The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

 

1529.   THOMAS BREWER—HATTON , was indicted for burglariously and sacrilegiously breaking and entering   the church of St. John, at West Ham, and stealing therein 4 surplices, and other articles, and 3l. 7s. 91/2 d. in money; the property of   William Holloway, clerk:—Other COUNTS, of   William Holloway, clerk, and others.

MR. BALLANTINE conducted the Prosecution.

  JOHN WILLIAM MANNING (police—sergeant, K 5). I was on duty at the police—station, at Stratford, on Wednesday morning, 11th June, between 8 and 9 o'clock—the prisoner came there in a very flurried state, and said that Stratford Church had been broken into and robbed—I and Benton accompanied him to the Church—it is St. John's Church, Stratford—we got in through the north door—it was not open, it closes by a spring, you can push it open, it was not locked—we went into the vestry—there was a table there with drawers—the place was in a very confused state, the things were lying about the vestry, one drawer was on the ground and another on the table—I examined the drawers and found them cut above the wards of the lock—I asked the prisoner what was gone—he looked about for a short time and then said, two new surplices, an ink-stand, a hat-brush, that poor Mr. Nicholl bought just before he left, and some money, but he did not know how much—I asked him if he was positive it was a new surplice that was stolen—I said, "Might not the dirty ones have been stolen, be certain, because you might lead us astray in making the inquiries"—he said he was positive, for the two dirty ones he took over to his house on the Sunday night—he said the money had been taken from a drawer in the table—he called my attention to a window, where he said they must have got in—I examined it—it was cut—it was about ten feet from the ground on the outside, and about six feet on the inside—it was a lattice—window, with leaden diamond—shaped frames—it wall cut apparently from light to left—I have it here (producing it)—this is the frame as I had it cut out—it is exactly in the same state—here is a place where the knife seems to have slipped and caught here—the frame was cut and bent inside in this way (describing it)—I should say the hole was hot large enough for a person to get through—I examined the window—sill, the dust on the outside was very thick and undisturbed—the sill is about five or six inches wide—there were no marks of fingers or feet in the dust—there were three scratches across it, parallel with the sill, which appeared as if they had been done with a bit of glass, or the blade of a knife—they appeared to have been recently done—the window is exactly ten feet from the ground outside—the cutting of the lead was close down upon the sill—it would open immediately above the sill—the ground outside was gravel, but from the time it appeared to have been, laying there it was flattened and soft, so that anything placed there would make an impression—there were three or four footmarks three or four feet off, going towards the vestry, from the north door, running parallel with the side of the church, towards the vestry, as if a person had passed by—there were no marks of footsteps pointed towards the window—there were several marks, apparently of trampling, on the top of a seat immediately under the window—there was a quantity of dust on the bench—you could see some faint impressions of footmarks here and there, it appeared to be the middle of the sole where the dirt had been left, as though the dirt had adhered to the foot and some of it had dropped off—the prisoner led me from the window towards the north door, and said that was where the thieves must

have let themselves out—at the right—side of that door I found this candle in a tumbler, or drinking—glass—the candle was lying in a slanting direction in the glass—I asked the prisoner if that was one of the church candles—he said, "No"—I said, "Are you sure of it?"—he said, "I am, for the candles used in the church are under my care, under lock and key"—Benton left me for a moment or two, and then returned and said, "Are you sure there are no other candles similar to that in the church but what were locked up?"—he said there were none—Benton said, "I think I can show you one," and pot his hand under the seat at the extreme end of the Church and pulled out a candle from among some old dusters, brushes, and rubbish, and said, "Here is one" this is it (produced)—it is of exactly the same size and coloured tallow at the one I found in the tumbler, and they are both broken in exactly the same position at the bottom—one is a little larger than the other, they have both been lighted—I showed them to a tallow—chandler—I asked the prisoner if any person had access to the Church but himself—he said, "No," and said, "I locked the Church—doors about half—past 7 last night, and nobody has the keys but myself"—I then communicated my suspicions to the churchwardens and I took the prisoner into custody—I took him to the station, searched him, and found on him a bunch of keys, a sovereign, three shillings, a half-crown, and 51/2 d. in copper—the prisoner remained in custody that night—next day I went to the Church, unlocked the cupboard under the stairs with a key on the bunch I took from the prisoner, and found this surplice (produced) at the extreme end of the cupboard, under a quantity of shavings, old church hassocks, and a quantity of dirt—some ink has been spilled on it—I found some ink had been spilled on the mat by the north door.

Cross-examined by MR. PARNELL. Q. Have you got the keys you found on the prisoner? A. Yes; I have not got another bunch—I saw an old rusty bunch—a man named Hallard showed them to me in the public—house here—he sent over from the Court and showed them to me—I looked at them, gave them back to him, and have not seen them since—I do not know that they were the apparent duplicates of these—it was last Session, I forget the day—they had no label on them—the prisoner did not tell me at what time he discovered the Church had been broken into, or how he discovered it, or whether any one was with him.

MR. BALLANTINE. Q. Who is Hal lard? A. A labouring—man—I know nothing about him—I never saw him before.

  JAMES BENTON (policeman, K 381). I heard of the robbery, and went with Manning to the Church—after examining it I went to the prisoner's house—he lives just across the road, facing the Church—I went to the top of the house, and in a nook for a closet, which I think had a door to it, I found this new surplice, and a part of an old one (produced)—when I heard of the robbery in the morning I asked the prisoner whether he was sure there were two new surplices taken away—he said he was sure there were two new ones, for he took the two old ones home on Sunday night to be washed—I said, "Are you quite certain you might not have taken some of the new ones home in mistake?"—he said, "No, I am certain of that. "

Cross-examined. Q. Had his wife the washing and the care of the surplices? A. I do not know; I know he was the sexton—I did not know he kept the keys of the Church—I have not seen another bunch of keys—I did not find one in one of the doors.

J. W. MANNING re-examined. There was no bunch of keys in one of the doors, nor a single key.

  JAMES RANDALL (policeman, K 324). On the night before the robbery I was on duty in High-street, Stratford—I was standing near the Church, on the north side of Stratford, and saw the prisoner going towards Angel-lane, away from his own house—I saw him again, about 3 minutes after 11 o'clock, at the corner of Angel-lane—he said to me, "I thought you were on day duty," and said, "Is this the end of your beat?"—I made him no answer to that—he asked if I went down towards Stratford-grove—I said, "Occasionally"—he asked if there was a man in the Grove—I told him, "Occasionally"—he then wanted to know if I went op Angel-lane—I told him, "Occasionally"—he then asked if there was a man in Angel-lane—I told him, "Occasionally"—he asked if there was a man on the other side, the south side of Stratford—I said, "Yes"—he wanted to know who the man was—I told him, "Fowle"—he wanted to know if Fowle went beyond the Church—I told him, "Occasionally"—he then wanted to know what time it was daylight in the morning—I told him, "Between 2 and 8"—he then asked if I would give him a call between 3 and 4 o'clock, he wanted to go to the Church; and then he said he wanted to go and dig a grave—I did call him at 20 minutes to 4—after I knocked three times, he stood at the window, and nodded his head, but did not answer—he was in his shirt; I cannot say what more he had on.

Cross-examined. Q. Was there a roan with him at the time you had this conversation? A. Yes; I do not know his name—he heard all that passed—we had nothing at all to drink; that I am quite sure of—I knew the prisoner before well—he called me Jim—I am quite sure we had no half-and-half to drink—when I left him he went towards the Church—his house is close to the Church—I know nothing of a rusty bunch of keys that a man named Hallard got—I saw a man with a rusty bunch of keys—they were larger than these produced, I should think—Hallard is a labouring man; I cannot say whether he is a mower—I did not see him at work in the churchyard on 11th or 12th June—I cannot say whether there had been any mowing going on in the churchyard.

J. W. MANNING re-examined. I found an ink-bottle in the cupboard under the gallery, where I found the surplice and brush—I have the surplices here (producing them)—there was very little ink in the bottle—it was lying under a quantity of rubbish, and the brush was in the stand.

Cross-examined. Q. Had Hallard been mowing in the churchyard a day or two before? A. I should say not; if he had I Should have seen him; I pass there repeatedly.

  FREDERICK JOHN ALEXANDER . I am a surgeon, living at Stratford, opposite the Church. I know the prisoner by sight, and know his house—I saw him on Tuesday night, 10th June, at a quarter-past 11; the quarter chimes were going as he went past me—I saw him go across from the angle past my house to the churchyard-gate—that was away from his house.

Cross-examined. Q. Where did he cross from? A. From the corner of Angel-lane; I should think it was about eighty yards from his house—his side-face was towards me—I had been out to see a patient, and was locked out, and had to ring up my servant to get admission.

  ELIZABETH JOHNSON . I am single, and live at Stratford. I iron the surplices for the Church—I know these two surplices—I believe them to be the surplices belonging to the Church—I last ironed them a month ago, on that Friday before they were stolen—there were no ink marks on them then; there was some iron-mould.

Cross-examined. Q. That would be from ink? A. Yes; the prisoner had charge of the surplices—we always had them from his house—I do not know how many were kept in the Church—those not in use were kept at his house.

  WILLIAM TROT . I am clerk and schoolmaster of St. John's Church, Stratford. On the Monday evening before the robbery I was in the vestry with the clergyman—I opened the table-drawer—there was 3l. 7s. 9 1/2 d. in it—there was no gold—no one had a key of it but myself—I put 1s. In, which made up that amount—I saw an ink-stand there—I know this one (produced)—I should say it is what we have used in the vestry—it was not kept in the cupboard under the stairs—I learnt of the robbery at 9 o'clock on Wednesday morning—I afterwards saw the prisoner at the Church—he sent his boy over to me—he said he went to bed at 11 o'clock overnight, to get up at 4 next morning—I know that he had to dig a grave.

Cross-examined. Q. How many surplices were generally kept at the Church? A. Two or three; the rest were at the prisoner's house—these keys were kept by the prisoner—he also had the large keys of the gates—I know nothing of a rusty bunch—I had nothing to do with the cupboard in the Church—if the pew-openers wanted the keys they would have to go to him—the clergyman's name is William Holloway—I do not know a man named Hallard, not by name—some persons living in Bull-court had been employed just before last Sessions to mow the churchyard; I do not know their names, or whether one of them was Hallard.

  JAMES GALE . I am beadle of the Church. I know the cupboard under the stairs—the prisoner kept the key of it; he was the sexton—I have never seen any key to that cupboard, except what he kept in his possession—on the Sunday night before the robbery, he asked me to go and lock the south gate while he took two surplices home to his house to be washed—there are some old surplices now in use at the Church.

Cross-examined. You have been to this cupboard from time to time, have you not? A. Yes, if he asked me; and then I got the keys from him—the pulpit and communion-table coverings are kept there—I never saw him give the keys to the pew-openers—I have seen a bunch of rusty keys hanging up at his house; but these keys were mostly in his pocket—I do not know what keys the rusty bunch were—there was a man employed by the prisoner some time ago to mow the churchyard—I do not know his name—I saw the bunch of keys that a man brought here last Session—they were something similar to the bunch I saw hanging up at the prisoner's house, but I could not positively swear to them—I have been to the prisoner's house since the robbery—I went there on Sunday night after a small key—I did not notice whether the rusty bunch of keys were gone, or not—the house is empty now.

  WILLIAM TROT re-examined. There are five or six surplices in use at the Church—I do not know whether they were in use at the time of the robbery—we had two old ones—they are still in use—the money in the drawer was sacramental money—the communion-plate was kept in an iron chest in the vestry, under three locks—I only have the keys.

MR. PARNELL called the following Witnesses.

  WILLIAM GARDENER . I am a boot-maker, and have been eighteen years in the employment of Mr. Skinner, of Stratford. On Whit-Tuesday evening, 10th June, I was at Jay's beer-house, at Maryland-point, which is about four or five minutes' walk from the Church—the prisoner was there—we left the house together just before 11 o'clock—we went in the direction of his house,

and passed it—I said to him, "We have passed your house"—he said, "Neve mind; I want to see some one to call me," because he had to get up in the morning to dig a grave—we came up to the policeman Randall; and it was ultimately arranged that he should call him at 4 o'clock—before we parted, I and the prisoner and Randall had a pot of half-and-half together, outside the Angel—I then bid the prisoner good-night, and he went homewards.

  ELIZA ANN RICHARDSON . I am a cousin of the prisoner's wife. She was out of health on Whit-Tuesday—I was staying with her—I recollect the prisoner coming home that evening, about a quarter-past 11 o'clock—he went to bed immediately—I slept in the same room with him and his wife—Mrs. Hatton was very bad in the night with spasms, and I went down-stairs once or twice for her—I did not sleep much—about 4 the prisoner was called by some one at the window—he had not left his room between the time of his going to bed, and 4—when he was called, he got out of bed, went to the window, and said, "All right!" and then went back again and went to bed—he got up about half-past 6—I know this bunch of keys (the keys produced)—they were kept by the prisoner—there was also a rusty bunch, generally kept at the prisoner's—the boy Wright had them on the Monday, to go to the Church—he took them—they used to hang up in the front-room; he took them from there—I have not seen them since—they hung on the same peg where the keys of the Church were kept—those keys were given to anybody connected with the Church who chose to come and ask for them—there is no closet or cupboard in the attic—the surplices were kept there when they came to Mrs. Hatton's.

Cross-examined by MR. BALLANTINE. Q. Do you mean that there is no hole in the wall, or anything of that kind? A. No; no place in which to put anything out of the way—I am eighteen years old—there are three bed-rooms in the prisoner's house—the prisoner, his wife, and myself, were the only persons living in the house at that lime—I slept in their, room, because there was no other bed; the things had been all taken away—I had a mattress to lie on—I slept there on the Monday and Tuesday, and frequently before—I always slept in their room when I stayed there, because Mrs. Hatton wax ill—when I was not there, her sister or his sister stayed with her; she goes about sometimes, not very often—a surgeon attends her—I never had the keys in my possession—I have taken them down from the peg—I cannot tell how they came to be found in the churchyard—I did not take them there—I swear that—I never had them in my possession after the robbery, and never saw them in the hands of anybody else—I do not know Hallard—no keys have been shown to me by anybody, either at this Session or any previous time—I know it was about a quarter-past 11 o'clock when the prisoner came borne, because the shops were shut up, and I had heard the Church clock strike 11—I was down-stairs at that time, and Mrs. Hatton also—she was able to get down-stairs, but not to be left alone—I helped her down—she was sitting along with me, not at supper—I was at needlework—she was down-stairs when the prisoner came home—I continued in the kitchen about half an hour after he came home—I and Mrs. Hatton went up-stairs together—the prisoner had gone to bed first—we found him in bed when we went up—I did not undress myself all night—I do not know what o'clock it was when Mrs. Hatton's spasms began; I suppose it was about half-past 12—I did not notice—there was no furniture in any of the other rooms—there had been a distress—they were in very bad circumstances—with the exception of the bed and mattress, there was scarcely anything in the house—I had seen the prisoner in the course of Tuesday morning—I heard nothing of his wanting

money during that day—I never heard him say anything about money—I live at Stratford, with my father—I was before the Magistrate the first time but was not examined.

  GEORGE RIVETT . I am a carpenter and undertaker, at West Ham. I have known the prisoner several years—as far as my knowledge goes he has borne the character of an honest man—I have come in contact with him in the way of business many times—I live about half a mile from him—on Wednesday morning, 11th June, he came to me about a grave, and I gave him some directions about it—I noticed nothing extraordinary in his manner at that time—he told me he had been to look after the grave-diggers—that was his duty.

Cross-examined. Q. Do I understand you to state upon your oath, that the prisoner bore a good character for honesty? A. As far as any dealings I have had with him—I have never heard anything spoken against his honesty, except since this case, nothing that there has been any proof of—I never heard any imputation against him, except the present charge—I have heard that he was behind with his rent, nothing else—I never heard anything about gambling—I might have heard perhaps of his gambling, but I do not know that there is any dishonesty in that—I never heard of any charge against him in connection with the former Incumbent—I do not remember that I have heard that he behaved dishonestly to that gentleman—I think since this case has been talked about, I have heard that there were some arrears due to the clergyman—I have no idea what—I suppose in the shape of fees which passed through his hands, but that was merely in the way of talk—I heard no proof.

MR. PARNELL. Q. And that is since this charge has been made against him? A. Exactly so; among the many spiteful things reported, that is one—there is a good deal of party feeling going on in Stratford about this matter—I never heard anything against his honesty previous to this charge.

  WILLIAM WRIGHT . I am in the prosecutor's employment—I recollect this bunch of keys of his belonging to the Church—there was also another, a rusty bunch, kept in his house—I last saw them on Whit Tuesday morning—I got them from the prisoner's house to unlock the closet to take a brush and duster out—when I had done with them I left them on the poor-box, on the free seats—the Church was open for service that day, at 11 o'clock—it was just before a quarter to 11, that I left the keys there—I have not seen them since—it was I who went and told Mr. Trot about the robbery—I found it out in the morning when I went over with the prisoner, about half-past eight—the people had come at that time to dig the grave—I do not know who had come—I have seen Mr. Plastow there—he comes from West Ham—I first saw the prisoner that morning when he came to knock at his own door about a quarter past eight—I went to his house about 8, and when he came he and I went to the Church—as we went towards the Church he showed me the broken window—I went inside the Church with him—we went in at the side-door—I do not know whether that is the north door or not—it was on the same side of the Church as the clergyman stands at the altar—I found at that door a tumbler with a piece of candle in it, and a pair of steps belonging to the Church—they were usually kept under the stone-stairs—the bottom bolt was raised of the door we went in at—it ought to have been fastened—I did not observe anything particular in the prisoner's manner before I saw the broken window—there was nothing different in his manner after we found it out.

Cross-examined. Q. What time had you generally to be at your master's? A. Seven o'clock—I was late that morning—my master had not told roe not

to come so early—I always am about half an hour beyond my time—I had my breakfast that morning before I came away—I did not always do so—I generally have breakfast at Mr. Hatton's—I live with my mother—Mr. Hatton paid me 7s. a week, and my board—he was angry with me when I came late—he did not scold me for being late that morning—he pointed out the broken window to me—he said, "Wright, my God! there is the, window broken"—he appeared surprised—I was then crossing the road with him, directly opposite the window—I could see it quite plainly—it was broken outside, and the leads were turned inside—I could see that—it was the prisoner who found out that the bolt of the door was undone—he pointed it out to me, and said, "Here is the bolt turned"—when we got into the Church, we went and looked at the window—we went close up to it, and were two or three minutes looking at it, standing on the ground—he did not do anything except stand on the ground looking at it.

MR. PARNELL. Q. If the bolt had been down in its proper place, would it have been possible to open the door you went in at? A. No.

COURT. Q. How many doors are there to the Church? A. Four; the door we went in at is surrounded by the churchyard—it can be seen from the street—the other doors are not seen from the street—that was not the nearest door to the prisoner's house—the side-door is the nearest to his house—the door we went in at is at the end of the Church—there is a steeple at that end—the door is at the foot of the steeple—we passed the side-door before we came to that—there is a lock to the end door—there is no lock on the side-door, only bolts—the prisoner unlocked the end door, opened it, and then we went in—it was not the door we got in at that had the bolt up—it was the side-door where the bolt was up—I did not say, a short time ago, that we went in at the side-door—it was the middle door we went in at, the door under the steeple.

GUILTY .— Confined Eighteen Months.