Old Bailey Proceedings:
Old Bailey Proceedings: Accounts of Criminal Trials

25th February 1784

About this dataset

Currently Held: Harvard University Library

LL ref: t17840225-29




292. THOMAS TURNER proceedingsdefend This name instance is in set 1367. This set is in the group(s): GarrowsClients . was indicted for burglariously and feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Edward Whitemead proceedingsvictim , about the hour of eight in the night, on the 26th day of January last, and feloniously stealing therein, two pair of linen sheets, value 40 s. three linen table-cloths, value 15 s. one silk gown, value 10 s. one silk petticoat, value 5 s. one cotton gown, value 15 s. one cotton petticoat, value 15 s. one cotton counterpane, value 5 s. one linen frock and waistcoat, value 5 s. one pair of black plush breeches, value 2 s. four pair of cotton stockings, value 4 s. one cotton frock, value 6 d. one linen frock, value 6 d. twelve pieces of linen, value 6 d. and six pieces of gold coin of this realm, called guineas, value 6 l. 6 s. the property of the said Edward Whitemead < no role > .

SARAH WHITEMEAD < no role > sworn.

I live in Mill-hill Mews, in the parish of Marybone ; I am a married woman, the wife of Edward Whitemead < no role > , he is a coachman , we rent two rooms.

Court. Who lives in the rest of the house? - They are two rooms over coach-houses.

How do you get at them? - There is a stair-case out of three stables.

Is the stair-case open to the street? - No, my Lord, it goes down a different passage out of the Mews.

You have two rooms? - Yes.

Are there other rooms on the same floor? - No.

Are there any rooms over your's? - No.

Are there more stair-cases? - Only this stair-case.

What number of stables are there in the Mews? - I do not know.

There are several stables within the Mews? - Yes.

Are there not other rooms over the stables? - Yes, and other dwelling houses in the Mews.

What sort of a door have you at the top of the stair-case into your room? - A single door.

Do you lock your room at night? - Yes.

Mr. Garrow, Prisoner's Council. It is a private room.

Is the Mews inclosed? - Open at both ends.

Court. How is it by night? - Open at all times.

By night as well as by day? - Yes.

What is there to protect your rooms from being attacked by persons who are travelling at that end of the town? - Nothing, Sir, but my door of my apartment, which is at the top of the stairs.

Then from the Mews to the stairs there is no door? - There is a door, but no fastening, and any body that has a mind may open it.

Mr. Justice Gould. Is there a door at the bottom of the stairs next the yard - No.

Jury. There is a passage that goes into her apartments before the ascends the stairs.

Court. Then she goes out of the Mews into a passage, and out of that passage into her room? - Yes.

Mr. Justice Buller. You have only one door at the top of the stairs? - Two rooms, and two doors which go into different rooms.

Court. The stair-case is open, and when she gets to the top of the stairs there are two doors that go to two different rooms.

Mr. Garrow. My Lord, she has two outside doors to her house upon this evidence.

Mr. Justice Gould. They are separate habitations for herself and husband, as I conceive; that being the case, whether there is a communication from one room to the other; whether one room lays on the left-hand or the right-hand you have two doors to communicate, the one and the other are one mansion and the dwelling house.

Mr. Garrow. My Lords, this woman has two private doors to her two private rooms, either she has two outside doors to her two dwelling houses, or she has no outside door to her dwelling house; if there is any outward door to this dwelling house, in my poor comprehension, it must be that door to the passage, after that she ascends the stair-case to two private dwelling rooms; but I fancy your Lordship will not say to any dwelling house. It is situated in a Mews, for the purpose of gentlemen's coach-houses and stables; over such a building there is generally a hay-loft, which some gentlemen have converted into lodging rooms; but surely in a very penal case indeed, which affects the life of a prisoner, the Court will not go the length in a new case of saying that this is a dwelling house, in which a burglary has been committed; I have not yet asked the witness, but it will appear, that this is not rated as a dwelling house, that it is not treated as a dwelling house, but as it always has been, and always will be, as appurtenant to the coach-house; it would be described to be the building of the owner of the coach-house and stable. It may perhaps be considerable too to this indictment, whose dwelling house it is; for if these people, the prosecutor and his wife, are the coachman and the wife of the coachman to somebody that keeps their coach and horses there, I should then submit if it can be called a dwelling house at all; it is not the dwelling house of the prosecutor: but at present I submit with the greatest deference in the world to your Lordships, that this cannot be considered as a dwelling house.

Mr. Justice Gould. Does your husband rent the rooms? - I took the rooms.

Then you pay for them? - I pay for them.

They do not belong to any gentleman to whom your husband is coachman? - My husband is coachman to Lady Harvey; her coach and horses stand in the Mews.

Court. Who does your husband rent the rooms of? - Of Mrs. Baffetti, and she let them for an acquaintance.

What acquaintance? - I do not know his name.

Mr. Justice Gould. In respect to your observation of the door, suppose a person lives in my house with the street door open, and as to these two rooms, whether their not happening to communicate one with the other, otherwise than by a platform or the landing-place, may be considered as the mansion house: it is very clear this man and his wife inhabited there, and it communicates with no other lodgings or apartments. I remember a case tried in this Court, which was reserved for the opinion of the Judges; I tried it. The owner of a house let all the house in lodgings, distinctly and separate, if the owner lodges in any one part of the house, it shall be called and determined his house, and though there may be ten inmates, you shall not call it the mansion house of the lodger, but the mansion house of the owner; but in that case, all the house was let out in apartments, and there was an open door; there was a shop, and a parlour within the shop, and a cellar underneath, were let out in one bargain, at a given sum of twelve pounds ten shillings; I have it in my memory; and the landlord the owner agreed with the lessee to have the cellar to place lumber in, and he abated him thirty shillings a year out of the rent for the use of the cellar: The objection was taken that the burglary was in one of the apartments so let out, laid to be the mansion-house of the lodger. I reserved the case for the opinion of the Judges, and they were of opinion, that as the owner did not at all inhabit there, though he had reserved this cellar for the sake of keeping furniture; yet he not occupying as an inhabitant any part of this house, that it was an exception out of the general rule. There are a number of instances in this town of apartments so let, and it might leave those apartments open to be robbed, without the robber being liable to be convicted of a burglary; and all the Judges were unanimously of opinion, it was a burglary. Now apply that reasoning to this case; this is the habitation and the domicile of the man and his wife, without any communication with any other inhabitants, and this door in the passage we will call the outward door to this domicile; then there are two inner doors if I may so say to this mansion house; whether it is a house, a habitation from the ground outwardly, or whether shops or warehouses are underneath, or, as in the present case, stables, does not alter the case at all in my opinion.

Mr. Baron Perryn. My opinion concurs with my brother Gould's.

Mr. Justice Buller. You do not know who your landlord is? - No. I had it of Mrs. Baffetti, but I know it was not her's.

Have you ever paid any rent? - I have not been in the lodging above three weeks.

What are you to pay? - I am to pay six pounds ten shillings a year.

Mr. Garrow. My Lord, she does not know her landlord.

Mr. Justice Buller. Was you acquainted with this place before you took these rooms? - No.

The door of the passage has never been kept locked since you went there? - No.

Is there any lock upon it? - I will not be sure, I never saw any lock upon it.

Is there any bolt upon it? - I do not know, I never examined the door.

Where does that passage go to? - It leads to my staircase.

Does it go any where else? - It leads down a little further to three stables.

Do the horses go through that passage to those stables? - Yes, down that passage.

Court. Were your rooms broke open at any time? - I left my lodgings between one and two in the day, a month last Monday.

How did you leave the door? - Locked.

Which door, you have two rooms? - Both doors were locked, I am positive of that; I returned about a quarter after nine in the evening, and found my left hand door open.

Was the door broke? - My key would lock and unlock it as well as it would when I went out, the-door was wide open, but the lock and staple were all right, there was no mark on this door, but on the other door there was the mark of a little chissel.

How was the bolt of the lock? - It was standing out, I found my chest of drawers open, and gowns and petticoats and linen of all sorts, table linen taken away, and two pair of sheets.

Court. What was the value of them? - The sheets ten shillings, I lost three table cloths, five gowns, and three petticoats.

What was the value of them? - I cannot positively tell the worth of them, they were all good gowns.

Speak within compass? - Ten shillings a piece, the petticoats five shillings, and there were six guineas in gold, which were pinned up in a pair of thread stockings, and was put in the drawers.

Was the drawer locked? - Yes; I was in great distress when I saw the things were gone; and I afterwards found a pair of sheets, three shifts, a flannel coat, a pair of stockings, and six gowns.

Where were they found? - At the prisoner's lodgings.

Mr. Garrow. You was not present? - No.

How long has your husband been coachman to Lady Harvey? - A good many years.

How long have the horses stood at this Mews? - About five years.

You told my Lord you lodged at Mill-hill Mews? - Yes.

MARY MATTHEWS < no role > sworn.

I am servant to Mr. Barker, at the Red Lion, in Chandler's-street; I took the prisoner at the top of the one pair of stairs at Mr. Barker's on Tuesday night; I thought I heard somebody go up stairs; I know nothing of this robbery, I only took the prisoner.

Did you find any thing upon him? - No, he was not examined there.

MARY LAVER < no role > sworn.

I live at No. 14, New-street-hill, between Shoe and Fetter-lane.

What are you? - I am a married woman, my husband is a taylor, I know nothing at all of the robbery; the prisoner was a lodger of mine, they had been there a fortnight last Saturday; the wife took it.

How long before he came did his wife take it? - The day before.

Has he lived there during that time? - Yes.

What is it you come to speak to? - I am only subpoened about the things being found in the room.

What things were found in the room? - I do not know.

Mr. Garrow. This lodging was taken by a woman? - The wife of that man.

Do you know that? - No.

Court. Did you ever hear him say whether she was or was not his wife? - No.

Mr. Garrow. You say the woman paid you the rent? - Yes.

Court. Did he sleep there constantly? - Yes, till the night he was taken.

CHARLES JEALOUS < no role > sworn.

On the 18th of February, the prisoner was brought to Bow-street for another offence; Sir Sampson asked him where he lodged; he said he did not chuse to tell him; I saw a young woman which they said was his wife.

Mr. Garrow. Do not tell us what they said. - But I will tell you more, Sir, presently; I watched her home; I went up stairs with her immediately, the first things I saw in the room was the clothes the prisoner has on, and I found these picklock keys, and this saw, and a pistol.

Court. Were they under lock and key? - No, they were not; and I found this linen.

Was that locked up or open? - In a box, I have had it ever since.

Mr. Garrow, Now Jealous, this man being asked at Bow-street where he lived, did not chuse to tell you? - He did not chuse to tell Sir Sampson.

And you followed a woman to her lodgings? - The woman told me herself -

What at it again, Jealous; why now you know the Court will not suffer you to tell us what that woman said. You went to the room of this woman; what the woman either before or since has acknowledged is nothing to the purpose. - The prisoner acknowledged the things himself, and said he found them, it was before the prosecutrix, there she is, and I was by; that was at the Brown Bear, in Bow-street, on Monday last.

It is pretty singular you did not tell my Lord that before; you found some linen in a box, and you found a suit of clothes which you believe to be his clothes? - I am positive of it, he acknowledged the woman was his wife at Bow-street.

What did he say about it? - He said she was his wife, and he had been married to her a week.

(The Things deposed to.)

Court to Prosecutrix. When had you seen the six guineas before? - About three days before, I had the key.

Had your husband any key? - No.

Was the drawer broke open? - Yes.

Are you sure you had that linen in your house the day the robbery was committed? Yes, I am positive it was in the drawers.

SAMUEL NAYLAND < no role > sworn.

I was at Bow-street, and was ordered by Sir Sampson Wright to go to the watch-house, to see if there was not something there, as the person who stopped him said he had a deal more money; I went up there, and there I found a dark lanthorn and an iron crow.

Court. How do you know he put them there? - I do not know, there was another man confined there.

Court. Have you any other reason to tell us they were his? - No.

Did you find any thing else besides these things? - No.

- ATKINS sworn.

I am a servant to Mr. Newport, I attend at the office in Bow-street, this man was brought to the Brown-bear, in the morning of the 28th by a constable, and some more people, he was very dirtily dressed, and I saw this watch hanging down, and I said to the constable, what have not you searched the man? I took him, and searched him, and found this watch, five guineas, and six shillings and sixpence; he behaved himself very indifferently before Sir Sampson, and Sir Sampson mentioned that he thought he had more money about him, and I searched him again, and found twelve guineas and an half in his stocking feet: I have delivered the prisoner four guineas of it, at least to the woman, the remainder I have.

Mr. Garrow. And so you came here to tell us, that this man finding himself in the hands of the mirmidons that attend at the Brown-bear, put his money into his shoes? - He was not in those hands then.

Prisoner. My Lord, I do not chuse to speak without having my property returned, I have a brother, and I got eighteen guineas of him to go into business, they took the remainder of my money and my watch.

The Prisoner called three Witnesses who gave him a good character.

Court to Jury. Gentlemen, this indictment charges the prisoner with burglary, and I need not tell you that to constitute that crime, it is necessary that the place broke open be a dwelling house, and also that it be broken in the night-time: if it rested merely on the question as to time, it seems to me that it is not so made out, that the offence whatever it may amount to in point of law, can constitute the crime of burglary; because this woman left her house between one and two o'clock at noon, and there is no account of these rooms till nine at night: then the next question will be, whether any offence has been proved to be committed in a dwelling house; as to the law upon this evidence whether this is or is not a dwelling house, I would on this occasion as well as in every other, very readily refer to my learned brother, who has stated his reasons for being of opinion that it is a dwelling house: there is one fact which perhaps will be material in this case, and that fact, if found one way, would so far dispose of the case, as not to leave it open to the question of law at all, and that is, as to the situation that she has described the passage to be in: but I shall leave it as a question for further consideration, taking it at this moment to be a dwelling house, and if it was so, though it is not a burglary, and though there might be some doubt as to the breaking; yet there is another offence, of which the prisoner may be guilty, which I must state to you more particularly; and that is, that though he did not break open these rooms, yet if he stole property to the amount of forty shillings, it is a capital offence; taking it at this moment, as I said before, to be a dwelling house: therefore I will state the case to you now, considering it in that light only: there might be some question as to the breaking, because it appears by the prosecutrix's evidence, that when she came back the door was not at all hurt, the door was open, the lock was not hurt, the bolt of the lock was standing out, and yet the staple had not been at all forced; therefore if it was material, you might have questioned whether she had actually left both the doors safe, or whether she might not have turned the lock, and not let it go into the hasp: but here the material question is, whether you are satisfied the prisoner did take property to the amount of forty shillings out of these rooms: the prosecutrix swears very positively to the property, and that she is sure it was in her rooms, and that the six guineas were wrapped up in the stockings: now the six guineas put the value out of the question: then the next question is whether you are, or are not satisfied, that the prisoner was the person that committed it; that turns on the evidence of Mary Matthews < no role > , Mary Laver < no role > , and Charles Jealous < no role > ; the first says the prisoner did not take these lodgings, they were taken by a woman who has always paid the rent, but the prisoner came there backwards and forwards for his meals in the day, and lodged there at night; Mary Laver < no role > confirms this, and then Jealous says that the prisoner, when these things were produced, acknowledged them, and said he found them: if these things were acknowledged by the prisoner, it certainly does bring the possession home to him, and he has given no evidence how he got possession of them.

Jury to Jealous. What was it he acknowledged to be his? - The woman picked the things out before his face, and he immediately said, these things are my property, I found them.

NOT GUILTY, of breaking and entering in the night time, but if the Judges should be of opinion that the place where the Prosecutrix inhabited, was a dwelling house, then GUILTY, of stealing to the value sworn to out of the dwelling house, Death. And if the Judges should be if opinion it is not a dwelling house, then GUILTY of stealing, but not in the dwelling house [See summary of punishments] .

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. Justice BULLER.




View as XML