(M.) 56. James Glover proceedingsdefend was indicted for stealing nine firkins of butter, value 14 l. the property of Walter Wilson proceedingsvictim , being on board a certain lighter lying in the navigable river of Thames , Jan. 2 . ++

Walter Wilson < no role > . I am master of the Adventure ; my ship lay off the Tower guns; the firkins of butter were in a lighter, with many other things, under my care laying along-side my vessel; the butter was stole on the second of January at night. I was told of it the next morning; Edward Grey < no role > informed me there were three men concerned in it; by a search-warrant we found five firkins of the butter at Ratcliff-Cross, in the possession of John Macdonald < no role > : the firkins were marked on the head with a W, and there was a burnt mark on the side of the firkins made at the dairies by the makers of the butter; there was a mark on one that we found at Macdonald's much disfigured, I suppose, with an intent to take it out.

Q. Were there marks sufficient left upon them at the time they were found at Macdonald's, to enable you to sware to them?

Wilson. Yes.

Q. By what marks that were then visible, did you sware to them?

Wilson. There was I. S. upon the side.

Edward Grey < no role > . I watched that night on board the ship.

Q. How old are you?

Grey. I shall be fourteen next May. It rained very hard that night; I went below; Mr. Judd bid me see if any body was stealing the butter; I went up; I saw three men stealing the butter. The prisoner was standing upon the gunnel of the lighter; there was a man under the head sheets where the butter was: the third man was in a skuller along-side of the lighter. I saw the prisoner handing the butter firkins into the skuller; there was one firkin left upon the lighters gunnel, they were in such a hurry to get away: I called out directly that they were stealing the butter; a gentleman and Mr. Judd jumped into a boat and rowed after them, but could not make any discovery of them.

Q. What time was this?

Grey. After they had come back from pursuing them; it was just four o'clock by the gentleman's watch.

Q. You say you saw the man under the sheets?

Grey. Yes; I saw a man there, but I could not take particular notice of him.

Q. Did he get into the skuller too?

Grey. Yes; they all did.

Q. How many firkins did you see them hand over the lighter?

Grey. While I was upon the deck I saw them hand one into the skuller, then I cried out.

Q. Had you ever seen the prisoner before?

Grey. Yes; the night before he brought a lighter to take away some lead in: next morning I knew him again as soon as I saw him.

Q. Was it light?

Grey. It was moon light, but the moon was rather under a cloud.

Q. Was it light enough for you to see them?

Grey. Yes it was. I told my master I knew one of the men.

Q. Who did you say he was?

Grey. I said it was the man that brought the barge the night before to take the lead away.

Cross Examination.

Q. What time was it?

Grey. About four in the morning.

Q. It was a rainy night?

Grey. Yes.

Q. Did not he come down the next day to work upon your lighter?

Grey. Yes.

Q. Was not you present when he was working there?

Grey. I saw him.

Q. How came you not to give notice to Mr. Wilson when he was there?

Grey. I mentioned it to William Marshall < no role > .

- Thomason. This boy, Edward Grey < no role > , appeared to be vastly precise and explicit about the prisoner's taking the butter. I went to the prisoner several times, to see if I could get any information where the butter was. He was in custody before Sir John Fielding < no role > ; there was one Ridgway, an attorney, who seemed to be very busy among the prisoners there, said to him several times, Hold your tongue, if you speak you will hang yourself. Notwithstanding what Ridgway said to him, he said to the prisoner, If you go to Stone-stairs there is one Macdonald a potatoe merchant lives there, perhaps you may find some. Sir John granted us a search-warrant; we searched Macdonald's house, where we found five of the firkins.

Q. Were the firkins examined?

Thomason. Yes; and they proved by their marks to be the firkins that were stolen from out of the lighter.

Cross Examination.

Q. Did the prisoner mention is as a fact from his own knowledge, or that he had heard upon the river that the butter was at Macdonald's

Thomason. He said he had heard it was there, and desired I would examine Macdonald's house; he said, Examine the cellar: we did not find them in the cellar.

William Marshall < no role > . I was on board the ship.

Q. What did the boy say about the butter?

Marshall. He called us up and said, the men were stealing the butter; we pursued them; we could not overtake them; when we came on board again, the boy said he was certain that one of them was the man that brought the barge for the lead the night before.

Prisoner's Defence.

There was some people in the gaol came to see a man; they asked what I was in for; they said, for taking butter. Aye, says the man, I heard about it, but I believe he is as innocent as the child not born. I told the gentleman that I had heard it, not that I was sure of it; I only knew it from the conversation I heard in the gaol.

For the Prisoner.

John Hamar < no role > . I am a lighterman; the prisoner had worked for me about a week; I had known him a month; this affair happened on Thursday; on Saturday night the prosecutor came to my house and asked to see my men: I told him they would be in soon; the prisoner came in first; I said, Look at him and see what you can make of him. The captain said to the boy, Look at him; he took the candle and looked at him; the boy said, I believe it is him, but if it is he has not got the same cloaths on. The gentleman insisted upon taking him before Sir John Fielding < no role > . I promised the captain the worth of the butter: that he should come next morning; but they took him away directly.

Q. What did the boy say before the justice?

Hamar. I think he said he was about thirteen; they asked him if he knew the tenor of an oath; he said no; they asked him what a lie was, he said he did not know: they asked him again if he knew what would become of him if he swore what was false; he said yes, he should go to hell: then they swore him, and he said the same thing he has now.

John Mooring < no role > . I was present at Sir John Fielding's when the prisoner was there.

Q. What did the boy say before Sir John Fielding < no role > ?

Mooring. He said he believed it was the person, but could not be sure; he was positive he believed that it was the person.

Q. To Hamar. How was the prisoner dressed that day?

Hamar. In a blue surtout coat and a surge waistcoat.

Q. What dress was he in when he was before Sir John Fielding < no role > ?

Hamar. The same.

Q. Was the boy asked, or did he describe before Sir John, what dress the man appeared in at the robbery?

Hamar. He said, In a brown coat.

Johnson. I have known the prisoner nine years, he served his apprenticeship to me; he was a very faithful apprentice: I never heard of his being guilty of any thing that was bad; he had a great charge under his care.

Samuel Crawford < no role > . I have known the prisoner about twelve months, I never heard any harm of him in my life.

- Dawson. I have known the prisoner a little better than a twelvemonth; he has a very good character.

Eleanor Bird < no role > . I lived next door to the prisoner two years; he bears a very honest character.

Q. To Grey. Do you remember what dress the prisoner wore when he brought down the lighter?

Grey. A light brown surtout coat.

Q. Had he the same coat on when you saw him upon the gunnel?

Grey. Yes, he had.

Marshall again. He had the same coat on next morning, when he came down to take the barge away. A brown coat.

For the Crown.

William Backhouse < no role > . I was present at the time the warrant was served upon the prisoner. Mr. Hamar said, This is one of my men that brought the barge down. The captain took the candle because the prisoner turned his back upon the boy: the captain said to him, Is this the man, the boy immediately said, This is the very man, but he has not the same coat on; he had at the time a blue surtout coat on. The captain and I and the officer examined the prisoner's house; we found the coat, this boy, Grey, had described, hanging behind the door; it was rather damp.

Guilty . Death .