625. JOSEPH WILLIAMS proceedingsdefend This name instance is in set 1534. This set is in the group(s): GarrowsClients . was indicted for that he, in the parish of Swanscomb, in the county of Kent , and divers other malefactors and disturbers of the peace of our Lord the King, to the number of three and more, on the 7th of May last, being then and there armed with fire arms, and other offensive weapons, to wit, with pistols, did unlawfully and feloniously assemble and gather themselves together, in order to be aiding and assisting in the running and carring away uncustomed goods, and goods liable to pay duties, which had never been paid or secured; and being then and there so assembled and gathered together as aforesaid, and being also then and there so armed as aforesaid, in and upon John Beadle the elder, being then and there an officer of the customs, and in the due execution of his said office, he the said Joseph Williams < no role > This name instance is in set 1534. This set is in the group(s): GarrowsClients . , and the said divers other malefactors and disturbers of the peace of our Lord the King, did then and there, with force and arms, unlawfully, riotously, routously, forceably and feloniously make an assault upon him the said John Beadle < no role > the elder, being such officer as aforesaid, and in the due execution of his office, did resist him in taking and carrying away a large quantity of tobacco, to wit, two thousand pounds weight of tobacco, being uncustomed goods, and goods liable to pay duties, which had not been paid or secured, after seizure as aforesaid, in the county of Kent, in contempt of the laws, against the statute, and against the peace .

A second count, Charging him with divers other persons, upon the 7th of May last, assembling with a pistol, and in and upon the said John Beadle < no role > , being one of the officers of our Lord the King, making an assault, and resisting him in the due execution of his office, in securing a large quantity of tobacco, to wit, twenty hundred pounds weight of tobacco, being uncustomed goods, and goods liable to pay duties, which had not been paid or secured, and lately before seized by him, as one of such officers as aforesaid, unlawfully, riotously, routously and feloniously did make an assault and affray, and did aid and assist in rescuing and taking away the said last mentioned tobacco after such seizure, being one of such officers as aforesaid, in contempt of the laws, against the statute, and against the peace.

A third count, charging him, that he, on the said 7th of May, armed with pistols, unlawfully did assemble in taking away the said tobacco.

(The indictment opened by Mr. Litchfield; and the case by Mr. Solicitor General.)

JOHN BEADLE < no role > , the elder, sworn.

Mr. Silvester. What are you? - I am an officer in the customs; on Monday, the 7th of May I was at home.

Tell us what passed from the beginning of that day as far as the prisoner is concerned? - About eleven, on the 7th of May, I had information of some smuggled goods being at the Leather-bottle, that is at Northfleet; I went there in consequence of the information; John Beadle < no role > the younger, Richard Brockwell < no role > , and another man who was a stranger; we went into the Leather-bottle, and called for a pot of beer, and sixpenny-worth of brandy and water; I had information where the cart was; I went up to Mr. Hurlock, the master of the house, and told him I had an information against his house, and found a quantity of bales of tobacco in a cart inthe chaise house; we seized it, and put the bales in bags weighing forty pounds a bag one with another; I opened the door, and found in the chaise house a cart loaded with tobacco in bags; I seized it, and marked the cart; then I went, and there were no horses in the cart; I went to get a couple of horses to drive it away; I could get no assistance of horses; I came back to the landlord, and told him I had made a seizure in his out-house, and as such he must assist me to get horses; accordingly he went with me to the Coach and Horses, and hired a couple; just as the horses were putting in, the landlord told me there were a couple of gentlemen wanted me; I went into the parlour to them, one was the prisoner, Mr. Williams, and another; I asked him what his will was with me; they asked me if my name was not Beadle, I told him yes; he asked me if I would compromise the goods; I asked him what goods; he said the tobacco in the cart; I told him no; I could not think of doing any such thing, for I had belonged to the house for three or four and thirty years, and never did so in my youth, and should not now; we left the Leather-bottle about half past six; the sun was not down when the rescue was made; the man that stood on the left hand side of me says, yes, you have Beadle; I said that is extraordinary, you know nothing of me; yes; says he, you have; Williams immediately says, I will lay you five guineas of it; I said I have not so much, but I have about thirty shillings, I will lay you that; I told him I did not wish to compromise it; then says he, you do not mean to compromise it; no says I, by no means; then says Williams, you might as well, for you shall not have the goods; I looked at him very hard, says I, good God! what do you mean by saying I shall not have the goods? says he, I tell you you shall not have the goods; why says I, you must think I am no officer, be so kind to see my deputation; I pulled out my deputation, and put it down upon the table; there says I, gentlemen, take care; he says, d - n you, I know you are an officer, but I will take care you shall not have the goods; I accordingly left them; when I came out, I found the cart was drove away some distance from me; me and Rickards ran after the cart; my son and Brockwell were with it; I overtook the cart just by the windmill, the outside of Northfleet, going on further; I looked down, and saw Williams, and the other coming; I says, here they are coming; the little boy, that his father belonged to the two horses that I had hired; says he, oh Lord, I cannot drive this cart any further; I took the whip from the boy, and drove it myself; they were on horseback, the prisoner and the other; there were two came up at first, and three followed; one was Williams, and the other was the other man; they were the two first; then three more came up; they rather halted a little for the other three, but it was but a mere trifle; I saw about ten yards from me, the other man that was with the prisoner, put his stick between his thighs, and whip out a brass pistol; he came up to me and says, if you do not immediately quit the cart, I will blow your brains out; accordingly I looked at him, and I had got my little short pistol in my hand; I pulled it out, I cocked it, and I said I do not value your pistol of two-pence; I do not mean to quit the cart; I turned my back to him to get the sooner to a farmer's just by; but just as I turned my back towards him; I had a sudden plunge from the horse; whether it went over me I cannot say, but I had a heavy fall; this I am convinced of, this man that drove me down, pointed at our people on the right hand, for all the others were on the right hand side of the cart; my head went one way, and wig another, the man that rode me down, got to the fore horse; he made a point to the other side of the cart, and there was a general fire ensued; as soon as ever he discharged his piece, he took the stick from between his thighs, and kept banging the fore horse; he was much frightened, and jumped and capered very much; at last, he forced it onvery fast, and I saw two of the bags fall out of the cart; then they got to Mr. Ware's the farmers, and at last to Swanstead four bags fell out, and we picked them up, and took care of them.

Who were the persons that fired on the officer? - As for my part, it is not in my power to say; I know that this man pointed, but I cannot say whether he fired or not, but I am confident he was one of them that assembled, but I do not know whether he had a pistol in his hand; I was not wounded; they did not fire at me.

Mr. Fielding. It was the other man that you had seen in the parlour whom you saw with a pistol in his hand? - Yes.

You will not pretend to say this man had a pistol at all? - I do not know he had.

When you first went to this place in consequence of your information, you went immediately bolt on your prey, and asked no questions at all about the matter? - No, Sir.

Will you take upon you to be positive that Mr. Williams was one of the men even in the parlour? - I am confident as I am you stand before me.

Why your attention was drawn much more to the other man? - I had more discourse with the prisoner than the other man; I turned away from the other man for some time, for Williams offered to lay me five guineas that I had compromised such an affair, that drew me more to him.

How long might this tobacco remain in the stable before it was carried away? - An hour and three quarters.

You took it away as soon as you could get the horses? - Yes, my son and Brockwell went away with the cart, and Richards staid behind for me.

Did not they come to a certain spot near the cart before the other men arrived? - They stood at a little distance, and as soon as they were very near he came up to me, and said if I did not quit the cart he would blow my brains out.

Court. How many did you see with pistols? - I had no opportunity to see it.

JOHN BEADLE < no role > , Junior, sworn.

Mr. Wood. What are you? - I am an officer of the customs.

Did you go the Leather Bottle Inn at Northfleet, on the 7th of May last? - My father; and Rickards, and John Brockwell < no role > , two excise officers went with me, and one William Luck < no role > ; two of them are excise officers; Luck is not, Brockwell is ranked an excise officer; me and my father are officers belonging to the customs; we went to the Leather bottle, and searched in consequence of an information; we called for six pennyworth of brandy and water, and a pot of beer, and went into the coach-house, and saw the cart; we went and seized the cart and the tobacco; it was loaded as full as it could, I seized it being out of its original package; I know the prisoner, I saw him there, I had no conversation with him there at all, nor nobody else in my presence; my father went to hire two horses, and he came back, he could not get them, and the landlord got them; then we put the horses to the cart, and drove away; I was one that drove away the cart and the horses, and Rickards, and Brockwell, and Luck; we had a lad that drove away the cart.

Did you go with the lad? - Yes, we left my father at the Leather Bottle; Richards staid at the outside of the door a little while waiting for my father; we drove away to the place called Gallyhill; there we were overtaken by two men; I am positive to the prisoner being one of the two men, and I think I should know the other; before they came up to us, I believe they were about twenty yards off us, they rather pulled their horses in, and pulled their pistols out; and put their sticks under their thighs; I am sure both took their pistols out; I saw them both have pistols there; they halted till the others came up, they were on horseback also; when they were all five together, one rode up on the left-handside, which is the near side, clapped a pistol to my father's head, and said some words to him; I do not know what they were; it was the man that I first saw with Williams; then they rode down my father under the horses feet; then they proceeded to the fore horse's head, or thereabouts, and there they began firing.

Which of them fired? - I cannot say which.

There was a firing? - Yes.

How many pistols had they? - I believe them all to have pistols; it was done in a minute, or a minute and a quarter; the smugglers fired first, we returned it immediately; they got the advantage of us, and by having horses, drove away so fast, we could not follow them; they drove away the cart with the horses we had hired; and four bales fell out of the cart, all upon one another; they were fastened pretty nearly together; I only saw five.

I think you say you saw Williams and the other man have pistols? - Yes, I did.

Had any of the other three pistols? - Some of them had, but which I cannot say.

Court. Are you sure that one of the three had pistols? - Yes.

Mr. Garrow. Do you mean to swear positively that each of the other three had pistols? - Yes, I can swear positively that one man had one, and I think two; we were all flurried.

Do you know that there were three persons that had pistols? - Yes, there were, that I swear positively.

Was Woodman with you, and Luck? - Yes, Sir, the information came from Luck to the officer; they were both with us at the time of the engagement.

What situation were they in? - I look upon Luck to be some distance a-head of us; I think he got over the hedge, and went away.

I should think he was in a good situation to observe? - He might, he was there, and he says that he fired a carbine, but I do not know; Woodman got away somewhere; I was not before the Grand Jury. I was very bad in bed; that was the reason.

You was examined before the magistrate? - Yes.

Why was not Luck examined on the bill we are now trying? - I do not know.

What was the expression you used before the magistrate, with respect to this man being there, may be I can help you a little, that you believed he was one? - I swore that he was there.

Did not you before the magistrate use this expression, I verily believe he was one of the people that was there; you swear now that you did not say so? - I said he was there.

Mr. Wood. Was any of the officers hurt by this firing? - Yes, Rickards says he received three shots.

RICHARD RICKARDS < no role > sworn.

I am an officer of the excise; on the 7th of May last I went to the Leather Bottle Inn at Northfleet, as soon as we got there, we seized a cart with tobacco in bags, forty pound bags; Mr. Beadle, the elder, got two horses to convey it away; I went with it, and stopped a little behind; I went with old Beadle to the Leather Bottle; I saw the prisoner come up to the cart, after I had been there five or ten minutes; there was one other particularly came up with him first, and three came up afterwards, which made five.

How soon after did the other three come up? - In the space of half a minute; I saw the prisoner with pistols in his hand; I saw only the prisoner pull a pistol out, he came along the road; there were five in the whole came up to the cart, they ordered the boy that was driving the cart to come away, and the boy did come away for fear; I imagine with that there was a general fire ensued, from the whole of the five; I fired for one, the smugglers fired first.

Can you say how many of those fired? - I cannot say, I believe to the best of my knowledge they were all armed.

Can you take upon yourself to say, that any number of them together, with certainty, were armed? - I am confident there were three that were armed.

What was the consequence of their fire? - I was shot in three places.

Mr. Fielding to Richards. How came you to have a doubt about the number of them that were armed? - I have no doubt, Sir, I am sure there were three, and I believe they were all armed.

How long had the two men who came up first to the cart, arrived at it, before the others came on? - The space of half a minute; as soon as the other three came up, they came upon us immediately.

You fired on your part? - Yes.

You seized this tobacco? - I was at the seizing of it; Mr. Beadel seized it; immediately after the seizing, every expedition was made use of to take it away; old Beadel asked some questions, I believe.

Have you been always equally positive with respect to Williams being there? - Very positive.

Why this transaction must have passed with very considerable haste and confusion? - There was very great confusion.

You had very little opportunity of observing the persons that were there?

Court. Who made the seizure? - I believe it was Beadel the younger.

Mr. Garrow. Was Brockwell before the Grand Jury? - Yes.

Is he here? - Not to my knowledge.

He is well; is not he? - I believe he is.

He lives in town? - He lives in the country.

Mr. Garrow to Beadel. When did you see Brockwell? - On Wednesday last.

Is he here? - Not that I know of.

He was before the Grand Jury with you, when this indictment was found? - I cannot form any idea of the man not being here; I was not ordered to fetch him.

Mr. Fielding. The Solicitor General says, with every candour that becomes him, that the reason he is not here is, he cannot identify the man; and if he could not, the same reason would hold why they should not.

Court. That does not follow.

Mr. Garrow. However upon expecting him here, we have not taken pains to find him. Do you call Luck? - No.

Mr. Fielding. I did suppose he would be called.

Court. Let him be called by the Court, I shall ask him but one question.

William Luck < no role > called, and asked several questions, but the manner of his answers not being satisfactory, the Court struck out his evidence.

PRISONER's DEFENCE.

I am an innocent man; I leave it all to my Counsel; my name is Robert Webb; I know myself innocent of the case, and the reason of my giving in a wrong name, I thought if I owned my own name, it would be put down in the papers, and my friends would see it.

JOHN WOODMAN < no role > sworn.

I was with Mr. Beadel and Brockwell, and the others.

Look at the man who stands there; do you know this person now? - No, I cannot say I do.

Can you say he was one of the persons that came up? - No, I do not know him, I was behind the party, and I came up to the party just as the smugglers came up.

Then you had an opportunity of taking a view of all the matter that had happened? - I had, I do not know whether the man was there or not; I think I should know the five men that came up; I am sure I should know some of them again; I had nothing to do but to look on; the other men were in a scene of confusion; I think if the five men that came up were produced now, I should know them; I think I should know some of them.

Do you, according to the best of your recollection and belief, believe you could speak to the five men? - No, I do notknow that I could speak to them all; I think if I was to see some of them, I could.

Do you think this man was there or not? - I do think that is not the man.

Why do you think so? - Because I do not know his face again.

You have known Webb before that time? - Yes, I knew that man before.

And you did not then remember among the five, the person of that man whom you had known before? - No, I did not; I had not known him above two years before that.

Mr. Solicitor General. How did he use to dress his head at the time that you first knew him? - He used to wear a wig.

When did he wear a wig? - I do not know.

When did he leave it off? - I do not know.

Had he it on at the time of this affray? - He was not there.

How many were armed? - I do not know.

Can you recollect of the next three, how many were armed? - No.

MICHAEL BAKER < no role > sworn.

I am a sail-cloth manufacturer at Dover, I have known the prisoner about four years, been frequently in his company, his real name is Robert Webb < no role > , he always behaved as a quiet, decent inoffensive man; I never heard him give offence to any man in my life.

It is hardly a question in this case whether he was an honest man? - I have no doubt of that.

Not a man likely to head a gang of smugglers to oppose revenue officers? - Quite the contrary; I suppose him to be in the fishing line; he is a seaman, I know; I came from Deal to give him a character, and Mr. Morrison who is my partner.

The prisoner called six more witnesses, who all gave him an equally good character.

Court to Beadel. Did they produce any certificate with this tobacco? - No.

GUILTY , Death .

He was humbly recommended to mercy by the Jury.

Tried by the London Jury before Mr. RECORDER.