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 of
England and get the notes changed, and he accord-
ingly gave them eight notes of the Bank of England
for 1,0001. each. These notes Elder took to the Bank,
and demanded payment in gold, producing at the
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 filled
the canvas bags with gold, he placed them in the
carpet bag, and was about to take it away, when, to
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 tho
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 Birrnin-
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 steam;
ship, which was then only waiting for the arrival of
the mail, and was about to start for Halifax or Ne's
York. On board this vessel they engaged berths, and
were in a very few hours on their way to Amer'inn
imagining themselves, no doubt, in perfect securitP
and little thinking that such exertions as were ulti-
mately adopted, would be resorted to for their aPPre-
hension, or that one or other of the Forresters Would
speedily be at their heels.
In tracing out these facts considerable difficulty
was experienced. It was hard to say whether Burgess
and Elder had sailed in the Britannia. That they had
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 expeti-
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 iv
a very peculiar manner, an intimate connexion was
found to exist between Burgess and Joseph Elder,
who was known to be a horse-dealer, and the de-
scription of the latter individual having been obtained,
was found exactly to correspond with that of the per•
sonator of Mr. Oxenford. _ .

_ .
John Forrester ascertained that the steam-ship
Britannia had sailed for Halifax on the 6th of Ser,
tember, and application was made to Sir William
Magnay, Bart., then Lord Mayor, who, with hie
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 the
treaty with America, Sir James Graham authorising
the whole of the proceedings.
John Forrester, and, we believe, one of the clerks
of the Bank of England, sailed for 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 all
right" He ascertained that the fugitives had pro-
ceeded to Boston and New York ; thither he followed
them, and from thence to Buffalo, Canada, and
'
Magaie, and back again to Boston, where they, 1,
,I,'
appeared, resided, one of them in a house and lan'
which he had purchased, the other in an inn'
Having discovered that they had placed 7,0001. in
t!
hank, payment was immediately claimed upon tlie
part of the Bank of England. The claim was itnlll,e.,,
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 hangingt.
himself with his pocket-handkerchief in the course °
the night. Burgess was surrounded in the inn '-
„
which he resided, but he ran out at the back door
without hat or coat, and succeeded in getting int°
boat in which were a pair of oars, and in escaping',
aided by the darkness of the night, in the direction(/'
some of the outward-bound vessels.
and
Upon Elder were found 400 sovereigns, —a
amongst Burgess's papers were found 200 more, all
the stocks and securities in which the 7,0001. were
invested, have since, there is every reason to suppose'
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 suc-
ceeded in recovering the whole of the property
which it was plundered, with the exception of tlip
mere expenses incurred by the two persons will cO°l-
- the offence.
We understand that great fears were ascertain
that the measures for apprehending the parties WOll.,
fail, in consequence of an objection on the part of 014.
of the Judges to administer an oath to the afficlit?of
That difficulty, however, was overcome by the act
sending out a clerk from the Bank of England.

Bier Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent left her
residence, Clarence house, St. James's, at ele'ic,r
o'clock, yesterday morning, in a carriage and four'dea
Irogniore House. Her Royal Highness was Allen an
by Lady Charlotte Dundas, Countess Wratishov,
Sir George Couper.

BIRTHS
On the 6th inst., at York House,. Croydon, the lady 01"' G.
Maud, Esq., of a daughter. f Dr
On the 9th inst., at Seymour-street West, the lady
Henry Monro, of a daughter. -gages,
On the 10th inst., at Coblentz, the lady of J. A. --
Esq., of a daughter.
On the 13th inst., at the Grove, Stanmore,
the lady de-
H. Stedman, Esq., of a son. the
On the 13th inst., at Field- gate House, Kenilworth,
lady of Major Campbell, 7th Hussars, of a son.

On the 12th of SepteMdeßr,BartECnbr.ist Church, SiinitiE3st
Indies, Captain Charles E. Mills, of the Artillery, t° "-11118oath,jyr
daughter of William Chadwick,'Esq Octagon,-P
On the 13th inst., at ”u S. E• Pe Starr,
marez, Esq., Captain in Sher Majesty's 74th Regimen,
Charlotte, youngest daughter of the late Hiram Frazer, Esql
Lieutenant J.N.

On the ;tli of August, at, Calcutta,
the et DIED.
RoOn the 9th M must , atnister oSaulieu,f St. JamFrance,u the Honh Mrs'
es'sChrch, in tat city.
,
relict of the late Nevile Reid, Esq., of Runnymede, Be' ~,
On the 12th inst., the Rev. Ellis Roberts, Vicar ofLlanrl)
Denb
Onighshire. h Alr' Jaw°
the 12th inst., at Charlotte-row, Walwort ,
Edward Wharton. tak
On the 13th inst., in Queen-street-place, Southiv
bridge, Edward Ledger, Esq., aged 84.0 f 0;0
R. William Ht
On the 13th inst., Mr. Thomas Locke Williams,
Haymarket, aged 28 _...,:

uNG, °f
London: Printed and Published by MUEDO O
N-' 112,
No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Offieet_,.„ of
Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy in tile Vvu"
kliddleux, Saturday, November 10, 1144