545. JOHN PALMORE proceedingsdefend was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 11th of August , thirteen pieces of linen cloth, containing three hundred and thirty-three yards, value 13l. 13s. fourteen pieces of other linen cloth, containing three hundred and fifty-five yards, value 13l. 7s. and six pieces of printed cotton, containing one hundred and sixty-eight yards, value 13l. 15s. the property of William Knight proceedingsvictim .

Second Count. Laying them to be the property of John Bloomfield proceedingsvictim .(The case was opened by Mr. Raine).

THOMAS PLOWDITCH sworn. - Examined by Mr. Raine. - I am shopman to Mr. Bloomfield, linen-draper : On the 10th of August, I packed up two trusses, containing a considerable quantity of linen; they were directed to Thomas Paul, Gosport; they consisted of Irish linen and printed calicos.

WILLIAM CULLUM sworn. - I am porter to Mr.Bloomfield: On the 10th of August, I carried two trusses, directed to Thomas Paul < no role > , Gosport, to the New-Inn, in the Old-Bailey; I delivered them to the book-keeper.

THOMAS WALKER < no role > sworn. - Examined by Mr. Raine. - I am book-keeper to the New-Inn.

Q. Does the Gosport waggon set out from your house? - A. Yes: On the 10th of August, I received two trusses from the last witness, I saw my man put them into the waggon; it left London on Friday morning, at six o'clock.

THOMAS WILKES < no role > sworn. - Examined by Mr. Raine. - I am the driver of the Gosport waggon.

Q. Whose waggon is it? - A.William Knight's; he lives at Alton, thirty miles on this side of Gosport; I set out from the New-Inn, about six o'clock in the morning of the 11th of August, with the waggon; when I came to Turnham-green, a man came to me, I am sure the prisoner at the bar is the man; he wanted to ride; he would be glad if I would give him a list; he said, he was going to Phillmore-hill, ten miles on the other side of Alton; he said, he would satisfy me; he had but a trifle of money, and as we were walking along, I asked him where he came from; he said, out of Essex; I gave him leave to get in the waggon and ride a few miles; and he got in about half way between Turnham-green and Brentford; when we got to Smallbury green gate, he got out; I watered my horses there; we went in and had a pot of beer, and he paid for it; then he walked with me up as far as Hounslow; that was about twelve o'clock; I had a pint of beer at the sign of the Bear, he did not go in then; and when we had got half way through Hounslow, he said, you may get up and ride now, if you like, and I will drive; I got up into the waggon, and fell asleep; I looked out by the Powder-mills, and he was driving along very well; I looked out again, at Bedfont, and he was upon my nag, driving on very well; about three quarters of a mile beyond Bedfont, I heard a cracking in the waggon; there was a crate of bottles in the waggon; I looked up and saw two men at the tail of the waggon, pulling the crate; I then jumped out at the head of the waggon, and ran after them; the prisoner was just by the horses, on the near side; they ran towards Bedfont; I went after them three or four rods, but not farther, because I thought I must not leave the waggon; he was driving the waggon on till I came back; when I came back, I I missed two trusses and a box.

Q. Do you happen to know how those trusses were directed? - A. Yes; Paul, Gosport; I went up to him, says I, friend, I think you are connected with them; he said, no, I am not; I said again, that he was; and he said, he was not; I took the whip out of his hand, and I drove away as hard as I could to Bedfont-gate, that I might get back to look after my goods; the prisoner went on a little way the same way that I did, and then I lost him; I left the waggon at the gate, and came back again upon my horse, to where the two men got out of the waggon, and then I came gently along, and tracked them coming up to a field of barley; I rode up to the gate about a quarter 6f a mile from where the two men jumped out of the waggon, and looking over the gate, I saw a box that I missed out of the waggon.

Q. Which side of the road? - A. On the near side; as I was going towards Staines, I tied up my horse, and brought the box out; I went and got some people to assist me; I went over the field of barley, and then over a field of peas, and then over a field of turnips, and then over a field of beans, and there I found one of the trusses.

Q.Was that close to the side of the road? - A. Yes.

Q. How was the truss directed? - A. To Paul, at Gosport; I put them into another waggon that was coming up, and took them to my waggon at Bedfont-gate; the other truss was found in another barley field.

Court. Q. And you went on with your waggon? - A. Yes.

Cross-examined by Mr. Knowlys. Q. You have told us this man was on the near side of the way? - A. Yes.

Q. If he had drove on the left side, would you have trusted him to drive? - A. No; certainly not.

Court. Q. On which side were the trusses found? - A. The near side of the road.

Q. How long was he in your waggon? - A. Near two hours.

Q. I dare say, as you had lost something, you searched very closely, to see if there was any thing else gone? - A. Yes.

Q. And though he had been in your waggon two hours, you missed nothing else? - A. No.

Q. You looked out two or three times? - A. Yes.

Q. And he was driving in a proper manner? - A. Yes.

Q. These people, I suppose, got in at the tail? - A. Yes.

Q. Of course they would get in as quietly as they could? - A. I suppose they would.

Court. Q. Was your waggon closed so that a person who rode the horse, could see whether you were asleep or not? - A. I was just at the head of the waggon, he could see me plain enough.

Mr. Knowlys. You generally drive pretty near the fore-horse? - A. No.

Q.Near the shaft-horse? - A.Sometimes.

Q.You charged him with being an accomplice? - A. Yes.

Q. You took the whip out of his hand not very well pleased, I suppose? - A. No, I was not.

Q. And you drove away as fast as you could? - A. Yes.

Q. Much faster than he could have walked? - A. Yes.

Mr. Raine. Q. At the time this man leaped out at the tail of the waggon, the prisoner was riding upon your horse? - A. Yes.

WILLIAM HENLEY sworn. - Examined by Mr. Raine. I am a labourer, I live at Bedfont.

Q. Do you remember the Gosport waggon coming through Bedfont, on the 11th of August? - A. Yes; at nearly three o'clock.

Q. Do you remember who was driving for him? - A. Yes; that is the man at the bar; I was sitting at the Black Dog, close to the road.

Q. Do you remember a green cart coming up? - A. No; I was not there then; I saw the cart afterwards going towards Ashford from Bedfont, soon after I had heard of the robbery; the road leads from Bedfont to Ashford, and then into the Staines road again; I saw this cart with two men in it.

Q. How far were you from the cart? - A. A furlong's length.

Q. Were they going fast or slow? - A.Middling fast; after the goods were found and picked up, we were looking about, and this cart came up with two men in it, close to the road; they had both snuff-coloured great coats on; they walked the horse along till they came to the place where the first truss was found over the hedge; and then, seeing us, they set off full speed, as hard as they could make their horse go, with whipping and cutting.

Court. Q. What sort of a field was it? - A. A bean field; we were looking after the things.

Mr. Raine. Q. Did you observe them doing any thing as they walked along? - A. No, only looking over the hedge, as the other walked along.

Cross-examined by Mr. Knowlys. Q. You saw the man in the cart plain enough? - A. Yes.

Mr. Raine. Q. Did you observe any writing upon the cart? - A. Yes, but I did not observe what it was.

WILLIAM IVES < no role > sworn. - Examined by Mr. Raine. I am ostler at the Black Dog, Bedfont: On the 11th of August, two men came in a little green cart to my master's house.

Q. Did you take notice of the cart? - A.Not when I first came in; after they asked me the way to Staines, I looked to see where it came from, and I rubbed off the dirt, and saw, upon a square plate, John Palmore, Kingston, Surrey; it was a good while before I could read it, it was all over dirt; they went into the house, and had something to drink, and they came out again, and said, how far is it to Staines, three miles and a half is not it? and I said, yes Sir; when they first came in, one man had a light coloured great coat, and the other had a dark coat; but I did not observe very particularly.

Court. Q. Did they bait the horse? - A. Yes; they gave him a seed of corn, and went away towards Staines; they left the cart and horse, and returned again, it might be in about half an hour; they came up the road again from towards Staines, and ordered me to put the horse to as fast as possible, and I did; they drank a pot of beer while I harnessed the horse; the mare was a little restive, and I took her by the head and led her out; they went off as fast as they could well trot towards Staines.

Q. Did you observe any thing about the great coats, whether they had them on when they went back? - A. I did not know whether they had or not; but, after the robbery was done, John Teams brought in two great coats, one of which I know was the one the little man had on; the other I am not positive to.

JOHN TEAMS < no role > sworn. - Examined by Mr. Raine. -Q. As soon as you heard any thing of this business, what did you do? - A.About two o'clock I went towards Staines, and overtook the waggon; he had found one box and one truss, and then he said he had lost another truss, and asked me to assist in finding it, and we found it in a bean field; he said, he did not know whether he had lost any thing else or not; he thought the best way was for us to look about, and in the next field, an oat field, I picked up these two great coats, and just as I picked the great coats up, the green chaise cart came up, and I took them up to the Black Dog.

Q.(To Ives). Are these the coats you saw? - A. Yes; this, I am sure, was worn by one of them; the other, I cannot be sure of.

DAVID DANGERFIELD < no role > sworn. - Examined by Mr. Raine. I am a broker, at kingston; I apprehended the prisoner; I went to his stables at Kingston, and found a black mare.

Q. Was it produced before a Magistrate? - A. Yes.

Q.Was Ives there? - A. Yes; I found the cart in the King's-arms yard, where Mr. Palmore generally used to put it; he had leave to put it there.

Q.(To Ives). Did you see the cart when it was brought by Mr. Dangerfield before the Magistrate? - A. Yes; I can swear to the plate upon the cart; I am not so positive to the mare;it was just about the size of the mare, and very much like the same mare.

Court. (To Dangerfield). Q. How do you know that Palmore had leave to put his cart in the King's-arms yard? - A. By the ostler.

Court. Q. Had you seen it there before? - A. Yes.

Mr. Raine. Q. Were you present at Bow-street? - A. Yes; he confessed there that it was his cart.

Mr. Knowlys. Q. It being in the King's-arms yard, any other person might have taken his cart? - A. Yes.

Q. The prisoner never denied that it was his cart? - A. No.

THOMAS TUBB sworn. - I am ostler at the Duke's-head, Bedfont: On the 11th of August, at nearly four o'clock, I saw a little green chaise cart with two men in it, driving towards London; they drove as fast as they could drive, and they very near drove up against the watering-tub; I went up and asked if they wanted any hay or water for the horse, and they said, no, they wanted to get on as fast as they could; I did not take any notice of the men; I took the horse by the head and led him off.

The prisoner left his defence to his Counsel, and called four witnesses, who gave him a good character.

GUILTY . (Aged 42.)

Transported for seven years .

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Justice ROOKE.