1838 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (5)

From International Robin Hood Bibliography
Record
Date 1838
Topic Robin Hood in Skinner Street figures in case of alleged theft
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The now lost Skinner Street where the Robin Hood was located.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-06-19. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-08.

Record

[9 Jul. 1838:]
GEORGE CHRISTOPHER HYMNS. I live in Harp-alley, Long-alley, Moorfields. I know Robert Marsh and the two prisoners—I was at the Robin Hood and Little John public-house, in Skinner-street, Bishopsgate, about twenty minutes past nine o'clock, on the night of the 27th of April, when Marsh and the two prisoners were there—I know Mr. Brown's premises—I and my father used to work there—his warehouse is fifty or sixty yards from the Robin Hood and Little John—Marsh staid there till about twenty minutes to ten o'clock—he then went out, and the two prisoners went out about ten minutes after Marsh did—the prisoners came back in about five minutes, or rather better, and then Dixon changed his hat for a cap with a young man in the tap-room, and then Hands changed his hat for a cap with a man of the name of Herbert—Dixon then said to the man he changed with, that he was going after some whalebone in Foster-street—Hands was close to him—Marsh was not there then—the prisoners then went away, amd in about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes I went out to go home—in my way home I saw the two prisoners at the corner of Long-alley, which is about sixty yards from the public-house, and twenty or thirty yards from Mr. Brown's premises—there is a way from the corner of Long-alley to Mr. Brown's premises, up Peter—street—the prisoners had the caps on their heads, and I observed under the side of Dixon's coat a dark cloth—it seemed a kind of towel cloth, or wrapper—I heard Hands say to Dixon, "Come, on, Charley; we shall be too late"—they then went on, towards Peter-street, in the line to where Mr. Brown lived.

Cross-examined by MR. PAYNE. Q. Whose employ are you in? A. My father-in-law's—he is a bricklayer—I have been employed by him about eleven months—before that I was in the employ of Mr. Self, of Watling-street—before that I was out of a situation for a long time—I was in Bridewell for three months, as I was enticed away by a young man to pick pockets—that is the only time I was in custody—I was not in Mr. Brown's employ, only doing bits of jobs with my father—I know his premises well—I had been on them once or twice—I knew Marsh some time—I know nothing of Moneghan.

COURT. Q. Did you give information immediately when you found they were going to Foster-street? A. No—Mr. Brown came to me—there was a man of the name of John Groom in the public-house when this robbery was talked of—I spoke to him, and he said, "Never mind, let them get their living in the best way they can"—Groom was a kind of pot-boy in a house in Long-alley, but he did something, and is gone away—there was Herbert and Atterbury, and others in the public-house—I do not know what has become of Marsh—I have not seen him since the night the robbery was done—I do not know what the prisoners were waiting for from the time they went out of the public-house till I saw them—I am quite sure I did not get nearer to the prosecutor's premises than within thirty yards—I went straight home, and told my father-in-law of it.

Hands. I never was at the Robin Hood that night—I never met this witness at the corner of Long-alley—I never changed my hat with any one—Herbert is now in the Compter for stealing lead.[1]

Source notes

IRHB has silently regularized the use of spaces before punctuation marks in the quotation and corrected the HTML text at Proceedings of the Old Bailey from the PDF of the original printed edition.

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