471. (M.) James Penticost proceedingsdefend was indicted for stealing a cloth coat, value 4 s. a cloth waistcoat, value 2 s. a pair of worsted breeches, half a guinea, and 6 s. and 6 d in money, numbered , the property of William Williams proceedingsvictim . *

At the desire of the prisoner the witnesses were examined apart.

William Williams < no role > . I am a journeyman carpenter , and lodged at the house of Jane Best < no role > , in Wych-street , the prisoner lodged there; there was only a thin partition between his room and mine; about 3 weeks ago I went out to work, and when I came home at about 8 o'clock, I found my box which I had left locked was open, and the cloaths and money mentioned in the indictment were taken away; I enquired of my landlady; she said there was a man that lay in the next room to mine, that did not work, they suspected him, that was the prisoner; I went in search of him; he was stopped; I took him to Covent-garden Round-house: I told him I suspected he had taken the things; he made game of me and abused me; the constable asked him if he had any money about him; he said he had but about 15 d. but when he was searched there was about 36 s. in the whole; he would give no account how he came by it; there was a paper of mine was found in his waistcoat pocket.

George Carnaby < no role > . In searching the prisoner I found this paper in his waistcoat pocket; (produced in court.)

Williams. This paper is my property, (taking it in his band) this was in my waistcoat pocket that was stolen; it is an account of a job that my father and one Mr. Carr did to a ship; I never found any of my things again.

Carnaby. The prisoner declared before the Justice that he never had that paper.

Jane Best < no role > . I keep a lodging-house in Wych-street, the prosecutor and prisoner lodged at my house; there was but a thin wainscot parted their rooms, and the place is open; there is a slip broke that a person might look through; the prosecutor found his place open and the box broke, and his things taken away; the prisoner had lodged but five or six days with me; I do not know that he ever went out to work, he used to lie in bed pretty much; there was nobody in the house that could rob the prosecutor but the prisoner, there is only an old woman almost fourscore years of age.

Prisoner's defence.

This paper they say was taken out of my pocket, but as God is my judge, I know no more of it than the child unborn. When I came down one morning, I picked up three papers and a penny memorandum book; I lighted my pipe with some of them.

Acquitted .

(L.) He was a second time indicted for knowingly, designedly, and by false pretences, obtaining from John Warner Phipps proceedingsvictim and James Turtle proceedingsvictim , coal-merchants and partners , 20 chaldrons of coals, value 36 l. March 27 . ++

James Turtle < no role > . I am a coal-merchant, in partnership with John Warner Phipps < no role > ; I do business in White-friars and in Milford lane; on the 27th of March the prisoner came to me, and said he was recommended to me to serve him with coals; I asked him who recommended him, because I would gladly know my friends; he made some hesitation, and at last could not tell me: he told me he had some business in the Strand, and said he would call again in an hour; he did not return: the next day he called upon me again; he desired me to go to his house, and see his situation; he told me he was going to sell coals: I went with him to his house the corner of Stone-cutter-street, Shoe-lane; he shewed me the lower part of the house, he asked me if it would do for a shop; I told him I thought it would do very well; he shewed me down in his cellar, where he thought to lay in a quantity of coals: then he took me up stairs to see his dining-room, which was very elegantly furnished with all new furniture, and stocked with a great many different tradesmen's goods besides; it was a kind of warehouse; then he took me up into the garret; he said he was a watchmaker, and was going to set five or six men to work; it being a corner house, and had a very good light, I thought it was quite suitably adapted to the purpose; there was a room empty, he said he was going to lett that to a single gentleman; he said he had been at a very great expence in furnishing this house, that he had paid ready money for all, and particularly he mentioned he had paid upwards of 40 l. to Mr. Faulkner, a broker, at the corner of Harp-alley, Shoe-lane, for part of the goods in that room; the whole to be sure came to a great many forty pounds: he pretended to show me the bills and receipts by taking out his pocket-book, but could not find them, pretending they were in his drawer in his desk; nevertheless he said he should soon he possessed of some money, by a bill that he was to receive. Some more conversation passed, then we came down stairs; then he asked the prices of coals; I told him; he said he did not want some immediately to come home, but he wanted some to go out, and gave me orders to send them; accordingly I took his order where to send them out, and they were sent by my people, and he had some home to his house in two or three days after; he agreed to pay ready money for them.

Q. Whether you should have trusted him, if he had not assured you he had paid upwards of 40 l. to Mr. Faulkner for part of the furniture?

Turtle. No, I should not a single penny, if I had not seen the situation of his house, and what expence he had been at; I know Mr. Faulkner to be a very industrious man, and one that is careful in his way of dealing, this gave me a good opinion of the prisoner's substance; he mentioned no other person's name but Mr. Faulkner's, but he mentioned the buying divers other goods. The 40 l. was the principal object that I took under consideration.

Q. Supposing no mention had been made of having had goods and paid for them to Mr. Faulkner, should you have trusted him?

Turtle. No, I should not.

Q. What were the goods worth you saw in the house?

Turtle. I suppose they were worth 150 l.

Q. Do you think the circumstance of paying Mr. Faulkner weighed more than all the rest? Can you so far depend upon what would have been your conduct from this representation, as you had seen this 150 l. worth of goods, should you have trusted him? *

* The principal false pretence laid in the indictment was for obtaining money by pretending he had bought goods to the amount of 40 l. and upwards, of Mr. John Faulkner < no role > , &c.

Turtle. It struck me at once, as I knew Mr. Faulkner was a very honest and a very cautious man, and one that could not afford to trust for a large quantity of goods.

Q. Supposing a name had been made use of which you did not know the person, but you had still seen all the goods in the house, would you have trusted him?

Turtle. No, I should not.

Q. What satisfaction was that to you, that they were bought of Mr. Faulkner or any other man?

Turtle. He lived but a little way from the prisoner, therefore I thought he must know the abilities of the man. A few days after I enquired after the prisoner, and he was not at home.

Q. Did you ever find him at home?

Turtle. Never but once; I saw his wife, as they called her.

Q. How often did you go to his house?

Turtle. I went about three or four times.

Q. Did you ever receive any money?

Turtle. No, I never did.

Q. How long did he continue in the house after he had the coals in?

Turtle. About ten or twelve days he and all the goods were entirely gone, within fourteen days after he had the coals of me.

Q. When did you first see him afterwards?

Turtle. The first time I had the pleasure of seeing him afterwards, was at the bar, when he was tried for the felony in stealing the man's cloaths and money; he made large pretensions to me when he came to me, that he should be a very good customer.

John Faulkner < no role > . I live at the corner of Harp-alley, Shoe-lane, I am a house-broker.

Q. How near is your house to where the prisoner had a house?

Faulkner. It is about five or six doors distant from it.

Q. You know the prisoner, do you not?

Faulkner. I do, I never saw him but once in my life before he had the goods of me.

Q. Did he pay you any money?

Faulkner. I never received a farthing of him in my life.

Q. Did you ever recommend him to any body?

Faulkner. No, never; when he looked out the goods, he said he did not desire trust, I should have the money as soon as he had the goods; he said, he should have an hundred pounds from the Navy-office.

Q. When did you see him after you delivered the goods to him?

Faulkner. I never saw him till I saw him here, and I was there I believe ten times a day.

Prisoner. He sent the goods in on the 22 d, and brought the bill in the 25th, and I desired him to stay a little.

William White < no role > . I carried one load of coals, that was one chaldron, from Mr. Phipps and Turtle's wharf to the prisoner's house in Shoe-lane, some time in the beginning of April.

Charles Earl < no role > . I carried at different times to different places, three chaldron of coals, from Mess. Phipps and Turtle's wharf for the prisoner at the bar, and some I drove to his house at the corner of Stone-cutter-street, Shoe-lane.

Council for prosecution. We have here a linen-draper, an upholsterer, a grocer, and others, with whom the prisoner has traded in the same manner; but as their names were not made use of to Mr. Turtle by the prisoner as Mr. Faulkner's was, it may be needless to call them.

Prisoner's defence.

The latter end of March last, I took a house at the corner of Stone-cutter-street, Shoe-lane; I went to Mr. Faulkner by the recommendation of a gentleman that went with me; Mr. Faulkner desired I would come and look out such goods as I wanted; after he sent them in, he came and brought his bill in a day or two, and desired I would help him to half the money. I told him I had not any money, but if he would stay a week I would help him to the whole; then I went to Mess. Phipps and Turtle, Phipps I never saw but once before. I told Turtle I had taken a coal shed at the corner of Stone-cutter-street; I asked him if it was worth his while to serve me; we had a gill of wine at a house of call; I said I never dealt in this way before, put me in the best way you can; he said he would: I told him I had some in the house that were the man's that kept it before; I told him I believed I should deal very largely; he said, so much the better: I asked him if he would be pleased to send me any in, he said yes; then he asked me who I would have them sent to: I desired him to send 28 sacks to one place, 12 to Mr. Coventry, the gentleman that recommended me to Mr. Turtle, and a chaldron to a barber on Saffron-hill, and others, to the amount of 136 sacks; this was on the 29th or 30th of March; but upon the 10th of April, coming down the street, I met Mess. Phipps and Turtle; they asked me how I did; said I, shall we go to breakfast together; we went to a coffee-house in Fleet-street, there we breakfasted together; said Mr. Turtle, I have brought you my bill, saying, his custom is 60 days credit; I said, you shall have your money every month.

Turtle. No such thing was mentioned.

Prisoner. I said I have not any money, but on the morrow I believe I shall be ready for you; he said, do you want any more coals; I said, yes, you may send five chaldron to Mr. Myers, a colour-maker in Golden-lane, and five chaldron to the Duke's-head facing the pound, Islington: this was on the Thursday or Friday. I went down to Norwich to receive some money, and while I was gone, Mess. Phipps and Turtle took a writ out against me; they found they could not arrest me, as I was gone into the country, then they indicted me for a fraud; when I came back, there was my house shut up, my shop shut up, my coals taken away by Mr. Turtle's servant, and the goods I bought of Mr. Faulkner taken away; I had been in the house not above ten days; the creditors stripped me of every thing, I had not a shilling left; they broke my dining-room door, and took out my bureau and a little nest of drawers, money and papers, all went; they sent me my nest of drawers back, two coats, and a pair of breeches; they shut my doors up, and gave the key to my landlord; I have been very cruelly used; I have no other evidence but Mr. Phipp's bill and Mr. Faulkner's bill.

Guilty . Sentence respited .