was obtained with respect to the two prisoners, which exhibited them to
be most determined and successful thieves. They were both Irishmen, and
many years had not elapsed since they were known as common pickpockets
in Whitechapel, associating with the very lowest classes of vagabonds in
that notorious vicinity. With regard to Jourdan, whose real name was
Leary, it was ascertained that four years before he had introduced
himself to a Mr. Brace, a baker in Goodman's-yard, Minories, one of the
committee of management of an Irish free-school in the neighbourhood,
and placing 12_l._ in his hands, had requested him to appropriate a
weekly sum of five shillings towards the support of his mother (Mrs.
Hart) and his half-sister, Mary Hart, who was then a pupil in the
school. Mr. Brace at once consented to this, and Leary went away, saying
that he was about to sail for America, but that he would soon send more
money for the use of his mother, and to carry her and her daughter to
meet him at New York. Some time elapsed before anything more was heard
of him, but then a letter was received from him, containing a sum of
money which Mr. Brace was requested to forward to Mrs. Hart, in order
that she and Mary Hart might at once proceed to join him. The amount was
amply sufficient to carry them to New York in good style, and thither
they proceeded. From that time up to the year 1834 Mr. Brace had neither
seen nor heard anything of them, but in that year Leary called to
inquire whether there were any letters lying there for him from his
mother. He came on horseback, was well dressed, and appeared to be in a
respectable position in life; and he accounted for this change in his
appearance by saying, that a Spanish gentleman, in whose service he had
been, had died and left him a large sum of money; that he had taken the
name of Jourdan, and had then just arrived from Virginia, having left
his mother at New York. No letters had then arrived for him, and he went
away; but shortly afterwards a letter was brought by the post from the
landlord of a hotel in New York, announcing the death of Mrs. Hart. This
letter was given to Jourdan upon a subsequent visit, and then he
expressed his intention to send for his half-sister. Subsequently to
this, Jourdan's wife called upon Mr. Brace, and saying that her husband
was gone to Birmingham on a journey in pursuance of his trade as a
travelling jeweller, requested to be permitted to leave with him a box
of valuable papers, which she was afraid of having stolen from her
house. They lived then in White-hart-row, Kennington, at a house which
they had hired upon the representations of Mr. Brace as to their
respectability, and Mrs. Jourdan declared that an attempt had been made
to break into it. Mr. Brace expressed his willingness to take charge of
the trunk, and it was sent to him; and, in the month of September 1835,
Jourdan called upon him and deposited with him 100_l._ in 10_l._ bank
notes, which he requested him to take care of for him until he should
call for it, promising to give him six months' notice of his desire to
have the money refunded. The box with its contents was given up to Lea,
the officer, and the papers which he found in it, consisting of letters,
memoranda, bills of parcels, and other documents, afforded him material
assistance in tracing the notes which had formed a part of the booty in
the Custom-house robbery, while, at the same time, they bore upon the
face of them conclusive testimony of the fact of both Jourdan and
Sullivan having for years carried on a system of plunder together, both
in England and America, in which they had been highly successful, and by
means of which they had amassed a very large sum of money.
Sullivan, it appeared, had been already indicted for a robbery at
Macclesfield four years before, from the consequences of which he had
escaped by breaking out of jail. He was apprehended in company with a
man named Wilson, upon suspicion of having been concerned in a robbery
upon the person of a Mr. Stephens, an Irish gentleman residing in Cork,
in Vauxhall-gardens. The produce of the robbery, which consisted of
notes and bills to the amount of 238_l._, was found in the pockets of
Sullivan, and he was committed for trial for the offence. He managed,
however, before many days had passed, to escape from the prison in which
he was confined, and subsequently to America, where he joined Jourdan.
Wilson, his fellow-prisoner, was tried for the robbery, but acquitted;
but the indictment still remained in operation against Sullivan at the
time of his apprehension on this charge.
The prisoners had undergone several examinations before the magistrate
at Worship-street, when on Tuesday, the 29th of December, a piece of
intelligence was conveyed to Mr. Hardwick which left no doubt of their
having also been engaged in one or more very extensive robberies of
jewels which had just before occurred. It was stated by Lea, that
notwithstanding the pains he had taken to search the room which had been
occupied by Jourdan and Sullivan at the Red Lion at the time of their
apprehension, he now found that he had not done so effectually. Since
the prisoners had been in custody at that office, infinite pains had
been taken by their friends to procure admission to the room which they
had occupied at the Red Lion. Persons, apparently recently arrived from
a journey, would drive up in a coach and demand to be supplied with
lodgings; but although this and many other _ruses_ were resorted to,
evidently with an object, the precise nature of which could not be
discovered, all was in vain, and Mr. Proctor, the landlord, refused to
admit any strange person to reside in his house. On Monday, the 28th of
December, a Mr. Hanson, an old customer at the Red Lion, arrived in
town, and, upon his presenting himself to the landlord, he was
immediately shown to the long vacant apartment. A fire was kindled by
the servant, and, in the course of the evening, the attention of Mr.
Hanson was attracted to some brilliant substance which he perceived
amidst the flames. With the tongs he drew it forth, and he perceived it
to be a brooch, set with splendid pearls, which, however, was much
injured by the fire. Further search presented to his view other articles
of a similar description; and, in the course of a short time, he picked
from the embers two other brooches, seven large brilliants, seven
emeralds, one or two of which were of very great value, and about four
dozens of small diamonds. This discovery, it may be supposed, excited
great astonishment; but, upon its being communicated to the landlord of
the house, the mystery was at once solved by his recollection of the
former inmates of the apartment. Lea was instantly sent for; and, on his
instituting a further examination, he found in a bag, suspended in the
chimney, three massive gold chains of foreign manufacture, which he
immediately recognised as answering the description of some chains which
had been stolen from the warehouse of Messrs. Hall and Co., on the
Custom-house Quay, in the previous month of February, when property of
the value of nearly 8000_l._ was carried off. A renewed investigation
brought other articles to light, and the anxiety of the strange visitors
to the house was at once accounted for, while, at the same time, strong
grounds of suspicion were excited that Jourdan and Sullivan had been
parties to that robbery, and had secreted the produce of their
depredation during their stay at the Red Lion, lest any accidental
circumstance should reveal their possession of it.
It would be useless to go through the whole of the evidence which was
from time to time adduced at the police-office against the prisoners. A
great variety of minute facts were proved, which traced the possession
of some of the stolen notes to them; but all doubts which might have
existed as to their participation in the robbery, and as to the real
circumstances of its commission, were at length satisfied by the
confession of Mr. William Huey, a landing-waiter of the Custom-house, to
whom also some notes had been traced. This statement was first made to
Mr. J. Manning, surveyor-general of customs, and was confined to a
declaration on the part of Huey, that he had received the notes which he
was proved to possess at a gambling-house, No. 1, Leicester-square.
Subsequently, however, a more minute and more truthful confession was
made by him, in which he gave the fullest account of all the proceedings
antecedent to and attendant upon the burglary. This confession led to
the apprehension of Mr. Henry Mott and Mr. William Seale, who also held
situations in the Custom-house; and, after repeated examinations, in the
course of which an enormous mass of evidence was collected, all four
prisoners were at length fully committed for trial, on Friday, the 12th
of February, 1836.
At the trial of the prisoners at the Central Criminal Court, which
commenced on Wednesday, the 2nd of March, Huey was examined at length as
to the circumstances of the robbery.
He said that he was a landing-waiter at the Custom-house, and had held
that situation since the year 1827. Soon after his appointment he became
acquainted with the prisoner Seale, whose office was similar to his own.
After about six months, however, they quarrelled, and it was not until
June 1834 that their difference was made up. They were then stationed at
the London Docks; and after business they were in the habit of
frequenting various public-houses. The Duke of Sussex at Peckham, The
Royal Mortar, and the Castle in the Old Kent-road, were often visited,
but they occasionally went to the Three Kingdoms near the Custom-house.
Shortly after their reconciliation, Seale mentioned to him a design
which existed to "crack" the Custom-house; and on the same afternoon
they met the prisoner Mott at the Three Kingdoms; he was a clerk in the
king's warehouse. Mott spoke of the subject as if it were a familiar one
to him, and he advised that they should delay the intended robbery until
an opportunity should present itself, when they might obtain a larger
booty than they could then procure. This was agreed to by all parties,
and although they subsequently frequently spoke upon the subject, the
execution of their plan was deferred. In the following August, the
witness went to see his father at Drogheda. He had previously been
introduced to Jourdan and Sullivan, and he knew that the object of their
introduction was, that they might assist in the project which they had
in view. He met them in Dublin, and they inquired whether he had any
means of assisting them in robbing the Custom-houses at Drogheda and at
Dublin. He answered in the negative, and returned to London the same
day; and on the 4th of September he resumed his occupation. He soon
after met Mott and Scale at the London Docks, and the discussion of the
subject of the robbery was resumed. After a short time they proceeded to
Jourdan's lodgings, at No. 3, East-street, Walworth, and acquainted him
with their plans. He made various inquiries with regard to the contents
of the strong box in the office of the Receiver of Fines, upon which it
had been determined their attack should be made, and on the next day
went with Sullivan to inspect the place. At a subsequent meeting they
declared that it would be easy to commit the robbery; and Sullivan
suggested that the best means of effecting their purpose would be to fit
the locks with false keys. Mott said that he could procure impressions
of one of the keys,--that of the outer door; and at a meeting which they
afterwards held, he produced the key of which he had spoken, saying that
he had taken it from the desk of Mr. Billing, in the king's warehouse,
who was out on leave. An impression of it was taken in wax by Sullivan,
from which subsequently a skeleton key was made. The assistance of a
fifth person was now spoken of, and Seale introduced a man named William
May, or Morgan, (a thief, and the former companion of Jourdan and
Sullivan). At the next meeting Sullivan produced the skeleton key, and
said, that he and Jourdan had tried it and found that it would fit, but
it was not strong enough, and a new and firmer key was ordered to be
prepared. Seale then also showed them some padlock keys, one of which he
suggested would open the padlock with which the door was fastened; but
after impressions of them had been taken, and trials made with skeleton
keys made from the model, it was found that none of them belonged to the
lock which they desired to open. A suggestion was then made, that the
best way to commit the robbery would be by "stowing away," by which was
meant, hiding one of the party in the house, who could, undisturbed,
secure the booty and then make his escape. May volunteered to conceal
himself, and a proposal was made that they should again inspect the
place in order to ascertain whether this could be done. The king's sale
was now approaching, and Jourdan said that he should like to know what
would be the probable amount of the contents of the box. This, it was
observed, might be easily ascertained. One of the party could buy a lot
at the sale, and going to pay for it, he could see what money was in the
chest, by presenting a note of such an amount as that Mr. Walsh would
not be likely to be able to give change without going to the safe. This
was agreed to; and a lot of rum having been purchased for 11_l._,
Jourdan took a 50_l._ note to pay for it. On the 26th of November he
informed his associates of his success in the project which he had
undertaken. He said, that on his presenting the 50_l._ note, Mr. Walsh
felt his pockets, and looked into his drawers, but finding that he had
not got sufficient change, he went to the iron-chest. Having only one
key, he was obliged to wait until the person who kept the other came
down stairs; (it is the custom to have a double lock to the iron safes
of public institutions, so that they cannot be opened except with the
concurrence of two persons, each of whom has a key). He then took out a
large cash-box, which he could only move with both his hands, and on its
being opened there appeared to be about 5000_l._ in it at least. Jourdan
gave his own name and address to be indorsed on the note which he paid;
and having received the change, he went away satisfied with the
observation he had made. Mott censured him for giving his own name, and
observing that all the particulars were written in a book, it was agreed
that when the robbery was effected, the book should be destroyed, by the
leaves being cut out and burned. The final plans were then arranged, and
it was decided that May should go to the Custom-house at a little before
four o'clock accompanied by Jourdan and Sullivan, and that in the
confusion which usually prevailed at the time of shutting the offices,
the former should enter the Receiver's Office and conceal himself behind
the door. On the next morning at nine o'clock, Jourdan and Sullivan were
to be again in waiting, and having seen all safe, they were to give a
signal to May, so that he might quit the place when the watchmen had
opened the doors. Mott was also to assist in this design by keeping the
clerks in his office, where they went to sign the appearance-sheet. If
May got clear off, they were all to meet at Scale's house at Peckham on
the same morning, to divide the booty. These arrangements being
completed, they separated, and the witness remained away from business
next day, on the pretended ground of ill-health. In the afternoon,
Seale, and subsequently Jourdan and Sullivan, called on him and told
him, that May had been safely "lodged;" that they had all walked into
the passage together, and in the confusion had "flashed" an umbrella,
under cover of which May entered the office. They afterwards waited on
the esplanade for ten minutes to see that all was right, when seeing the
doors locked, they went away. On the next morning, the 28th, witness
went to Peckham, and meeting Seale, they went together to the Waterman's
Arms, which commanded a view of the road by which Jourdan and the others
must go to them. They remained there until they saw them coming, and
then they went and met them, and they all proceeded to Seale's house
together: Mott was not present. May then produced the money from his
pocket, and it was divided into six equal parcels: it consisted of
4700_l._ in notes, 122_l._ in gold, and about 50_s._ in silver. May
detailed to them the manner in which he had committed the robbery. He
said, that as soon as he was locked in, he set to work: he found the key
which opened the Receiver's lock to the chest, and employed it; but he
was compelled to break open the other lock. Having done so, he took out
the money and put it into his pockets. He next tore out the leaves from
the book, and he now produced them. One of them bore the name "Leary,
East-lane, Walworth," and that with the rest was burned. The whole party
then tossed for choice of the lots of money, because some contained more
gold than others; and the selection having been made, Jourdan and
Sullivan claimed something for expenses. A 20_l._ note and some silver
were paid them, as well as the 50_l._ note marked "Leary," and they with
May went away. Seale then took the three remaining shares up stairs,
saying, that he should send them out of town; and on the same evening he
said that they were sixty or seventy miles off. In about a month
afterwards, however, he told the witness that they were at Leicester,
and he went and fetched them. The lots were then counted over, and the
share of each was 745_l._ in notes. The witness further stated, that he
disposed of all the notes under 20_l._ in amount to Jourdan at 20_l._
per cent. discount, and subsequently all under 100_l._ in value upon the
same terms; and that having done so, he concealed the remainder in
Camberwell churchyard, where they remained for several months. Seale
then introduced a person who undertook to dispose of some of those which
were left, on the Continent; and a portion of the notes was given to
him, and he brought back cash. Seale took away what was left of his
money, and the witness retained 900_l._ in three notes of the value of
300_l._ each. These he concealed in the panelling of one of the doors of
his house, by boring a hole with a centre-bit, and then having
introduced the notes, filled up the remaining space with a cork; and on
his apprehension he disclosed the place of their concealment, and they
were seized by the officers.
On his cross-examination, the witness declared that he had no object in
making this disclosure, but that of saving his friends from disgrace. He
did not desire to screen himself from punishment; but having committed
so heinous a crime, he felt called upon to repair the mischief he had
done so far as he was able.
In the course of this and the following days, a vast body of testimony
was produced, which proved the transmission of a great part of the
stolen notes to the Continent, and their negotiation there: the intimate
connexion and acquaintance between the prisoners and Huey about the time
of the robbery was also shown, and a great variety of other
corroborative evidence was adduced.
The prisoners declared that Huey's story was untrue, and had been
invented by him to screen himself; and attempts were made to show that
at various periods of the transaction Jourdan and Sullivan had been at
places which forbade their implication in the robbery. Other witnesses
gave Mott and Seale a good character; but the jury, on Thursday night,
found all the prisoners "Guilty," but recommended Mott and Seale to
mercy.
On Tuesday the 8th of March, the prisoners received sentence of
transportation for life; Jourdan and Sullivan being informed that they
would be sent to a penal settlement, where they would be compelled to
undergo the most severe and painful labour; while Mott and Seale were
told that upon their arrival in the colony to which they were about to
be sent, they also would be severely punished, by their being worked in
road-gangs.
The distressing nature of Seale's position was rendered doubly painful
by the sudden death of his wife on the Saturday after his conviction.
The wives of all four prisoners were allowed a last interview with them
on that day in Newgate. One of those who availed herself of the
privilege was Seale's wife, who went there soon after ten o'clock on the
above morning. She had a long interview with her husband, and appeared
very much affected on being apprised by him that it was probable he
would be transported for life. She afterwards proceeded home; but had
scarcely entered the house where she had been lodging since her
husband's incarceration, when she dropped down and almost instantly
expired.
The convicts were subsequently conveyed to the penal settlements, where
they were immediately placed in the positions of painful punishment
which had been described to them by the learned judge at the time
sentence was passed upon them. Reports afterwards reached England that
Sullivan had escaped from custody immediately upon his arrival in
Sydney. It appears that he secreted himself on board a Dutch vessel
bound for England. But the period during which he retained his freedom
was short; for the captain discovering him, put back to Hobart Town, and
he was conducted to a place called Goat Island, from which no subsequent
effort enabled him to retreat.
JAMES HILLS, WILLIAM HARLEY, AND WILLIAM FISHER, _alias_ CURLY BILL.
TRIED FOR BURGLARY.
This burglary was marked by circumstances of very considerable
peculiarity.
The men whose names appear at the head of this article were indicted at
the Kingston Assizes, on Thursday the 31st of March 1836, for a burglary
in the house of Mrs. Mary Anne Long, at Chipstead, in Surrey, on the
night of the 2nd of September 1835, and for stealing therefrom various
articles of property.
The circumstances attending the robbery were well described by Mrs. Long
at the trial. She said, "I am sixty-six years of age, a widow, and
reside with my sister, Mrs. Scholefield, at Mint House, Chipstead, which
is a lone house, situate between Gatton and Reigate: on the night of the
2nd of September last, I, Mrs. Scholefield, her son (Mr. Rankin), and a
female servant, were the only inmates; we retired to bed after having
seen that all the premises were properly fastened; I slept with my
sister, and about ten minutes past one in the morning I was awoke by
hearing the dog, which was kept in the yard, barking violently; I got up
and opened the bed-room window, and thinking that some persons were
about the premises, I hallooed out that they had better keep out of the
way, or I would put a bullet into their stomach, which was not a
pleasant thing; I did so to intimidate them, and then retired to bed;
shortly after I heard a noise, and again got up; on going to the window
I saw a man trying to get in; he had smashed the pane, and was armed
with a stake; I seized hold of the stake, and tried to wrest it from
him, but he was too strong for me, and struck me a violent blow on the
head, inflicting a wound of an inch and a half in length; he also struck
me on the shoulder and hand, of which I lost the use for some time; I
then called to my nephew, Mr. Rankin, and he came armed with a cutlass;
he made a cut at the man, but the night being very dark, and there being
railings at the window, he missed him, and he got down the ladder and
went away; I then lit three or four candles, and went down stairs for my
nephew's gun; I brought it up, but recollecting that I had left the
powder and ammunition, I again went down for it, and locked the
pantry-door after me; I returned up stairs, and my nephew loaded the
gun; about a half or three-quarters of an hour afterwards we heard a
great noise outside the house, and the panel of the south door looking
out upon a meadow was smashed in; we heard the voices of six or seven
men, who entered the house; they remained down stairs three-quarters of
an hour; I slept in a room at the end of a passage, and my nephew's
bed-room was opposite; there is a door at the top of the passage leading
down the stairs; we placed ourselves in the passage; we then heard one
of the men say, 'Now we will go up stairs,' and I heard what I supposed
to be a man crawling on his hands and knees--I judged so from the
scraping his toes made along the floor-cloth; Mrs. Scholefield was very
much alarmed, and cried out for mercy; the men said, 'Give us 50_l._ or
30_l._ or 20_l._;' I told them that all my money was in the bank, and my
plate at my banker's: one of the men said, 'I will murder you;' and
another man said, 'We will murder you all;' they then forced in the
panel of the door, and a man at the bottom of the stairs said, 'Go it,
my boys:' Mr. Rankin dropped on his knee, and presented the gun through
the panel; I could only see the rim of the hat of a man who appeared to
be stooping down; Mr. Rankin fired, and the men fell back, and the
candle went out; they all then went away; we waited for some time, and
the dog having ceased barking, I and my nephew proceeded down stairs, he
armed with a gun, and I carrying the cutlass; we fastened up the door as
well as we could, and then went into the parlour, and found that the men
had drunk two bottles of wine; we also found the cores of fourteen
apples; they had taken away a watch, some cruet-frames, and other
articles."
This statement of facts was corroborated by the testimony of Mrs.
Scholefield and Mr. Rankin, who added their positive declaration as to
the identity of the prisoners Hills and Harley. The former was the man
who had been shot; and on his being taken into custody, shot of the same
description as that which had been fired from his gun by Mr. Rankin were
found in his breast. Fisher had been apprehended at the same time, and
in company with the other prisoners; but there appeared to be
considerable doubt whether he had been personally concerned in the
burglary.
The jury found Hills and Harley "Guilty," but acquitted Fisher.
Mr. Justice Vaughan, in passing sentence of death upon the prisoners,
remarked upon the great courage which had been displayed by Mrs. Long
and Mr. Rankin, and directed that they should receive a reward as a mark
of the high estimation in which he held their conduct.
After their conviction the prisoners were removed to Horsemonger-lane
jail, where they paid the most assiduous attention to the spiritual
consolation offered to them by the Rev. Mr. Mann, the chaplain.
On Monday, the 11th of April, the last sentence of the law was carried
into execution upon the person of the convict Harley, a respite during
pleasure having been granted on the previous day in the case of his
fellow-convict Hills. The convict maintained a deportment of great
firmness, unmixed, however, with any symptoms of bravado, or unnatural
courage. He appeared sincerely penitent and met his fate with becoming
resignation.
The sentence of Hills was eventually commuted to transportation for
life, in consequence of some favourable circumstances which transpired.