The Late Mr. Fauntleroy.
The Times, 1824-12-04T00:00:00

mvc IneutgariOn which thie casual detection of' thig great male. factor's guilt necessarily produ"ed, led to the cliscovery 4of a series ol fraud and artifice never perhaps, equalled in thie annals of crime. A brief-statement of the features of th'is extraordlinary case will not, therefore, we presume, be unacceptable totchepublic;- more especially zis it will tend to fshow that no instan3ce cver orcurred in whichi thelaw- waa more properly suft'rerd to take its course. It appearl that the louse of Mlarsbl4Sibhald, and Co.. was formed about thirty years ago. It consisted of Mr. J,larsh. a partner in thd firm ol Allarsh and Co., n,svy.agernta, and'Sir James Sibbald. These gen-. tlemen could provide capital ; bu.t as they were bothi Ignorant ol bankingbulsiness, it became necessary to procure the assistance of a confidential clerk in shine bankitig-house, who would be: allowed te share in thec profits of that busfness of which he-iwas to he the sole condutctor. In thecir researchi they met- withi Air. Fauntleroy, Sen., who hiad beein for years in tlie house of' Barclav and Co., in the city, and Mlr. bitracey, a near relative of' Ar. Marali, who had Ibeen for a year or two in an East India hotisein the city, and then a very young man, was also joined. Tue unhappy ,man whowas recent:ly cxecuteN was educated b his fathier -in the house. Bring eairly initiated'into the details of K.arsk and Co,'s aflairs, he wvas, -'on the deathi of his father, in 1807, called upoir to' take thiat situation in the management of the concer which hiis parefrt had' nreviously occupied. In the year 1814, Mlr. Graham, a relation of 'Ir. Mlarsh, whio hadqu'tted the rmyin 195,and who, by the way, we believe never hed igher rank thani captain, was tak-en into the house. Sir J. Sibbald died in 1819 ; and fromi that time up to the periodl of Mlr. Faunt- leroy's apprehension, thte firm consisted of hintself, Mlr. Alars15 Mir' Straecey,and Alr. Grahamn. Itis di%cultto pointout the precis"e period at iehich Air. Fauntleroy eomnenced thiat system of fraud which ultimately led to a premaiture andl ignominious death. It is probable that forgery was not resorted to, until all other mneans of re.. lief were exhausted, Having the sole control of the affatirs of the firm, he appears ,at an early period, to hiave forced a connexion, by pqt.aclana profits ble, by Indulging in the speculation 'of advanicing money to builders, to an extent wrhich very consiterably cramped the houise in its resources. Its credit in the city was much shaken by the failure of Bricktwood and Co. in IM What immediate means were ado pted, af'ter the f'ailure of l*rlckwood and Co., to sup. port'he redluced credlit of the hiouse, does net distinctly appear ; bat it hias been ascertqi.nedl, thdt early in 1014, pressed -by the wants of the hogue, ana by a private expendlituire which quadrupled that whitch the profits 6f the concern co4ld afford him, Air. Faunt.. leroy began to look through the accoutitsof thosecustomersonwhoee 8tock the firin received thoe half-yearly dividends : and, selectiiig thoe las lielytob.e called for, to appropriate the principal to t.he useofthelltts. t Is known that the whole of thec money pro- rlued y slesofstock under forgeries found kta way into the houe; ut he ppotionment of it, when there, hits enfy been as. ceraind t a artalextent. Suffice it, however, to say, that in theyeas 114 nd1815, Mlr, Fauritleroy', in this manner, dispiosed of stck t theamoqt of 170u,0001.;. anc , when itris considered that he hd t pry~d th dividends, not only upon this sum, but upon a coilsi~tuy aeccumulatinig amnount of srlbseguent forgeries-that he had to replace mfuch of that stock bLy purchasing at a very enhanced price-that he had been maintaining a personal expenditure greatly beyond what the business couldi afford- -ind ihat the house, under his auispices, still continued Its advancies to builders, it will not be thought surprising, ,how. ever monstrous it mnay be, that the amount of stock sold by Mlr. Fauntleroy untler forged powets, and neithier replaced nor accounted for to the stockhiolder, amounts in sterling mioney to nearly 400,001. This is indepenident of frauds commnitted' by nmisapplying sums re- ceived for the purpose of investing stock-of stock sod' under genuine powers, obtained by the prisoner, to be itseed in events which did not arise, and of claimis for securities deposited in the house, but madle away with, whbich will probably Amount to the sum of' 150,0001. more. The fratzds of Ill r. rFauntleroy were extended through a period often years with a decree of labour and arttruly astonishing,but which must be sufAlcienitly obvious to any person who will consider that he was obliged to keep two stock- accounts for each customer-one detail. lngla principalsumi, long since sold out, and half yearly, accumnu!ations which had never been invested, and occasional sales, isupposed to be made by the customer's directioni, but which,in fact,were not mnade, as there was no stock to sell : the other Account was a private one, de- tailing the trite statemnent of the customers' stock,of wliicli he almnost alwvays left a small balance in the Bank books. From the latter of these accounts licascertained the dividend to be received at theBank, aind from the former, the am'ount to he credited to the customers. Somne Idea may be formed of the labour and anxiety of this proceed. ing When it is considered, that latterly lie was obliged to raise and to enter into the books of the house, dividends to the credlit of the customers exceeding the amount of those actually, received by neary 4000. pr qartr. he orgry on Aliss F. Yealng, (whowasno elaionto r. aunlery) was effected in 1815. It wasforthi fogey tat ie as onicted and executed. It ap- icard tat Mss ot~g ha alayskept a bank-ing account at araband o.'i Inthe on~hof ay, 1815, slhe was the holder of 5450. Cnsos, ad te huseoflarNh a-nd Co. had a power of attorneyt receive her dividends. On thec 30th) of Mlay, 1815, a poe o ttorne was obtained, in the usual manser, at thc 8ank, fo h aeof ,01., part o the sumn standing in Mliss Y'oung's namne; and on the 31st ta power was left at thc Batik, apparently duly executed by Jiss Younmg; but it ultimately appearedt that her namie, and the namnes of the two actesting witnesses, were forged by Mlr. Fauntleroy. The stock was sold on the 1st of June, by Air. Spurling, a broker, to Air, Flower. On that day Mir. Fatuntleroy atttended at the Bank to make the transfer, and the proiluce of the stoc. was paid, on the same day, by Mlr. Spurling, intoAMartin and Co.'s,a baiiking-houise in ttite city, whiere Mtarsh and Co, kept a large ac- count. The produce of this forgery was clearly traced from the broker, throuigh the htouse of Martin end Co., to Mlarsh atid Co., and ultimiately, in the prisoner's own hand-writing, to hiis own espe- cial credit, in 'his private account. It must imimediately occur to every person, that the amioent of dividends actually received miust hiave beeni far sho10tt of thatL eTnteed in the books, in whicph the pri- soner was accustomed( to enter, as cash -received, not the real amount of the dividlend warrants, but the sums wliceh shiould lhave beeri p~ayable to his cus,tomers, if their stocklhad not been soldoCut. This circumsta-nce was certainly calcutlated to excite suspicio-n and call f'or inquiry ; but it is a id that Mir. Fauntleroy deceived hit partners, by saidn& thant. tbe balance was paid into Mlartin and Co.'s. Admnitting th~at tite partners are free from any imputatioii of collusion, it could not be asserted that they wvere not guilty of gross negligence in thie conduct of their business, as well as of deep and unexampled inf'attiation in thieir confidence in Air. Fauntleroy, whose proceedlings wvere evidently of a most extra- ordinary character.'rho second ind(ictment against the prisoner was for forging andt uttering a power of attorney, with intent to defraud Coloisel T'. Lyster of 6,0001. 4 per Cents., on the 10th of December. 1819. Colonel ljyster, who left England for St. Helena in 1816, and dlid not return tintil 1821, hadl,for several yearst, kept abankingatc. count with Alaesh and Co. Duringz hisabsence, hedirected hiis dlivi- dends to be invested. In April, 1819, he ws posessd of' a sum ol 5,5031.8Ps. 9d. in the 4per Cents. In the month o'f July, in theameyear, hisbala-ncein the handsef the bank,-ersbeing l,001L7s. ld.,Mlr.Fauntle. roy laid out that sum inl1,1411. 4s.6da. four percents., makiniga total oI 6,6441.1l3s. 3d. Ileeeeiclosed an account of this purchase to Col. Ijyster, together with a stock receipt. Finding that Colonel Lyster lhad got into the habit of aectitmulating, Mir. Fauntlerov coinsider- ed his as an account not likely to he soon wanted by the party, end therefore suiter-dforhlis purpose. He forged a power of' attorney, in which he de:icribed "1Colonel Lyster, of Wexford, in I reland, but now in London," wvhich power waus executed on the 10gth of December, 1819. C-olonel L~ystcr waq in diect at St. helena. An -order was sent to Sir. Spurling, the broker, to sell out 11.0001. of this stock, which hie accordingly dlid, and Air. Faunt. leroy attended at the Bank on thie 16th of December, and under tise forged ipower transferred 3,0001. to the arcount oftMr. M'Niel, and 3,0001. to the account of Ifr. Clenments, both jobbers. 'I'he pro- dluce was paidI by- AMr. Spurling into the account of Mlarsh and Co., at Mlartin stnd Co's. Colonel Lyster subsequently gave directions2 for various purchases of stock in the samec fund, which, with the ba- lance lef't by Mlr. FaUntlIeToy, f0ormed a total ot 1,7351. 6s., which at the timie of thie diceovery of these frauds stood to hisa credit in the Bank hooks. On that sum the diividend was received at the Bank, althoughi the credit given by Alarslh and Co. to C-olonel Lyster, and entered by AMr. Fauntleroy hiimself, was for the dividend on 7,7351. ils. It appeared titat the list of div-idends becomiing due to persons for wvhom Mlarsh and Co. were authorized to receive them atteBanik, was prepared by Al.. Fountleroy; adi h last of' those lI-sts, the whole of' which was in his lhand. writing, Clolotnel Lvster was thus entetred_-. Thomas LIystcr, 1,7351. 63," and a dMiliend warrant on tttat sumi for 341. 14a. Id. was paid to Mlarsh, though the entry, in the books of the house is " Tho. mits Lyster, 7,7351. 6s., dlividetid, 1541. 14s. Mt.," and that entrcy also in Afr. Fatuntleroy's hand-writing. The prodtice of this forgery was paid into Mlartin and Co's.; but suchl was the art of Alr. Faunt- leroy, that every effort to discover its final apprlopriatiom has been baffled. Thie thiird indlictmnent chaErged Mlr. FnuKtieroy for lbrging and uttering a power of attornoey for the transfer of 5,30011. 4 per cen)t. annuities, fromn the account of Ii. Faundteroy, J. D. Hunme, and J.1.Goodchild, trustees of Sirs. Bellis anid family. This transaction, whlich ledl to Faunitleroy's detection, was of a most atrocious charac- ter. It appears that, in 1820, Colonel F, NV. Bellis wvas entitledi to the following funds-17,500I.Navy 5 per Cents.; 5,3001. 4 peor Cents.; 4600.Reduceti ; 10,0001. lImperial. He determninedi to settle these funds, upoti his wife atid childrets, with a view, perhapsi, to avoid the legacy duty. The trustees named were Slir. J. D Hume, an officer in the Customs; Alr. J. Goodehildl, then a sturgeon at WVeaterham ; atid Mr. Fauntleroy; and a dccil was pre ared actord. ingly, declaring the trusts-of the settlement. The fund w~hich were Standing in the name of Colonel Bellis were tritnsferred on the 9th of Augusit, 1820, to thec truistees; and on the 9th of September SIlr. fatuntleroy commenced, by selling out under forfeit powers of attorney, 17,5001. Navy S per Cents. on tlte 13th of September' he sold oiut the 10,0001. Imperials - and on the 2d of Noveniber he sqold ouit 46,0001. Reduceci, and the 5 3001. 4 per Cents, in question. The trust of titus particular 8stun weat~for C-olonel Bellis, durtu his life, and for his nine children on his dieceaeTe forgedl power of attorney, -under which this stock was transferred, bore dlate tuie 30th nf' October. 'Tite signatuire of ii. Fauntleroy,and ofitwoof thle attesting witnesses,.Jantes Tyson and Joseph Golightl y, weregenuiie ; but that ofSir. Hunme, and tie signaturea of SirP.. and Lady Riarslinge,together with the signiatuire of the other trustee, Sir. G3oodcliild, were forged. Sir R. liardlinge, a ruaui of aristocratic no- lions, was indignant at the bupposition that tir. Goodehild was on such ternms with him as to ask hiim to witness the executioni of any instrunment by Alr. t3oodlcildi. But know- ing that both Sir Richard antd his lady, who was dead some years, had had accounts at the banking-house, Air. Fauntieroy thougilt their names wouid ornament his power of attorney; and as they were resident in the helghtb6ut'rhood or S!r. Goodcliid would add to the genuinecappearance of' the transtction. 'On the 2d of No- veinber, tbe stock was transferred by olr. (raham, who states, that all lie knew of the transaction was, that Air. Fautitleroy dlesired himn, if lic were going into the city, to call upon the broker, where he would finih sonic transfers renaly, and he liad done so. Air. (ra- ham, who, though In busiiess since 1795. is described as being very unacquainted withl business, WaS hartllv allowed to ask any questions As to the transactions of tl:e house,and Air. Fauntieroy seemed to have avatiled himselfo' tliis circotnstatice to make SIr.Grabaen transfer stock to anenornosis amount under forgeries.Col. Bellis's trust stock wasnot sold by SIr. Snurling,the regular breker of telhouse,hut by anothier brokei, named Simpson. whom Mlr. Fauntleroy professed to be de- sirotis to serve. The prisoner's reas4n, however, tfor enmploying an- other broker was, because Spizrling, having witnessed the transfers from the name of' Colonel Bellis to the trustees so recently, would have suspectecl something wrong if he hail foutid this stock sold out by the trustees so shortly nfter it had comne into their names. The sum of 15,2111. l3s. 9d:, for which ASr. Simusoit sold the 5,3001. 4 per cents., and 10,0001. reeluced, lie paid as follows:-10,(l001. at Marsh andCo.'s,which is entered in the wast -book in hl r.Faumtcroy's own handl te the credit of an account,' H. F.,Mr. B.," aud the balance. 5,2111.13s. 9d., was paid to Alartin and Co. in a cheeck, which suisi is also entered in Alarsh and ,Co.'s day-book to the credit of " Fl. F. WV. B." Upon that account Ir. FaFntleroy alone drew. This was oae of the most monstrous specimens of impudentftaud that everwai practiff0d; for it was from this Very acom1 BH.. W.T B.,"p eke so the August Preceding Mlr. -Fauntli" hd rwMpwrso The0l toidnd buyete penctialy strea of Colonel Bellili, then sold out. The dividends were punctually credited on this 5,S0L 4 per cents. The mode of receiving and crediting the dividends in Alira Young's And Colconel..-Lyster's- case applies here, with this difference...that in the prezedt cae, the peistoner cleared th: accrant entirely. it was not. tberefore, r question offcrediting 105!. half yearly, whe hle reseived only 501., but of crediting 1051, where he received not arfyrthn. Co1onelnBeli a died in Jaluartlst, leaving hiswido, and two daughters of- age,- one daughter 17 years old, andi seve-n younger children. It was conisidere prudent by the trustees. un der the advice of Mr. Hughes, their solicitor, to administer. th, aiffairs of the estate under the direction of the Court of Charncery.. Thism, for obvious reasons, was strnuously opposed by Msr. Fauntle.. roy. His arguinents appear-ed to have little weight with his e.. trustees, but the casewas different with the ladies. In iheir eyes the conducttif Air. Fauntleroywas disinterested, butthat of the doliitor clearly interested. MIr. Fauntieroy caUedon MIrs. Bells, ard,she aad dregsed aletter(dictated by Mr.Fauntleroy) to Win r.Hughes,exprssing herdispleztsureatthesteps lie had talen ini Chancery,andperemptorly commanding that all further proceedings should be staved This letter was enclosed in one from Ira. Bellis to Mr. Fauntleroy to b made use of if nec:essary; but it appearedl that A1r. Hughes, f.dindn that nothing effeetual could he done before the closing of the offies, consented to allow the matter to stand over the lonrg vacation TeaEle the business stood, and various meetings of the trustees took place, in whichi the fact of the existence of the funds was the basis of the whole discussion. AIr. Fauntleroy argued that it was hard to take out ef the hands of the banking.house such an accoant for the pur- poge of placing it imthose of the Accountant-Generm of the Cour of- Chancery. Mlr. Hughes supposed this to be the real objection but the perseverance of Air. Fauntleroy's conduct was sucbh that the co-trustees bec-ame suspicious. Application was made at the Bank on the 9th of September, end it being discovered, that thse stoc'ks were all gone, a warrant vras obtained, and Mr.. Fauntleroy was taken next morning. His first attempt was to arrange the matter, by giving security to replace the stock, &c.; but that, of course, was out of the question. Some documents were- found in Mr. Fauntleroy's desk wlich threw considerable light on. his further intentions, and form a branch of the fraud of the rmost extraordinary description. It appears that lir. Fauntleroy, in the month of August, fisding that he could not do away entirely wi-it the Chancerr suit, had endeavoured to obtain a respite till NoveWI ber-not, as was at first supposed, to go to America with wlhat money he could put together, but to involve himself, ir possible, rmore deeply in a tissue of fraud ; and, but for the suspicions of the trustees, which cut short the thread of his pursuits, he would have again commenced a new series of forgery. On searching- his private desk, there was found a power of attorney, not executed, for the transfer of the sum of 5,300L 4 per cents., t'o;n the name of Mlr. E. Collins, of Frolswortb in Icees. tershire, a customer of the house, to the trustees of Uolonel BeUis -that is, Messrs. Fauntleroy, Huume, and Goofichild. This pAwer was delivered from the Bank on the 18th of August, 1824, in consequence of a ticket in Mr. Fausitleroy's hand- writing. In this fraudulent manner there can be no doubt but that, for the intervention of the circumstances already nuention the wholeofthisstock wouldhave been replacdintti ot .-r tV the Accountant-GeneraL By the fourth indictment, %r. anMleroy was charged with forging and uttering as true, a power of attorney for the transfer and sale of 4841.Long Annuities, from the accountof John Griffith. Mr. Griffith, in the month of lune, 1823, became Orossessed of a sum of 6841. 9s. Long Annuities, which, on the 5th of that month was transferred into his name. On the saine day his brother obtained a power of attorney to the house of Marsh and Co. for the receipt of dividends on his fund, and the power was sent down to Air. Griflith, who resided in Devonshire, for his execu- tion. He accordingly did execute it,and it wasforwarded to the house of Marsh and Co. Ib r.Griffith had been an old customeriofthe house,and Mr.Fauntleroy, knowing that he was not lilely to make any trouble- some inquiries respecting his stock, determined to appropriate it to his own use. With that view, he, on the 13th of June, procured a blank no; er of attorney for the sale of 5001. of this very stock, such power 'having been obtained at the Bank by a ticket in Mr. Fauntle- roy's hand.writing. He immediately proceeded to concoct the re- gttlar signature and attestations; and for that purpose he imitated the writing of DMr. J. Griffith and of his son, (the latter being an attesting witness),which were affixed to the power of attorney for the receipt of divideads which was in his possession. The other attest- ilg witness to the power of attorney for the receipt of dividends wat a Captain Bailey, of the Royal Cheshire Mlilitia, whose signature being long, and in a confined hand, he did not think proper to imi- tate, but substituted the signature ef "Jamnes Kirby, clerk at Makrsh's." Ele then despztched the forged power into the city to be arted on. In this case, his directions were given ro Mr. Simopson, one of his private brokens, to raise 10,0O0L For this purpose, Mr. Simpson sold 4841. orng Annuities, end on the 30th of June, Sir. Fauntlerov attended at the Bank, and transferred the stock under the forged power, leaving only 1091. Os. stand- ing to the credit of Mir. Griffith. The brokerage on this trans- acdon was 131., to one half of which Mr. Fauntleroy was entitld; and accordinglyAlr.Simp.son drew a check in iavour of him for 10,0061. lOs., which there is no donbt, from certain marks on it, was paid into his own hands. In .ilartin and Co.'s pass.book this was credited to H. Fauntleroy on the 30ith of June ; but in the bool kept by Mlarsh and Co. to check that of Miartin and Co., there was no suns approaching to thnis entered on the 30th of June. On the 2d of July, however, there was entered in Air. Fauntleroy's hand.writing, "1 July 2, Cash 10.0001." and in the day-book of Marsh and Co., under the date of July 2, %ras entered "H.F. 5,6081.; ditto 4,400L1:" and in the private ledger there was an entry in Colonel Graham's hand-writing, crediting Air. Faunleroy to that amount in liis private account. This instance presented an- otber specimen ofthe irregular manner in which the businessof this house wai conducted. There was no doubt that the 10,0001. in question was the produce received from the sale of Mlr. Griffith's stocl;; yet those who bail dte investigationi of the case were totally unable to trace what became of the 6L 10s. for bro. kerage. The suim undoubtedly was small; but a banking. house which could allov such an error to pass unnoticed must have been subject to any impositiorn that mnight be prac- tised, as an error of 61. would equally defeat the balanceas an errcr of 6,0N01. The power for sale contained a clause for dividends, an(i tinder this, the October and April dividends on the balance of 199L Os. standing to the credit of Mlr. Griffith, were duly received- namely, 991. 13s. in each payment ; insteadl of which there was cre- dited to Alr. Griffith. at each of these periods, in Miarsh and Co's. books, the sum of 3411. 1Ss., being the fiull dividend on the entire of AMr. Griffith's stock. The entry of 3411. 13s. to the credit of 5mr. Griffith. as andividend on his LongAnnuities,was il ir-Faunderoy's hxnd-writing. lie could not have taken it from the real dividend_ warmrat, which was for 991. 13s. only. 'rhe answer was quite obviousR he had told out as much of lir. Griffith's stock as would make the precise difference betweell 99. 13s. and 3411. 13s. He hadareceived the produce, and he knew that the stock was not standing in nt r. (Griffith's name-but that Mr. Griffith was entitled to cred it for it, the sale having been made without any authority. Wehiuvethusadecribed at some Ieiigtn, the course of proceedlings pursued by Alir. Fauntleroy for several years, and rertainly nothing like it is to be found in, the nnnals of systematic fraud. Unquestionably it must afford mio:t sensible pleasure to a sovexeigo to extend the " twice-blessed" pre. ro6ative of mercy- " which becomes " The thinned Mblonarch better tbat his Crown," to those who have strayed from die pathi of rectitude, if it can be done consistently with the interests of justice: but surely AMr. Faunteroy's was not a case of that description. To contend for the contrary position wouidl he to argue-that our sympathy and coin. passion are especially due to any ma.n, who, in a situation of great trust, hait hardihood enough to tWefet, and art enough to conceal during mtany years, a series of the most flagitious ffsuds. Wle are not anxious to extend theniarrative of 'Mr. Fauut- leroy's life by a dtescription of his personal habits; but if provoked, we can lty before the public such a detail of low and disgustinlg sensuality, as would, if not completely au- thenticated, appear incredible to those WIho were not as de- gra(led ir rmind anid deed as he was. This narrative woulld( involve several persons who holl themLselves ra- ther high, and who have presumed to talk big, with refer- rence to our accounts of their wretched friend and associate. Let them be quiet: if wie finzd that either in public or piri. vate (atid we have channels of infonnation which -they dream not of), they have the impudence to disparage our motives, or deny our statements, w e will hohl up their n'aines and actions to public scorn, aind astonishment, anrd disgust. THZ LATE' MA, FA NTLEROY.