65. PHILIP GIBSON proceedingsdefend was indicted for stealing, on the 29th of November , thirty-nine glass bottles containing Spilsbury's antiscorbutic drops, value 4l. and a wooden box, value 10d. the goods of Dorothy Spilsbury proceedingsvictim .

Indicted in a second Count for stealing the same goods, laying them to be the property of George Kember proceedingsvictim , John King proceedingsvictim , Samuel Hancock proceedingsvictim , and John Farley proceedingsvictim .

The case opened by Mr. Knapp.

ROGER BAKER < no role > sworn.

Q. I believe you are shopman to Mrs. Spilsbury? - Yes.

Q. She is the proprietor of some antiscorbutic drops? - Yes.

Q. Do you remember packing up any bottles containing any of these drops? - Yes, thirty-nine bottle, on the 28th.

Q. Where did you pack them? - At the warehouse behind the house, Soho-square.

Q. Were they glass bottles? - Glass.

Q. Were they full of these antiscorbutic drops? - Yes, they were.

Q. What did you pack them up in? - A deal box.

Q. What were they packed up for? - To be sent into the country, to Newbury, in Berkshire, to Mr. Fuller.

Q. What did you do with this box? - I delivered it to our footman, his name is John Powell < no role > .

Q. What was the order to Powell? - To carry them to the Bell Savage, Ludgate hill, and there to have them booked.

Q.Have you seen that property since? - Yes.

Q. Do you know that property to be the same that you delivered to Powell? - Yes.

Q. And that is the property of Mrs. Spilsbury? - Yes.

Mr. Gurney. How do you know that to be the property of Mrs. Spilsbury? - I knew it again.

Q. By what mark did you know it again? - I knew it by the bottles when the box was opened, and Mrs. Spilsbury's hand writing upon them.

Q. These bottles are the sort of bottles you usually put up these drops in? - Yes.

Court. Had you put up any other box with the same number of bottles? - Not that day, in a former day I had.

Q.How long before? - The day before.

Q. Then I ask you by what mark you distinguish that from any other you pack up? - By the directions.

Q. Did you direct it? - No, Mrs. Spilsbury: but I see her direct it.

Mr. Knapp. Then you see Mrs. Spilsbury direct this box, you know her hand writing, and you know these to be the sort of bottles that Mrs. Spilsbury sent to her customers? - Yes.

Court. Was this parcel which you sent before, packed up in the same sort of box? - Yes.

Q. Then how do you know one box from another? - By the directions.

Q. Who wrote the directions on the box that was sent the day before? - Mrs. Spilsbury.

Q. Did the box that was sent the day before go to Newbury? - No.

Mr. Knapp. Do you recollect where that box went to? - I cannot say I do.

Q.Are you sure it did not go to Newbury? - I am positive it did not.

Mr. Gurney. Had you sent any to Newbury before that? - I might six months before, but not later.

JOHN POWELL < no role > sworn.

Q. You are a footman to Mrs. Spilsbury? - Yes.

Q. Do you remember receiving any box from the last witness, Baker, on the 28th of November? - Yes.

Q. What did you do with that box? - I took it to the Bell Savage, at Ludgate hill, and booked it with a young man, his name is Fielding.

JOHN FIELDING < no role > sworn.

Q. You are book-keeper to the Bell Savage Inn? - Yes.

Q. Do you remember Powell, the last witness, coming with a box, and booking it, on the 28th of last November? - I remember the box coming; I recollect the box being directed to Fuller, Newbury; and I entered it down in the book, and I put it into the Newbury him, the Newbury parcel hole.

WILLIAM DYSON < no role > sworn.

Q. You are porter to the Bell Savage inn? - Yes.

Q. Do you remember receiving any box, and what did you do with it? - I remember taking the box out of the hole and putting it on the counter, and I called out, and it was marked off, and I gave it to the coachman, who was in the hind part of the coach.

Q. Is that what you call the rumble tumble? - Yes, the basket, behind the coach.

Q. Do you recollect where it was directed to? - Yes, to Newbery, I do not recollect the name.

Q.Was it put in the rumble tumble? - The coachman was in the rumble tumble, and I gave it to him, and he put it in.

THOMAS RECORD < no role > sworn.

Q. You are the coachman of the Newbery coach? - Yes.

Q. Did you receive the box from the last witness? - Yes.

Q. How was it directed? - Fuller, Newbery.

Q. What did you do with it? - I put it in the rumble tumble.

Q. Did you drive off directly? - Yes, as soon as I got on my box.

Q. What next happened? - Nothing more till we came to the White Horse cellar, that might be almost ten minutes past six o'clock; then the waterman and one of Mr. Bolton's porters, brought this said man to me, with the said box that I put in the rumble tumble.

Court. You had not seen any thing of the prisoner in the mean time? - That was the first time I see the prisoner that morning, I had seen him many a time before.

WILLIAM HICKS < no role > sworn.

Q. What are you? - I am a waterman of Charing-cross .

Q. Do you remember seeing the Newbery coach come by? - Yes, nearly about ten minutes past six.

Q. Do you remember seeing the prisoner? - I remember seeing him running after the coach that went on after the rate of eight miles an hour, I see somebody chuck a box out to him, and see him catch it with both his hands.

Q. From what part of the coach? - The rumble tumble.

Q. What did you do then? - I called Richard Day, a porter, to assist me, and ran after the prisoner.

Q. Did he ever get out of your sight? - No.

Q. Where did you take him? - Just by Northumber land house, about fifty or sixty yards from where I see him receive the box; we ran after him, and Day got before him, and took hold of the box; I asked him how he came by the box, and whether it was his property? he said it was; I said it was not, I see somebody chuck it out of the rumble tumble of the coach; says I, come along to the White Horse, and there we shall come up to the coach; Gibson said, come along; and we went along as far as St. James's-street very well, and he made a stop, and Gibson said to me, take this.

Q. What was it? - A guinea; he said to the other take this.

Q. Was that another guinea? - Yes. I asked what was that? the other said, what was that? he said a guinea a piece to say that you found the box; Richard Day < no role > catched Gibson fast by the collar of the coat, and the guinea dropped out of his hand, and I picked it up, and gave it up to the watch-house keeper when we came there.

Q. Had he any thing more about him? had he a box? - We took the box from him directly, and took the box and him to the White Horse cellar.

Q. Did you look at the direction? can you read? - I cannot; I shewed the box to the coachman, and asked him if he knew any thing about the box? he said he did.

Mr. Gurney. You are a waterman to a stand of coaches? - I was at that time.

Q. What had you been before? - A coachman many years, I lived at the Golden Cross before that.

Q. Where did you live before that? - At Mr. Dimsdale's, in Aldersgate-street, before that.

Q. Did you ever live at the Bull and Mouth? - Never.

Q. How came you to leave the Golden Cross? - Because the horses dropped short.

Q. And what are you a waterman now? - I am discharged from that place because of this business, and another man is put on, because I am obliged to be out of my business.

Q. You see a man throw this out; did you call out to any body? - The coachwas going on at the rate of eight miles an hour.

Q. Did you call out to the coachman? - I did not.

Q. You made no attempt to catch the man that was in the rumble tumble, but went after the prisoner? - Yes.

Q. You say that in St. James's-square the prisoner offered you a guinea each; now on your oath did not Day and you tell him that if he would give you two guineas each you would let him go, and he offered you one guinea each, and you would not, except he would give you two each? - No, I did not.

Mr. Knapp. You chose to go after the man that had the box, in preference to the one that was in the rumble tumble? - I could not see the other man, nor could not have made the coachman hear if I had called.

RICHARD DAY < no role > sworn.

Q. You are porter to the Golden Cross? - Yes.

Q. Do you remember the Newbery coach coming by this day? - Yes, the 29th of November, within ten minutes of six, under or over.

Q. Do you remember Hicks there, the last witness? - Yes.

Q. Do you remember being called to him on any occasion? - Yes.

Q. What did you do? - I took a man against Northumberland house, with a box under his right arm.

Q. Who was that man? - Philip Gibson < no role > , the prisoner; I asked him whethe that was his property? he said it was, up came William Hicks, and said, no, it is not your property; Gibson said it was; Hicks said, let us go up, we shall overtake the coach at the White Horse cellar; we went on till we came to St. James's-square, there he made a stop, he said, here, take this; he gave the waterman a guinea first, and then he gave me a guinea, and I let mine fall, and the waterman picked it up: when we came up to the White Horse cellar there was the coachman putting more goods in the rumble tumble behind, and I gave him this property; I asked him if he knew it? he said he would swear to it; immediately we took him to the watch-house, and gave the constable charge of him.

Q. Did you ever lose sight of him till you delivered him up at the watch-house? - No.

Q. Did you offer him any money, or ever ask him for any money? - Never.

Mr. Gurney. Do you recollect asking him for two guineas, and he would not give you but one? - No, I do not, I asked him for nothing, I told him I would not have his money, and immediately catched him by the collar. and took him up to the White Horse cellar.

ROBERT FAIR < no role > sworn.

Q. You are a watchman? - I am, of Arundel-street.

Q. Had you the prisoner at the bar delivered to you on the 29th of November? - Yes, with a box.

JOHN PADDINGTON < no role > sworn.

Q. You are the watch-house keeper? - Yes.

Q. Do you remember the prisoner at the bar being brought to your watch-house? - Yes.

Q. Did you receive any thing with him? - I received this box.

Q. Who did you receive it from? - From Fair.

Q. Have you had that box in your custody ever since? - Yes.

Baker. This is the box, I saw Mrs. Spilfbury direct it, it is her property.

Q. To Record. What is your masters names? - George Kimber < no role > , John Farley, John King < no role > , and Samuel Hancock < no role > .

Mr. Gurney to Baker. What is Mrs. Spilsbury's christian name? - Dorothy Spilsbury < no role > .

Prisoner. In the morning that this happened, I was going as far a Hammersmith, about a house that I was going to take in St. George's-fields, Blackfriars-road; in the Strand as I was going there, I had occasion to cross, and I saw something lay in the middle of the road; I immediately ran towards it, and found it was the box in question; I picked it up, there were four or five people present, one or two will come forward; after I picked it up I returned towards the Strand, to a part where I saw some light, to read the direction, and before I got to the light I was taken in custody by these two men; they asked how I came by that box? and I told them I had picked it up, and they insisted on taking it from me; I said it was not theirs, they did not seem to claim any right that it was theirs, but they insisted on my coming to the coach, and when we came to St. James's-street, there they both stopped with me, and said, if I would give them two guineas, they would let me go about my business; but before that, going along, Hicks said, he would swear it come out of the rumble tumble; when we came to St. James's-square they said if I would give them two guineas a piece I might go, and I offered them a guinea a piece, and they would not without the two guineas, and I said I would not give two guineas; and they took me directly up to the White Horse cellar, and there was the coach that it came from.

Court to Record. Do you remember how you packed it in this basket? was there a possibility of its tumbling out? - It was impossible for it to tumble out, it was behind another box, stuck in edgeways.

Mr. Gurney. It must have shook a good deal coming along that way? - It could not have shaked out of its place, it was packed close, there was another box, a light box which was on it, that box was not taken, but there was a trunk taken at the same time, which we never found any thing of.

GUILTY . (Aged 35.)

Transported for seven years .

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