mr. Parry (who was with Mr.- Wilkins) referred to
the trial ~t. llardw a:21.1 other::, u attl.,rding a precedent
for the applicatien.
Mr. Baron 01,7touv said he thought the application
could not be made as a matter of right.
After some discussion, the application was. refused.
The indictment having been read over at length,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL rose .to address. the. juil
on behalf of the prose•mtion. Ile entreated, the
'patient attention of the jury while he stated' the fatra
which were necessary to enable them to under-
stand the evidence which would he brought in support of
this charge. The accusation . was connected with an
offence of a novel description, and it affected persons
who had hitherto moved in good society, and maintained
a creditable name. It would be idle to . conceal
that the matters to be brought before them had already
been the subject of much publication, . but he trusted
that they would forget all that they had, either heard or
seen-with reference to the transactions which were to he
the subject of-inquiry that day, and he had no doubt
they would faithfully and fearlessly discliarge their duty.
The case was this.' One of the prisoners.was charged
with publishing a forged bond, and the others .were
charged with being accessories before the.. fact. To
spook in more popular language, the offence charged was
titat of procuring, by false and fraudulent means, the
transfer of a sum of money from the unclaimed Stock
which was transferred to the Commissioners for the Re-
duction of the National Debt. lie desired to.state, with
as much calmness and simplicity as possible, facts which
would undoubtedly be proved in evidence,•and he should
abstain from any comments, except . such- as weie
necssary to enable the jury to understand. the bearing of
the entire case as respected the individuals charged. He
could not forbear from stating that if, in his judgment, it
had not been essential fur the ends of justice that • the
prisoners should be tried together, he would have ac-
ceded to his Learned Friend's application. Having
worked, however, together—whcther honestly or other-
wise, he thought it impossible to judge of the conduct of
the others ; neither did he think that the defence of any
one of the prisoners would be at all affected by their
being tried at the same time. It was necessary to state
that by a law, which was passed 30 or 40 years ago, itwas
• provided that if stock had remained without any claim-
ant for ten years, it should, at the expiration of that time,
be transferred to the Commissioners for the Reduction of
the National Debt ; but care was taken that the claim of
any one who was entitled to it should not be prejudiced
by that circumstance. There were three prisoners be-
fore the jury ; a fourth was included in the indictment,
who died in the year 1841. William Henry Barber-was_
an attorney, who had been in practice in Bridge-street,
Blackfriars, before this charge was brought; Joshua
Fletcher was a person who had certainly never been
suspected of anything of this description until the in-
quiries which took place before the Lord Mayor ;- the
other prisoner, Georgians. Dorey, was the wife
of a respectable tradesman in Oxford-street ; and
the charge against them was that Susauah Richards
deceased, published a forged bond with a view
to obtain possession of some stock by that means, and
that the said prisoners in some way or other lent their
assistance in obtaining that stock. In the year 1826
there was standing in the Bank of England, in the name
of " John Stewart, of Great Marlow, in the county of
Bucks, gardener," a sum producing 51/. per annum in
the Long Annuities. -It appeared that Mr. Stewart re-
ceived the last dividend on this stock on the sth of April
preceding his death,. and that he died on the 13th of
March, 1827. The divaltaids remained unclaimed
down to the 11th of October, 1836, when, in
pursuance of the Act of Parliament, it was
transferred to the Commissioners for the Reduction
of the National Debt. John Stewart was head-gardener
to a gentleman of the name of Strode, residing at Great
Marlow. He was born in Scotland, and lived there till he
was teenty- years old. His history could be pretty well
traced. Iron' his own statement, it appeared that he
had no relative except a brother; he had no sister. He
had nut heard of his brother for many years before he
died. None of those who knew him ever heard him
speak of a sister, nor was there any trace of any such
person ever having been in existence. Now, to prevent
claims 'from being made which were unfounded,. care
was tatien that th stock transferred to the Commis-
sioners of the National Debt should not become matter
of public notoriety. Claims of this sort were not guarded
by the vigilance of opposing individual interests on the
other side, and it was necessary, therefore, to be very
cautious. Still some persons must be aware of a tran-
saction which was publicly and formally done.. Mr.
Stewart having died in 1827, and the stock haying been
• transferred in 1836, his death became known to Barber
and Fletcher. Fletcher went down to Great Marlow,
and stayed a short time at the Greyhound Inn,
kept by a person of • the name of -Hyatt.
Inquiries were made by hini in the name of G. Jones,
24, Little Guildfortbstreet, Russell-square. Ho was in-
structed that there was no doubt of the identity of Flet-
cher as a person who made inquiries of a number of old
persons respecting John Stewart, under this false name.
Several witnesses would identify him as that person.
But he would be still better identified by a letter' which
he wrote on the 25th of June, 1840, to a person whom
he had seen, named 'William Winsor. The Learned
Counsel then read a letter dated June 25, 1840, and
giving the address 24, Guildford-street, Russell-
square, London, referring to a promise which. Winsor
had made-to furnish Fletcher with information respect-
ing Mr. Stewart, and requesting that he would.send any
which he had obtained. It was stated in this letter, that
the writer had discovered that Stewart had. bad a sister
living about 12 years since in America. The letter was
signed "G. Jones." The house to which it was addressee
was that of -Miss Hawkes, who, at. the request of
Georgians Dorey, had consented that letters for
Barber and Fletcher might be directed to her
house, whence they would be forwarded to some
other place. Shortly after Fletcher had been at Great
Marlow, the prisoner Barber went down. The name
which he gave was that of " Clarence Peckham, Esq.,"
and he believed it would be clearly established that the
• prisoner Barber was the person who went there under
that name. He gave, as his residence, "52, Nelson-
square," which was his real place of abode. One of
the witnesses went up to London and saw him
at 52, Nelson-square. The object of these inquiries by
Fletcher and Barber was apparently to find out the con-
nections of John Stewart ; to discover what was his
history ; where he had lived, and where be came from t
and it would be for the jury to judge whether the in-
quiries were made for the purpose of bringing forward a
false claim, and being enabled to give to it the appearance
of consistency and truth. They Would find that while
Barber was at Great Marlow, .he spoke of the visits-paid
by Fletcher, under the name of Jones, and he mentioned
Jones as being his friend, and as belonging, in „feet. to
the same firm. Now the next set of circumstances
which he had to introduce to their attention,
referred to the conduct of Mrs. Richards, de-
ceased—the mother of the prisoner Georgians Dore/.
In the month of June, 1840, Georgians Dorey! who
was not then married, was living with her
of
ii.
Itathbone-place, with a person of the name owt. aYeharyld5 ,
who would be called as a witness. Mrs. a
re-
moved from Rathbune-place to No. 1,. Southern"-
ton-terrace, Camberwell. She went the re as aessa
Stewart, in which name letters. were
addressed
to leer, and she was visited almost every
day b
.) the pri-
soner
_er the name of Stewart. This old lad Fletcher, who inquired about the.] ping
obtained
ing for her
under
letters of administration as the sister of John Stewart.
The stock was transferred back again under the name
of Elizabeth Stewart, and the dividends were paid a few
days after the administration was perfected. On the part
of the proSecution it was alleged that Fletcher and
andit
Barber
pfourrpthoseejoufryobtotasiamynwg-hpoet,lsrerssittonwaso
Barber knew perfectly well that fraud was going fur.
nthwoiletrdcstock. Shortly after Elizabeth Stewart had taken
the lodging at Camberwell, Fletcher went with hie to
the office of a proctor of the name of Hunt,
and on the 31st of July, 1840, she made an
affidavit for the purpose of obtaining letters
of administration. There was a very wholesome rule St
Doctors' Commons, that when an individual cams for-
ward claiming to administer the affairs of a deceased
party, some time after death, he , should give some
reason for the delay. -And, accordingly, this affidavit
was made to account for the delay in this instance. The
Learned Counsel then read the affidaviti stating
that Elizabeth Stewart was the only sister, and nest of
kin of John Stewart, and that she was residing in New
York at the time of his death, and was not aware of the
fact until the month of May in the previous year, when
she returned to this country. It was Aionsidered, how-
ever, that sufficient information had not been given.
The duty of 45/. was paid, being advanced by-Fletcher,
but it was necessary there should be two sureties Sn'join
Elia. Stewart before she could obtain letters ofads, tni2 nDisure:
tsitornee. Duke-
street, Groletchsverengoart:ci
estuhaerne,amtaeiloofr,Thanods. Gurir.ffi..Pitt,
or his
-clerk, procured some other person to be surety, thinking.
that there could be no danger in so doing. The bond
was executed before the surrogate; and upon its being
executed, the letters of administration were granted. In
addition to the affidavit for the purpose of satisfying the
registrar there was a certificate of the baptism of Jolat
Stewart and of Elizabeth Stewart ; but the baptism of J.
Stewart and it was represented to
have token
wasland, but in the, parish of
is76eol
Marylcbone, Middlesex. The certificate of Elizabeth
• Satree place, the
notyeairn
Stewart was also of the same parish. There could be no
• doubt that John Stewart, to whom this stock
had belonged, came from Scotland, • and docu-
ments would be put in, which. were found
after his death, showing his personal. history. It was
quite right that he should state that Barber was acting
avowedly in the capacity of attorney to the parties.
It would be for the jury to say whether he
• had any guilty knowledge of this transactor.
The Learned Counsel then read the -remainder of the
document, explaining why Miss Stewart bad . not before