The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

 

2674.   THOMAS CRIDLAND,  HENRY WRIGHT , and   WILLIAM BENBROOK were indicted for stealing, on the 16th of October, 8 sheets of metal, value 2l.; and 75lbs. weight of nails, value 3l.; the goods of   Lawrence Holme Twentyman.

MR. JONES conducted the Prosecution.

  LAWRENCE HOLME TWENTYMAN . I am owner of the Courier schooner, which, on the 16th of October, was lying in the fore-and-aft dock, Bermondsey-wall, in charge of Crisp, the master-shipwright. I gave him orders to get metal and nails from Moss and Co. to repair the vessel—Wright was chief mate, and had been so about four days—he had no authority to remove any metal or nails from the vessel, or to take any other person on board.

Cross-examined by MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. Wright had all the stores in his care? A. There were scarcely any stores on board—the captain was ashore that night—I had bought these articles, and given directions to give them to the shipwright—I saw samples of them, but never saw the things themselves till I saw them on board last Friday.

Cross-examined by MR. PAYNE. Q. Who slept on board? A. The chief mate—he had no authority to take any one on board—he is a responsible man—he had a good character.

Cross-examined by MR. BALLANTINE. Q. I believe Wright had just come to England? A. I do not know where he came from—I understood he had not been home long—he had been master of a vessel at the Cape six or seven years.

  THOMAS CRISP . I am a shipwright. I had the care of the Courier, to repair her—I was on board on Friday evening last, about a quarter to six o'clock, when the people all left—I had that morning received some sheet metal and nails from Moss and Co., and some the day before—I saw them put down in the fore-cabin that evening, and left Wright in charge—I was knocked up next morning, went on board, and saw a policeman there—I went into the fore-cabin—I did not take any nails out of the vessel—I saw Wright in custody at the station-house, and some new and old nails and new metal, which exactly corresponded with those on board,

especially the old nails, because they were washed the day before, and left rusty, and they were wet when I saw them—I do not know Cridland or Benbrook—I desired Wright not to leave the ship, or allow any person to come on board.

Cross-examined by MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. You did not observe anything about the nails? A. Yes, I did—I went into the fore-cabin a little after six o'clock, and saw nearly half the hags of new and old nails gone—the nails I saw at the station-house were composition nails, commonly used on board—they are called "Muntz'a patent yellow metal"—there is only one person makes them—he makes for half the ships in the river, and the shipwrights use them—I use them for my own ships—they are a good deal used—these were inch nails, which, I believe, are more used than any other—the metal is also called "Muntz's patent yellow metal"—it is used instead of copper—I do not suppose one in twenty know it is Muntz's.

Cross-examined by MR. LUCAS. Q. When were these nails washed? A. Between three and four o'clock the afternoon before—it was a quarter before seven o'clock next morning that I saw them—they had remained wet all that time—I cannot say they might not have been made wet from being overboard—I am employed to do all the shipwright's work—I order all the things in, and employ the men—the bills are made out to the captain and owners of the ship—I do not know whether there is any log-book—I believe all the nails came in on Thursday, and the metal on Friday—I think there was 632 sheets—I suppose 450 might have been used, and the remainder was in the fore-cabin—the mate lived on board—he was on board—he is not my officer, but when I have a ship in charge, of course I look after the mate, and tell him what to do—if a mate of mine were to take persons on board I should soon put him out, but I am sorry to say it is too much the practice to do so.

MR. JONES. Q. But is it the rule that they are allowed to do so? A. Certainly not—if I pay a mate his wages and keep him, I do not expect he will take a parcel of people on hoard—(looking at the nails and metal)—to the best of my belief, these are the same as I left on board the vessel—the metal exactly resembles what I left on board on Friday, in weight and every thing—after having seen the nails and metal at the station-house I examined that on board, and missed nearly half a bag of old nails, and nearly one-third of the hag of new nails—I did not count the metal at that time, but I told my foreman to do so after the ship was completed.

MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. The greater portion of these are old nails? A. The greatest quantity missing was new—I have found 291bs. Weight of old, and 461bs. weight of new—the old nails often fall in the dock when we are repairing a vessel, and those may have been picked up by boys or men—I suppose these old nails had fallen in that way—I should not think that they become the property of those who pick them up—they are picked up and sold every day, but not when we can catch them at it—they do not do it without interruption—I have had seven or eight in the last six months at Union-hall for doing it—it is not commonly done.

  GEORGE WHITE . I am a watchman at Fountain Dock, Bermondseywall. I watched the fore-and-aft dock on the night of the 16th of October—I know the prisoner Wright—I did not know him as mate of the Courier—he got a light of me that evening, shortly after six o'clock—he was then

quite sober—he took the light into the cabin—I saw him in twenty minutes or half an hour afterwards—he then went on shore—I then saw him again, coming to the vessel with Cridland—I said, "Who is there?"—Wright said, "It is me, watchman, and a friend of mine"—they went on board, and after that they went again on shore—they went on shore about three times altogether—I did not observe any thing with them—on the last occasion there was a third person with them, but who it was I cannot say—Wright was at that time intoxicated—they all three of them went on board the vessel, and I did not observe them leave it again—Syred, the officer, then spoke to me, but I did not know who the persons were be spoke about—I afterwards saw Cridland taken, and I saw the third person whom I have mentioned go to the gate—he had the gate in his hand, and ran after he got outside.

Cross-examined by MR. BALLANTINE. Q. Was there not another vessel very near this one? A. Yes—that was the one I was watching.

  SAMUEL SYRED (police-constable M 82.) On the 16th of October, about nine o'clock at night, I was on duty at Bermondsey-wall—my attention was drawn to the fore-and-aft dock—I saw Cridland and Benbrook there—they were stopping and walking about from one place to another—I did not see any other person there then—later that evening I saw Cridland again, he was then going towards his own house, and was about 150 yards from the dock, he was carrying something very heavy—I turned round and followed him to his own house—he went in—I stopped, and saw him come out again in eight or ten minutes—he went in with a parcel, and came out without one, and went away in quite a different direction—I went down to the fore-and-aft dock, and in about twenty minutes I saw Cridland again, he was then alone—I afterwards saw him again with Benbrook, on the wall adjoining the fore-and-aft dock—that was about a quarter past ten o'clock—I was walking on my beat, and I missed them all at once—I then went back to the dock, to inquire of the watchman—I then saw Benbrook and Cridland come from on board the Courier—I ran towards the gate, and when I got in sight of it, Benbrook had got the gate in his hand, and before I could get there he went out—Cridland was close, behind—I stopped him and said to him, "You are doing something wrong, you are my prisoner"—I called my brother officer, and gave Cridland in charge to him, while I went out and pursued Benbrook, who was then running—I called "Stop," but he ran the faster—I did not see any parcel near Cridland when I gave him to my brother officer—I went the same night with the sergeant to Cridland's house, to search it—I found five sheets of metal and some new nails on the counter, these are them—(producing them)—he is a marine-store dealer—his house is nearly a quarter of a mile from the dock.

Cross-examined by MR. PRENSERGAST. Q. You found these without searching? A. Yes—there were many different things on the counter—I knew Cridland before—I had him in charge about three weeks before, for some dispute about rent.

Q. Did you not drink with him this very night? A. Yes—that might be about half past nine o'clock—that was at the time I saw him lurking about—it was about eleven o'clock when I told him he was doing something wrong—when I met him on the wall with a parcel, I followed him, and saw where he left it—I had no particular reason why I did not take him—it was about twelve o'clock that I went to his house to search, after he was in the station-house.

Cross-examined by MR. PAYNE. Q. When you saw Benbrook and Cridland coming from the vessel, where were you? A. I was standing at the stern of her—I had no light, but the watchman bad a lantern—there was a light down in the cabin of the vessel—I cannot tell the length of the vessel—to go on board the vessel from the shore, you go in the middle part of it—it is a schooner—Benbrook was taken at his own house the next morning.

MR. JONES. Q. When you drank with Cridland, had you any reason to suppose he was doing wrong? A. No, he spoke to me about the matter I had him up on before.

  NITHANIEL KING (police-constable M 215.) I was on duty last Friday night, at Bermondsey-wall. About half-past eleven o'clock I heard some one trying to open the gate of the fore-and-aft dock—I went to the gate to look, and found Cridland and Benbrook inside—I said, "Halloo., what are you after here?"—Cridland said, "I have been on board with a mate, having a glass of grog; I have been agreeing with him to buy some rope; if I drink with him and make him drunk it is most likely I shall have good bargain with the rope"—Benbrook stepped out of the gate, and made off without saying any thing in my hearing—but it was before he ran away that I asked them both what they were after—Benbrook stepped our of the gate as the other officer came up—I laid hold of cridland, and asked him again what he was after—I said, "You are up to something here; what have you got about you?"—he said, "I have not got any thing, by G—d"—I felt in his right-hand coat pocket, and found 1 1/2 lb. weight of new nails—I said, "what have we here?"—he said, "Oh I have 5 of 6 cwt. of these at home"—he was then leaning against the gate-post, trying to conceal two parcels—I turned the light on, and found there these three sheets of metal—they were on the spot where he and Benbrook had been together, and not six inches from Cridland—I said, "Halloo, here is something else"—he said, "I know nothing at all about that"—I said he must go to the station-house with me—I was present afterwards, when some nails and metal were found on the counter in his house.

Cross-examined by MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. Do you mean to say you saw an, parcel in Cridland's hand? A. I did not—he had these nails loose in his pocket and said he had several hundred-weight—we found 46lbs. weight of them on the counter—those nails found in his she correspond with what were found in his pocket, and those found in his pocket exactly correspond with what were found in the vessel—I drank with cirdland and Benbrook that evening—they were both together, and I partook of 6d. worth of gin between us—I never drank; with prisoners before.

Cross-examined by MR. PAYNE. Q. who did you have the gin with? A. With Cridland and Benbrook, and the officer syred—we had no ale at all—it depends on circumstance, what we drink—we take it as it comes—I was inside the Dock-gate when I saw Benbrook coming out, and the other officer came up directly after him, and told me there was something up—he then seized Cridland, and I asked him who I should take—he said, "You remain with this, and I will go after the other"—I did not go after Benbrook at all—I drank very little—I drank half-a-pint of beer after I drank the gin—I saw both Cridland and Benbrook inside the dock—I went inside and spoke to Cridland about the rope, but Benbrook had gone off then—I did not ask the question of them both.

  THOMAS COSTON (police-constable M 22.) I went to cridland's premisses

on Friday night, and found the metal and nails—I went to the vessel, and found some nails, which I have compared with those found at Cridland's, and they correspond with them—next morning I apprehended Benbrook coming from his own house—he is a collector of metals, and a marine-store dealer—I have been to his shop and seen such articles as we generally find at marine-store dealers—when I told him I wanted him to come to the station-house, as I had a charge against him, he asked what for—I told him on suspicion of being concerned in stealing metal from the vessel in the fore-and-aft dock—he said he knew nothing of it—I asked if he knew Cridland—he said, "Yes," and he was in his company, but he knew nothing about any copper—he said he did not go on board the vessel, as he was afraid to go up the plank.

Cross-examined by MR. PAYNE. Q. Do not you know that Benbrook is a carpenter? A. No—I saw weights and scales in his shop, and in a box 4lbs. or 5lbs. weight of such metal as this, and a quantity of iron of different sorts, such as you would find in a marine-store shop.

  DAVID WERNHAM BENNETT . I am warehouseman to Messrs. Most and Co., of Salmon-lane, Limehouse—they are ship and insurance brokers, and agents for the sale of this metal sheeting and nails—we delivered on board the Courier a quantity of this metal and nails, which was purchased by Mr. Twentyman, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday last—I have looked at those sheets produced—they are precisely the same as those delivered on board the Courier—there is no mark on them as being delivered on board the Courier, but they are marked with chalk—some of them are my mark.

Cross-examined by MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. Do you mark these with your own hand? A. A great many I do—I can trace my mark on some of these—we are the sole agents in London for the sale of this metal—it is Muntz metal—all the metal of this description found in any vessel comes from us—we have no private mark on it for any particular vessel—we receive 60 or 80 tone of it in a week.

  JOHN RABBLE . I am apprentice to a waterman. On Friday night last I was at the stairs near Bermondsey—I saw Cridland about twenty minutes or half-past ten o'clock that night, close by the stairs, about twenty yards from the fore-and-aft dock—he was carrying a bag which seemed rather heavy—he rested it down by the side of a bench, and asked me if I would carry it home to his house—I told him no, I had to look after my boat.

Cross-examined by MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. Where was this boat? A. It ferries people from East-lane stairs to Union-stairs, on the Bennondsey side.

  GEORGE WHITE re-examined. Q. What time did you see Wright, Cridland, and a third person, together? A. Past eleven o'clock—that was about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before I saw Cridland taken into custody—when Cridland was taken, Wright was on board the ship—I do not know that Cridland was drunk when I first saw him, but he was the last time, and Wright was quite drunk.

MR. PRENDERGAST. called for the Defence

  JAMES VINCENT . I am a brush-maker, and live in Waterloo-road. I work for Mr. Cridland—he is a ship-chandler, and keeps a marine-store shop—I worked for Mr. Scott twelve months before Mr. Cridland took the shop—I have three or four days' work in a week there—I was at Mr. Cridland's house last Friday all day—I was down in the warehouse in the

evening—I came up, and saw a man in the shop with two parcels, one contained copper nails—he said to Mr. Cridland, "Will you buy some nails?"—Cridland said, "I don't know, let us look"—I was backwards and forwards at the time, and he took some out of the bag, and showed them to him—Cridland said, "These are not copper nails, I don't understand them"—the man was about forty, a short, stout man—it was not the prisoner Wright—he had a blue jacket on, and looked like a sailor—he was not so tall as Wright, but stouter—Cridland said, "I don't know what these are, I can't buy them; if you like to leave a sample, I will give you an answer to-morrow—I should not like to buy them till I have made some inquiries"—the man said, "I will leave them, we have got a quantity more on board our ship, we have been repairing the vessel, and the captain and I will come here"—there was also some sheets of bronze copper—there was a gentleman sitting in the shop at the time—the sailor then went away, saying he would leave the whole bulk of them—I then went about my work till eight o'clock, and after we had shut up, Cridland said, "I will take a sample of these nails up to Mr. Benbrook—he is a good judge of these nails"—he took a sample out, and put them into his pocket—I walked with him as far as his son's, who is a cheesemonger at Dockhead—I then said, "Good night"—I went on—I went to work again on Saturday morning, and then I understood something had transpired about some nails, and that Mr. Cridland was in custody—it was about ten minutes past eight o'clock on Friday night when we left the shop, and left the bag and copper on the counter—we left a person whose name, I think, was Camp, on the premises—I did not weigh the nails—I should say there were 30lbs. or 40lbs. weight.

MR. JONES. Q. What is Mr. Camp? A. I do not know; I believe he sells boat-nails and different things—I do not know where he lives—I have seen him before, perhaps four or five different times—I think he travels and goes round about once a week—he is a seller in the Wolverhampton trade—he is not a marine-store dealer—I have known Mr. Cridland to buy of him—we have had boat-nails of him—I have nothing to do with Mr. Cridland's buying, but I know he has sent in something like that—I have worked for Cridland about four months—I sort the iron, rags, and such things—Cridland does not understand the business—we buy a deal of rope and iron—I have never been in that business myself—I was in a shop of Cridland's, at Rotherhithe, but be found the money to carry it on—I have never been a marine-store dealer—I am a brush-maker—I have kept a chandler's shop, but not for some years past—Crid-land did not ask the person who came with the nails and bronze where he came from—he said he should not like to buy it unless he knew where it came from—the man did not tell him—I do not know whether he did call on the morrow—the shop was shut up on the Saturday—I could not carry on the shop—Cridland would not trust me to buy and sell goods—I think I should know the man if I saw him—I do not know the value of these articles—it was about six o'clock when the man brought them—Cridland did not leave till about eight o'clock—I do not sleep there.

Q. Have you ever been a witness before? A. I never was but once—that was in this Court, three years ago, on occasion of a conspiracy for defrauding a gentleman out of some goods—I was a witness for the prosecution—I then worked for the gentleman who was prosecuted—he kept a grocer's-shop—I never was a witness but then—I was committed to New-gate,

that is something like two or three years ago, it was for conspiracy to defraud a man of some brewers' casks—I was in Newgate a fortnight—I was tried in the other Court—I was found guilty, and sentenced to one month in the Penitentiary—I was in Newgate before that, but I was honourably acquitted—at the time I went to the Penitentiary the Judge told the Jury we were not guilty, but he would give that nominal punishment—the Judge interrupted the Jury five times, and told them they could not find us guilty; but the foreman had some animosity against me—I know him well.

MR. PRENDERGAST. Q. Did the Judge tell the Jury two or three times that they ought to acquit you? A. Yes, he did, five times—he said, "If you find them guilty I shall only give a nominal punishment"—I think the Judge was the Recorder—there was a man on the Jury who was an enemy of mine—the Judge was satisfied that was the case.

  THOMAS CAMP I am in the Birmingham and Sheffield trade, as a commission agent. I deal in nails—Cridland was one of my customers—I went to his house on Friday last to sell some nails—I saw a man bring some things to his shop—I should probably know him again—he was in the garb of a sailor—he brought a packet containing some sheets of metal or copper, and some nails—I heard him offer them for sale—Cridland looked at it, and expressed a doubt as to the quality and nature of the articles—I left before the man went—I cannot identify either of the prisoners as the man—I think he was about thirty or forty years of age.

MR. JONES. Q. What time was it? A. Between five and seven o'clock, I will swear it was not after eight—at eight o'clock that night I was at the house of a gentleman at Rotherhithe, named Fuller—it was a middleaged and middle-sized man, nothing particular, he was neither thin nor stout—he had a blue jacket on—I live in Bridport-place, New North-road—I am a householder, and have lived there twelve months—I sell for Bedford and Lord, in New Hall-street, Birmingham, and for Holder and Dove, and for Wylie, of Sheffield—I never was a witness here before—I have been in the Court of Queen's Bench—I never was at Brighton—I did not attend before the Magistrate—I was asked to come here the day before yesterday.

(James Cant, a tailor of Suffolk-street, Borough; James Brooks, a tobacconist, of Red-cross-street; Robert Allen, of Dockhead; and John Foster, a coal-dealer, of Long-lane; gave Cridland a good character.)

(Benbrook also received a good character.)

CRIDLAND— GUILTY . Aged 45.— Transported for Seven Years.

BENBROOK— GUILTY. Aged 27.—Recommended to mercy by the Jury.

Confined One Year.

WRIGHT— NOT GUILTY .

Before Mr. Sergeant Arabin.