The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-07-26 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE•

y
CROWN COURT, BUCKINGHAM.-,L3' J 9
ii

.13
Edward Tavernor, William Millard, and Catharl to ,lf /
Thomas Herbert, were capitally indicted for feloni° tirnr
ing a certain letter, containing twelve £lO country baeral
from and out of a letter-bag transmitted from the Gen
office. It eOl
Mr. Serjeant Storks (with whom was Mr. 518-,l)ecor,
the case. It appeared iu evidence that on the 16th 0' .0
last, the banking-house of Messrs. Cobb, atßanburY, hie
shire, had occasion to transmit twelve £lO notes of "`:„.,l3o`ir/
of Messrs. Oliver and Yorke to them at their baal‘jarthelii
Stoney-Stratford, in this county. These notes werf 13,151,;
enclosed in a letter, which was put into the post 3' of,Yi;
directed to Oliver and Yorke. The letter was for,' sooriii
London on the day above-mentioned. and on the fol'°lettef(
was sent to Stratford by the Liverpool mail.
r"toit 4
contained in the Stoney-Stratford bag, which was 10 tbeeii.
other bags) enclosed in a leathern sack, and put on t,,.611,0
When the mail passed through the Highgate archw%Oy
and its important contents were safe, but it was otd
the coach arrived at Finchley. The guard dismoo°,ll7
diately, and ran back to Highgate archway, diligea
ing for the lost sack, and inquiring of every 0110 t
met or overtook whether he had seen it, but wit'fbrisecyj
any tidings of it. Months passed over, and no 11/1,, tow
the bag or of its contents could be obtained. At t••"-e of t,,p
loss, the prisoner Tavernor was lodging in the bousveryi
band of the female prisoner at Newport Pagnell, bill at gat(
afterwards he quitted that town and went to resilor.y,
in Bedfordshire, at the house of one Wagstaff, a to
°d
at that time in a state of the utmost destitution aof C
having scarcely clothing sufficient for the pUrpOSeS„
On the 15th of January, however, he gave WagstaocilAo;,:
of the bank of Oliver and Yorke, which he requestee,
changed for gold, which was accordingly
following day he purchased a hat and some stof that ~4d.
for which he paid with another of the £lO notes °
and a few days afterwards he parted with a similar
aitbow,
picion being raised by this unlooked-for display of We. r
police-efficers went to Potton ; butt e prisoner Ta'eotiitri.
left that place, they followed him from county to
~0
last he was discovered at Southampton. He bad the /
Stratford notes on his person at this time. All
ved.re„ri•
passed by or found on Tavernor were clearly l'rt°„
OP
formed part of those which were in the letter sent pit
Yorke, and lost in the manner before mentioned'
to this evidence against 'ravernor, it was show" i 0 ttely
given many contradictory accounts of the mannerilslote•
acquired the notes. In one of his statements he lot toy
he opened several of the letters which were in the, iti
that the bank-notes were taken out of one of tvia olorl
sence ; but he on no occasion admitted that he haw Die
bag of letters and taken from it that iu questions
offence with which he was charged. As agaillstb,/
whom none of the notes were found, it appeare° ."boc.,Yr
fession that he and the husband of the female Pr" Vii,el;
the evenin of the loss, travelling in a cart fol'
that near Finchley the wheel of their vehicle Passel. os4o'll,
they got out of the cart, and discovered the lost d code,,A
bags and letters. Millard put it into the cart,, a'resetio,;',4
to Herbert's house, where it was opened in the°lll,lo`.se'Yer
that of Tavernor ; and in it was found the letter 0-00410/
its valuable enclosure. The whole of the alone:Y.l 1)°,0'?,)
Tavernor, who stated that " he had a friend l'of
would dispose of them, if there were a thousaoadeesalvi6
instead of sharing the booty with his fellows, betters, es?
it to Potton immediately. The whole of the le
to some hundreds, were burnt when the bar StioghasP
only evidence against the woman was that of as', her Y
the letters, but that was done in the presence oi ,
The prisoners were undefended by counsel. e fly;
The Lord Chief Baron, in summing
attention of the jury to the statute and t°°, tha.r '00,4
which the prisoners were arraigned; obserroW he 'le tri;tit,„
convict them, it was necessary that they shoul„,„
the prisoners, or one or more of them, actoo'NeieljeclocPi,
in question out of the letter-bag; it was not 5'4)0011,0'
stole out of the letter the money which was "the tf
After minutely and carefully recapitulating ea Wreetiise"
lordship was of opinion that he offence 010 hosv elf/
indictment was not satisfactorily establishes',,loo, co, ci
soners might be amenable for having stolen toietter4,,
of the letter. The charge was for stealing tlich "4, I
money from and out of the letter-bag lett' gip
offence,) and not for stealing the money in t"
for 9tee(rhP
Pi
The Jury acquitted the prisoners. a . f t $ 1,)
Airte , 0
• The two male prisoners were then in__4.00,10,0114,
' ten-pound country hank notes, and the hi-7, that,,l,
prisoner for receiving part of them, known, 0,
• stolen. The same evidence was offered ailibertd
Millard, and the voluntary concession of 1-I„:jastc'
and- theijulT returned a verdLt of Goi!tl/ al";

tt,l• 26, 1833