192. WILLIAM LEE was indicted (with SARAH CHANDLER , not yet in custody) for breaking and entering the dwelling-house of John Dingwall and Gerard Baillieu , about the hour of nine in the night of the 3d of December , and burglariously stealing a brilliant diamond star pin, value
92l. a pair of round brilliant diamond bracelets, strung with pearl, value 1015. 14s. a pair of brilliant diamond ear-rings, value 173l. anothe brilliant diamond star pin, value 159l. an octagon ring, studded with diamonds, value 8l. an octagon ring, set with rose diamonds, value 3l. a pearl buckle ring, value 18s. a pearl ring, value 28s. another pearl ring, value 36s. a watch, with a gold case, value 8l. two gold watch chains, value 4l. a pair of gold ear-rings, value 48s. two gold seals, value 25s. a brilliant diamond necklace, value 200l. two pair of brilliant diamond ear-rings, value 250l. three brilliant diamond flowers, value 390l. a diamond fausse montre, value 40l. a brilliant diamond hoopring, value 4l. 13s. an oblong brilliant ring, value 8l. 10s. another oblong brilliant diamond ring, value 9l. a round brilliant ring, with single brilliant in the middle, value 10l. 5s. a round brilliant ring with hair in the middle, value 7l. 4s. a brilliant urn ring, value 4l. 10s. a pair of long brilliant bracelets, value 33l. 15s. a garter ring, value 40s. an octagon ring, with a rose diamond urn, value 3l. two pair of enamelled bracelets, studded with diamonds, value 6l. 10s. a rose diamond and enamelled ring, value 3l. 13s. 6d. a diamond star, value 16l. a pair of pearl bracelet lockets, value 3l. 13s. 6d. a pearl cross, value 3l. 4s. a pearl trinket, value 2l. 12s. 6d. a pearl locket, value 3l. a round pearl ring, with hair in the middle, value 40s. a pearl buckle ring, value 18s. a pearl ring, with a motto, value 28s. a pearl enamelled ring, value 36s. a pearl puzzle ring, value 10s. 6d. an oval ring value 30s. 6d. two gold watch chains, value 8l. 18s. 6d. two enamelled watch chains, value 10l. 5s. three gold watch chains, value 6l. 5s. a gold neck chain, value 34s. a gold cornelian chain, value 50s. three other gold chains, value 4l. 15s. a gold gorget, value 30s. a gold anchor, value 28s. a gold locket, with hair in the middle, value 20s. another gold locket, with a blue composition, value 30s. three pair of gold ear-rings, value 5l. 6s. six pair of gold earrings, value 9l. another pair of gold ear-rings, value 20s. three gold seals, value 3l. two pair of gold bracelets, value 22s. three brilliant diamond urn rings, value 39l. a brilliant and ruby ring, value 16l. 16s. a brilliant and ruby diamond shirt pin, value 4l. a pair of diamond and enamelled bracelets, value 3l. a gold fillagree chain, value 40s. a fillagree chain coloured, value 32s. and an ivory snuff-box, set with diamonds, value 50l. the property of the said John Dingwall, David Pratt Vernon and Gerard Baillieu , in the said dwelling-house .(The case was opened by Mr. Knowlys).
(The witnesses were examined apart at the request of the prisoner).
Examined by Mr. Knowlys. I am a jeweller , in partnership with John Dingwall, and David Pratt Vernon , No. 9. St. James's-street .
Q. Had you any person in your service of the name of Sarah Chandler? - A. Yes.
Q. When did she come into your service; how long before this robbery? - A. It might be somewhere about six weeks, as near as I can recollect.
Q. When was this robbery effected? - A. The third of December.
Q. What time on that day did you leave the house? - A. A little after seven o'clock in the evening.
Q. Was it dark at that time? - A. Yes.
Q. Who are the partners that live in this house? - A. John Dingwall , and myself.
Q. Does Mr. Vernon live in the house? - A. He does not.
Q. You and Mr. Dingwall sleep there? - A. Yes.
Q. What part of the house were these diamond articles kept in? - A. In a back room on the ground floor, in an iron closet; the ready-made diamond work was always kept there.
Q. How lately before you left the house had you seen them? - A. About half an hour before I left the house; when I left the house, they were in the show-glass.
Q. Where is the show-glass? - A. In our front shop; it was always customary to lock them in the iron closet at eight in the evening.
Q. Was Mr. Dingwall at home when you went out? - A. Yes; Mrs. Baillieu went out before me.
Q. Was there any other servant in the house besides Sarah Chandler ? - A. No.
Q. At what time did you return? - A. A little after two in the morning.
Q. The robbery had been discovered before you returned? - A. Yes; by Mr. Dingwall.
Q. Do you know yourself who recommended this Sarah Chandler to your service? - A. It was a person of the name of Gosser that gave me that character; we have not been able to find her since.
Q. When you returned, was Sarah Chandler at home? - A. No; nor I have never seen her since.
Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. This house is the property of you and your partners? - A. No; we hire it from Mr. Dingwall.
Q. Who pays the rent to Mr. Dingwall? -We three.
Q. And it is out of the firm in your partnership business that you pay the rent? - A. Yes.
Q. Mr. Vernon contributes his proportion to pay the rent? - A. Yes he does.
Q. Mr. Vernon lives in general out of the house? - A. He does.
Q.Perhaps sometimes he sleeps in this house? - Not since he has been married.
Q. The rent is paid, out of the funds of the partnership? - A. Yes.
Q.This woman had lived with you about five weeks? - A. Thereabouts.
Q. She has absconded, and never been heard of since? - A. No.
Q. You did not know the prisoner before? - A. No.
Q. How long has Mr. Pratt Vernon been married? - A. About a year, and he and his wife live in James's-street, Covent-garden.
Court. Q. Have you any other partners in the trade besides you three? - A. No other partners.
Court. Q. Not sleeping partners who have an interest in the trade? - A. None.
Court. Q. When was the robbery committed? - A. In 1795, the 3d of last December.
Mr. Knapp. It is stated in the record 1793.
Court. That is not at all material, you know.
Examined by Mr. Knowlys. Q. Have you any partners besides Mr. Baillieu and Mr. Pratt Vernon? - A. None.
Q. How late were you in the house the day you sustained this loss? - A. At eight o'clock in the evening, on Thursday the 3d of December; at a quarter past eight, I left the house, after having locked up these articles in the iron closet.
Court. Q. The diamond articles that had been in the show-glass? - A. Yes.
Q. Did you leave any other articles in the show-glass? - A. Not in that show-glass.
Q. How is this closet secured? - A. With a strong iron door, perfectly secure; the key of which we hang up in an inner room, which we call our jewel room; I hung up that key and double locked the door of that room; I then told the maid-servant, Sarah Chandler, that I was going out.
Q. Had you or not given her information as a fact, what time you should return? - A. I did, about nine o'clock.
Q. Were there any other servants left in the house? - A. None, besides Sarah Chandler .
Q. What was the time you intended to stay out? - A. No longer than an hour.
Q. Did you leave any other person in the house besides this Sarah Chandler? - A. No other.
Q. How long was it before you returned? - A. An hour.
Q. When you returned, what happened? - A. I knocked several times at the door, and could not get admittance, nor could not learn any thing of the servant; finding I could not get in, I went away, and returned again about eleven o'clock; there was nobody in the house; I then got two men to help me to open the door.
Q. Have you ever seen that servant from that time to this? - A. Never.
Q. When you got in, in what state did you find your property? - A. The rooms I found in the same state I left them, except when I went into the front room, one of the covers of the show glass had been turned, and the front glass broke; I missed some gold ear-rings and other articles which we did not lock up in our iron closet.
Q. Were all the articles, or only a part of them, contained in the show-glass? - A. In that tray of the show-glass were all the articles.
Q. Was any thing left behind in any of the other show-glasses? - A. Yes.
Q. Did you afterwards go to the jewel-room? - A. Yes; I went to the jewel-room, unlocked it, and found the key hanging there.
Q. Are there more keys than one to this jewel-room? - A. There are two doors to that room, and both were locked when I went in, and both were locked when I returned.
Q. Has your partner, Baillien, any key of those places? - A. He has a key belonging to the other door, but not the door that I entered at: I then took down the key and went to the iron closet, and found the diamond articles all gone out of that tray.
Q. Have you seen the list, contained in this indictment, of the articles? - A. I have.
Q. I will read them to you; was there a brilliant diamond necklace? - A. Yes.
Q. That is laid at the value of 200l, odd? - A. Yes.
Court. Q. Is that the value of it? - A. That is our prime cost to us.
(Mr. Knowlys here went through those articles in the indictment, which were afterwards produced).
Q. Did you see Mr. Baillieu's escrntore when you came back? - A. No.
Q.Did you see what had become of that, or what had been done to it any time after that? - A. Not till three or four days after the robbery happened.
Cross-examined by Mr. Ally. Q. Your other partners had gone out about seven in the evening? - A. Yes.
Q. You staid at home to take care of the house? - A. I staid till eight.
Q. You went out upon business? - A. Yes.
Q. There was a vast deal of property in your house? - A. Yes.
Q.Therefore it is usual for one or other of the partners to endeavour to be always at home? - A.
We have frequently gone out and left only a servant, when the things are so properly secured as they were.Q. Is it not your custom to leave one of the partners in the house? - A. Yes.
Q. The information you gave to the maid-servant was the only information you gave? - A. Yes.
Examined by Mr. Knowlys. I am a jeweller and silversmith, in Dame-street, Dublin.
Q. Did you see the prisoner at the bar at any time, and when? - A. I saw him either the 16th or 17th of December last, he called at my house with two men, one of the name of Willet, a jeweller, who lives in my neighbourhood, and an auctioneer's clerk, whom I also know.
Q. What is his name? - A. I don't know, I never heard his name.
Q. What was his business? - A. They introduced this man to me, telling me he had a number of diamonds to dispose of; that I was a fit man to purchase them; the appearance of the man made me suspect he had not come by these diamonds property; I desired him to leave the diamond pin, which he had with him, and I would consult some person better acquainted with the value of it, which, upon consulting with those men, he consented to do.
Q. At this time did any conversation pass between you and him? - A. Nothing more than the price that he asked for the pin, which was 150l.
Q. When did you see him again? - A. The party went away then, and I went to consult a friend of mine, Mr. Osborne; the prisoner returned in half an hour, to have my valuation; I begged him to walk into the parlour; and I told him, I hoped he would excuse my suspecting that he did not come by these things property; and that if it turned out otherwise, I should apologize to him, or something to that effect; I told him, it was my duty to investigate the business, and that he should explain in what manner he came by the article; at this, he seemed a good deal hurt; and said, if I did not chuse to purchase the pin, to give it back to him; which I refused to do; he then said, his wife had lived servant to the Princess Mary, Elizabeth and Sophia; I am not positive as to the three names; but I am to Mary and Elizabeth; he said, they were given to her for her services, that diamond pin, and others, which, he said, he had; I thought the story an extraordinary one; and, he said, there could be no doubt of it; and that he had a quantity of diamonds coming over from the other side; by which, I understood, he meant England; which he had recovered by an action of trover, since his wife's death; I told him, this story would not satisfy me, and requested him to point out some one in this country to give him a character, otherwise I could not part with it; upon which, he mentioned the name of a Mr. Lee, that keeps a music shop in Dame-street; I went to Mr. Lee, to enquire his character, and he said, after some time recollecting himself, that he had known a man of that name, that had lived a waiter at Deally's club-house.
Court. Q. What did the prisoner say his name was? - A. Lee; I mentioned the circumstance of bringing the pin to me.
Q. Had you any further conversation? - A. I told him, that the man he had reserved me to, had given me rather an indifferent opinion of him; that it was my duty to send for an Alderman, which I did; and gave him in custody to Alderman Twiddey.
Q. Should you know that pin again if you were to see it? - A. Yes; the Alderman desired I should lodge examinations against him, which I did; he lives within a few doors of where I live.
Q.Was the prisoner committed in consequence of those examinations? - A. Yes; he was taken to prison, under the custody of Richard Warren. (The pin was produced). This is the pin I received of the prisoner; I am positive of it; I put my mark upon it, and it has it upon it now.
Mr. Dingwall. It is a tripple star brilliant pin, estimated in the indictment at 192l. which it cost us.
Q.(To Mr. Moore). Where was this lodged? - A. I deposited it with Alderman Twiddey.
Q. Is he here? - A. No; Alderman Twiddey sealed up the diamond, in my presence, and lodged it in the national bank.
Court. Q. You received it from the Alderman again, and are sure it is the same you received from the prisoner? - A. Yes.
Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. You told my Lord, and the Gentlemen of the Jury, that you are a jeweller in Dublin? - A. Yes; and a silversmith.
Q. I believe Dame-street is as public a street as any in Dublin? - A. I have a great many customers.
Q. It is an open shop? - A. Yes; sitted up exactly as they are here in London; I am not so much in the diamond way, as the silver line.
Q. The prisoner produced the pin to you; he did not come by himself? - A. No.
Q. He came with two persons whom you knew? - A. Yes.
Q. One was Mr. Willet? - A. Yes; he is a jeweller; his wife keeps a milliner's shop.
Q. Is he a man of respectability? - A. No.
Q. The other person is, what? - A. An auctioneer's clerk.
Q. Your suspicions were awakened, and therefore you desired to have reference to some person that he knew, in your country? - A. Yes.
Q.Was that person that he referred you to, the only person he referred you to? - A. Yes.
Q. Did he refer you to a person of the name of Swarn? - A. He did not.
Q. Who did he refer you to? - A. A Mr. Lee, who keeps a music-shop in Dame-street.
Q. You know Mr. Lee very well? - A. Yes, intimately, and could have relied upon any thing he said.
Q. You left the prisoner in your house? - A. Yes; under the care of my young man.
Q. And when you came back again, you found him there? - A. Yes.
Q. Is your young man here? - A. He is not.
Q. The person did give you some account that he knew him some time ago, as a waiter at a club-house? - A. Yes; four years ago.
Q. And the man gave you a true information that he did know him? - A. Yes; Mr. Lee described the man, and it was certainly the same.
Q. So that it was not a false account that he gave of himself? - A. It was not.
Court. Q. He told you he had other diamonds? - A. Yes.
Q. That was not after the time that your suspicions had been awoke? - A. No, it was before; for my reason was, to endeavour to get the whole of the diamonds.
RICHARD WARREN sworn.
Examined by Mr. Knowlys. I am the keeper of the Bridewell at Dublin.
Q. Was the prisoner at the bar committed to your custody? - A. He was.
Q. How long was he in your custody? - A. About a week.
Q. Did any thing particular pass between you and the prisoner at the bar, while he was in your custody? - A. There was.
Q. How long had he been in your custody before this happened? - A. Four or five days, on or about the 20th or 21st of December, as I was locking up the prisoner's door, the prisoner met me on the stairs, and he told me he was very much frightened about Alderman Twiddey not taking bail about the robbery; I told him I was very sorry for it; do you recollect, says he, you were talking last night of getting the keys of your prison altered; I told him I did very well; then he asked me if I knew how Hamilton Rowan made his escape; I told him I did; don't you know, Mr. Warren, says he, I have a woman's face? you have, sir, says I; he asked me what was my place worth a year? I told him 40l. a year; says he, Mr. Warren, I will make you a present of 6 or 700l. worth of value in diamonds, if you will let me escape; he pulled a prayer-book out of his pocket, and he kissed the book; he swore he would tell no one on the face of the earth how he made his escape; and as I was a newly-appointed jailer, no notice would be taken of me; the next day he called me over to the window.
Q. Did you appear to refuse this or yield to it? - A. I seemed to agree to him in every thing; says he, do you recollect, Mr. Warren, what I was talking to you about last night? I do, sir, says I, he called for pen and ink and paper, and wrote down the value of different articles; he made mention of different articles upon a piece of paper, which he gave to his father.
Mr. Ally. Did you see him give it to him? - A. Not at that time; he sent for his father.
Court. Did you see his father? - A. Yes.
Q. Did you see him give it to his father? - A. I did; and at the bottom of the note, with speed; the father and mother brought the property that evening.
Court. What did they bring? - A. A diamond star pin, a pair of diamond ear-rings, a watch, with a gold chain, and some pearl rings, and a gold watch broke.
Q. Where did you deliver the articles that the father gave you? - A. I gave them to Alderman Twiddey; I put my mark upon them.
Q.Should you know them again if you were to see them? - A. I should; (they are produced).
Court. Who gave them to you after the father and mother had brought them? - A. The prisoner at the bar, between ten and eleven that night; when the father and mother gave him the property, he told me, I had them for you, says he; he called me into a room, and put them out of his pockets; says he, here is a diamond star pin worth 300 guineas, a pair of brilliant ear-rings worth 200 guineas, two diamond rings worth 20 guineas, a pair of gold earrings, I really forgot what the value he set upon that was, a gold watch broke, he said I could get it very easily repaired, worth ten guineas; I gave some directions to Thompson, his bed-fellow, and Lee hid himself in the kitchen; I sent Thompson in to look for him; he told Thompson he would not go to bed that night.
Q. Did you hear him say that to Thompson? - A. I did; he said something to Thompson to aggravate him, and Thompson was going to fight with him; called him a rogue; I told him, Mr. Lee, I will let you go in the morning, never mind Mr. Thompson, says I, you have vexed him; I forced him into his bed-room; and when I was forcing him into his room, Mr. Warren, says he, have you deceived me? no, says I; says he, for God's
sake run me through the body; the next morning, about nine o'clock, I went home; says I, Mr. Lee, what sort of a watch was that you gave me last night, that you said I could so easily get repaired? he put his hand in his pocket, and gave me another gold watch, and two guineas more.Q. Was that broke too? - A. No; he owned that himself; he told me it was worth 40 guineas; that he would send me 40 guineas on Saturday, and some plate; I told him I was very sorry for him; that it was my duty to fetch him and the property before the Magistrate.
Q. Did you do so? - A. I told him it was my duty not to betray the gentleman that appointed me; and Alderman Twiddey committed him to Newgate, in Dublin
Q. What did you do with the watches and seals? - A. I left them with Alderman Twiddey.
Q. Did you put any mark upon them? - A. Yes; they were all marked by Mr. Moore, in my presence, and Alderman Twiddey's presence.
Q. Should you know them again if you were to see them? - A. Yes.
Court. Q. Was the prisoner carried before Alderman Twiddey at that time? - A. He was. (The gold watch produced). Upon my oath this is the watch that I had from the prisoner; my name is wrote upon it, (the broken watch produced).
Q. How do you know that is the watch you delivered to Alderman Twiddey? - A. I marked it.
Mr. Knowlys. That watch, my Lord, is not in the indictment.
Witness. Here is a diamond star pin, which has my mark upon it; a pair of gold ear-rings are marked with my name, in my own hand-writing; a gold chain and seal, with my name upon it, he made me a present of that, and I wore it; a pair of brilliant ear-rings, with my name upon it; four rings, with my name upon a piece of paper attached to them; a gold ring studded with diamonds, there is the private mark of the shop, and my name upon; and I also know it by a dent in it.
Q.Had you all this property, now produced, from the prisoner at the bar? - A. Yes.
Cross-examined by Mr. Ally. Q. This man was committed by Mr. Twiddey to your house? - A. He was.
Q. He was committed there only on suspicion, I believe? - A. Just so.
Q. He had been a week in your house? - A. Yes.
Q. And then, being afraid he should not get bail, he offered this property to get his liberty. Now, you tell us, that it was after your agreement with him, that he sent to his friends for these things, after you had promised he should go, when a sufficient recompence was made to you? - A. Yes.
Q.These things were brought by other persons to him? - A. Yes, by his father and mother.
Q. I understand he gave you a watch one night? - A. Yes.
Q. The next morning, you asked him what kind of a watch it was? - A. Yes.
Q. Did he make any reply to it? - A. No; he did not.
Q. It was entirely in the expectation of getting his liberty that he gave you these things? - A. He thought I would let him go.
Q. Was this watch-chain, and seal, that you wore, brought by his father and mother? - A. It was.
Q.And the watch that he took out of his pocket? - A. No; that he constantly wore.
Examined by Mr. Knowlys. Q. Do you know the prisoner? - A. Only by having seen him in the streets.
Q. How long have you known him? - A. I had seen him in the neighbourhood of St. James's, about two or three years; he lived, as I understood, in Angel-court; I live in Bury-street.
Q. Did you know a woman of the name of Sarah Chandler ? - A. I have seen her.
Q.Was the prisoner acquainted with her? - A. I don't know.
Q. Upon your oath, don't you know? - A. No further than seeing her and him in company, as I should see any other man or woman; they passed as man and wife; I cannot say that they were married.
Q. Had they any children? - A. This man came to my house, in the character of a labouring man, some time last summer, but the exact time I cannot say; he asked me if I knew any woman that gave suck? I told him I knew a Mrs. Brown, in St. James's-street, without a husband, that I thought would be very glad to get a shilling; and he begged of me to go to Angel-court, to Mrs. White's, where the child was, and I went with him.
Q. Whose child was it? - A. I cannot tell the father of it; by his taking care of it, I supposed it was his.
Q. But did you understand, from your conversation with him, that it was his child? - A. Yes; he and I brought it down from this Mrs. White's, she had the care of the child at that time; I gave the child to this Mrs. Brown, I carried it to her; and that is all that I can tell about it.
Q. Who did he say was the mother? - A. This woman that went by the name of his wife.
Q. Did you see the woman after she was at Mr. Dingwall's? - A. I never saw her in Mr. Ding
wall's house; I heard her name was Sarah Chandler; I don't know.Court. Q. Did the woman go by the name of Sarah Chandler? - A. I never heard her name till I heard it since this passed.
Q.Where did you see her afterwards? - A. At Mr. Dingwall's door once, but I did not know who lived there.
Q. When did you see her at Mr. Dingwall's? - A. I cannot say when it was; I was going to the palace.
Q. Tell us what time of the year was it? - A. I cannot say.
Q. Winter or summer? - A. The latter end of the fine weather; she was washing Mr. Dingwall's door upon her knees, wiping and washing the door; but I never had any acquaintance with the woman in my life.
Q.As if she was a servant of the house? - A. Yes.
Court. Q. You did not know that she was called Sarah Chandler till lately? - A. No.
Q. Did you know the prisoner's name? - A. I always heard him called Lee.
Q. Did you ever hear him speak of her as his wife? - A. I never heard that he was married to her; but she used to go in the street by the name.
Q. But he told you that was his child, and this woman the mother of it? - A. I suppose, by their having the child between them, that it must be so; he never told me any particular thing about it.
Q. Did they appear to be persons living together as man and wife? - A. I believe all the neighbours thought so as well as me; I cannot say whether they were or not.
Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. You supposed this man had a child by this woman? - A. I don't know, because I know neither of them.
I know the prisoner; I have know him three years.
Q. Do you know a person of the name of Sarah Chandler ? - A. Yes.
Q. How long have you known her? - A. Not above six months.
Q. Do you know where she lived servant? - A. Yes; with Mr. Dingwall.
Q. Did you know her before that? - A. Yes; she lived with the prisoner.
Q. In what way did they live together? - A. As man and wife. The day before the robbery was committed, Sarah Chandler came to the house of William Lee , and left a message, and she then went back to her place again.
Q. Did you tell the prisoner what Mrs. Chandler had said? - A. No; his brother did.
Q. Did his brother tell it in your hearing? - A. No; the same evening, he and Gregory Lee went out together.
Q. What evening? - A. The evening the robbery was committed; William Lee returned, about nine o'clock, with the jewels in his pocket.
Q. Did you see them? - A. Yes; and his brother, and Sarah Chandler , came into the room directly after; the brother brought a large bundle of linen cloaths, they were packed in a large trunk.
Q. What was put in the trunk? - A. The cloaths directed and sent to Dublin; but by what waggon I don't know.
Q. What became of the jewels? - A. Lee had them in his possession; then William Lee, and Sarah Chandler , went away together, she was dressed in man's cloaths, and went for Dublin; Gregory Lee, this man's brother, and his wife, went the same evening for Bristol, with the coach; and I had the care of William Lee 's child.
Q.Were you his servant? - A. No, I was not; I was going to Dublin with them; I had the care of the child.
Q. Did you, after William Lee and Sarah Chandler set off for Dublin, see them again? - A. No, I did not.
Q.(To Mr. Bailieu). Are those two brilliant diamonds, (shewing them to the witness), your property? - A. Yes; both of them.
Q.What is the value of them? - A. 295l. (Looks at the pearl bracelets.) These are mine; they were lost upon this occasion; these that have a paper on them, were delivered by the prisoner to the jailer.
Q. This watch, which was taken to pieces, is not in the indictment, but was taken at the same time? - A. Yes; it is my own making; it is a particular kind of a watch; no other watchmaker could make it.
Q. Where was this watch at the time you left the house? - A. Put in the escrutore drawer.
Q.How did you find the drawers? - A. There was a key in the drawers that belonged to the other room.
Q. Were the diamond rings in the house? - A. Yes.
Q. Look at that watch? - A. It was in the iron closet. On the gold ring, studded with diamonds, there is my own mark; it is a parchment label, with a mark to denote the price.
Court. Q. Is that worth 8l.? - A. Yes.
Q.(To Mr. Dingwall.) When you returned home, was there any violence on the house? - A. A show-glass was broke; the door was fast.
Q. There did not appear to have been any violence? - A. No.
Prisoner's defence. Between nine and ten o'clock,
I was up at Warwick-court, Holborn, a message was sent for me to come down; there was John Garrett and Joseph Delaware and his sister, had a red morocco case with these diamonds in it; John Garret told me he had found the things, and asked me if I would make a purchase of them; I said I was not a judge, but if they would trust me with them, I would enquire in two hours, and purchase them; they left them with me; I asked a man the value of them; I told him all the rest afterwards; the man lives in Petticoat-lane; I sent for him, he would not come; those things that are valued at 230l. he and his son valued at 30l. I offered them for sale very openly, which I would not have done, if I had known they had been stolen. Mr. Moore knows I did; he said he wished to have some more conversation with me before he bought them; a person came in and said he had known me 12 years, and knew nothing but honour and honesty of me; there are men in Court know I was four months at Lord Malden's; I appeal to your Lordship to make an enquiry into my character. Before I would be out of employ, I would go into the lowest capacity in life. I was stopped, on the 17th of December, by Mr. Moore, he took pains to enquire my character; I recommended him to Mr. Swaine; he came in to Mr. Moore's parlour, and declared he knew me; Mr. Moore went to Mr. Lee, and, when he came back, he said I had been only a waiter, and could not come honestly by the things. I was sent to Mr. Warren's, on the 17th of December, in the afternoon, and was there till that day eight days; when I had been there five days, I sent to employ Counsellor Manley; he said it was a bailable offence; he came again in the morning, and produced three newspapers, which he said were just arrived from England, and that the things had been stolen, and it was a dangerous thing; Mr. Warren said, if I would give him the things he would liberate me; I sent for a pocket handkerchief with the things, and gave them to him. This woman is perjured; she says my brother came in; he is a chairman to a lady, No. 66, Dorset-street, Dublin. I don't know a woman of the name of Chandler.GUILTY . Death . (Aged 27.)
Tried by the second Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Justice LAWRENCE.