Beware of those bearing good news

Repeatedly the Quarter Sessions make clear some things are timeless.

In 1864, Mark Clark, a widow of Luton received a visit from George Howard.  George Howard bore exciting news for her; he said he was there on very important business.  Firstly he ran through some routine questions with Mrs Clark, asking her if her husband was dead and if he had died in the asylum.  Mrs Clark confirmed he had, at which point Mr Howard revealed a legacy was due to her.  Howard initially stated a sum of £48 a year was due to her and £850 for each of her husbands children.  Wisely, Mrs Clark sought the advice of her neighbour, and Howard explained there were 6 cottages, 160 acres of land, a mansion and furniture at Wellingborough and further property at Wootton.  He went into more detail explaining the property was due to be auctioned at Bedford and that his boss, the solicitor Mr Middleton, anticipated her share to be £48,000.   He told her that there was certain paperwork necessary for the claim such as her children’s birth certificates, her marriage certificate and her husband's death certificate.  All she need to do was [here we go....] give him the small sum of 11s 2d 1/2 , which would in the longer term save her £6 10s 0d.  She gave him the money in the presence of her neighbour and Howard left to catch his train back to Bedford.  Mary had fallen for a scam.

Mary and her husband John, had both been born in Wootton and moved to Luton with their family.  John was a gardener whilst Mary was a laundress.  The 1861 census shows Mary, in Albert Street, Luton and her husband listed as being in the Alms Asylum.

The con man was captured by local police whilst drinking in the Engine public house.  He confessed to his crime and was sentenced to 2 months imprisonment.

QSR1864/3/5/6

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