The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-16 00:00:00

CAPTURE AND SUICIDE OF
JOSEPH ELDER, THE ACCOMPLICE OF
THE BANK CLERK, BURGESS.
The fact of the fraudulent transfer of 8,0001. stock
by Burgess, one of the clerks of the Bank of England,
by the instrumentality of an accomplice, and the
escape of the parties with that amount in gold, will,
no doubt, be in the recollection of most of our
readers, although the circumstances attending the
case may for the most part be forgotten.
The stock (Consols) sold belonged to Mr. Oxen-
ford, who, we understand, for twenty years held an
appointment in the Customs, but why Burgess and
Elder selected the stock of that gentleman has never
appeared. It was sold on Tuesday, the 3d of Septem-
ber, by means of a party who attended at the Bank,
and falsely personated Mr. Oxenford. The plans of
the parties concerned in this nefarious transaction
were evidently laid with much skill and ingenuity.
Upon inquiry it was ascertained that during several
days before the transfer was effected, they had been
engaged in making the necessary arrangements for
the sale of the stock, and their subsequent flight.
Burgess was at the time absent upon leave from the
authorities, and ought to have returned to his duty in
a week from the date of the period of the commission
of the offence. He did not return at all, and it was
found that he had been actively engaged in the sale
of Mr. Oxenford's stock. Mr. Oxenford upon being
sent for denied that he had made any transfer of
stock, and the matter was forthwith placed in the
hands of Messrs. Freshfield, the Bank Solicitors, who
at once employed John and Daniel Forrester, the
officers, to trace the delinquent clerk and his accom-
plices. Daniel Forrester soon learned that
Burgess had bought a new portmanteau and three
large canvas bags of a Jew, named Solomons, who
resides in Vinegar-yard, and that he caused the port-
manteau, that was yellow, to be painted black, as being
a colour less calculated to attract notice in travelling.
This officer also received correct information that
Burgess hired an open carriage on the morning of the
forgery, and drove his accomplice to the neighbour-
hood of the Bank. The stock was sold by Burgess
for his friend, through the intervention of a broker,
and Burgess and his friend then proceeded to the
Stock-office, where the fraudulent transfer was made.
The stock was paid for principally by a cheque for
8,0001. on Lubbock and Co., and both Burgess and
his companion proceeded to the banking-house of that
firm, and demanded payment of the cheque in gold
The cashier to whom they offered it said he could not
give them so much gold, and that if they wanted
specie to that amount, they must go to the Bank o`r
England and get the notes changed, and be accord-
ingly gave them eight notes of the Bank of England
for 1,0001. each. These notes Elder took to the Ban",
and demanded payment in gold, producing at tbs
same time a carpet bag, out of which he took the
canvas bags which Burgess had the day before pro'
cured to be made in Vinegar-yard. Having fine'
the canvas bags with gold, he placed ttlem in the
carpet bag, and was about to take it away, when, t°
his surprise, he was unable to lift it. Ultimately,
however, he was assisted by two porters, who carried
it to the carriage which appeared to have been wait-
ing for it near the Mansion-house. The parties then&
drove to the place where they had hired the carriage
and took a cab, in which they placed their treasure,
and they then proceeded to a public-house in St.,
Martin's-lane, kept by Benjamin Caunt, the fighting
man, where they hired a room and transferred the
gold to the portmanteau, and otherwise arranged for
their departure from the kingdom. Having dined at
Caunt's house, they proceeded at seven o'clock in the
evening to the station of the Londom and Birmiar
ham Railway, where they took the mail train for Li-
verpool. On their arrival at Liverpool next morning
they instantly went on board the Britannia steonn
ship, which was then only waiting for the arrival 01
the mail, and was about to start for Halifax air Nell
York. On board this vessel they engaged berths, awl',
were in a very few hours on their way to Amer,ics
imagining themselves, no doubt, in perket security,
and little thinking that such exertions_ as were ulti-
mately adopted, would be resorted V', for their appre-
hension, or that one or other of th' Forresters would
speedily be at their heels.
In tracing out these facts considerable difficulty'
was experienced. It was hard to say whether Burgos,
and Elder had sailed in the Britannia. That they bad
gone on board there was no doubt, but it was repre-
sented that at the time they got on board there was
only one berth available. After much minute in-
quiry, however, the Forresters could not learn that
they had ever come ashore after having once entered
the vessel, and Messrs. Freshfield immediately re-
solved to dispatch John Forrester to make an experi'
ment of his skill and energy in tracing the fugitives
and the cash, and endeavouring to get both men and
money into his gripe in the New World.
In the course of the inquiries, which were made in
a very peculiar manner, an intimate connexion Was'
found to exist between Burgess and Joseph
who was known, to be a horse-dealer, and the de-
scription of the latter individual having
een obtained,
was found exactly to correspond with that of the par
sonator of Mr. Oxenford.
John Forrester ascertained that the steam-ship
Britannia had sailed for Halifax on the 6th of SeP'
tember, and application was made to Sir William
Magnay, Bart., then Lord Mayor, who, with bie
accustomed zeal and promptitude in forwarding the
ends of justice, rendered every requisite assistance-
Depositions were prepared, and all measures were
adopted for the apprehension of the parties under
tu'fr
treaty with America, Sir James Graham authorisi9g
the whole of the proceedings.
John Forrester, and, we believe, one of the clerks
of the Bank of England, sailed for r Halifax on the
19th of September, in the next steam-boat (the Cale'
donia) that left Liverpool.
Upon arriving at Halifax the indefatigable officer
found, to use his own language, "that
it was aIY
right." He ascertained that the fugitives bad pre
ceeded to Boston and New York ; thither he followed
them, and from thence to Buffalo, Canada, anu;
Magaie, and back again to Boston where they,
';
appeared, resided, one of them in a 'house al'id
lan
which he had purchased, the other in, an
Having discovered that they had placed 7,000/.
in a
hank, payment was immediately claimed upon the
part of the Bank of England. The; claim was irnmeL
diately followed by the apprehension of Elder in !.;
house. He was taken before one of the tribunals for
examination, and was remanded for further examine'
tion next day, but the wretched man put an end '-
the inquiry, as far as he was concerned, by hanging
himself with his pocket-handkerchief in the course 0
the night. Burgess was surrounded in the inn ir which he resided, but he ran out at the beck door
without hat or coat, and succeeded in
setting into -
boat in which were a pp ir of oars, anti in escaping}
aided by the darkne.,ss athe night, ill the direction
some of the oll4„ward-bound vessels.
Upon alder were found 400 sovereigns, Oa
amr:;dgst Burgess's papers were found 200 more, a%
the stocks and securities in which the 7,0001. were
invested, have since, there is every reason to supPee'''
been made over to the agent of the Bank.
Thus, by the prompt and resolute mode adopted hi
the solicitors to the Bank, has the establishment sae;
ceeded in recovering the whole of the property a`
which it was plundered, with the exception of the
mere expenses incurred by the two persons who cony'
mitted the offence.
We understand that great fears were ascertained
that the measures for apprehending the
parties Would
fail, in consequence of an objection on the part of 011.,
of the Judges to administer an oath to the affidaYl7
That difficulty, however, was overcome by the act of
sending out a clerk from the Bank of England.

---
Tier Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent left her
residence, Clarence House, St. Jamesis.,, at elevi.el:.
o'clock yesterday morning, in a carriage and four, Ici
l`rogmore House. Her Royal Highness was attend
.a
by Lady Charlotte Dundas, Countess Wratislaw, a"
Sir George Couper, _

BIRTHS. On the 6th inst., at York House, Croydon, the lady ()L i"' G.
Maud, Esq , of a daughter.
On the 9th inst., at Seymour-street West, the lady of Dr
Henry lltlonro, of a daughter.
On the 10th inst., at Coblentz, the lady of J. T. vr.nr•ea% ,
EN., of a daughter.
On the 13th inst., at the Grove, Stanmore, the lady of C.
H. Stedman, Esq., of a son. On the 13th inst.,., at Field-gate House, Kenilworth,the
lady of Major Campbell, 7th Hussars, of a son.

ARRED.
On the 12th of SeptemM
ber, at I
Christ Church, Simla, Est
Indies, Captain Charles E. Mills, of the Artillery, to SeearinA.
daughter of William Chadwick, Esq., Octagon, prouth•
On the 13th inst., at St. James's Church, S. •De Sal:
mare; Esq., Captain in her Majesty's 74th Regiment, to
Charlotte, youngest daughter of the late Hiram Frazer, Ea+,
Lieutenant R.N.

DIED.
On the 7th of August, at Calcutta, the Rev. Wilms 11
relict of otfh
Ross, M.A., Minister of St. James's Church, in that city.
Oi ,
teh9ethlatinesNt.,evaitieSaßtieli Es
sFr.a, France,
Re,
unnyin
the Hoedne.,li Bert.
Be',
rel
On the 12th inst., the Rev.Ellisq Roberts, Vicar ofLlanYn. Ys'
Denbighshire. JawsJawsOn the 12th inst., at Charlotte-row, Walworth, r •
Edward Wharton.
On the 13th inst., in Queen-street-place, Southwark"
bridge, EeMilf.) Ledger, Esq., aged 84. of this
OA the 13th inst., Mr. Thomas Locke Williams,
lismarket, aged 28,

London: Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG of
No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112;
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the Coun t,'
Middlesex, Saturday, November 16,1844