The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1869-01-27
TrcKET-oF-LEAvE MAN il.
His Adventures at Home and Abroad

lLOndon Correspondence Of the New York worId.I
The name of this gentleman Is Owen
Suffolk, and in 1857 he SKas convicted of
the crime of theft. and sent to Melbourne
to serve out term of penal exile. He was
possessed o considerable literary ability, and, |
as l shall relate, before he left Melbourne
he made very successful debut as an au-
thor, publishing book entitled 'Days of
Crime and Years of Suffering, +" which com |
manded an extensive sale, and brought to
him no small sum of money. Upon arriv. |
ing in Melbourne, he was not placed in con-
fnement, but was permitted TO go at large
under surveillance. He employed his lib
srty so badly, however, that in 1851 he was |
arrested for robbing the Fyansford mail, |
and received long sentence, which at least
extended over four or five years, and during
this time he was engaged as, clerk in the
Melbourne Jail. His acquaintance with the
criminals of Victoria at this time was very
extensive, and some of them had large sums
of money secreted, the proceeds of robber-
les. . Ef-r Mann. .3,if -,.,s5,
Suffolk, by the position he was placed in,
aided no doubt by lax, discipline, was
enabled to charge their, warrants and alter
the years of imprisonment through the
books, so that many rufianss escaped with
from the Judges of the Supreme Court; but
one of the forgeries, not so clever as the
others, was discovered, and Suffolk was in
formed of the circumstance, He said
nothing, but quietly submitted to the heavy
irons that were placed on his arms and legs.
and without an effort went to the hulkS in
HObson's Bay.
In 1858 he obtained his freedom by ticket
of leave and went TO Ballarat There he
kept about some of the gullies, and, going
into hotel, said he was Detective Sincox
(theu in charge of the district, and by his
easy and persuasive manners, made the land
lord believe he was on important duty, and
required money and q horse. Both were
provided for him, and he got clear away
but he again fell into the society of his old
friends, the police, and received another
| long sentence. He was then in PentridgeI
| and known under the slang term@of 'sbillet
man," which means that he was cleVe3
enough when in Jail to receive some impor7
tant position. La the year 1866 hsmade his
way to the house of q barber named Man
nix, and was received as species of hero.
About this time Suffolk, Mannix, and few
other notorious criminals, who were re-
leased about the sam0 time Zone OF those
fellows was an expert ehgrayer), formed a
scheme for manufacturing a quantity of
forged notes for the Indian market but
when the notes were manufactured, the de-
tectiVes received f'the Office, F" and though
they prevented the ''f1imsies' being used,
they could not bring the crime home to the
principal actors in It, as the E'plant' was re-
moved q few hours before raid was made
upon the forging house. Suffolk kept in
the background during the investigation of
the affair, and with some interest used by
l f.s- =.
ness near Bristol, he received conditional
pardon, the understanding being that he
would leave the colony. His story of 'tDsys
of Crime and years of Suffering' was pub
hshed, and, with the money he received
| from that work, the cash he got from the
criminals whose warrants he had altered,
and the proceeds of few IF his other vim
dies, he managed to take his adieu of Victo-
ria with considerable amount of money.
During his passage home he made a number
of friends by his superciiious manner, and
landed in England described as a wealthy
| squatter from Australia. He made his way
to his brothers. house, and edged his way
into several drawing rooms, his hosts think
ing that ne was slightly otrire for English
society; but it was excussble-a at least so
they said-as he was from Australia. There
| he talked largely of his squattIng and bank
/
he had dabblek in journalism and was part
| proprietor of the Melbourne Argus. In
time he was invited to several houses, and
at last was introduced to 3 charming widow
of about forty years of age, who was pos
sessed of house and grounds well appoint
and some 8l500 in funds. Suffolk imme-
diaIely made a dead set at this lady, and af-
ter little time, wrote letter-she being
-pTesent-to Mr.. Reed, solicitor, Melbourne,
telling him to dispose of the mansion and
grounds at Malmsbury, his Colonial Bank
shares, and also his interest in the Argus
newspaper, which he could do by the pow
probationary given to him. Mr.. Reed was,
of course, very much astOnished At this
epistle, but no doubt thinking that Suffolk,
whom he had defended many times, was
| following some of hh old practices, and
wanted Mr.. Reeds reply so that he could
make use of the envelope bearing the Mel
bourne post-mark, and forge letter to an
sWer his own purposes, gave information TO
Superintendent Nicholson, who forwarded
it to Inspector Field, In Scotland Yard. In
the meantime Suffolk married the widow,
much against the wishes of her friends, and
went with his blooming bride to London.
He had two accompiices-one q female
whom he called his niece-and one day they
went on the river in q WheTry near Rich
mond. Suffolk managed to capsize the
boat. The female was saved by one of his
accomplices, and Suffolk got clear away, the
police thinking he was drowned, A para
graph, evidently written by himself, headed
s'Melancholy Accident to an Australian
Gentleman" appeared in the papers. Il
was ultimately discovered that he had es-
capped to America with his wife's money and
the proceeds of the sale OF his wife's furni-
ture, which he sold before he left England
By the latest advices. he was enjoying him
self in New York. srlfl3.