The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

 

483.   SAMUEL KELLAND and   HUGH DUKLOP , unlawfully inflicting divers grievous bodily harms on   Samuel Sullock, upon the high seas.

(See page 608.)

MESSRS. CLERK and SHARPE conducted the Prosecution.

  WILLIAM KNIGHT . I am a ship agent, and live in Tooley-street; I am part owner of the Caroline. I saw the deceased boy Sullock before his death, after his return from the voyage—that was almost immediately on the ship entering the docks, in March—there was a stupidity in his look, and he was very dirty in his person—I addressed several questions to him, and he gave me very reasonable answers—he was in a dirty filthy state; I asked him the reason of his being in that state—he told me it was in consequence of the lengthened state of the voyage, he had worn out all his clothes—I asked him if he had any shoes; he said he had none, he had lost them—I asked

him if he was unwell, he said he was not; I then asked him if he had been badly treated—he said he had not—I believe the mate (Dunlop) was there at the time, the master (Kelland) had proceeded up to our office to report his vessel—I expect the mate was in the ship, but I have no knowledge of the mate whatever; the crew were shipped at Glasgow—I do not think the mate was by, so as to hear what the boy said—there were several persons about the deck at the time, but none taking particular notice of the conversation; there were none within hearing—this conversation took place on the deck—I was speaking as loud as I am now, the Custom House officer might have been about a yard from us—I did not recognise the mate.

Cross-examined by MR. RIBTON. Q. YOU had known the captain before? A. Yes; about eighteen months—this was the first voyage he had been as master; before that he was mate.

  KARL FREDERICK KNOFF (through an interpreter). I am a German. I was cook and steward on board the Caroline—I joined the ship at Demerara—Kelland was master of the ship—Dunlop was not the mate when I joined—he only came the day before we left Demerara; I had been then three weeks on board—Dunlop sailed in the ship from Demerara, I think as second mate, and later, after the mate died, he became mate; the captain told me that the mate was drowned—the boy Sullock was on board the ship when we left Demerara—he was a boy on board—he was in very good health when we left Demerara—he was treated quite well by the captain and mate when we left Demerara—I did not see anything done to him until about three weeks previous to our arrival in London—as I came out of the cabin I saw the captain beating him over the head with a broom stick—I cannot say how many times he beat him at that time; he beat him till the stick broke, and then he took the handle of a scrubber, and beat him with that, and broke it—the boy's head was over blood, I cannot say how much it bled; but the blood came out of his head, and likewise from his hands—later that same day, the mate threw the boy down on the deck, near the cabin, and kicked him with his foot—the boy cried very much when this was done—I do not know why the captain beat him, or why the mate kicked him—that was the first time I had seen such cruel treatment—he had, perhaps, received a box on the ears now and then—the day after he was not beaten, and in the evening they gave him clean clothes; and the boy's head was very much swollen—after that, almost daily, he received boxes on the ears, or they beat him with ropes' ends—I made the captain understand that the boy was ill, that he might not beat him any more—I had to fetch the boy, who was sitting in the forecastle, and then he was dressed clean—I cannot say how often after this the boy was beaten before the ship arrived in London, but there passed not one day when he was not beaten; he was beaten by the captain as well as by the mate—he was only beaten once with the broom stick and scrubber; afterwards it was with the rope's end—one day when we were in St. Katherine's Dock, the mate threw the boy down in the forecastle, and kicked him with his foot—the boy slept on a box in the forecastle during the voyage—I did not see any other violence used to the boy than that which I have detailed.

Cross-examined. Q. How long have you known the captain? A. Three months, since I have been on board the ship—I went on board at Demerara—I never had any quarrel with the captain, or with the mate—we exchanged a few words in the docks, but no quarrel—I have not taken a knife to him—I swear I never drew a knife against him—once, when the mate spoke to me, I was employed with a knife on deck—the captain's wife did not interfere

to prevent my striking the mate with a knife—the crew at last only consisted of the mate and myself; before, there were six persons altogether on board; at the time these injuries were inflicted, there were six, including the captain—at first there were seven, and when the first mate fell overboard, there were six, until we arrived in London—I did not mention this, until I was called before a court of justice; that might be about a week or eight days after our arrival in London—I do not know whether Dunlop was called as a witness on the first occasion; I did not hear him give evidence—I do not know what has become of the rest of the crew; the others left previously to me—I had never had any quarrel with the boy—I complained once to the captain that he made the galley dirty—I cannot say whether he was an idle boy; he was not a boy of dirty habits in the first part, but at the latter part he was—when; the captain ill treated him with the broomstick, there was a man present steering besides me, and the mate stood close by—the man that was steering saw it—he said nothing to the captain in my hearing—I cannot say where the rest of the crew were.

MR. CLERK. Q. Was the boy ever dirty before he began to be ill used? A. No, I cannot say that he was—when we came to London, the ship went into St. Katherine's Docks—I remained in the ship there about a week—the rest of the crew left the day we arrived.

MR. RIBTON. Q. Did you ever hear that the boy had fallen in the forecastle, and hurt himself? A. No, I did not hear that—I swear I never heard that he had fallen from a box, and injured his head; nor did I ever hear of his falling into the fire.

COURT. Q. Where did the mate kick him the first time? A. In several parts of the body; I cannot exactly say where, about the ribs and other parts—I could not see any consequence of these blows afterwards; the boy had his clothes on—I afterwards saw the boy dead in the hospital.

  JAMES BURKETT . I am a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and am surgeon at Guy's Hospital. On 21st March, the lad, Samuel Sullock, was brought to Guy's Hospital—Mr. Knight's partner, Mr. Barter, came to see him while he was in the hospital—I examined the boy—he was very dirty—he had several wounds on his legs, some on his body, others on his head, and some on his hands—the wound on the head I should call a small lacerated wound, with contusions around—he had a remarkably idiotio vacant stare—we had great difficulty in getting any information from him—I ordered his head to be shaved, that we might examine it more carefully—I first discovered two small wounds on the scalp, with the contusions I have described—on feeling one more attentively, I thought there might be some matter underneath; I therefore made an incision into the scalp, and there was a very little matter, not so much as I anticipated—I then found that the soft parts external to the skull were infiltrated as they are after contusion, and the membrane covering the external surface of the skull was detached, which was also the result of a contusion—I have no doubt that blows with a broom stick or scrubber, would have produced the appearances that I saw on the skull—a fall would produce they same result—one wound was on the left side of the head, in the frontal region, and one on the left temporal region—there were two wounds—on the legs we found some wounds healed, and some healing—they were peculiarly small wounds, which were said to have been the result of the bites of mosquitoes—I do not know whether that might be so; I never saw a mosquito bite—there were, I think, two wounds on the right leg, one nearer the groin than the other; it was a narrow wound, in great part healed; the other was a larger wound, not so much healed—there

was one on the abdomen quite healed—they were such injuries as might have been produced by kicks about the body—they were abraded surfaces; they might have been the result of a kick—if the clothes had been on, and it had occurred three weeks before, I think it could scarcely be attributed to a kick—all the wounds I saw were undergoing a healing process—they could not have been inflicted within a day or two—there was one wound on the anterior part of the right thigh, which must have been five inches long, but exceedingly narrow; I heard that that was the result of a rope's end, and I think it very likely—there was no contusion about the wounds on the extremities—I apprehend the effect of a severe blow from a rope's end, with the clothes on, would be merely to raise the cuticle, and contuse the part, produce a blister, which would break, and then there would be merely the abrasion of the skin, which would be very superficial indeed—the wound I saw was very superficial, and quite consistent with that species of injury—the wound on the abdomen was rather oval than long—I should not call it a wound; there was a scar; there had been a wound evidently—there was just a little scab in the centre, round the cuticle—the hands were very much contused; the back of the left hand particularly, and there was an abraded surface, either on the ring or index finger, and also an abraded surface on the nose—blows on the hand with a stick, I should say, would be very likely to produce that appearance—I should think a fall would easily produce the abrasions I saw on the face—the boy was in the hospital about four days; he died on the 25th—the cause of death was bronchitis—I made a post-mortem examination—I discovered nothing more with regard to the wounds on the body—I examined more attentively the wound on the skull—I found the scalp very much infiltrated from the result of the blow—the body was otherwise healthy; there was not a diseased organ, except the lungs—the brain was particularly healthy.

Cross-examined. Q. I think you have said the bruises on the head might have been caused by a fall? A. They might; I think it is quite possible that the wounds on the body might have been caused by a fall, or by knocking against some hard surface.

  HENRY JOSEPH KING (Thames policeman) Examined by MR. RIBTON. I took Kelland into custody on the evening of Friday, 30th March; that was subsequent to the first inquest; there was an adjourned inquest—I do not know who was examined on the first occasion; I believe the mate was; I was outside, and the witnesses were examined one after the other—I saw Dunlop go in, but I did not hear his evidence—Kelland was not in custody at that time—the rest of the crew did not give evidence, Dunlop was the only one on that day; the inquest was then adjourned to the Tuesday—I apprehended Kelland on the Friday before that—Knoff gave evidence on the Saturday before the Magistrate, not at the inquest—Dunlop did not give evidence at the second inquest—Knoff gave evidence at the second inquest, and I believe Mr. Barter, the owner, gave some little evidence, and myself—I found Knoff on the Thursday evening—after the first inquest had been held, having ascertained that the steward was still remaining in London, and knowing him to be a German, I went from one sugar house to another, and from one lodging house to another until I found him—the captain told me on Tuesday, the night of the first inquest, that he believed he was in London; he did not tell me where I might find him—the captain was not in custody then; I had no conversation with him then—he was at the inquest—I went to the vessel, but did not go on board—I had not a particularly long conversation with him that evening—perhaps I was talking

to him half an hour previous to going down to the vessel; it might have been a little more—he said he thought the crew had gone down to Glasgow, or Greenock, he did not know which; and the steward he thought was still in London—I cannot recall to memory whether he told me that the steward was a German, or not; I do not think he did; I will not be sure he did not—I have made efforts to find the crew—the captain called a lad on shore from the schooner that night; he said he knew where the men had been lodging, and he took me to a lodging house in Burr-street—I did not find any of them there; it was where they had been stopping—I made other efforts—one of the Jury thought the authorities should write down to Glasgow, and a letter was written, and an answer received on Saturday, 31st March—the letter stated that two of the men were at Glasgow, that they had shipped on board the Joseph Cunard, and were going to sail on Thursday—on the Saturday the captain and mate were taken before the Magistrate; that was previous to the second inquest—it was after I had found out Knoff that the captain was taken into custody, and before Knoff had given any evidence—I took him to an interpreter, to ascertain whether there was sufficient to empower me to take the captain into custody, before I took him.

MR. CLERK. Q. Was the first inquest on 27th March? A. It was—Dunlop then went in as a witness—I did not take Dunlop into custody till I had found Knoff—I took him on Saturday, 31st March, and the day following I apprehended the captain—the adjourned inquest was on 2nd April—at that time both the prisoners were in custody, and had been remanded by the Magistrate—it was on that second occasion that Knoff gave evidence before the Coroner.

Witness for the Defence.

  WILLIAM BARTER . I am a ship and insurance broker, in partnership with Mr. Knight Kelland has been in our employ about five years—I have known him about that time—he has been many voyages as mate, and on the last voyage, in consequence of his good conduct, I put him in as master—he has borne a very excellent character as a kind and humane man, and in his treatment of the crew generally—it is my intention to give him another vessel, so dissatisfied am I with the proceedings of the police, in preventing the seamen from being brought here that the case might have had the full investigation which it deserves—I should have got them here myself had I not been prevented by the police; I offered to do it at my own expense—I have been most grossly imposed upon by the management of the police in this case.

Cross-examined by MR. CLERK. Q. Is it a fact that you offered to get the crew up here? A. Yes, at my own expense, if they could not be got else—I made that offer first to the Coroner—I paid a great deal of attention to the case—I attended to it day after day, that it might be fully investigated, and the parties committing the injury might be properly punished—I said I would assist all I could to bring them to justice—I suggested to the Coroner how the crew might be got—I was ill for some days, and as soon as I got up from my illness, I ascertained from the captain that the crew had gone to Scotland—he assisted me in every way to find out where they had gone—I suggested to the Coroner that the best way would be to write to Greenock and Glasgow, and I would write to my own correspondent to get them up, if possible—the Coroner thought it better to put it in the hands of the police—I considered that the police and myself were working on the same ground, to bring the parties to justice, but I am convinced they have only been working for a conviction, and not for the

ends of justice—I certainly did not write to my correspondent to obtain the men, because the inspector, King, promised me he would do so—when the men were not forthcoming, there was a letter, as Mr. King says, on the Saturday, stating that the men were shipped on board the Joseph Cunard, about to sail on the Thursday following—I suggested to him the propriety of having the men here—he said he would speak to his superintendent to have them here, and if it was the intention of the superintendent to have them here or not, he would let me know—I was waiting for that information—I had not the slightest suspicion that I was about to be deceived, but they never came to me until it was too late—I had not the slightest confidence in the evidence of the foreigner.

COURT to HENRY JOSEPH KING. Q. Did you have any communication with Mr. Barter about writing for these men? A. It was named to him in the Inquest room, and several of the Jury suggested that inquiry should be made at the hands of the police—as the Inquest was held on the Tuesday, a letter was written on the Thursday, and we got an answer on the saturday, and on that same day we were before the Magistrate, at the Southwark police court—Mr. Barter was present, and I told him that the superintendent had received an answer to the letter he had written to Glasgow, stating that two of the men, Joseph Green and James Cattarn, had joined the Joseph Cunard, and were about to sail on Thursday—Mr. Barter never named to me that the superintendent would let him know whether the police would send for the men or not—I said I had evidence to produce before the Magistrate, and very possibly, if it was named to the Magistrate, the authorities of the Magistrate would send for those parties—I did not tell Mr. Barter that I would let him know whether the police were going to fetch the men or no—I knew Mr. Barter's address—I saw Mr. Barter at the police court on the Saturday, and I named that we had not received any answer then—the answer did not come to the station till after I went back from the Magistrate; that was at half past 4 o'clock, on Saturday afternoon—I saw Mr. Barter again on Monday, and I named to him that the superintendent had had an answer to a letter he had sent to Glasgow, which said that the two men had joined the Joseph Cunard, and would sail on Thursday—he then knew that I had got the steward as a witness before the Magistrate.

NOT GUILTY .

( There were two other indictments, charging the prisoners separately, with causing bodily harm to   Samuel Sullock, upon which no evidence was offered )