153. (L.) William White proceedingsdefend was indicted for stealing twenty-three pounds weight of lead, value 3 s. 6 d. the property of Nathaniel Bouchard proceedingsvictim , March 26 . ++

Nathaniel Bouchard < no role > . I live in Watling-street ; I am a tallow-chandler , and my wife carries on the trade of a plumber; I keep two separate houses. On the 26th of March last, about eight in the morning, as I was at breakfast, I was informed by John Pimm < no role > , that White, the prisoner at the bar, asked him if I was gone out? He said he believed I was, (they were both my servants;) he told me White was gone down into the cellar. I had had some suspicion he had robbed me before, we having over-night found three pieces of lead privately laid upon a shelf in the cellar; we had left it as we found it, after we had weighed it. It weighed a quarter of a hundred and three pounds; at seven that morning I had seen it lying there. I staid at the head of the stairs after he was gone into the cellar; after that I went down; the prisoner was then at the foot of the stairs; he past by me, and went up stairs; I went to see if the lead was there, and two of the pieces were taken away; then I ran after him, and found him at the room-door, and made him stand search. He went backwards, and there he dropt one of the pieces on a heap of old lead.

Q. Did you see him drop it?

Bouchard. Yes, I did. Then he said to me, by G - d, master, you are catched out; you will find nothing. I said, what signifies that? you have dropt one, let us see the other piece, for you have got another; then he drew out another piece from his right-hand pocket, and gave it to me, (the two pieces produced in court, and deposed to.) I said, now I think you are catched out. He said, master, don't be ill-natured; you owe me a day and a half's wages, I will give you that towards this; and he would be d - d if ever he robbed me but once before in his Life, and he would down on his knees, and ask my pardon. I sent for a constable, and took him before the sitting alderman, there he owned he took it.

John Pimm < no role > . I am servant to the prosecutor; on the 25th of March, at night, my master, mistress, and I went down into the shop, and looked about to see if we could find any lead hid, having suspected the prisoner some time to rob my master. We found three pieces on a shelf, we took it up stairs and weighed it, and carried it and laid it there again; and the next morning the prisoner asked me if master was gone out, saying, he wanted to get a dram, he went down into the cellar, and when he came up I saw him deliver one piece to my master, and heard him confess before Mr. Alderman Alexander that he did take the two pieces.

Prisoner's defence.

I had never any design to carry that lead out of my master's shop; I intended to carry it and throw it to the heap. I dropped one piece there, and gave my master the other; I had one piece in my right-hand pocket, and the other in my left. That lead has been stolen twice before; it comes from the King's-yard at Chatham, he bought this from there, and twenty-three hundred weight more; it has been a perquisite to the journeymen in the trade to take small pieces these hundred years.

Prosecutor. I bought this lead among six ton, all within these six months, of Thomas Collings < no role > , a shipwright, at a regular market-price, for some I gave sixteen shillings per hundred, and some fifteen shillings and six-pence, and some fifteen shillings and nine-pence, if he does steal it he deals very largely.

Guilty .

[Transportation. See summary.]