The Champkin family of Dunstable

This months festive Document of the Month on the BLARS site is an excellent read and involves the repeat offender Arthur Champkin.  Arthur had a varied life and has become quite a favourite with us here in Paths to Crime.  There's often a call across the office of "We've got Arthur again".

This week I came across the case of a stolen mare and a stolen headstall (part of a bridle).  The case itself wasn't one of the more interesting we've come across but the offender was ...... a young man by the name of George Champkin.  A quick check on Ancestry showed he was indeed father to Arthur.  It just goes to prove the depth of information we're making available online for family historians.

It's been a very productive year in Paths to Crime and we still have a wealth of information to tackle.  So may we wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a wonderful 2013.

QSR1858/2/5/3a,4

The Queens Shilling

1856 saw William Burns recruited by Robert Worsley, a private in the 73^rd Regiment of Foot.  Worsley asked Burns if he was willing to serve her Majesty for 10 years and Burns replied yes.  Burns was given a shilling by the recruiter as a sign of the deal.  Burns remained with Worsley in St Albans on the Thursday and Friday night but disappeared about noon on Saturday.   On the same day he disappeared John Thompson, a sergeant in the 58^th regiment, saw the prisoner at Dunstable.  He had heard the prisoner wished to enlist and went to him and asked if he was willing to serve Her Majesty in the 58^th Regiment.  The prisoner replied yes.  He asked the Burns if he had been in the army before or if he had been enlisted.  Burns replied no.  He enlisted him in the name of Andrew Swaney and again he was given a shilling.  However, Worsley had pursued the prisoner and that evening advised Thompson the prisoner had enlisted before.  In the prisoner had no alternative but to acknowledge he had.  In his defence, Burns claimed Worsley had promised to enlist him as a civilian for the term of 10 years in the 73^rd Regiment and promised to have him sworn in on Friday, so he could be send away.  During the time he was there, Worsley never even given him a billet for the 3 nights and had made him pay for his own lodging.

In December of the same year, the case of William Spacey came to trail.  Spacey lived at Milton Bryan and was a labourer.  On 11 December, PC Alfred Ing was at Woburn and saw the prisoner who he knew well.  The prisoner came to him and said he would like to be a soldier and if he saw a militia man he would enlist in the Bedfordshire Militia.  Ing told Spacey he was able to enlist him if he wished to join the militia.  Spacey said he knew of no impediment as to why he should not join the service and he said he was free able and willing to serve.  As a result, Ing gave Spacey a shilling and told him to come to Woburn the next morning.  Spacey didn't show.    However, Police Superintendent William Ralph Young also knew the prisoner.  Young was aware Spacey had already joined the Bedfordshire Militia but had been discharged for some defect which rendered him unfit for service, possibly a crooked toe.

Both men were found guilty, with Spacey imprisoned for 3 months and Burns for a month.

QSR1856/3/5/26
QSR1857/1/5/11

The Prison Governor's Letter

Not all the documents we are cataloguing relate to prisoners. Epiphany 1857 contains a very sad letter written by the current governor of Bedford Prison, Robert Evans Roberts.  Roberts, originally from Kent,  took over as Governor in 1853 and remained there for over 30 years.

The letter requested the court excuse his absence at the Epiphany Quarter Session of the Peace due to the recent death of his eldest daughter and the current ill heath of his second child.  It appears his daughter, Elizabeth Janet, died soon after her elder sister Catherine Mary.  The Quarter Session Minutes book gives mention to the outbreak of scarlet fever at the Governors house, and permission was granted by the court to whitewash the house. 

Only 8 years later, Roberts lost his wife Mary Ann. By the 1871 census, his remaining child, a boy named after his father, was living up in Hull with his town clerk uncle. Robert George Roberts later followed in his fathers footsteps, becoming a prison warden in Lancashire.  Robert Evans Roberts went on to  remarry soon after the death of Mary Ann.  He and his new wife, a rather younger lady by the name of Adelaide, stayed in Bedford and went on to have both sons and daughters.

QSR1857/1/2/1
QSM39

Bonfire Night

Last November our document of the month was a deposition from a case in which a gang of boys in Houghton Regis stole straw to put on a bonfire on November 5th. In a bit of timely cataloguing I just came across a similar case in which Charles Kitchener of Luton was accused of stealing faggots (bundles of wood) from Peter Wilson in Luton. Joseph Matthews was to guard his master's faggot stack at 11pm on November 5th. A few minutes later Kitchener and two friends arrived. The friends helped Kitchener to climb the stack, from which he threw down faggots which the other two gathered. When he came down Kitchener picked up a faggot himself, only to be apprehended by Matthews and taken to the Old English Gentleman public house where he was handed over to the police. Matthews stated that nearly one hundred faggots had been taken from the stack that night. Presumably once the excitement of Bonfire Night had settled Wilson was feeling in merciful mood as the case was not prosecuted and Kitchener was discharged.

Did Luton have enough Police Constables?

...............well not according to the petition raised by inhabitants of the town in 1855. A 71 strong petition, featuring the names of business owners, solicitors and the clergy of the town petitioned the Quarter Sessions for an increase in the number of Police Constable in Luton.   At the time the population of the town and parish of Luton had grown to 16,420 but was policed by just 2 Police Constables.

The petitions throws up some other interesting statistics and comments:

- on 31 December 1854 the parish and town population had increased to 16,420, with the town population of 14,000.

- the nature of the population requires more surveillance than an agricultural population.

- the length of the parish of Luton was almost 8 miles with the average breath of 3 to 4 miles and was almost 17,000 acres.

- the parish of Luton paid £309 for the Police Rate in 1854 and had 2 constable whilst other parishes in the Luton division paid £250 and had the advantage of 4 constables.

- the Police Rate suggests they ought have 5 constables, considering the inclusion of Caddington and the probable increase in low and disreputable characters during the construction of the railway.

- the population of the county in 1841 was 107,936 for which 43 constables were considered sufficient; the rate being 1 constable per 2,500 inhabitants. 

- the population of Luton now being 16,420 same rate would require 6 constables.

- inhabited houses in the Town of Luton in 1841 were only 1,139 and in December 1854 this was more than double at 2,512.

The Quarter Session minute book for this period suggests the request was successful and the Chief Constable was given the authority to appoint an additional 6 constables. The next year saw major changes in the how the policing of Bedfordshire was organised, with the introduction of revised Police Districts.  In fact it's interesting to note that it wasn't until this year that it became compulsory for a county to have its own Police Force.  Regardless of the changes, the issue raises its head again in later years, with the town still feeling it had insufficient Police Constables.  Confirming it as a timeless issue.  The image below shows, the impact of the railways is being felt.

QSR1855/4/2/3

QSM 38
QEV3

I have no doubt that soot is mine!

On many occasion we have come across policeman comparing footmarks, left at the scene of a crime, to the boots worn by the prisoners.   An early document of the month from the Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Record Service offered a good description.

However the detective work of the police frequently goes even beyond that.  For example, in the cases of stolen crops, samples are taken from the original source and compared with the stolen loot.  A factor such as the number of times the wheat is dressed becomes relevant.  Often in the case of crops, such as potatoes, a cultivator can recognise the goods stolen from him as he is the only grower of that variety in the area. Sometimes it hard to believe that a chimney sweep would recognise the soot stolen from him, but allegedly the quality and colour did vary!

Already this current session, Epiphany QSR1855, has given us another couple of examples.  John Green, the keeper of the White Hart at Hockcliffe, discovered 2 of his flock of sheep missing. In a near ditch he found blood, sheepskins, heads, entrails and feet.  Police Sergeant Clough took away the neck bones and feet of the sheep.  On discovering a number of bones in the house of James Stone, he was able to compare the cuts and break in the bones.  This proved that the bones found in the ditch were from the same animal as those found in Stone’s home. 

James Addison Taylor, a poulterer and game dealer lived in Park Street West, Luton and had several dozen larks hanging by his door.  They were tied in dozen by string through their beaks. When he went to take them in and found 4 larks and 6 heads left in one of the dozens and 2 were gone, heads and all.  There were 8 gone altogether.  When the stolen larks were located he took with him the heads left on the string.  He was able to compare them with the bodies found.  An added detail stated that one of the birds tongues was left in the body, drawn out of the head, and one of the heads left at the shop had no tongue in it.  It was gory stuff to read but was compelling evidence.

QSR1850/4/5/12a-13a/a

QSR1855/1/5/8

QSR1855/1/5/19

Never underestimate a pensioner

The Quarter Session Rolls throw up criminals of all ages and the sheer gall of some is quite impressive.  Take Joseph Pugh....a man of 63 years and described as a carpenter.  Joseph appeared to be of no fixed abode and his crimes followed a similar pattern.  In fact the Epiphany Session of 1890 has him up before the Court on 3 very similar offences.

The first instance was on 15 October 1889, when he arrived at the house of Mrs Lucy Evans of Marston Moretaine asking to lodge with her until the beginning of April.  He promised to pay 3s a week and so she accepted him as her lodger.  As soon as he got into the house he asked her to write him a letter to the general manager of the North Western Railway, Mr Findlay.  Furthermore, he then asked her to lend him a penny for a stamp. The letter said:

“Will you please forward to the above address my month’s money as soon as you receive this letter as I have quite run out.  The amount is 10 shillings.”  

Lucy Evans signed Joseph Pugh at his request.

Pugh had a full sob story to tell Mrs Evans.  He told her that until recently he had been a patient in a London hospital.  He told her he was in receipt of a pension of 14 shillings a week for as long as he lived from the railway but that he had lost half a sovereign the Friday before and it had made him rather short of money.  Having had such terrible luck, he asked her to fund his food until his money came and then, in return, he would pay her 12 shillings a week.  Pushing his luck even further, Pugh also asked her to lend him some money to go to Millbrook station so he could collect his clothes, which he said were coming to Millbrook
by train.  She lent him a shilling and sixpence for the purpose.  On 18 October he left the house to go to the station and saying he wouldn't be long.  He never went back.  He left owing 5 shillings for board and lodging and took with him the shilling and sixpence she had lent him.

Joseph Pugh goes on to commit similar offences and tell similar stories in Wootton and Ampthill. Pugh's written plea must have evoked sympathy for the ageing ailing man. (see the photo attached)  The courts sentence him to just 7 days in the House of Correction. 

Unsurprisingly, an old dog doesn’t learn new tricks and Mr Pugh pops up again in the next quarter.  This time in Sharnbrook where he convinces his landlady he had been advised by his doctor to take in the country air!  He didn’t quite gain so much sympathy from the Justices this time, as he was sentenced to a calendar months hard labour.  

QSR1890/1/5/2a
QSR1890/1/5/2b
QSR1890/1/5/2c
QSR1890/2/5/1

Inside Midsummer 1854

Having completed entering the quarter session rolls for the 1880's I've now hopped back to completing the 1850s.  These years feature many more cases than the later years, and in turn take longer to catalogue.

This week I have been cataloguing the 1854 Q4 but I thought it was be a good idea to give you all a feel of a typical quarter.

Here's some statistics based in the Midsummer Session of 1854.

• Number of defendants - 33.  30 men & 3 women
• Number of cases (some defendants appear on more than one charge, others are jointly accused) - 29
• Age range of defendants - youngest is 14, the eldest 58. 14 defendants were under 20 years.
• Number found guilty - 25 of 33
• Range of Sentence - from 4 years penal servitude to 14 days imprisonment
• Types of crime - mostly theft including 7 cases of stolen fowls.  Other thefts range from a stolen wooden washing tray to a silver watch guard, and from theft of a hymn book to a faggot of wood worth a half penny. We also have the killing of a sheep, a case of embezzlement, obtaining a shawl by false pretences and a sexual assault.
• Occupations of the defendants - being Bedfordshire it is unsurprising many were agricultural labourers (18 in fact).  We also have lacemakers, bricklayers, shoemakers, a basketmaker,  a commercial traveller, those in the plait trade, a butcher, a baker (not candlestick maker I'm afraid) and interestingly a Private Soldier in the Coldstream Guards.

We do see some seasonal themes, with the theft of food being prevalent in the Michaelmas quarter and the same family names crop up quarter after quarter ( in fact the same defendants crop up quarter after quarter). Obviously each quarter brings with it something different although we rarely have a quarter where we don't have at least one stolen fowl!  It all adds to the fascination of the Quarter Sessions Rolls.  

QSR1854/3

"I'll be damned if I have not shot your daughter”

We don’t often come across gun crime in the Quarter Sessions so the shooting of 16 year old Emma Hills of Beeston instantly caught our attention.

Emma Hills retold how she had been going home along with her friend Emma Ilsley when they were overtaken by Edmund Huckle and William Jeeves on Beeston Green.  Huckle was carrying a gun which he had acquired from his master.  She asked if his gun was loaded and he said no.  He asked her to walk by his side and she said she would not and ran forward.  She heard the gun almost immediately.  As soon as the gun went off she felt as if she was on fire about her neck and she fell down.  Huckle picked her up and carried her home.  When Emma made no response to her mother’s questions, Huckle said “Mrs Hills I’ll be damned if I have not shot your daughter”.  She replied “you haven’t have you?” and he said that he had.  When the blood was removed, Mrs Hills saw that her daughter had been shot on the left side of the face and down her neck and shoulders. 

Fortunately the doctors, Emma’s family and Emma herself declared the incident to have been an accident and the wounds appeared relatively minor.  Edmund Huckle was found not guilty of the unlawful, malicious and felonious shooting of Emma Hill and went back to his wife Sarah and his rapidly expanding family.

QSR1854/1/5/33

from Bicycles to Tricycles

Maybe unsurprisingly we’ve come across yet more Bedfordshire bicycle, or in this instance, tricycle crime.  This time in the Epiphany session of 1889.

Luton Detective William Chamberlain was perusing the Police Gazette one evening when he read details of Jacob Josh wanted in Kings Lynn for the theft of a piano.  The same man was also wanted in Huddersfield, Rugby, Portsmouth and other places for stealing tricycles.  Chamberlain went round to warn the local cycle agents and ascertained that the prisoner had visited 2 other cycle agents before being allowed to borrow a tricycle from Albert Trott, a jeweller and cycle agent of Waller Street Luton. 

Chamberlain hired a horse and trap and went to St Albans with Trott where they came across the tricycle in the yard of The Cock public house.  They watched the prisoner go into the bar and Chamberlain followed and entered into a discussion with Trott about purchasing the machine for £2.  An arrest was made, although the prisoner became violent and said he refused to be taken to prison alive.  Interesting he confessed to the crime at this stage, although later pleaded not guilty to the charge.  He was tried at the General Quarter Session of the Peace at Wakefield, West Riding, York and sentenced to 6 months hard labour.

Another interesting element to the case was that Josh was described in the Calendar of Prisoners (QSR1889/1/3/1) as an Engine Driver.  In fact the 1881 census described him, at just 16 years, as an Engine Driver.  However, records available via Ancetsry.co.uk suggest although he did once work for the railways, it was for a period of 2 months as a labourer.  It would be fascinating to know if he did have a further career as a driver; it would certainly explain his travelling tricycle crimes.  However in the October of 1890 Jacob Josh is again convicted of larceny, this time in Warwick.  He was considered insane and confined to the County Lunatic Asylum.  So possibly his interest in tricycles and trains were all part of his psychosis.

QSR1889/1/5/2
QSR1889/1/6/2

The wrong side of the law

PC George Cannon Smith found himself on the wrong side of the law in the Midsummer quarter of 1888.  He was accused of stealing wood from a construction site close to his home in Pondswick Road, Luton.  A neighbour, Mrs Fanny Hyde, spotted him, in full police uniform, taking wood from the new houses around daybreak one Sunday morning.   The depositions suggest Mrs Hyde may have already been familiar with PC Smith.  Her and her husband, Martin George had formerly run the Jolly Topper public house in Stopsley, Luton.  Whilst under cross examination, it was put to Fanny that she was familiar with PC Smith from her days at the public house.  In fact it was suggested he had on occasion spoken to her about her management.  Mrs Hyde disputed this fact!

The Jolly Toppers 2010

There was additional evidence against the officer.  The foreman of the building site was able to identify a piece of wood found in the constable’s house.  The foreman, Elias Hill, believed the wood bore the grease marks from the candle he had used and the nail marks from where it had been fixed to the window.

Meanwhile, PC Smith, who lived with his brother Albert Cannon Smith, said that the wood had been used by his brother.  Albert elaborated describing how it was a well travelled piece of wood.  It had been originally at the house when they moved in, and had then been nailed above a sitting hen.  From there the piece of wood went off to the  stables Albert rented, where he used it to secure his pigs, until it finally made its way back to the Smith household.

George Smith was found not guilty in this case, but it interested us to see if George remained in the force.  Less than 2 years later, the 1891 census shows George and his family having moved to Wiltshire, and he is resident at the Police Station in Hungerford.  However, 10 years later his family has rapidly expanded and they have been on the move again.  This time he is a farm bailiff in Walton on Thames.  George had come from a farming background, as his father had been a farmer of 187 acres in Redbourne, Herts whilst George was growing up. By 1911, at 52 years old and with 13 children having been born to him and his wife, he can be found as a council roadman in Hersham, Surrey.    What happened in these intervening years is a mystery, but George Cannon Smith appears to have spent his later years in a very different occupation to that which he held in 1888.

QSR1888/3/5/6

The Absconding Bicycle Clerk

For the members of the Paths to Crime team, it is sometimes the people involved rather than the specific crime which peaks our interest.

The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Record Service Newsletter has an Olympic theme this month. Amongst the sports featured is cycling; a sport in which Bedfordshire has a rich heritage. One of those mentioned is Dan Albone of Biggleswade. He was not only a devoted and champion cyclist but an inventor and owner of the Ivel Cycle Works.

The Midsummer Quarter Session of 1887 has Mr Albone as the prosecutor in a case of theft. On 21 September 1886, Mr Albone gave the William Dietman, who he employed as a clerk, £15 5s 0d in cash, 2 cheques for £2 2s 0d and £1 1s 0d, and 3 postal orders for 20s 10s and 2s 6d. The following day the prisoner did not return to work. In his deposition, Albone elaborated how the bank book should have been left at the bank and made up, however he found it at the back of a box whilst moving offices. It showed the money and cheques had not been paid into the account. He went to the prisoner’s lodgings, and failing to find him, he applied for a warrant for Dietman’s arrest.

It was a further 9 months before Dietman was detained on a warrant and taken into custody at Biggleswade police station. At his hearing he pleaded guilty of stealing money, bank cheques and postal orders and was sentenced to 6 months hard labour.

Dan Albone also featured in the Paths to Crime document of the month for October 2011. Click here to read the original.

QSR1887/3/5/3

Who's telling the truth? The Outcome.

On Wednesday, we asked who you believed was the guilty party in a case of stolen flour.  Well the answer was........that Amos Fowler pleaded Not Guilty and was found Not Guilty.  However, William Lawson was found guilty of both this and another charge of receiving stolen oats.  He was sentenced to 3 months hard labour at the House of Correction.

It was, however, Amos Fowler who had past form.  The 1881 census shows him ensconced in St Albans prison.  He had been convicted of breaking and entering the Marquis of Granby public house and therein stealing bottles of brandy, gin and 5 gallons of beer!

We’ll be keeping an eye out for both of these men in later sessions.

QSR1887/4/6/3,4b
QSR1887/4/4/3,4b/b

Who’s telling the truth?

We often come across cases where it becomes the word of one person against another.  This week we had a case of stolen flour, with 2 men accused of a crime, both giving convincing statement of their innocence and in turn, blaming the other.

A Welwyn miller by the name of James Chalkley had employed Amos Fowler for 4 or 5 years.  Fowler’s role was to deliver flour out from the railway station at Luton to the customers with written orders.  On 22 July 1887 a sack of flour went missing from the station.  A witness by the name of George Battens, son of a cow keeper, explained how he had been on the railway bridge when he had been approached by the co-accused William Lawson.  Lawson asked him to use his mule and cart to carry a sack in return for sixpence. Battens fetched his mule and cart to the bottom of the railway steps at GNR.  Lawson was waiting and after 5 or 10 minutes Fowler came up and they went into the yard.  Battens followed.  They stopped him went on 20 yards to a truck and fetched a large sack which was white and floury looking.  Fowler carried it and put the sack in Battens cart with Lawson undoing the tailgate.  Battens took the sack to a house in High Street, High Town and Lawson met him at the door and took the sack into the house. 

Both men were arrested and Fowler was charged with the theft of the sack of flour and Lawson with receiving stolen goods.  However their own statements varied greatly.  

Statement of William Lawson:  On Monday he had been going up Chapel Street by the Queens Hotel.  He saw a wagon and horses standing against a baker shop.  The Wagoner came from behind the wagon and asked him if he had his old pony and cart.  Lawson said he had sold it and the Wagoner said he wanted to send some flour to High Town and had not wanted to take his horse and wagon up there.  Lawson said he could get a pony and cart and agreed to meet the Wagoner at the station.  On his way he met George Battens and asked him to go to the GNR station with him in return for sixpence.  At the station he went into the yard with the Wagoner who went to the truck and got a sack of flour out of it and put it in Battens cart.  Battens drove off and he met Battens again at his house. He took the flour into his house as he had forgotten where he was taking it so went to the Bull to meet the Wagoner to tell him he’d forgotten.  He told the Wagoner he would like the flour and gave him 10 shillings, with the Wagoner agreeing and saying he’d be back in a day or two and would collect the rest of the money.  He believed the Wagoner had the right to sell the flour.

Statement of Amos Fowler:  he had met Lawson as he came down Bute Street.  Lawson asked him for a sack of flour for Mr Giltrow and he agreed.  They went to the station and Lawson said he had a cart.  He put the flour sack in the cart.  Mr Giltrow often fetched or sent for a sack or two.  Mr Chalkley told him to always send a sack if he asked.  He did not receive any money or give a receipt.  He did not know Lawson’s name.

So here’s our challenge……who do you think was found guilty?  We’ll reveal the answer on Friday.

QSR1887/4/5/3,4b

25 years now complete.

We're pleased to say that 25 years of Bedfordshire Quarter Sessions Rolls have now been catalogued.

As of today, you can now find the following years on the Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Records Service catalogue:

1839-1843
1849-1853
1870-1877
1880-1887

We know the records have already proved invaluable to some family historians and we hope they continue to offer a very useful insight into 19th Century Bedfordshire.

Hey! That's My Sheet!

The Epiphany 1877 Quarter Sessions include the case of a wronged housewife who demonstrated a certain lack of human sympathy for another woman. On Thursday 26th October 1876 Ellen Charles of Stotfold left five sheets and a tablecloth drying on the line. During the day one calico sheet and one linen sheet went missing. On Friday 27th she found the calico sheet on the bed of a certain George Seymour. In the course of cross-examination it became apparent that on that Friday Seymour's wife was confined in childbirth. Ellen Charles went to the house with PC Thomas Hebbes and was given permission by the woman nursing Mrs Seymour to go upstairs to the bedroom. Apparently ignoring the fact that the occupant was either in labour or had just given birth, Ellen Charles identified the sheet as her own, removed it from the bed and gave it to the policeman, who at least had the tact to wait on the landing outside the room. George Seymour was arrested that evening. When the missing linen sheet was found the next day at the house of a Thomas Morris the charge against Seymour of stealing this item was dropped, but the prosecution for stealing the calico sheet went ahead. Fortunately for his family Seymour was acquitted. Maybe the jury possessed a little more sympathy than Mrs Charles!

The baby born to Mrs Seymour appears to have been a little girl, Emily, whose birth was registered at Biggleswade during the December quarter of 1876. It seems she survived for only a few months as her death was registered in the June1877 quarter.

References: QSR1877/1/5/5; QSR1877/1/4/4/c

The Great Bedfordshire Bicycle Chase

In October 2011 our Paths to Crime document of the month told the story of Richard William Webb, who was accused of stealing a penny-farthing bicycle from a mechanic at Leighton Buzzard, Hyde Edward Dightam. I have just catalogued the Michaelmas Sessions for 1876 which included this case. Intrigued by the Keystone Cops style chase across Bedfordshire described in the depositions I did a little digging for additional information about the protagonists.

"Hyde" Edward Dightam was in fact Hyla Edward Dightam, whose bankruptcy was reported in the London Gazette for 19 May 1865. Formerly of Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire, he was then a watch and clock maker living at Markyate Street. He was discharged from bankruptcy on 23rd June 1865. His financial difficulties did not prevent him practicing his trade as in the 1871 census he was again described as a watchmaker. He was aged 32, had been born in Mursley (Buckinghamshire) and was living with his wife and four young children in Dunstable. In the 1876 Quarter Sessions depositions Dightam is described as a general mechanic, presumably he was using his watchmaker's mechanical skills on a larger scale. By 1881 he was again in Dunstable working as a watch and clockmaker, now with eight children whose birth places indicate his travels. Florence Maud, aged 8, and Gertrude Elenor, aged 5, had both been born in Leighton Buzzard, and Walter Ambrose, aged 3, in Leeds, Yorkshire. The family were back in his wife's home town of Dunstable for the birth of their six month old baby, Olive Adelaine. He seems to have been both a wanderer and something of a jack-of-all-trade. In 1891 he was again living in Dunstable, but his trade was now cabinet maker, and in both 1901 and 1911 he was an upholsterer at Aston in Warwickshire.

Richard William Webb proved elusive. I was not able to find any references to a Richard Webb in Bedfordshire at that date. The gaol register does not give a place of birth but gives his age as 21. In his deposition to the Quarter Sessions James Siratt said that Webb told him he had been riding bicycles for eight years, but in these very early days of cycling it seems rather improbable that he would have been riding at the age of thirteen. Another deposition dismissed Webb's claim that he had discussed bicycle wheel sizes with his "uncle" Thomas Hopkins, the landlord of the Plume and Feathers at Leighton Buzzard. Hopkins said he did not know Webb, was not related to him, and had never discussed bicycles with him. Webb also said he was ready to pay for the bicycle, but had no money on him. It seems that Webb may have been something of a fantasist. The court acquitted him of stealing the penny-farthing. Was this justice? Or luck?


Woburn Cycling Club 1885

Diamond Jubilee

The June Document of the month at The Bedfordshire & Luton Archives and Record Service relates to a document discovered in the Quarter Sessions in 1841.  A young Queen Victoria was on a visit to Woburn Abbey when an offence took place.  A member of the 11 Hussars who was escorting the Queen committed an offence whilst under the influence of alcohol.  The supporting documents include a lengthy letter of apology from the solider.  Click here for the BLARS document of the month.

As yet we haven't catalogued the Diamond Jubilee year of Queen Victoria.  However, out of curiosity we have peeked forward at the QSM (Quarter Session Minutes) book which covers the year 1897.   We found an official response from Whitehall thanking the Justices of Bedfordshire for their congratulatory message sent to the Queen.  Looking back in the QSM we found the original message sent to the Queen by the Justices in November 1886.  We've attached an extract below. 

“We the Justices of the Peace of the County of Bedford in Quarter Sessions assembled desire to offer Your Majesty our humble and heartfelt congratulations upon the attainment by Your Majesty of a Reign which exceed in length the years that of any other Sovereign who has occupied the throne, not only of the United Kingdom, but of England.

We beg to assure Your Majesty that in common with all Your Majesty’s subjects we most deeply appreciate the benefits which had accrued to the Empire during the unprecedented reign, throughout the whole of which, with all its troubles and trials, Your Majesty has laboured with so much anxiety for the welfare of your people.

We earnestly hope that Your Majesty may yet be spared for many years to come to preside over the destinies of the vast Empire, and that the blessing of the Almighty may rest upon Your Majesty and all Your Majesty’s family.”

None of us are likely to see another Diamond Jubilee in our lifetimes, emphasising what an amazing achievement it was for both Queen Victoria and our present Queen Elizabeth to reach such a landmark.  We hope you all enjoy the Jubilee weekend.

QSM48 p590/1 & p605

Internal Furnishing of a Victorian Home

The Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record Service have just published their document of the month for May.  Click here to visit

The article looks at the contents of various Victorian homes in Bedfordshire as listed in various documents held by the archives. This includes the case of George & Edwin Palmer which came to court in Michaelmas QSR1886.  What on the surface seemed to be a typical bankruptcy case actually reveals some underhand dealing and reveals a fabulous long list of the content of Palmer's home in Liverpool Street, Luton.

QSR1886/4/5/13-14

The double-dealing Innkeeper

The struggle of the small businessman is very topical at the moment but the case of James Clarke shows what a timeless issue it is. 

James Clarke came before the court in January 1886 accused of obtaining the sum of £20 by false pretences.  At the time Clarke was the tenant of the Sportsman Inn in Shefford.  The depositions in the case reveal that an agreement was made between Clarke and Moses Cakebread & Isaac Harris for the purchase of the barley Clarke was growing on his land.  A written agreement was made in another local public house, the White Hart in Shefford, and signed by the parties.  Cakebread gave £5 up front for the barley and a receipt for the payment was written and signed on the reverse of the agreement.  Next day, Clarke was paid a further £15 by Cakebread.  Regrettably for Cakebread & Harris, Clarke had already sold the barley as means of clearing debt he had with the Cardington Brewery Company.  

 In April 1885 the defendant was indebted to the company for £67 4s 0d for beer supplied and rent.  They pressed him for payment.  Clarke met with Charles Hickman, a director of the Cardington Brewery, at the office of debt collect Julius Jacobs. Hickman asked him what arrangement he could make to settle his account.  Clarke said “you shall have every farthing of your money as soon as I can get it”.  Clarke said he had 6 or 7 acres of barley and nearly an acre of onions, which would more than pay the debt as soon as harvest came.  Hickman said that was not satisfactory as Clarke may have other loss by then; a statement which Clarke denied.  Hickman proposed they take the onions and barley as settlement of the debt. Clarke said he would not do it as it would leave the other landlord out in the cold.  Hickman said that if he assigned them the crops they would pay the landlord the rent.  Clarke agreed on that condition and later signed a deed to that affect.

 

Unfortunately for Cakebread and Harris, the Cardington Brewery came to them to claim the barley and they were forced to pay the full value of it.

James Clarke was sentenced to imprisonment for 3 calendar months with hard labour for obtaining money by false pretences.

For more information on the Sportman Public House in Shefford, visit BLARS Community Archives - Shefford

More details of the case of James Clarke can be found at QSR1886/1/5/1 

Wrest Park - Lunchtime Talk

In case news hadn't spread, we thought we'd let you know of a talk taking place on Friday 11th May between 1pm and 2pm at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives Service.   The talk is titled "Grand Designs - the conservation of Wrest Park Architectural Drawings".

Just call the service to book a place.

Reformatory Ship

When boys were convicted of crimes from the 1840s onwards they were typically given a short gaol sentence followed by a period of years in a Reformatory School. At the Epiphany Sessions in 1871 Henry Tuck, a 13 year old apprentice to a shoemaker at Husborne Crawley, was convicted of stealing a coat, a hat, a scarf and a pair of shoes from his master Alfred Faulkner before absonding. He was apprended two weeks later at Huntingdon and sentenced to one month of hard labour in Gaol followed by 5 years at a Reformatory. The gaol database tells us that after his release from Bedford Gaol he was sent to the Akbar Reformatory Ship. This sounded intriguing, so I did a little research.

The informative website of the E Chambré Hardman Archive includes several pages about the Akbar. From 1855 to 1907 two school ships named Akbar were moored on the Mersey by a charitable organisation, the Liverpool Juvenile Reformatory Association. Henry Tuck would have served his time on the second Akbar, a former Royal Navy vessel which replaced its predecessor in 1862. The ship was funded by a grant from Liverpool Council, the Reformatory Association, charitable donations and parental contributions, which could be up to 5 shillings a week. Up to 200 boys could be held on the ship, where they were to receive a combination of discipline and education intended to equip them with skills for later life. The E Chambré Hardman Archive website tells us that:

Life on board the Akbar was harsh and dangerous. Food was in short supply and not very healthy. In the summer ventilation was inadequate and in the winter temperatures on board were very low. This was particularly so in 1894 when parts of the River Mersey froze for around thirteen weeks. It is no surprise that many boys fell ill and that some died. In 1893 an inspector criticised the Akbar’s health record and as a result the boys were evacuated to New Ferry Cholera Hospital on the Wirral while the ship was cleaned. Life on board any ship was by its very nature dangerous. The Akbar’s minute books record a number of accidental deaths and injuries amongst its boys.

A little research on Henry Tuck himself threw up some more interesting information. In the 1871 census a Henry Tuck, aged 13, was in the Bedford Union Workhouse. Henry had been born in Thrapston in Northamptonshire and was described as "deserted". In 1861 he had been living in Thrapston with his father Henry Tuck, a 31 year old "engine smith" born in Dunmow (Essex), his mother Maryann, aged 25 from Thrapston and a 5 year old sister Jane. The death of a Mary Ann Tuck is recorded in the Bedford registration district in 1865. It seems likely that this was Henry's mother and that some time between 1865 and 1871 the older Henry abandoned his children and disappeared. There is no trace of him on later censuses - possibly he changed his name to avoid being prosecuted for desertion. Unfortunately I was not able to find out anything about young Henry's life after he left the Akbar, as he also disappears from the censuses.

Drunk and Disorderly

The Easter quarter of 1883 introduced us to the character of Alfred Hirdle.  Alfred was married to Sarah and appeared in court charged with a violent assault on his wife.  She had taken a warrant out against him and in revenge he broke into their house in the early hours of the morning.  He went to his wife’s bedroom and violently hit her about the head with a stick.   He was sentenced to 5 year penal servitude.

Cases of assault appear regularly in the Quarter sessions, but we were curious to see if he was still with his wife at the time of the next census.  A little investigation saw that the couple had only been married approaching 4 years at the time of the attack.  It’s likely his wife knew the type of man she was marrying, as Alfred had been convicted (mostly of drunkenness) over 20 times before they married.  He was only 27.  He was even in trouble on the night of the 1871 census, being listed as a prisoner at Woburn police station.

We did find Sarah in the 1891, living with her mother in Ridgmont and she appears to have continued to have children in these years.  By 1901 she was still with her mother in Ridgmont with her mother, but this time she was described as a widow.   Obviously this meant we wanted to see what had become of Alfred.

A quick bit of Googling brought up the excellent MK Heritage site.  They have a section dedicated to the Fir Tree inn at Woburn Sands, where it appears Alfred Hirdle had become a frequent visitor.  The site talks of another case involving Alfred which was reported in local paper.  Once again it revolved around drunken behaviour.  The article adds an interesting footnote which solves the mystery of what became of Alfred:

 “Alfred Hirdle eventually passed away, whilst serving a sentence in Bedford Prison in 1900, aged 49. The doctors said cause of death was 'Profound Disturbance of the Brain and Apoplexy'.  Hirdle was infamous in the area, as his total of 59 convictions, mostly for being 'Drunk and Disorderly' bear testimony. Every landlord for miles around must have breathed a quiet sigh of relief!”

QSR1883/2/5/1
 

(with thanks to www.mkheritage.co.uk)

And your name is?

Occasionally the Quarter Sessions don’t seem completely aware of who they are dealing with. In the November 1880, 23 year old man by the name of Davis sought lodgings in the Bedfordshire village of Clifton. He claimed to be a clerk to lawyers in Oxford Street, London. He said he was down on business and would remain for about a month, or most likely until Christmas. Mrs Elizabeth Ensdersby, his new landlady, made the agreement with him that he would pay guinea a week for board and lodging. He made himself at home and moved freely around the house. After he had taken dinner he said he was off to the Woolpack Inn to see if the beer was better there than that he had been served at dinner. He did not return and she did not see him again until he was in custody. Within an hour of his leaving she went into her bedroom and missed a silver watch. She had seen it safe earlier that afternoon.

On arrest he gave his name as Herbert Clarence Percy Duroy, but refused an address and he claimed to be respectably connected and he did not wish his friends to know. He claimed to be an actor and is later described on the Calendar of Prisoners as a Comedian. He was tried in the Epiphany Quarter Session under this name, with the aliases of John Wright, Davis and William Burchell also listed. He was sentenced to 12 months hard labour in the House of Correction. However, interestingly a previous conviction was found for him under the name of Charles Edward Buckwell. In that instance he served 6 months in Cold Bath Fields, for obtaining money by false pretences.

His statement upon arrest showed he had a way with words. He said he was guilty of the charge and he wished to add that starvation was the reason he had done what he had. “Having through one fatal error blighted any prospects in my life and not being able to obtain an engagement and further having parted with all I possessed in the world for food”. He found himself “utterly penniless and destitute and therefore resorted to despicable means to save himself from starvation”.

He served his sentence under the name of Herbert Clarence Percy Duroy and appears under this name on the 1881 census (whilst in the House of Correction in Bedford). That appears to be the only record under that name. What this mans correct name was remains a mystery to us. We’d love to hear if anyone has a theory on what became of him.

QSR1881/1/5/3

Letter from Bedford Gaol

At the Epiphany Quarter Sessions of 1871 James Drage of Harrold was tried for being found at night in the dwelling house of William Bithrey at Turvey with intent to commit a felony. He was found by Bithrey's lodger Thomas Shelton on a sofa, hidden under the cover. While in Bedford Gaol waiting for his trial Drage wrote a letter which was not addressed, but was presumably intended for the Justices of the Peace who would hear his case. In the letter Drage claimed that he did not know what he was doing as he had had "a little too much drink". It was a wet afternoon on the day in question amd he had started drinking early. By the late evening he had no idea what he was doing and says "if I was a going to be hung for it I can't tell how I got in that house". He claims that if he had his wits about him he would have made his escape when discovered but he was too drunk. When Shelton and other men called in to help tried to restrain him they pulled him about which had the effect of sobering him up. Eight years earlier he had suffered from a very bad neck for 14 months which caused him to be discharged from the army. Since that time whenever he had too much to drink it went to his head. He ends by saying that when released he will join the teetotal society. The letter is beautifully written in a clear, even script, but his spelling leaves something to be desired: "it shall be a warning to me it shant be drink that shall get me into haney trubel haney more Gentlemen I jine the teatotle sursitety the very day I get my liberty".

Unfortunately for Drage the constable George Mardlin said he did not appear drunk; he had also previously been convicted at the Northampton Quarter Sessions of June 1869 for stealing more than £5 from the house of Elizabeth Copson at Wellingborough (Northants), for which he had served 12 months in the House of Correction at Northampton. This time he was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment with hard labour, to be followed by 7 years supervision by the police. 

The letter is written on a standard form issued by the Gaol to prisoners awaiting trial which includes printed instructions on the front cover:

  Persons writing to Prisoners are to TAKE NOTICE that the permission to write and receive Letters is not given to Prisoners for the purpose of hearing the news of the day, but to keep up a correspondence with their Relatives, and to address them on the subject of their trials; they will not be allowed to give or receive any improper advice or hints, or use or receive any unbecoming language.
  As all Letters sent into the Prison are read by the Governor, they ought not to be of unnecessary length.
  Visiting days are Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 to 12 in the morning and from 2 to 4 in the afternoon; the visits must not exceed twenty minutes.

QSR1871/1/5/3/b; QSR1871/1/6/3/b

Joyriders of 1880

The Midsummer Session of 1880 was full of a variety of cases. However, 2 cases show some crimes are timeless. On 17 July 1880, Charles Goode went to the Wheatsheaf public house at Houghton Regis with friends Edward Stevens and Austin Bourne. After spending some time drinking together, he noticed Stevens and Bourne had gone missing. He went outside to find his pony and cart had gone. He watched Stevens and Bourne, both rather drunk, driving the cart up Chalk Hill. He spent the night looking for it, until at 3am he saw Stevens looking out of his bedroom window, and was told where to find the pony and cart.

Just 2 months later, the Charles Goode was again involved in the theft of a pony and cart. This time he was the offender, not the victim. After a few drinks with his friend Alfred Ayres he borrowed a pony and cart from Mr Cannon in Luton, as he fancied a bit of a drive. The cart was due back by 3pm but the journey took them to The Half Way House in Luton, and on to Houghton Regis, Markyate Street, Redbourn and St Albans. They ate at St Albans and then went to London Colney and stayed the night. Goode ends up selling the pony and cart in King Cross pub, so he could go on to Barnet fair. He is accompanied by his brother Henry, who the police describe as “an associate of thieves and prostitutes in Kings Cross”.

Charles Goode was found guilty of stealing the pony and cart and sentenced to 5 years penal servitude with further 3 years police supervision. The 1881 census shows him serving his time in Pentonville. It was perhaps a suitable sentence when you consider, not only did he have past form, but he had also appeared in 3 of the 4 Quarter Sessions in 1880. In the Epiphany Session he had been accused of stealing flour and at the Easter session he was found not guilty of stealing a coat from his own brother, Frederick.

You’ve got to wonder if that the last we’ll see of Charles Goode, or whether we’ll see him cropping up again in 5 years time. I’ll keep you informed.

QSR1880/1/5/15 : QSR1880/2/5/1 : QSR1880/4/5/3 : QSR1880/4/5/6-7

Extract from the Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Records Service catalogue

Typical Bedfordshire Crime?

When you think about Bedfordshire occupations, straw plaiters are one of the first that spring to mind. The Epiphany Session on 1880 saw a large scale theft operation from Mr Charles Hollingsworth Hewett, a straw plait merchant. He operated from a shop in George Street, Luton and also had a bleaching and dying warehouse situated in Castle Street. Mr Hewett and his wife were never present when these dealing went on, instead having yet to arrive at the premises or having already left to take tea.

It appears, although I must say upfront most of those involved were eventually found Not Guilty, that a couple of inside men were selling off straw plait cheaply to pretty much anyone who cared to ask. A crafty system was set up between one of the shop workers, who was in charge of the inventory, and a foreman at the warehouse. The foreman would be short on the amount delivered to the shop and the shopman would cover his tracks, in return for a cut of the profits. Even after arrest, further interesting conversations took place in the yard at the police station, seeming trying to decide who was to blame.

The straw plait industry was at its peak between the 1870’s and 1880’s. To read more about the Straw Plait Industry, we would recommend the following sites.

http://www.galaxy.bedfordshire.gov.uk/webingres/luton/0.local/hat_plaiting.htm

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/people-and-places/womens-history/womenhatplaitluton/

For more information on the straw plait thefts, visit the Bedfordshire and Luton Archive and Record service catalogue - QSR1880/1/5/3 through to QSR1880/1/5/9

A quick bit of self promotion

Our very own Kathryn will be giving a talk titled "Poor Law Unions - was it all grim?"

Friday 9th March
1pm-1.45pm
at Bedfordshire & Luton Archive Service

The talk is open to members of the public, so should you be interested simply email archives@bedford.gov.uk or contact the service on 01234 228833

We look forward to seeing some of you there.

Billy the Sweep

We sometimes come across Quarter Sessions cases that read like episodes from a soap opera. Take this unfortunate incident from 1843 involving William Smith, a Leighton Buzzard chimney sweep known as Billy the Sweep. Putting together the various depositions and Smiths own statement the gist of the story appears to be as follows:

Billy the Sweep arrived home intoxicated and discovered his wife had taken out a contract with the tally man (buying goods "on tick" or hire purchase). He insisted on knowing what she had bought. When she refused to tell him how much she had paid for a shawl he carried out a threat to cut it up. Unfortunately as his wife tried to rescue the shawl her thumb got in the way of the knife Billy was using and she was badly cut. She cried "murder" and a couple of neighbours, Maria Gardner and Mary Gilbert, rushed to her aid and bound up the bleeding digit. Meanwhile a rumour reached the Royal Oak Public House that Billy the Sweep had chopped off his wife's thumb. A noisy crowd gathered outside Smith's house, laughing and teasing Billy. After a failed attempt to close the shutters and stop the crowd peering in through his window, Billy reached a pitch of exasperation in which he threatened to shoot the onlookers if they did not go away. Enraged he grabbed the nearest thing to hand. This turned out to be a potato fork - I presume this would have been similar to a modern garden fork - which he jabbed through the window into the face of an unfortunate bystander, Henry Munday.

The Royal Oak in Friday Street, Leighton Buzzard c.1925

Munday fainted, bleeding profusely. The fork had caused a minor wound to his left cheek, but a tine had penetrated deeply between his right eye and his nose. The surgeon who examined him, Philip Wynter Wagstaff, later measured the depth of the wound as greater than one inch. During that evening symptoms suggested to the surgeon that it was likely to proved fatal. Fortunately he was mistaken and by the time he gave his deposition he believed that Munday would not lose the eye and would make a full recovery. Meanwhile Billy the Sweep had been arrested and incarcerated in the parish lock-up, where he became maudlin and was heard threatening to hang himself. The constable removed his handkerchief and other items and "confined him by the leg". By this time however Billy had reverted to the furious and exasperated stage, declaring that he wished he had shot Munday and "should not care a damn if I had killed him". In the cold light of day, sobered up and facing examination by the magistrate, he was very apologetic. He was bailed to appear for trial at the Easter Quarter Sessions where he was convicted and sentenced to six months hard labour. [QSR1843/2/5/15]

The harsh reality of a childhood prank.

Once again we’ve come across some very young boys imprisoned in the House of Correction. Reuben Spring and George Edwards were just 9 and 10 years of age. Evidence in their case was based on the statement of just one man, William Bradshaw, a plate layer for the Great Northern Railway. He had witnessed the boys kneeling along side the outside up line of the Great Northern railway near Sandy. On going over to investigate he found 4 walnut sized stone on the rail. This occurred on an unspecified day in July. It was some 2 months later that the statement was taken from the witness. He stated that his employers considered in an offence which should not escape punishment. Reuben Spring, later described on the gaol register as 4ft 5” and blind in one eye, denied laying the stones on the line, in his statement. A month later at the Michaelmas Quarter Session, both boys were sentenced to 3 months hard labour in the House of Correction.

On previous occasions, we have seen young boys sent off to the newly established Reformatory Schools. However, it appears that on this occasion the boys served their sentence in the House of Correction. On a more positive note, Reuben Spring can be found in later censuses. He is a married man with a family, still living in the Sandy area, and he had become a General Dealer. This possibly suggests his time in the House of Correction was more of a deterrent than a learning ground towards a criminal life.

QSR1853/4/5/9,10

A slightly different week in Paths to Crime

The good news is that we are still busy beavering away cataloguing. Kathryn is now on 1843 Michaelmas Session and Sharon is on 1853 Michaelmas sesion.

The bad news is that our system is being upgrarded over the next week. This means our hard work won't be instantly live for you to use. We'll make sure you are advised when normal service resumes.

In the meantime we're still typing away. Sharon's quarter contains a variety of cases; from the theft of 7 gold rings to the gaoling of 2 very young offenders for placing stones on the Great Northern Railway. Kathryn has recently catalogued a Kempston riot and this quarter has a few cases where prisoners have been transported for 10 years.

Interesting cases are still coming thick and fast, so watch this space!

Building a Bigger Picture.....

The beauty with the QSR is the richness of information in some of the depositions (witness statements). For example, take the case of Henry Harris, a 18 year old labourer accused of breaking and entering the dwelling of John Franklin Gilbert, and stealing money. (QSR1853/2/5/4 - Henry Harris)

In this case there are 7 witness statements as well as the statement of the accused.
The below list is of statements from this case. They may sound like random statements but it's the little details which help build a bigger of picture of what was happening at the time.

* George Stonebridge had been making the dough for Mr Crowley of Wilshamstead on 15 March, as his man was ill.
* Henry Harris was described as having hair on his top lip.
* We frequently come across the police using footprints to help identify the offender. In this case the footmarks are quite unusual. "He examined the window and found footmarks. He took their dimensions. There appeared to be 2 different footmarks evidently made by the same person."
* It was later determined that Harris, wore 2 odd boots, one longer than the other.

* William Clark lived at Wilstead with Benjamin Gilbert, whose father lived with him. So we now have a family picture building. We now know John Franklin, Ann Jepps, her sister in law and Benjamin were all living in the house. As well as a boy (presumably a servant).

* James Kitchener boarded with John Franklin Gilbert and had employed the accused about 8 weeks previously. He was Mr Gilbert's foreman. So we now have added another member of the household and his job role, he had previously just been described as a labourer.

* Henry Harris had gone into the house to have his dinner on the day he had been employed by Mr Gilbert. This gives us an idea of the daily routine of the farm.
* The window was a lattice window and the lead work was lying on the floor. Giving us details regarding the appearance of the house.

* Mr Crowley lived between 200 to 300 yards from the gates to Mr Gilbert's.
* There had been a heavy fog that morning. So we know the weather conditions on 15 March 1853.

For those of you interested in the outcome of the case, Henry Harris pleaded Not Guilty but with a mountain of evidence, and the incriminating footmarks, he was found Guilty. He was imprisoned and kept at hard labour at the House of Correction for one calandar year.

Left Behind

In the 1840s a small but significant proportion of cases heard at the Quarter Sessions ended with the accused being sentenced to transportation. Judy Wright has done considerable research into the ultimate fate prisoners in Bedfordshire placed under this sentence and the convict database on her Selling Sparrows website makes it easy to find out where and when (or if) they were transported. Finding out what happened to the family left behind by a transported criminal is rather harder. Unusually, a document in the Quarter Sessions Roll for Michaelmas 1842 shows the effect of transportation on the dependants of Christopher Kibble, who had been sentenced at the Ephinany Quarter Sessions to ten years transportation for sheep stealing (QSR1842/1/5/50)

Under the Poor Law the parish in which an individual was considered to be "settled" was responsible for his or her upkeep if they became a pauper. This led to settlement disputes between parishes in an attempt to reduce demands on the local poor rate. These disputes often resulted in removal orders stating that paupers should be removed from the parish in which relief was being given to their parish of legal settlement. These documents can be extremely useful to family historians as they often include depositions recording details of relationships and past residence for the individuals concerned, the reason for claiming poor relief, and the amount of relief received. The number of cases relating to settlement and removal that came before the Quarter Sessions was relatively small in our period as under the New Poor Law of 1834 only appeals were heard at this level. However the Quarter Sessions Roll for Michaelmas 1842 includes a removal order for Eliza Kibble and her daughter Mary, the wife and young daughter of Christopher (QSR1842/4/9/1/b).

According to the evidence given in the removal order Christopher Kibble had been born at Waddesdon in Buckinghamshire where his father occupied a house and bakehouse. Eliza had married Christopher at Leighton Buzzard in 1840 and their daughter Mary was now sixteen months old. Since their marriage the family had lived at Billington, where Christopher was a farm servant. In June 1842 Eliza had been receiving relief from the Leighton Buzzard Union for twenty one weeks. The payments made to her had been 5s 6d a week while she was sick and had then reduced to 2s a week after her recovery, with a total of £3 14s 6d paid to that point. As a result of the evidence heard Christopher Kibble's parish of settlement was deemed to be Waddesdon. As a wife took on the settlement of her husband, an order was made that Eliza and Mary should be removed there from Billington. It appears that Waddesdon intended to appeal against this decision, but at the Quarter Sessions the appeal was dropped (QSR1842/4/9/1/a).