THE TRIAL,
AT LARGE,
OF
WILLIAM BOOTH,
AND HIS ASSOCIATES,
George Scot, the three Yates's, John Barrows, and Elizabeth Chidlow,
FOR
FORGERY, COINING, &c.
AT
THE STAFFORD SUMMER ASSIZES, 1812,
BEFORE MR. JUSTICE LE BLANC.
ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.
WOLVERHAMPTON,
PRINTED AND SOLD BY GOWER AND SMART;
SOLD ALSO BY LONGMAN, HURST, AND CO. PATERNOSTER-ROW, AND CHAMPANTE AND WHITROW, JEWRY-STREET, ALDGATE, LONDON;
AND ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS.
TRIAL, &c.
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| For the Prosecution. | For the Prisoner. |
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| Messrs. WINTER and KAYE. | Mr. T. GEM, of Birmingham. |
William Booth was tried on Friday, July 31, 1812, for forging a 1l. note, purporting to be a promissory note of the Bank of England.
Mr. Barnes opened the case on the part of the prosecution.
Mr. Jervis followed; who stated, that this was an indictment for the crime of forgery, and the prisoner stood charged upon that indictment in different ways:—one charge was, that he had been guilty of forging this note; another, that he had uttered it knowing it to be forged; and these offences were varied in the different counts of the indictment.—The prisoner lived in an old farm house at Perry Barr, which was in the parish of Handsworth, in the county of Stafford, and which house was at a considerable distance from any other dwelling; he also rented land to a considerable extent: his family consisted of himself, his wife, George Scot, three men of the name of Yates, John Barrows, and Elizabeth Chidlow; he had two other persons (servants) of the name of Ingeley, who would be brought forward on the part of the prosecution. The house of the prisoner being thus privately situated, was well adapted for carrying on a business which required privacy, and he would now proceed to inform them of the precautions taken by the prisoner to prevent that privacy from being disturbed:—On entering the house you find a passage, which communicates with the kitchen and also with the parlour, but the communication with the parlour was secured by three strong doors; the first was a thick strong oak door, with hinges also very strong, fastened by a lock and seven bolts, five of which bolted one way, that is on that part of the door which opens, the other two bolted the other way, namely, at that part of the door to which the hinges were affixed, and this door was further secured by the upper part of it being covered with iron of considerable thickness; the second door was secured by four strong pieces of wood or wooden bars, going across the whole breadth the door, each being let into the wall by a hole at one end, and the other end falling into a hook or holdfast; the third door was secured by three strong square oak bars, in similar manner to the second; and there was no other communication on the ground floor with that parlour but through these three doors: over that parlour there was a chamber, and over that chamber a garret, and formerly a staircase led out of that passage to these two upper rooms; but when the prisoner's house was searched by the constables from Birmingham, the communication between the staircase and those rooms was stopped, the entrance or door way in both chamber and garret being bricked up, so that the only way to get into that chamber was through a trap door in the cieling of the parlour, which was fastened down by two iron bars fastened together in the middle, and moving on a pivot, two ends of which were affixed in staples, and the others shut down on hasps, where they could be fastened either by pegs or locks, and these bars when put down formed a × over this trap door; in the cieling of that chamber was another trap door, which was the only way into the garret over, and which was fastened by two bars laid over it transversely, and fastened in a similar manner by staples and hasps; there were moveable ladders by which those of the prisoner's family who wanted to go into those upper rooms ascended to the trap doors, and the ladders were light, so that they could be easily drawn up after them.—In consequence of suspicions against the prisoner, and that his house contained such implements as were afterwards discovered in it, and that stolen goods were also there, the constables of Birmingham, having obtained a warrant for that purpose, and taking with them several other persons appointed special constables for that occasion, together with a party of dragoons, went to the prisoner's house; for, having been informed that the house of the prisoner was fortified and barricaded in the way that had been described, it was deemed necessary to have such a force as would have rendered resistance on his part unavailing, and therefore this number of constables and soldiers were collected, and on the 16th of March last they proceeded to the prisoner's house, and on the way having (perhaps imprudently) called at a public-house about a quarter of a mile from the prisoner's (the Boar's Head, at Perry Barr) they were seen by a woman named Dorothy Ingeley, the wife of one of those Ingeleys who were before mentioned as forming part of the family of the prisoner, who having heard or otherwise suspecting the errand on which they were going, made all possible haste to the prisoner's house, and by going a nearer way by the footpath than what the officers did, she arrived there a short time before them, and gave the alarm; this woman would be produced as a witness on behalf of the prosecution, and would prove that when she first got to the house she saw Elizabeth Chidlow, who communicated her intelligence to the prisoner, who was in the parlour, and then came to the woman (Ingeley) and affected to disbelieve the intelligence; he then returned into the parlour, and slammed the doors to, and fastened them, so as to secure the passage into the parlour, and when the officers of justice arrived they found the parlour inaccessible, the three doors in the passage being secured in the way already described; nor could any entrance be forced through the window, it being fastened by strong oak inside shutters, secured by thick iron bars not more than four inches distant from each other; the windows in the chamber over the parlour were equally inaccessible, being fastened similarly to that in the parlour, and with bars of equal strength; the officers were therefore obliged to place a ladder against the house, so as to ascend to the garret window, and as one of the officers was ascending the ladder he saw the prisoner in the chamber, who was then carrying small pieces of paper resembling bank notes from a bench in the middle of that room, and putting them into the fire, which was in the same chamber; he called out to the prisoner, and asked him to let him in; prisoner replied he would presently; on which the officer again called out to him, telling him he was dropping notes; the officer then ascended to the garret window, and by using a considerable degree of force got in there, and when he had obtained entrance he was soon followed by others; in the garret they found a great variety of engines, and in short every implement necessary for forging coin, in imitation of the 3s. tokens and dollars issued by the Bank; not one implement necessary for that purpose was wanting; except the dies by which the impression was made, and it could be shewn that the prisoner, fearful of a discovery, and well knowing the consequences which would inevitably attach to those dies being found in his possession, was in the habit of having them buried, or as the cant phrase was, planted, immediately after they had been used; unless the officers arrived at the very moment when he was in the act of coining, those dies could not be found on the house being searched; this was also the case with the coin itself when struck: having seen what was in the garret, the officers descended through the trap door into the chamber beneath, and they there found every implement necessary for forging bank notes, except the plates, on which the words printed on the notes were engraved, those plates (like the dies) being also planted: they found there charcoal, cokes, a coke fire, a rolling press, or copper-plate printing press, and a stamp for putting on the number of the note; they then descended into the parlour, where they found the prisoner, Elizabeth Chidlow, and James Yates, and having while in the chamber perceived that a considerable quantity of paper had been destroyed by fire, they, after securing the prisoner, re-ascended into the chamber, and having knocked in a part of the chimney above the fire-place, and put in their hands, they brought out several burnt pieces of paper, and among the rest a note of which part only had been burnt, but of which sufficient remained to shew that it had been a Bank of England promissory note, or rather an imitation of one, and which part would be produced in evidence; the officers then searched other parts of the house, and on going to a room over the dairy, then used as a lumber room, and which room led to another called the granary, they found the door locked, and having forced it open they found in that room every material necessary for fabricating bank paper, upon a beam at some height, and so situated that it could not be seen unless by a tall person standing on a chair, or otherwise raised by some means; they found a mould with wire fastened thereon, and the words ONE near the top, and BANK OF ENGLAND near the bottom, in worked wire, calculated for making the appearance of bank paper, for these wires gave the lines called water marks in the waved manner in which they are made in the real bank notes, and the words so worked appeared in the paper similar to the same words in what are called the water marks in genuine notes; in another place they found two pieces of pasteboard, on which were pin marks, and to which the paper was fastened for the purpose of receiving the impression of those waved lines; in the next room was found a quantity of pulp, or pulverized rags, with linen and an instrument called a hog, being a machine for working by means of hair brushes the pulp in the tub, to bring it into a proper state to make paper; there was in short every necessary for the purpose of making this sort of paper, and when this part of the evidence was detailed by the witnesses, there would be no doubt but that these materials were employed by the prisoner and his family in making paper of this description, and the prisoner by this indictment was charged with forging a Bank of England note for the sum of 1l, and there would be no question that the evidence to be adduced would shew that by himself, or his associates, the note in question was fabricated. The learned Judge would inform the jury that if the note was by circumstances proved to have been made by his direction, or even with his knowledge, he (the prisoner) would be equally criminal in the eye of the law as if his own hands had formed that note. Mr. Jervis said he had mentioned that two persons of the name of Ingeley formed part of the family in the house of the prisoner, these persons, either stung by remorse, or for some other reason, had given information which led to a discovery of those plates, which he had before stated were the only implements wanting in the chamber for completing the notes; and though the testimony of persons who had acted as accomplices, and had assisted in the criminal transactions of others who were charged with offences, for which the legislature had inflicted punishment, was always to be received with caution, yet when that testimony was confirmed by credible witnesses, or facts, which would be the case here, they were then entitled to that degree of credit, which the life they had led and the actions they had been guilty of hac deprived them of; in consequence of the discovery made by these persons four plates engraved with the form of a blank bank note which they had planted, were dug up in three different places of a field on which wheat was growing, and which adjoined to the rick yard of the prisoner; two of these plates were in one place, one in another, and one in another; in consequence also of that discovery, a trunk containing several 10l, several 5l, and about 200 of 1l, bank notes, or forged notes in imitation of bank notes, and some local notes, were found; those local notes were also forged ones, as were also six narrow plates which had engravings on them, the use of which would be explained by the witnesses. It would be shewn that when the alarm was given by Mrs. Ingeley, the prisoner directed one of the Ingeleys to take that trunk and plant it at a considerable distance from the house, saying the notes in it were done; this was not true in the whole, some of them not being completed, but many of them were, and on one of those notes the present indictment was founded, and it would be for the jury to say if the prisoner was or was not guilty of forging that particular note, for though he was indicted for uttering as well as forging it, yet it was only necessary for the jury in this case to consider that part of the indictment which charged him with the crime of forgery: of the four plates so found one was engraved for making an impression of a 10l, note, one of a 5l, note, and two of 1l, notes, and there was proof that notes had been made from all those plates, and the note partly burnt, which would be produced, would be proved to be made from the plate, of the same paper, and with the same mould, as the note which was the subject of the present indictment; the note so in part, burnt was not filled up or signed, it was what was termed a blank note; the note in question had been filled up, and was signed with the name of J. Knight. The statement he had made would be proved by the evidence, and it would then be for the jury to say whether the prisoner was guilty or not.
The first witness called on behalf of the prosecution was
Dorothy Ingeley (examined by Mr. Barnes)—who stated herself to be the wife of Richard Ingeley, and that her husband worked with the prisoner; that on the 16th day of March last she was passing by the Boar's Head public-house, at Perry Barr, and saw some gentlemen and soldiers there; she did not know who they were, but somebody said they were runners going to—[Here the witness was asked if the prisoner was present—she said he was not; she was then told she must not say what she heard when he was absent.]—In consequence of somewhat which she heard she immediately set off for prisoner's house; she went the foot-way, and when she came there she first saw her brother-in-law, John Ingeley, and Elizabeth Chidlow; and Mrs. Chidlow went out of the kitchen, and soon afterwards Booth came to her, and asked her what tale it was that she had brought; she told him she could tell nothing for truth, she had seen some gentlemen and soldiers, but she could not tell if they were coming to his house—she told him where she had seen them; she did not hear what was said by Mrs. Chidlow to Booth; when Booth left her she heard the doors in the passage between the kitchen and parlour shut to, but she did not hear him say any thing did not hear him swear; the gentlemen and soldiers came to the house presently after, the same persons she had seen at the Boar's Head.
Cross-examined by Mr. Clifford.—Her husband did not live constantly at Booth's—slept there, or at least slept from home some nights, but never for a week together; he used to come home every night until about a week before Booth was taken up.—[Mr. Clifford was proceeding with other questions, on the subject of her husband sleeping at or from home, but the Court though them irrelevant.]
Mr. John Linwood, is one of the Constables of Birmingham, and in consequence of information that had been received, he went to the prisoner's house on Monday the 16th of March last, accompanied by ten special constables and seven dragoons; the party stopt at the Boar's Head. Perry Barr, but he was not there more than a minute; they then proceeded to the prisoner's house, which is situate at Perry Barr, in the parish of Handsworth, in the county of Stafford; it stands at a distance of 200 or 300 yards from any other house; it is apparently an old farm house, into which the entrance is by a porch, on the right hand of which is a hall or kitchen, with a brewhouse and dairy: the dairy is in the front, and the brewhouse behind; there is a passage 6 or 7 feet long, which leads to the parlour; on the left hand of the entrance he attempted to get into this parlour, but it was so fastened that he could not force it open; he went up a staircase within the house, leading out of the kitchen; the door on the left of the staircase which used to lead into the chamber was blocked up with brickwork, apparently new; he then went higher up the stairs, thinking to get into the garret, but the door way there was also bricked up, and a considerable quantity of lumber lay against it. On the right hand the staircase communicated with the rooms over the kitchen; all those on the left hand were blocked up; there was a window in the parlour which looked into the fold, and, by the woodwork, appeared to be a new window, the wood was oak, and very strong, the jambs of the window were laid into the wall, both at top and bottom, for at least 18 inches at each end, and were fastened by an iron pin screwed within-side with a cramp to it, the uprights were the same thickness as the jambs-he supposes they were from eight to ten inches of solid square oak; there were also four round iron bars to that window, they were let into the wood, and were three-fourths of an inch or an inch thick of wrought iron, and about four inches from each other; the inside of that window was plated all over with iron about one-fourth of an inch thick; he is certain the sides and uprights were covered with the iron plate, but is not sure as to the bottom—the top was not so covered; these plates were firmly fastened on with nails, which were large strong nails; there were two windows in the chamber over the parlour, one of which looked into the garden and the other into the fold-yard, the latter was a new one laid into the wall, and fastened with pins and screws like that in the parlour, except that he thinks the chamber window was not plated in the inside with iron; there were two iron bars to it, it was a two-light window, so was the parlour window, there was one bar to each light, which would prevent any one getting into the chamber at that window, there being very little more than four inches between the wood work of the window and the bar, there was an inside shutter to that window; the other window which looks backwards is a smaller window of new wood of the same strength with the other, and fastened in the wall in like manner it is a small single light window with one iron bar, and there were not more than four inches between the wood and the bar; there were shutters to each of those windows made of two inch thick oak, with bars to each, fastened at one end with a pin, and let at the other end into a holdfast; there were three windows in the garret, one looking into the fold-yard, one into the garden, and one in the gable end; these were all old windows, of thick strong oak each, with oak shutters, having each three bolts—no glass in the garret windows, the bolts were of iron about an inch thick.
Mr. Chirm had procured a ladder, which was reared against the front of the house; Chillingworth first went up it; Chirm followed him; the doors leading to the parlour could not be wrenched open, the doors were afterwards opened and they went in; there were three doors in the passage, through which they must go to get into the parlour; the first a strong oak door, which opened upon or towards them on going in, there were seven bolts on it, they were in the inside towards the parlour, five of them fastened on the right as he stood facing the door, and two of them on the left, they all passed into the door-case, each through an iron case, near the top of the door was a strong iron bar at least half an inch thick, it went all across or along the door, it was a very strong door of old dark oak, he did not observe any lock on it; the second door opened from them as they went in, that was a strong double-inch door, with a strong door-case apparently new, that door was fastened by four bars of solid oak, he thinks about four inches square, let into the wall for about six inches at one end, and dropped into an iron hasp or holdfast at the other; the third door was at the entrance into the parlour, and was fastened by a lock and three bars similar to those in the middle door, they led to no other place but the parlour; when they got into the parlour, they saw a small trap door cut through the cieling about the middle of the room, there were no other means to get into the chamber but by a moveable ladder, just long enough to get up by, the trap door was of double-inch oak, not new, with very strong hinges, it was a flat door and lifted up; in the chamber there were cross iron bars with two staples and hasps, so that the ends of the bars were put into the staples, and then the other two ends were let upon the hasps or holdfasts and fastened down, the bars when down formed a × over the door, they moved on a pivot where they were fastened together, that is in the middle. A similar trap door and ladder communicated with the garret from the chamber; there were two ladders there at the time of search, the trap door was small, just large enough to admit a man, a larger man than witness might get through, but it would be very tight for him; the trap door in the garret floor had two oak bars, moderately strong, to fasten it down, they were sufficiently strong to make the door secure. On witness's going into the parlour, the prisoner (Booth), James Yates, and Elizabeth Chidlow, were there; the prisoner had a dirty flannel jacket on, his hands were very dirty, and appeared to be besmeared with printing ink; witness secured prisoner in the parlour by handcuffs, and then went up the chamber through the trap door; as he was about to ascend into the chamber, he saw Chillingworth and Chirm come down from the garret through the other trap door into the chamber; he has a list of the things found in that chamber, it was made at the time of search, and is in his own hand writing, it is a list of every thing found in the house; those in the chamber were—
- A pair of rollers, with four boards and the bench on which the rollers stood, with some pieces of woollen cloth smeared with printing ink.
- Some printing ink, ready prepared for use, in a small jar.
- A woollen boss besmeared with printing ink, he thinks of the sort used for putting ink on the plate, the ink was moist and fit for use.
- A quantity of copper plates.
- A brick stove, with hot coak fire, very hot, equal to melt metal.
- Also a fire in the chamber fire place, that fire made of coals,
- Many other articles were in the chamber, but not enumerated by Mr. Linwood at this time, they not relating to the present charge against the prisoner.
The boards had printing ink on them, and appeared as if lately used. Witness met Chirm and Chillingworth in the chamber, and they saw in the fire-place many remains of burnt paper witness therefore ordered Chillingworth to break a hole in the chimney a small height above the fireplace, which he did, and putting his hand through it into the chimney he brought out a considerable quantity of burnt paper, which witness tried to connect so as to ascertain what they were, but they were so much burnt he could not; they then made the hole larger and Chillingworth again put his hand in, and then brought out a piece of paper, in part burnt, which was the note now shewn to witness—[This was a 1l, note dated 16th May, 1811, complete, except the signature, which was not written)—He put his name upon it, and put that in his pocket, and kept it till he delivered it to Mr. W. Spurrier the same evening; he did not part with the possession of it until after he had put his name upon it—the note now produced is the same that Chillingworth brought out of the chimney; the witness and the others then went into the garret, but as what they found there related to another charge, and not to this, he did not enumerate them; they then went down into the parlour, and from thence proceeded to the room over the kitchen; they then went into the lumber room over the brewhouse, the door of which was locked—they forced it open, and witness. Mr. Clay, and Gideon Taylor, went in—they looked about for some time, and observing a beam which went over the door and extended from one side of the room to the other, he directed Taylor to get upon a chair, and look if any thing was upon that beam—Taylor found a mould upon it, with wires, which he handed to witness, who gave it to Clay; he next found a quantity of brass wire, some flat and some round, which was given to Brownell (who was then come into the lumber room); Taylor also found on the beam a small deal board and two pieces of pasteboard, which were given to Clay; they then went into the granary which communicates with the lumber room, there is a door way between them but no door, and no other way into the granary but through the lumber room—in that room found another frame or mould similar to that in the lumber room, only that it had very little wire on—witness has that, and has had possession of it ever since; they also found in the granary two tubs with water and pulp in them, the pulp in a proper state for making paper, it was so light as to make it scarcely possible to catch a bit with the hand—witness has kept this ever since, and it has been watered occasionally to keep it, as it loses colour by keeping without water; they next found a wood machine with bristles in, called a hog, some white linen, alum, calves-ears, and dried skins for size, small pieces of wire, flat, similar to that in the frame, in waved lines, and a sheet or piece of wove wire with paper pulp upon it. On the 17th they searched again, and then found a copper frame in the granary, some flat wire, three boards, and some linen rags—he saw the rags, alum, and calves-ears, on the 16th, but they remained there until the 17th; the door was locked, that is, the staple which had been forced out was put in again, and they found the things in the same state on the Tuesday as they left them on the Monday. Witness left Clay and Chillingworth to take care of the house; on Tuesday the 17th they found in a bureau in the parlour some balls of printing ink, they were given to Baker—witness took them out of the bureau and gave them to Baker; on the 19th again searched the granary, but he does not recollect that any thing was then found there—the frame was found in the granary on the 17th, he did not see it on the 16th, it hung against the wall. [The tub with the pulp in it, and the hog, were produced in Court, together with a large sheet of fine wire, which had some pulp upon it.]—They were identified by the witness, who stated that the wire was not upon the hog when found, but was laid by the side of the tub.
Joseph Chillingworth assisted in searching prisoner's house on the 16th of March last, and the eight ensuing days; he entered it by a ladder through a window in the attic story or garret—in going up the ladder he saw the prisoner in the room or chamber over the garret, witness was then in front of the house, he saw no one but prisoner in that room; when he first saw prisoner, he (prisoner) came up to the window, witness asked him if he would let him in, prisoner replied "I will just now"—witness then broke the glass of the window, and prisoner drew back to about the centre of the room, and then took a quantity of papers in his hand from off something that stood in the room, with machinery fixed upon it, witness afterwards found it was a bench with a pair of rollers fixed on it, he took the papers off the bench, they seemed to be the size of bank notes, and put them into the fire; witness called out to him, "Booth, you are dropping them—Booth, you are dropping them"—witness saw prisoner do this three times; the fire place has a flue leading out of the chamber, there was fire then in the fire place; witness then went up the ladder and forced bis way through the window lid, or shutter; this window was directly over that in the chamber, through which he saw Booth; he forced open the shutter by means of an iron instrument; Chirm soon followed him; witness jumped out of the garret through the trap door into the chamber or middle room, thinking there to meet with Booth, but as he was jumping down he saw Booth going through the lower trap door into the parlour; witness did not follow Booth, but stopped in the chamber, and ran to the fire place, and putting his hand up the chimney, pulled down a good deal of burnt paper; Linwood. Brownell, and Chirm, came to him in the chamber; he then broke a hole into the breast of the chimney in that same room, and pulled out many burnt papers, he then enlarged the hole, and found further up the chimney a note that was but little burnt, and several other burnt papers; he gave that note to his master (Brownell) to look at. Mr. Linwood was present; Brownell returned it to witness and directed him to mark it, which he did; the note now shewn to him [the note part of which was burnt] is the same, he put the letters Ch. upon it.—Witness, Dale, and George Redfearn, were left in possession of the house; after Mr. Linwood left on the 16th, no person entered the parlour, indeed they could not. Linwood having taken the key with him; on the 17th they searched the parlour, in the chimney they found several pieces of paper burnt, one not so completely burnt as the rest; it was burnt brown all over, but not destroyed, he gave it to Brownell. Witness kept possession of the house eight days, indeed nine days, including the day he went, Monday the 16th. On the Friday following he found in a field adjoining the rick yard, a plate for throwing off bank notes, it was shewn him by Richard Ingeley, and was near the hedge in the barn close, it was buried about nine inches or a spade graft below the surface; Richard Ingeley said he had planted it by Booth's direction, and shewed witness the place, and witness dug it up, and afterwards marked it. The plate now shewn is the same plate, it is a copper plate, and marked with Ch. in the corner.
William Daniel Brownell, keeper of the prison in Bordesley, adjoining Birmingham, assisted in searching Booth's house on the 16th and several successive days; he saw Chillingworth get in at the garret window, he (witness) had broke the glass of the parlour window, and stood outside of it when Chillingworth was getting in at the garret window; witness saw a ladder put through the trap door into the parlour, and Elizabeth Chidlow came down it, and was almost immediately followed by Booth—Chillingworth had got in before Booth came down into the parlour, witness had entirely demolished the glass in the parlour window, the bars it was impossible for him to break; Booth began to unfasten the door, and then witness went round to meet him, thinking he might mean to escape—Linwood and he then went into the parlour. [The witness was proceeding to describe his going into the chamber, and what he saw there, but it was stated to be a repetition of what had been proved by Linwood and Chillingworth, there, fore the Counsel for the prosecution omitted that part of the examination, but the note found in the chamber was now shewn to witness.]–He believed that was the note found in the chamber, but he did not mark it, he directed Chillingworth to mark it. On the 17th they again searched the parlour, and Chillingworth brought several pieces of paper out of the parlour chimney, and gave them to witness, who has had them ever since in his possession—in paper are the words ONE and BANK OF ENGLAND, made in the paper not marked in ink, there are also waved lines. This witness also corroborated Mr. Linwood as to the finding brass wire both round and flat in the granary on the 16th.
Gideon Taylor was assisting in the search at Booth's on the 16th; he was in the lumber room. Clay and Linwood were with him; he found the brass wire frame on the beam over the door, concealed behind a piece of plank, and also two pieces of pasteboard, one with a small deal board to it, the other without; he gave them to Mr. Linwood, who delivered them to Clay.
Charles Clay was present at the search on the 16th March, and saw the mould and two pieces of pasteboard mentioned by Linwood and last witness, he scribed his name on the mould, and wrote it on the two pieces of pasteboard and the deal board, he kept them in his possession till delivered to the Bank of England agents, previous to which he put his name upon them; those shewn him now are the same.
John Ingeley knows the prisoner, has been employed by him ever since last Christmas; he lived in an old farm house at Perry Barr, and had as much as 200 acres of land. Prisoner has strengthened the windows and doors of his house since witness lived with him, particularly the parlour and two chambers [witness meant the chamber and garret already described]. On the Friday week before Booth was taken, he applied to witness to work for him in the house, and from that day witness slept in the house, which he had not done before, until that day witness had been employed in threshing in the farm; when witness went into the house, prisoner's family consisted of himself, his wife, Elizabeth Chidlow, James Yates, witness's brother Richard, the elder John Yates, John Yates the younger, George Scot, and John Barrows; the three Yates's slept there during the time witness was in the house, he does not say all the time, they were on and off; Scot was there all the time, so was Chidlow; Barrows came there the Saturday before they were taken: on the Monday, the day Booth was taken up. Dorothy Ingeley came to Booth's house, she spoke to witness and Elizabeth Chidlow, who were both present in the kitchen, he saw Chidlow go and rap at the parlour door, and told Booth the runners were coming. Booth came out of the parlour in consequence, and said to Dorothy Ingeley, "Good woman, what bother have you brought here?" she said, in answer, there were some gentlemen coming through Perry, and they said they were the runners; Booth replied, "It is a damn'd lie, they durst not come here." Booth 'then went back to the parlour, and immediately afterwards called witness to him into the parlour, and gave him a small trunk [witness was shewn a trunk on the table in the court, which he believed to be the same]; he told witness the things in it were done, and he must take it and plant it on the far side the ground, he did not direct precisely where, but only said on the far side the farm; the officers and soldiers were not then come; the trunk was not then locked, the witness took it and planted it in the field adjoining the wood, he dug a hole with a spade, put in the trunk, and covered it with earth and muck, and buried it, they were emptying the fold yard of the muck at that time, and he put a cart load of it upon the place where he buried the trunk; when he came back to the house the officers were there; he had before been directed by Booth to hide two copper-plates, they were large ones, and he had done so on the Tuesday morning before the Monday, on which Booth was apprehended; prisoner had told witness to plant them at some distance from the house, witness planted them in a wheat field adjoining the rick yard, in the ditch, he put both into one hole, made the hole with a spade, they were wrapped up in cloth, he covered them with soil; on the same day (Tuesday) he was directed by prisoner to plant a single plate, that too was wrapped up in cloth, he told witness to plant it at a distance from the house, witness made a hole in the same field put that plate in and covered it with soil: a quantity of narrow plates were given to witness by prisoner's wife, prisoner was not present, he was to plant them, which he did, by putting them under the thatch of a wheat rick, in the rick yard, he received these from Mrs. Booth, in the parlour. Booth was then in bed in the room over the parlour; on that morning Booth had fell through the trap door, and had hurt himself. Witness was taken up on the Friday after Booth's apprehension, he had not then given any information of what he had done with the things he had planted, but he did give information on the same day where he had planted them, he went with Chirm and some other of the gentlemen, and shewed them the places, first he took them to the wheat field adjoining the rick yard, and then to the other places, and shewed them all the things he had planted, they were all found in the same places he had planted them in
Cross-examined by Mr. Alley.—Witness gave the information the same day he was taken prisoner, he had not been in custody four days before he gave it, he told it to Chirm on the same day (the Friday). Chirm told him if he knew of any thing, and would tell of it, he should be well rewarded, he did not threaten witness with punishment if he did not tell; no other person was present when he told Chirm. Witness's brother was apprehended the same day; witness does not know if any promise was made to his brother; a number of persons had access to Booth's house; Scot lived and lay there long before witness went into the house, and continued there till he was apprehended; witness was not taken into custody on the Monday, but went about the work on the farm till Friday.
Mr. Joseph Chirm is headborough of Birmingham, and was present at the search of Booth's house on the 16th of March, the officers first attempted to force open the door.—[Witness was here directed to go on to the 20th (Friday), it not being thought necessary to recapitulate the accounts which had been given by Mr. Linwood and the other witnesses, but to confine Mr. Chirm's evidence to the corroboration of J. Ingeley: there was some little confusion in the first part of this, owing to mistaking Richard Ingeley for John Ingeley, but when this was rectified Mr. Chirm stated] that on the 20th of March he was taken by John Ingeley into a field about a quarter of a mile from Booth's house. John Ingeley was then in custody, witness had taken him into custody that day, he thinks about noun, and in less than an hour afterwards John Ingeley took witness to the field, in which they found a trunk, that which witness now sees upon the table—Ingeley shewed him where it was; it was then locked, but not (as now) corded; it was buried about two feet deep, and covered with soil and manure—they afterwards went into the rick-yard, and there found six narrow copper-plates, which witness marked; those now shewn to him are them—[these are the plates by which the dates are put upon the notes]—they were hid under the thatch of the rick; Ingeley reared a ladder, went up, and brought them down—they then went into the field adjoining the rick-yard, they there found three plates, two in one place and one in another; both places were in the hedge bank, not in the ditch but in the bank; witness gave the plates to Thomas Dale; they were wrapped up in paper; the plates were waxed over on one side and then wrapped up. Witness has an account of what was found in that trunk; he opened it when he got home at Birmingham, it was then locked, and he forced it open; he marked all the things he found in the box or trunk: the 1l, note now shewn [which was the 1ll, note, the subject of this indictment] is one of those which were in the trunk—so are the 5l, notes and the 10l, notes.
Mr. Alley here objected to this evidence; if the charge against prisoner had been for uttering this note, the other notes might have been produced to shew the quo animo, but here the charge is for forging the notes, and he (Mr. Alley) did not know of any case where on a charge of forgery evidence had been carried that length.
Sir S. Le Blanc thought Mr. Alley rather premature in his objection; there was a count in the indictment which charged the prisoner with disposing of the note, and it was too soon to call upon Mr. Jervis to make his election what count he would elect: this was intended (coupled with John Ingeley's evidence) to shew what was in the box, and the prisoner's knowledge of the contents.
Mr. Alley apologized; not having been in Court when the indictment was read, he had concluded from Mr. Jervis's opening that the charge was confined to the forgery, and not for the uttering.
Mr. Chirm proceeded, and identified in the box the following:—
| The 1l. note in question | 1 | |
| 3 other similar notes in the possession of Mr. Kaye | 3 | |
| 77 other 1l. notes, similar | 77 | |
| 35 other 1l. notes | 35 | |
| 130 other 1l. notes | 130 | |
| Making in the whole | 246 | —1l. notes, |
all of which were perfect notes, signed, dated, and fully completed for issuing; there were also 13 blanks with the water mark ONE and BANK OF ENGLAND in the paper—[these 13 were from the same mould with the note in question; the following 7 were from the same mould as the singed note]—these 13 blanks had waved water-mark lines—the 7 other blanks with straight lines. 4 notes for 10l, each, signed and perfect—and 11 for 5l, each, also perfect: these were all in the trunk, together with a quantity of paper.
Cross-examined by Mr. Taunton.—Witness had possession of the trunk some few hours before he opened it; he had not the key, he never looked for the key; witness went to Booth's on the 16th; he saw John Ingeley on that day; the officers continued in the house until the 20th, and later; he does not know if John Ingeley would have been permitted to go away, there he was four days before he made any discovery; witness did not offer any inducement to him to make a discovery—did not say he should be well rewarded—he gave the information voluntarily; witness does not know what the other officers might have said to Ingeley on that subject.
On a question from the Judge, Mr. Chirm said that Jolin Ingeley was in and about the house from Monday to Friday, but he cannot say whether he was detained or not—there certainly was no warrant against Ingeley.
Richard Ingeley was servant to the prisoner when prisoner was taken—he had worked for him several years; prisoner gave to witness a plate about a fortnight before he was taken, and told him to take it and plant it—witness took it, it was wrapped in paper; he dug a hole and planted the plate in the wheat field adjoining the rick-yard; on the Friday after Booth was apprehended he shewed Chillingworth where he had planted it. One of the punches with figures in cut on ivory, for the purpose of stamping the Nos. on the notes, being shewn to witness, he says he has seen Booth using such as that in the room over the parlour, upon papers like notes, on which there was printing; they made marks on the paper when so used; there were rollers in that chamber—he has seen them used; he has seen Mrs. Booth and Mrs. Chidlow use them when Booth was in the room—they had boards, cloths, large plates, and papers—he has seen them so used several times, but does not recollect the exact times when.—The copper-plates on which the words of the 1l. notes were engraved were then shewn to witness: he has seen those plates used, those are called the large plates—and on being shewn the narrow plates, with the date upon them, he says he has seen those also used, those are what they called lines, first they used the large plates—they used them to print with; they put paper upon them, and then put them between the cloths and boards, and then through the rollers; then they used the small plates or lines—they put a note on a board, then put this narrow plate on the note; his mistress (Mrs. Booth) then put the boards in on one side between the rollers, and Mrs. Chidlow pulled them out on the other; the notes were then hung on strings to dry, near the fire: he saw Booth using the punch with letters and figures on the Thursday night before he was taken, and the narrow plates were used between two and three o'clock that same afternoon—the narrow plates were used first, and then Booth used the punch, but Mrs. Booth and Mrs. Chidlow were at work with the lines at the same time that Booth was at work with the punch.
Cross-examined by Mr. Clifford.—Is no scholar; knows the difference between printing and writing—he saw these printed, so knows them to be printing, he could not otherwise tell if it was printing or writing—he could not tell if the punches were put on printing or writing if he had not seen them printed, nor if the note was a bank note.
Re-examined.—There was no writing or printing on the papers before the copper-plates were used—there was immediately after.
Examined by the Judge.—It was Thursday before the Monday that the officers took Booth, and in the room over the parlour, that Booth was using the punch to put marks on the notes, and the two women were at work at the press at the same time, and in the same room.
Samuel Holloway, a Birmingham constable, searched Booth's house on the 16th March, he found a small frame with letters and figures in it; that shewn [which was No. 15223] he believes to be the same, he gave it to Mr. Baker, it lay in the front part of the chamber, next to the fold yard, he observed a board in the floor, which he took up, and this frame was under it.
Cross-examined by Mr. Alley.—He believes all the people in the house were detained; witness was not left in the house.
Re-examined.—He did not take Ingeleys' into custody; Chillingworth and Dale were left at the house.
Mr. Edward Baker, is one of the constables of Birmingham, was at Booth's on the 16th March, he received the stamp or frame from Samuel Holloway, that produced is the same; on the bench to which the rollers were affixed he found three blank notes, one of them, that which lay uppermost; was marked No. 15223, the other two were without letters or numbers, this was in the room over the parlour. The Ingeleys were not taken into custody till the Friday, they were in the interim employed in carrying out manure, and might have gone where they pleased, they did not sleep in the house to his knowledge. Mr. Baker here produced some cakes of printing ink, which he said were found on the 17th, he received them from James Devis, and has had them ever since; the same day he also found some wire, which he produced, it was in the garret over that chamber, and in the window of the chamber he found a printing boss, the use of which he understands to be to put the ink upon the plate.
Thomas Dale followed Mr. Chirm, on the Friday, into the field adjoining the rick yard, and received from him three copper plates, witness marked them, those produced are the same; they are plates, one for 10l. notes, one for 5l. and one for 1l.
James Devis assisted in searching Booth's house on the 17th, he found some cakes of printing ink in the bureau in the parlour; he gave them to Mr. Baker.
Mr. William Bridges is paper maker to the Bank of England; he has seen the instrument called a hog, and the sheet of wire produced, the hog is on the same principle with the one used by witness, but worked in a different manner to wash the paper and pulp; the alum and calves ears are used to make size, the alum is used in the size to harden the paper; the frame produced with waved lines and mould, is an imitation, though a bad one, of what is used for the Bank paper, it produces the waving water-mark, and the words One and Bank of England, all of which are in that frame, and in the blanks now shewn to him [part of the blanks found in the trunk]; he believes he marked those blanks, had seen them before, but on re-examining them he finds the initials are not his, but Mr. William Brewer's, the letters W. B. being his own initials, at first deceived him; he examined the papers at Mr. Chirm's, they were made from that mould, he has made some from it, with the pulp found at prisoner's; the bank note in question, No. 21099, is not made from that mould, nor is that which was found in the chimney, and those two notes were each made from different moulds, and are of different descriptions of paper.
Cross-examined.—They are not made from the mould produced; he does not speak as to the plate; has not examined to ascertain if the plate is the same.
Mr. William Brewer is paper mould maker to the Bank of England; six blanks [found in the trunk] now shewn to him, were made in that mould.
The Court asked if this related to the note in question, and on being informed it did not. Mr. Brewer's examination proceeded no further.
Mr. Joseph Henry Harper, is engraver to the Bank of England, and engraves all the plates for their notes; the impression on the note in question is not good, that is, it is not a genuine Bank of England note, does not know it genuine paper, he has nothing to do with that, it is not Bank ink, and the printed part is a forgery in every respect; the singed note is an impression from the same plate as the other, and of course is not genuine, he has examined the other notes before, and marked them, they are all from the same plate as the two before mentioned—the numbers are progressive—the plate now shewn [which was that hid by Richard Ingeley, and shewn and delivered by him to Chillingworth] is the plate from which those notes were made, the date is 31st July 1811, that is put on the notes by the narrow plate now shewn [one of the six taken by Ingeley from under the thatch of the wheat rick], those are not genuine—the singed note is dated 16th May 1811, that date was put on by another line or narrow plate, also one of those six.
Mr. Thomas Glover is an inspector of notes to the Bank of England, and has been for above 20 years. On looking at the note in question, he said it is a forged one—the paper, the impression, the signature, all are forged, it is forged throughout in every respect—the singed note is also a forgery throughout. The notes found in the trunk were shewn in different parcels to Mr. Glover, who stated that the 130 (first parcel shewn) were all forged; 81 others similar to the note in question (which indeed is included in that number), and 35 others similar to the singed note, are every one forged.
Mr. Linwood was again called; said he was at Booth's every day, and saw the Ingeleys on Thursday evening, and they were then at liberty, and had been all the time from Booth's apprehension on the Monday, until that evening (the following Thursday) and were during that time going about the farming business, he saw them again on Friday, and they were then in custody.
The note No. 21099, the subject of the indictment, being now read by the Clerk of the Arraigns,
Mr. Jervis said, "That, my Lord, is our case."
Mr. Alley now called upon the counsel for the prosecution to make their election on which count they meant to call for conviction.
Mr. Jervis declined so doing.
Mr. Alley said, "See what has been done, by putting in a count for disposing of the notes, evidence of other notes has been let in, which could not have been done in a prosecution for forgery."
The Judge said, evidence of the contents of the trunk might be given, they having been sent away from the house.
Mr. Alley admitted the contents of the trunk might be produced, but they had gone farther, they had gone on to shew, that all those notes were forged; evidence certainly on a prosecution for uttering a note knowing it to be forged, the proof of other forged notes being in his possession, was admissible evidence, because it tended to shew the knowledge of its being forged; but in a prosecution for forgery, though he admitted all found upon him might be given in evidence, yet evidence of their being forged, could not in such a prosecution be admitted to prove that the note in question was forged. Mr. Alley referred to his own notes of the case of Thos. Flannaghan, at the last April sessions at the Old Bailey, before Lord Ellenborough, in which another note was produced, and though his Lordship admitted to give it in evidence, yet he would not admit that it should be proved to be forged, or that the prisoner had admitted it to be so. Mr. Alley never in all his practice knew that to be admitted in evidence, which had been this day in a prosecution; if the prosecutors would say they would call for conviction only on the count for disposing of the note, he would be satisfied; but if that evidence was admitted in a prosecution for forgery, it was a rule adopted in favour of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, which would not be admitted between A. and B.
The Judge said, the learned counsel was mistaken, he should certainly admit it if this was the case of a private bank.
Mr. Jervis said, it has been admitted in this very court, in such a case.
Mr. Taunton said, the bare possession of forged notes was a separate offence, and he believed there were indictments against the prisoner for that very offence; the uttering of other notes was not a necessary medium of proof of the forging of them: suppose this was a prosecution for forging a bond, could it be given in evidence that the prisoner had forged other bonds; and where was the difference between the forgery of a bond and the forgery of a note.
His Lordship said, the counsel for the prisoner had taken this objection, without taking along with them the ground on which that evidence had been admitted; it was certainly on a general ground not admissible evidence, that one note should be proved to be forged to shew that another was so, but here the notes being found in the house of the prisoner, his working at them, and the various circumstances proved this, were applicable to shew that the prisoner had been guilty of forgery; and it was necessary to prove that the prisoner had directed these notes to be conveyed away and hid, and for the officer to prove that they were found so hid, in order to show the prisoner's knowledge of what those notes were, and his acting in the manufactory of them, so as to demonstrate that he was, though not the sole person who forged them, assisting and taking part in the forgery.
Mr. Clifford said, he had two objections to this indictment; the first was, that as this was an indictment under particular Act of Parliament, the words of that statute must be attended to in the indictment; the first clause of this Act (45th George III, c. 89) makes it felony falsely to forge, make, alter, &c, and goes on, or for causing, aiding, assisting, &c, in forging, &c, and in that clause there is no mention made of the Bank of England. The second clause related to the Bank of England, but that clause was confined to the forging, making, &c, and did not extend to the causing, aiding, &c, and therefore, unless it had been proved that the prisoner did actually forge the note in question, his aiding and assisting, or even causing that note to be forged, was no offence under that clause.—His second objection was, that the mere forging notes was not an offence, because a man for curiosity merely might make an imitation of a bank note, and lock it up, without, ever intending to make use of it, but it must be coupled with an intent to defraud to make it an offence, and in this case it must be shewn that the indictment was laid in the words of the Act, which says, with intent to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England—now the indictment only says Company of the Bank of England, and does not mention the Governor.
Mr. Kaye referred Mr. Clifford to the indictment, and Mr. Clifford having seen that the Governor was not omitted there, said, "Well then, that objection must fail, and I must rely on my first."
Sir S. Le Blanc said, "Mr. Clifford, though there may be the difference between the two clauses of the Act which you state, yet if this is a promissory note as well as a bank note, and if it is shewn to be a promissory note, that brings it within the first clause of the Act; if it is shewn to be a bank note, that brings it within the second clause."
Mr. Clifford—"Might not a man make, without an intent to defraud; there is no proof here of the uttering with that intent."
Judge—The Jury will decide upon the intention of the prisoner, from the facts proved."
No witnesses were called on behalf of the prisoner, nor did he say any thing in his defence.
His Lordship then summed up the evidence, and observed, the question for the Jury to decide was, if the prisoner did or did not forge the note in question—that is, whether or not it was forged under his direction or with his knowledge: that it was a forged note, after the evidence they had heard, there could be no doubt. It was not necessary to support the charge of forgery that the person charged should be the hand who did it; it is sufficient if done under his direction or by his order, or if he appears the leading or master hand in the act: against the prisoner, it had been proved in whose house it was that these transactions were carried on—the situation and description of that house—the manner in which the prisoner acted—the directions he had given—his operation on the notes with the small stamp, while his wife and Chidlow were at work in another part of the same room; and if these proofs brought home to their minds the conviction that the prisoner was guilty of forging the note in question, it would be for them to say so. This note was proved to have been in the trunk which prisoner had directed John Ingeley to bury on the day when the officers came to his house; for it had been shewn that when Dorothy Ingeley came to him, and told him that the runners were coming, the first act of the prisoner was to direct Ingeley to take that trunk and bury it.—His Lordship then stated in what manner the house was fortified, and the way in which the officers were obliged to obtain entrance—the situation in which the prisoner was found—the implements and materials found in the house, every thing necessary for making paper, with the water-marks similar to those of the Bank of England, the plates, the lines, the small stamp or punch, the rags, the pulp, &c. &c, were all there: and putting all these together, the question was, whether they proved that the prisoner, with the assistance of those about him, did make those forged Bank notes, or whether all these things could be in that house, and so used, and the different articles so buried, without his knowledge, if he forged the notes in that trunk, then he must have forged the note in question, that being one of them. To be sure, the proof against the prisoner was circumstantial, but even in murder, as well as many other offences, the offenders were often found guilty on circumstantial evidence, which might be more satisfactory than the bare proof of the fact, as less liable to be invented.
The Jury almost immediately returned a verdict of Guilty.
On the same day, William Booth and George Scot were tried, upon an indictment against the statute of the 13th of his present Majesty, for making paper, and having in their possession and using a mould for making paper, with words "Bank of England" therein.
Mr. Jervis said, this salutary Act was passed for protecting the Bank of England, this mark being in their paper for the purpose of distinguishing it from other paper—the charge against the prisoners was for making such paper, for having possession of a mould for that purpose, and for using such mould. It was sufficient if he could prove any one of those facts against the prisoners: he should prove that Scot gave directions for the making of the frame to that mould, and for making the implement called a hog, and that he (Scot) paid for them. The situation of the house, and the manner in which it was fortified, how the officers had got in, and what they afterwards found, it was not necessary for him to detail, though as this was a distinct trial from the last they must be detailed in evidence.
Ann Brookes was the first witness called on the part of the prosecution. She lived servant with Booth about four years, and quitted his service last Michaelmas; he was the master of the house, and held a farm with it; she does not know George Scot: being directed to look at the prisoners, she said she knew them both—he that stood farthest from her was called the Scotchman; he came to Booth last year, if he had stayed till this hay harvest he would have been there twelve months; she did not know what business the Scotchman was—does not know what he did; there he was, sometimes up stairs, sometimes down; he slept there; she does not know that he did any thing—he did not work on the farm—he eat with the family; she was never in the upper part of the house; she knows the room called the granary—never saw the Scotchman come out of that room.
Cross-examined.—Scot boarded and lodged as a private gentleman with her master; never saw Booth in any room but the kitchen.
This witness seemed determined to know nothing that would affect the prisoners.
Mr. Linwood proved the constables going with the soldiers to Booth's house, the manner in which the house was fortified, that the trap doors were the only way to get into the chamber and garret over the parlour, their search, and what they found there; but this being given in evidence on the first trial, and the present being only a repetition of that evidence, is omitted here, the more particularly as the things found in the lumber room and granary were what immediately related to the present charge.—When the officers went to the lumber room the door was locked, and they forced it open—they found in that room two bundles of wire, one round, the other flat—they hung on the malt-mill; the mould and frame were also found there, lying in a cavity of the beam between the beam and the plaister; Taylor first saw it, gave it witness, and he immediately handed it to Clay; two pieces of pasteboard were found, and given in like manner to Clay: in the granary were found two tubs and pulp, and by the side of the tubs a sheet of wire with pulp upon it; there was no way (except a man got in at the window) into this granary, but thorough the lumber room; the hog was also found, as were alum and calves-ears, but they were not taken away until the 17th; he fastened the door by driving the staple in again which they had forced out to get into the room; Chillingworth, on the 17th, gave him a key with which he opened the door—the lock was a very good one, the key large; they found one copper frame and two wooden ones: the hog' and other articles were produced, and were identified by witness.
John Ingeley proved, as before, the notice given by Dorothy Ingeley that the officers were coming, the conduct of the prisoner thereon, his directing the trunk and other articles to be planted, and that Scot had often the key of the lumber room.
On his cross-examination, he said, he came forward against the prisoners in hopes to save his own life: Scot had sometimes gone with the horses to plough—he (Scot) lived in the house, he eat there, but he had nothing to do in the house that witness knew of but to stamp 5s. and 3s. pieces, and so on.
Joseph Chillingworth proved his going to assist in search at Booth's, his conversation with Booth while on the ladder, his getting in at the garret window, and the various articles found in the house, and the manner in which they were found, in the same way in which he proved them on the former trial: he said Scot was not in the house when the search was made, at least he did not see him, but he came in about eight o'clock at night, apparently as if come from work in the fields; witness took him into custody, and found the key of the lumber room door in his jacket pocket; Mr. Linwood had left that door locked; witness tried the key—it unlocked the lock of that door, and he again locked it with the key—he did not go into the room: witness asked Scot what his name was—he would not tell what it was; witness again asked him—he refused to say; then asked what he was—prisoner said he was steward to Mr. Booth; witness was present when the hog was found: he searched the parlour chimney on the Tuesday—he found many notes burnt, one was only browned; he gave them immediately to Brownell—witness is an assistant to Brownell.
G. Scot (the prisoner) said, the witness spoke false—he never said he was steward to Mr. Booth; the witness swore untruly, like all the rest of them.
Gideon Taylor proved, as before, his finding the frame, mould, and other things, his giving them to Mr. Linwood, and Mr. Linwood's delivering them to Clay.
Mr. Charles Clay proved his being present when Taylor found those articles, and their being delivered to him, and he identified them by his mark upon them, he having scribed his name on the copper frame, and wrote it on the others.
Mr. W. D. Brownell was at prisoners (Booth's) house, on the 17th—saw Chillingworth find the papers mentioned as burnt and singed in the parlour chimney, which were immediately delivered to witness, who has had possession of them ever since: he produced and identified them—the words ONE and BANK OF ENGLAND were visible in one that was much singed, or as Chilling worth had called it, browned.
Mr. Clifford thought there were no such words to be seen in that note; but the note being handed to his Lordship, he said they were very visible, as indeed they were.
Mr. Chirm proved going on Friday the 20th of March with J. Ingeley, and the finding the box in a field about a quarter of a mile from the house, in the way before described; and he also identified the contents of that trunk, and particularly that some blank pieces of paper, with the water-mark therein, were part of those contents.
Thomas Dale was present when Scot was taken by Chillingworth, who searched him, and in the presence of witness found a key on Scot, which he saw Chillingworth try in the lock of the door of the lumber room which led to the granary, and it fitted that lock: he heard Chillingworth ask Scot what was his name, which he refused to give; and on being asked what he was, he replied he was servant or steward to Booth.
John Green is a carpenter, knows Scot the prisoner, and that he lived at Booth's; he lives about three-fourths of a mile from Booth's; Scot employed witness to make him several frames, the one now produced is one that he made,—[it fitted the copper mould, for making the paper in imitation of bank notes]—he made a deal one like that, before he made that; Scot brought back the deal one, and said it was too thin and weak, and witness pulled it in pieces; Scot brought a half rule, on which he had notched the length and breadth, witness made the frame accordingly, it is of oak, and much stronger than the former, witness put on the leather which is affixed to it; this was about a fortnight before Booth was taken up. The hog was produced, witness also made that, and the Scotchman directed it to be made, and how it should be made, and was with witness several times while he was making it, to see that witness went on right; witness made two frames to the hog, the first frame was very light, and after it had been made about two months. Scot came to him again, and directed a stronger to be made, and the present one was then made, which is four times as strong as the first was. Scot directed that it should be rather wider than the former frame, which was done accordingly, this alteration was made about nine days before the prisoner was apprehended; witness did not make the brushes in the hog, they were brought to him by Scot; witness never made such a thing before, nor did he know how to make it till shewn by the Scotchman: the Scotchman paid him for the hog, when he first made it, he told him to come to Booth's house for the money, which witness did, and the Scotchman then paid him; the last work is not yet paid for.
Cross-examined.—He made the frame and hog by direction of the Scotchman, and he (Scot) paid for it: Booth said never a word to witness; he believes the Schotchman lodged at Booth's; but, as to the frame or the hog, he never had any communication with Booth.
Scot, on being asked if he wished any questions put to this witness, said, "All that he has said is a falsity."
Samuel Hall (a boy) lived with Booth as a servant, he went to Booth about a week after Christmas; he has fetched corn from the granary for the horses, the key of the room leading to it was sometimes given to him by Mrs. Booth, sometimes by Mrs. Chidlow, and sometimes by the Scotchman; the Scotchman generally had it, but when he went out it was generally left with Mrs. Chidlow.
Cross-examined.—Mr. Kaye, from London, told him to go away from Booth's, and Booth threatened to have him taken before a justice of the peace for leaving his service.
Mr. William Brewer, the paper mould maker to the Bank, proved that the mould now produced, would make paper with the words BANK OF ENGLAND visible in the substance of the paper; it was not the mould of the Bank of England, he is the sole mould maker to the Bank; neither Booth or Scot are mould makers to the Bank; the blanks now shewn to the witness have the words BANK OF ENGLAND visible in the substance of the paper, and were made from that mould: witness examined the papers which were found in the parlour chimney, and singed, and the words BANK OF ENGLAND therein, they were also made from that mould; witness has seen the hog and other instruments for making paper; the sheet of wire with the pulp upon it, is for letting the waste water through, and saving the pulp; alum and size are used in making paper; the wood frame with leather upon it, is always placed upon the copper frame, otherwise it would be impossible to get the paper off, as it is obliged to be very tender, in order press it close to the frame, and the leather swelling with being wet, prevents the pulp from escaping; the pieces of pasteboard produced are used in forming the scroll, flourish, and cheque, the cheque is the part to be cut through, the flourish is next to the cheque, and the scroll is the part which goes round the note; the words BANK OF ENGLAND are put in pencil on the pasteboard, to prevent the application of it in an improper place; witness assisted in making paper with this mould, from some of the pulp in the tub in which the hog stands, it was then in a dirty state, he shewed one made by himself and Mr. Bridges, the words BANK OF ENGLAND are visible in the substance—[this paper was of a dirty brown colour, which witness attributed to dust having got into the tub].
Cross-examined.—He is the only mould maker to the Bank, he is confident they employ no other, no one else could do it to their satisfaction; the mould produced would be a disgrace to them; he admitted the Bank Directors might have a mould made by way of experiment.
Here ended the evidence for this prosecution, no witnesses were called on behalf of the prisoner.
His Lordship, in summing up, observed, that it had been proved, that the papers in the trunk were made from the mould found in Booth's house, besides which, the paper found in the parlour chimney, was also made from it; the Jury would also notice, that Scot had the key of the lock in his possession, which led to the room in which these implements and materials were, besides, he ordered a frame for the mould, and afterwards another, because he finds the first no longer fit for use; he then ordered the hog, and afterwards a new and stronger frame for it; to be sure a man in the capacity of a servant might be sent to order these things, but if he had possession of the mould, or if he assisted Booth in the using it, he was equally guilty with Booth of the offence against the statute.
The Jury found Booth guilty, and acquitted Scot.
On Saturday morning. August 1, William Booth and Elizabeth Chidlow were tried, for using plates for making promissory notes in imitation of Bank of England notes, and for having blank bank notes in their possession without a written authority from the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, against Statute of 45th Geo. III.
Mr. Puller stated the circumstances of the apprehension of Booth and Chidlow, with others, on the 16th of March, and the description of the house, &c, as has been before given, and that he should be able to shew that on the Thursday previous to the 16th. Mrs. Booth and the prisoner Chidlow began to print notes in imitation of Bank of England notes, and were so employed until the witness went to bed; and though on behalf of Chidlow it might be said that Booth was her master, and she was as a servant bound to obey his commands, yet if he could bring home to her the charge against her the Jury would be bound to find her guilty, because, if she assisted in doing that which she must know to be unlawful, her situation would not protect her—if it would, there would be an end to all punishment of accomplices, and if there were no accomplices, a manufactory of this kind could not be carried on—[the rolling or copper-plate printing press was now placed upon the table.]—The machine now before them was one which could be worked by women as well as men, it not requiring that degree of strength which some of the other machines which would be shewn to them did require.—Mr. Puller then stated the acts done by Booth, his directions for planting the different articles, &c. nearly as stated by Mr. Jervis on the first trial, and that Booth and Chidlow, and one other, were the persons found in the parlour; and if Chidlow was merely a domestic servant of Booth's, how came she to be found with him in that part of the house which was fortified and set apart for the carrying on those manufactories of notes and coins.
Dorothy Ingeley proved her going to the prisoner's house with information that the runners were coming, as before.
Richard Ingeley had worked several years for Booth, but only for a constancy since Christmas, and he had slept in the house only five weeks before the 16th of March: Elizabeth Chidlow was in the house as one of the family, when he went at Christmas; he has been employed with Booth in the chamber over the parlour—he and Booth, and others, slept there; there was a machine in that chamber like that upon the table—he has seen Chidlow and Mrs. Booth at work with it; Chidlow turned it on one side and Mrs. Booth on the other—they had boards and cloths, with plates, and pieces of paper like Bank notes—they put the plate on the board and cloth, and then the paper on the plate, and covered it with another board and cloth, then Mrs. Booth put them in on one side the press between the rollers—they turned the rollers round, and Chidlow took the boards out on the other side; he has seen them so at work several times, but cannot ascertain the particular times—the last time he saw them at work was on the Thursday before Booth was taken up—they were then using the small plates or lines on things like bills; they began to work between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, and between four and five witness went and lay on the bed, leaving them will at work; while witness was in the room, Booth was employed with the punch with figures on, and putting those figures on the notes after they had nsed the lines to them, and the bills or notes were then hung on strings near the fire to dry. Witness then proved, as before, Booth's giving him directions to plant a plate, and his shewing the plate to Chillingworth on the 20th of March.John Ingeley stated the circumstances as in the former trial, and said, on the Saturday week before he was taken he had seen Mrs. Booth and Chidlow at work at the printing press, and he described their manner of working in the same way his brother had done, and that the plate they used was similar to the one now shewn to him (a 1l, note plate—he then mentioned the directions he had received from Booth, and his planting the trunk, plates, and lines accordingly, and afterwards his shewing them to the officers, precisely as before.
Mr. Chirm proved the manner of getting into the house, &c, as in former trials, and that he saw a rolling press similar to that in Court in the chamber of Booth's house; he then gave an account of the finding the plates and trunks, as before.
Joseph Chillingworth repeated his former evidence as to getting into the house, the rolling press being in the chamber, his finding the singed notes in the chamber and parlour chimneys, and the plate shewn by Richard Ingeley.
Thomas Dale received the three plates from Mr. Chirm.
Mr. Linwood's evidence was the same as on Booth's first trial, only he did not go so much into detail: the particular part which affected the prisoners, on this charge, was the finding the rollers, boards, cloths, printing ink, and woollen boss, and Booth's situation, dress, and dirty hands, when taken.
Mr. Baker identified the boss and can in which the printing ink was contained.
Mr. Harper, engraver to the Bank of England, proved the blank Bank bills produced to be forgeries, and that they were printed from the plate now shewn to him—the plates and lines are all made of copper.
Mr. Glover, the inspector to the Bank, proved the blank Bank note set forth in the indictment to be a forgery, as well as several of the others.
No defence, or witnesses for prisoners.
The learned Judge, in summing up the evidence, observed, that the blank Bank notes were those in which the printing part was performed, but were without signature, and the one particularly in question without date too—that there was no proof in what situation Chidlow was, but even were she a servant to Booth, that would be no excuse for her having committed this offence, for though a person might be more criminal who was in the situation of master, yet a servant ought to resist temptation, and not commit a breach of the law. In one instance only did the law allow the plea of supposed coercion—that was in the case of a wife, whom the law supposed to be under the controul of her husband, but the law did not admit such a plea on the part of servants.
The Jury found both the prisoners Guilty.
N.B. The punishment directed by the Act for this offence is 14 years' transportation.
William Booth and George Scot were again tried; the charge now against them was for coining dollars, against the statute 44th Geo. III.—The indictment charged the prisoners with coining a piece of coin called a dollar, having an impression on the obverse side of his Majesty's head, and the words "Georgius—III. Dei Gratia Rex," and on the reverse, a figure of Britannia, and the words "Five Shillings. Dollar. Bank of England, 1804."
The press for cutting out the pieces of plated metal, of the sizes of dollars, 3s, and 1s. 6d, pieces, stood on the table—the press for making the impressions thereon, was too large to be brought into the inner court, and stood in the outer one.
Mr. Puller stated what was the offence charged against the prisoners, which the statute had made punishable with seven years' transportation: that every implement and material necessary for making dollars was found in the garret of Booth's house, except the dies which had been given by Booth to John Ingeley to plant, as was his constant custom with every article which would immediately shew what was the nature of his employment; the engines could not be readily removed and replaced, those engines might be employed in lawful business, but the dies, and the other articles which he was in the habit of having buried, could not be used lawfully.
Mr. Linwood was in the garret on the 16th March, and found there a large press, that now in the outer hall, it was large and powerful enough to raise the impression of any current coin of this kingdom; the witness is a plater, and uses in his business engines of a similar nature, and therefore knows the power they have; that on the table is a cutting out press, and there were in that garret tools for cutting out dollars and 3s. tokens; a quantity of collars, that is, iron rings, the hollow of which is of the size of 5.s 6d. 3s, and 18d, bank tokens were in the garret, these are put on the pieces when they are put in the press, between the dies, and are to prevent the metal spreading from the pressure; there was also a quantity of rolled plated metal, of the thickness of 3s, and 15d, tokens, a bottle of aquafortis, a quantity of cecil or plated crop, which is the waste plated metal after the rounds are taken out, the blanks in which were of the size of 3s, and 18d, tokens; a quantity of pickle, or sharp water, or aquafortis and water in earthen pans, used in cleaning the metal when cut out; a quantity of sawdust used for shaking the metal in when taken out of the sharp water; a small quantity of borax, with silver used in plating the edges of the pieces of metal so cut out; several tools for edging, a large bench of vices, a large lathe for turning to edge or burnish, a quantity of wood chocks, used to knock the coin out of the collars, a gilding pan, a gilding hat and gilding brush, a pair of large shop bellows, a shop hearth of brick to which the bellows were fixed, a casting tub, with casting sand in it, casting moulds and boards, and casting tongs for taking casting pots out of fire, some casting pots or crucibles, a quantity of copper melted down in pots, quantity of tin cans, nearly covered with dirt, some of the same sort of cans were found in a hedge bank, quantity of lead and of tin that had been melted in casting pots, a quantity of kneading pans, some forcing dies used in the press, they are blanks, bottle of gunpowder, quantity of bullets and bullet mould, a quantity of files and handles, a large piece of woollen cloth, some blank sizes without impressions, punches and drills, a small ladle used to melt gold and quicksilver, a brace to bore holes with, a mortar and pestle, a brick furnace for casting, and a quantity of coaks.—In the chamber were a quantity of blanks cut out, of the size of 18d. tokens—[here the cutting out press was worked in the Court, to shew its action on the metal, the pieces there cut out were of the size of 3s. tokens; the machine for edging was also used].—Mr. Linwood said, the notches were made by putting in one groove, and the edges were smoothened by the smooth groove.
Cross-examined.—He was never employed to coin for the Bank; he uses similar presses in his trade; the things he found in Booth's house are not the size for buttons; he is a plater, and uses aqua fortis for cleaning; he is a Birmingham constable.
Re-examined.—He is constable for the year only—he never saw buttons cut out of the size of dollars.
John Ingeley repeated his account as to working for Booth, and that he was employed in the barn, until about eight or nine days before Booth was apprehended; Booth came into the barn on the Friday week before that time, and asked him if he would help him for a couple of hours in the house, which witness agreed to do, and as they went across the yard. Booth said, if any body should ask you what we have been doing, say we were striking penny pieces; he then said he believed witness's brother was going to leave him, and if witness would work for him, he would give him the same wages he did his brother, which were 25s, a week; witness replied, from what he could learn from his brother, it was not a fitting job for any one to do for twice 25s, a week; witness, however, agreed to assist him, but not for a constancy; Booth then took him into the parlour, he never was in that room before. Booth shut the doors in the passage after them, and fastened them, they then ascended up the ladders through the trap doors into the garret; witness was there again on the Monday following. Booth, the Scotchman, and witness's brother were then there, they were employed in striking off dollars, his brother and himself worked the press. Booth put in the blanks between the two dies, they then flung the press round, which stamped the impression of the die on the piece. Booth then took them out, the Scotchman put them through the edgers, that was done before the impression was put on, the Scotchman gave them to Booth as he edged them, and Booth then put them between the dies; they were employed at this about four hours, from four in the morning until about eight: Booth. Scot, witness, and his brother, all slept in the chamber over the parlour the preceding night: thie doors to the parlour (in the passage) were shut and fastened when witness came down to breakfast about eight o'clock that morning; two or three hours after breakfast. Booth told witness to take the dies they had been using, and plant them, they were covered over with soft pitch and grease to prevent their rusting, witness planted them at the back side of the barn, in a field which adjoins the garden; the same day Booth gave witness two small edging tools, and told him to plant them, which he did in the thatch of a hovel at the back of the barn; the next day (Tuesday the 10th March) Booth gave witness a tin can wit some 5s. and 3s. pieces in, and told him to plant that; witness thinks there were six of the 5s. pieces, and nine of the 3s. but is not certain as to the number, he planted those in the wheat field ditch, adjoining the rick yard; on the following Monday Booth was apprehended; on the Friday after witness shewed Mr. Chirm where the dies for 5s. pieces were hid, they were in the same place he put them in, he took them up and gave them to Mr. Chirm; on the Saturday he shewed Brownell where the small can was put, took it up and gave it to him, he then shewed him where the edging tools were hid, they were found in the same place. Brownell took possession of them; Scot was at Booth's when witness went at Christmas.
Richard Ingeley corroborated his brother as to being at work in the garret on the Monday when the two prisoners were employed, as stated.
Mr. Chirm corroborated John Ingeley as to finding the dies in the wheat field, and identified them.
Mr. Brownell corroborated John Ingeley as to finding the can and edging tools on the Saturday; he produced them—in the can were six dollars and ten 3s. pieces; they were singly wrapped up in paper, so as to separate them; the dollars were marked on the edges, to have the appearance of having been old Spanish dollars re-stámped.
Mr. Philp is employed at Mr. Boulton's Soho mint—he is sole engraver for all dies for coin and medals there; the machines in Court are such as coin cannot be fabricated without; what are now before the Court are quite sufficient to make such money as that produced: he examined the dies, and the dollar now shewn to him was made from those identical dies—all the six produced by Mr. Brownell were made from those dies—they are counterfeit; the metal appears to be copper with a little silver plate over it; they are not Bank dollars, but they resemble them—they have the same sort of head and reverse, and similar inscriptions with the Bank dollars; he knows the dollar in question to be counterfeit from the difference between that and the dollars coined at the Soho—all coined there are struck from Spanish dollars.
Cross examined.—The Spanish dollars re-stamped by them are sent to them from the Bank of England—he cannot say what quantity of silver is in each Spanish dollar—he is not an assay master, nor ever assay'd them'; they have once or twice found a counterfeit Spanish dollar among those sent from the Bank.
Re-examined.—The dollars struck at the Soho are silver; those produced here are copper plated.
Mr. Glover produced a genuine dollar, which he brought from the Bank of England, for the purpose of comparing it with the others—[It was handed to the Court and Jury, with one of Booth's, for inspection.]
No witnesses were called by the prisoners, nor did they make any defence.
His Lorship observed, that the account of the Ingeleys strongly corroborated—and if their account was true, there could be no doubt but that both the prisoners were guilty.
Verdict—both Guilty.
On the same morning, William Booth, John Yates the elder, John Yates the younger, James Yates, John Barrows, and George Scot, were tried for coining 3s. Bank Tokens, against the Statute of 51st of his present Majesty.
Mr. Puller said, this was a felony, which the Statute had made punishable by transportation for seven years. The witnesses would prove that all the implements necessary for the manufacturing of 3s. tokens were in Booth's house, and that they were in use at different times from the Tuesday preceding Booth's apprehension until the Sunday, in which using all the prisoners were in turns engaged; there would be also the facts of the dies and some tokens being hid; and the learned Gentleman observed, that no person could be employed in manufacturing those articles without knowing what he was doing.
Mr. Linwood again proved being at Booth's house, and again enumerated the several articles found in the garret, as he had done in the last trial.
On his cross-examination, he said, he took his inventory or account of the articles at his own house, from the things themselves, which were sent there in a cart; he could not say that he kept the cart in his immediate view all the way from prisoners to Birmingham—it might be out of his sight at different turnings of the road.
On a question from his Lordship, Mr. Linwood said that, independent of his inventory, he was certain that every thing necessary for coining 3s. tokens (except the dies) were found in Booth's garret.
John Ingeley gave the same account as on the former trials as to his going into Booth's service, and that on the Tuesday before his (Booths) apprehension, witness, together with John Yates the elder, Booth, and witness's brother, were employed in striking 3s. pieces; witness and Yates worked the fly [the large press]—Booth put in and took out; they worked from about four in the morning until about eight, nearly four hours—Yates and Booth were there all the time; the same day Booth gave witness four dozen of 3s. pieces to plant—they were wrapped in brown paper; he planted them in a field below the house, called the Marsh; on Sunday the 22d he took Mr. Brownell to the place, and took them up—he gave them to Mr. Brownell: on the Thursday night before the apprehension, about eight in the evening, witness and his brother, and Booth, were at work his brother and himself worked the press. Booth put in and took out: on the Friday morning, about three o'clock. John Yates the younger, witness's brother—[here the Judge stopped the evidence, telling Mr. Puller he could not go into offences committed by the respective prisoners on different days, under one indictment.]—J. Ingeley proceeded with what passed on the Saturday (which Mr. Puller thought would identify all the prisoners as employed on that day) James Yates, himself, and his brother, went into the garret, and worked nearly four hours at striking 3s. pieces; James Yates then went out of the garret—[his Lordship again said that the prosecutors could not take one prisoner at one time and another at another time; to support the present indictment they must shew that all the prisoners were present at one time, or they could convict only those who were present at any one time; it probably would have been safer to have had distinct indictments.]—Witness then stated that on the Saturday evening before they began to work, Booth, James Yates, the two John Yates's, John Barrows, witness's brother, and himself, were all in the parlour at supper together (Scot was not there)—himself, his brother, and James Yates, went into the garret, and worked in striking off 3s. pieces for some time; they left Booth, two John Yates's, and Barrows, in the parlour; after they had worked about two hours (at ten o'clock) John Yates, jun. came up, and about twelve o'clock James Yates went out; the two Ingeleys and John Yates, jun. then worked till about four o'clock in the morning, when they left off work; his brother then went to lay down—he saw him in bed, he could see him through the trap door; the elder John Yates, Little Goodluck, (a nickname for Barrows) and James Yates, then came into the garret, and those three began to work—James Yates put under, and the other two worked the fly; they were striking 3s. pieces—this before witness went down, which he then did, into chamber below, to bed; Booth was in bed there; witness lay and slept about three hours; he was not any more at the press: he did not know the Yates's till he went to Booth's—they came backward and forward occasionally, they did not work on the farm.
On his cross-examination, he said he had been engaged in this manufactory himself in the way he had stated; all the prisoners were there on Saturday night; witness was brought to Stafford—he was not kept in confinement since he came to Stafford; he had walked out into the streets without any body being with him; he came out of Wolverhampton prison when he came here—a woman from Birmingham came to see him, and a man from Barr, too, while at Wolverhampton—does not know who the woman was, the man was named Parkes, he is a blacksmith—he does not know that Parkes is a constable: he gave the first information on the Friday, the day he was taken into custody—he did so because the constables wished him to do it; he told every thing in hopes to save his own life.
Richard Ingeley was at Booth's on the Saturday before he was taken; he corroborated his brother as to the work on Saturday night by them and James Yates, but he went down to bed before the others (except John Yates, jun.) came into the garret: on the Sunday morning James Yates gave witness three dies for 3s. pieces, and told him to plant them—they were rubbed over with pitch and grease; he planted them at the bottom of the rick-yard, under the stump of a post; on the Saturday following he shewed them to Mr. Dale and Mr. Linwood, who took them.
On cross-examination, he said what he had stated all took place on the Saturday night and Sunday morning; all the prisoners were not together at any one time to work, as some went out others came in—they were all together at supper,
Re-examined. They could not all be employed in that work at one time; he planted a die in the wheat rick, and a quantity of 3s. pieces under the side of the rick, by the direction of Booth, which he shewed to Dale—this was about a week before he shewed them.
Re-cross-examined.—Does not recollect the day they were given to him by Booth—they were not any of the 3s. pieces struck on Saturday.
Re-examined.—He cannot say which day they were struck.
Mr. Brownell confirmed J. Ingeley in the finding the 3s. pieces in the Marsh Field, and produced 47 of them, which, with the one specified in the indictment, and taken out for that purpose, made four dozen.
T. Dale corroborated R. Ingeley as to the dies found in the rick yard.
Mr. Linwood did so too—they both identified them.
Mr. Philp examined the dies—they resemble the dies for the 3s. Bank tokens.
Mr. Pearson, on behalf of the prisoners, said there was no proof that these were the dies used on the Saturday:
His Lordship said, the prosecutors must elect elect whether they would take the Tuesday or the Saturday as the day on which the offence was committed—they could not take both.
Mr. Puller said, if such was his Lordship's opinion he would take the Tuesday;—and as that day's operations only related to Booth and John Yates, sen, the Jury found Booth and John Yates Guilty, and acquitted the rest of the prisoners—who were accordingly taken from the bar; and John Yates, sen. Scot, and Chidlow, being set up,—
His Lordship passed sentence upon them as follows:— John Yates, the elder, George Scot, and Elizabeth Chidlow, have been convicted of felonies, somewhat similar in their nature, though the offences are different, and for which the legislature has directed different punishments; Elizabeth Chidlow has been convicted of counterfeiting blank Bank notes; George Scot, of coining counterfeit dollars; and John Yates, of coining counterfeit 3s. Bank tokens; it is fresh in the memory of the Court what was the situation of the house in which these manufactories have been carried on, and we have heard that two of the prisoners were resident in that house, and the other coming to and going from it occasionally and frequently, the situation of that house; the care with which it was guarded, and the implements there found, were such as rendered it impossible for any one of its inhabitants to be ignorant what was carrying on in it. All the prisoners have been found guilty of carrying on that trade (for trade it is) which the legislature has thought proper to punish with that sentence the Court is now about to pronounce; which is, that they severally be transported to such place beyond the seas as his Majesty, with the advice of his Privy Council, shall direct; you. Elizabeth Chidlow, for the space of 14 years; and each of you, George Scot, and John Yates, for the space of 7 years.
His Lordship then in the most awful and impressive manner passed Sentence of Death upon Booth in the following words:—"William Booth, you stand here to receive the judgment of the Court for two capital offences, of which a Jury of your country have found you guilty; it is not now necessary for me to speak of the other indictments against you, the crimes of which you were charged have been so clearly proved against you as not to leave the possibility of a doubt of your guilt in the mind of any person who has heard any one of those trials; the manner in which your house was fortified, the implements and materials found in it, shew most clearly that it was the seat of nefarious transactions. Those who have been tried with you, and found guilty of offences for which the law of the land inflicts a minor punishment, may not have been drawn into the commission of those crimes by you, but I much fear that others have been induced by you to be participators of crimes which but for you they would not have committed. You appear to have been the master and general superintendant of all those employed and of all that was going on in the house in which you resided, and within which there seems to have been every implement necessary for the purpose of cheating the public—implements, engines, and materials of every sort requisite for the fabrication of false paper and false coin were found there; and this false paper and false coin you have been in the habit, and I fear long in the habit, of sending into the world for the purposes of fraud and deception. Your's is not the case of a person guilty of a single offence, or against a single individual, but on the contrary, from your manufactory innumerable quantities of those false articles issued, to the impoverishing and defrauding of every one into whose hands they fell, and from the extensiveness of that circulation, which from the great quantities made by you and your associates they must have had, the extent of those defrauds must have been very great.—Under such circumstances you can have little reason to expect that the mercy of the law will be extended to you; I can hold out no hope for that expectation, but I do hope you will now do that which I greatly fear you have hitherto neglected—that is, that you will, by humble and devout prayer and contrition, endeavour to prepare yourself for that great and dreadful day, when, before a judgment-seat far more awful than any earthly tribunal, you will be called upon to give an account of your actions in this world; the short interval that can be allowed to you between this time and that of putting into execution the sentence which the law directs me to pronounce upon you. I trust you will employ in that preparation: it now only remains for me to pass that sentence, which is—that you, William Booth, be taken from hence to the place from whence you came, and thence to the place of execution, there to be hanged by the neck until you are dead; and the Lord have mercy upon your soul!"
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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