1809 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (3)
| Record | |
|---|---|
| Date | 1809 |
| Topic | Robin Hood in Skinner Street figures several times in case of theft |
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-06-19. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-08.
Record
[26 Jun. 1809:]
Q. Did you know him before - A. I saw him the day before at the Robin Hood in Skinner-street. I had lost a silk handkerchief the day before, he told me he could inform me where my handkerchief was; that is the reason he was along with me.
Q. When he went away how soon afterwards did you find the notes were gone - A. In about twenty minutes. Nobody sat along side of me but him; I had shewed them to nobody else but him.
JOHN EASTFIELD. I was in the house with Mr. Edwards on the 22nd of June; I saw Mr. Edwards give Chappel a twenty pound note, a five pound note, and half a guinea, he wrapped the notes up in a bit of brown paper, and put them in his inside breeches pocket; he asked me to accompany him to the Robin Hood, in Skinner-street, in search of a silk handkerchief he had lost the night before; we went into the tap-room, called for a pot of porter; the prisoner was in the taproom; he came to Chappel and said, I can inform you how you can find your handkerchief; Chappel and I went out, we went to Merchant Taylors Hall; the prisoner followed us. I left Chappel and the prisoner together.
EDWARD HOLDITCH. I am a soldier. On Wednesday afternoon I was passing through Bishopgate-street, I saw Chappel; a person came up and persuaded him to go to the Robin Hood; we went there; he took out a paper containing notes, the notes fell out of the paper, he picked up the notes; I said you had better leave the notes in the landlord's hands; the landlord read them, he said there was a twenty pound, and a five pound note. We had two pots of porter; Chappel's hat fell off his head, I picked it up; I said you have lost your handkerchief, he said no, it is in my hat; I said it is not, he turned his pockets inside out; I said you are in a house that is not safe, quit the house and let that be the first loss; with that he got up and drank a glass of gin, and gave me one. At the time I was telling the landlord of his losing the handkerchief, this lad came in and went out again; I persuaded Chappel to go to the sign of the Buffalo. I told his wife where he had left his money; this lad abused me for saying that his handkerchief had been lost; he said he should see me another time, he would close my eyes. This man's wife, and Chappel, returned to the Robin Hood, and received the notes; the prisoner saw them receive the notes; they were left in the hands of Mr. Edwards, at the Buffalo, till the next morning.
Q. to prosecutor. At what public house did you lose the notes - A. The Prince of Wales, in Wentworh-street, Spitalfields.
Prisoner's Defence. I had been helping my father to move till four o'clock in the afternoon; I went down to the Robin Hood, Skinner-street, that gentleman and that one were standing at the bar drinking; that gentleman was very much intoxicated, he challenged a soldier with taking his silk handkerchief; I said, if I were you, I would go and clear myself; he said he would. I went out of doors; that gentleman in Skinner-street, said, what are you following of me for; he said, you rascally villain, if you follow me, I will charge a constable with you. When he had abused me, I went down Skinner-street, into the Buffalo, and had a pint of beer; from there I went into the Robin Hood. Mr. Chappel and that gentleman and his wife came in and received the money. The next morning I went to the Robin Hood, in came Mr. Chappel and that gentleman; I asked Mr. Chappel if he had heard any thing of his handkerchief, he said no; I said if I could get any thing out of the girl that was in the house, I would tell him. I went down Threadneedle-street; he went into Merchant Taylor's Hall; me and this gentleman went into a public house; when Mr. Chappel came, he asked him to lend him five shillings; he said he had lost twenty pounds, he would not lend any more; they parted. I went with Mr. Chappel into the Prince of Wales, Wentworth-street , we had two pots of beer there; I said I cannot drink any more, you do not drink any thing yourself; he drank that pot of beer before he took it away from his mouth; he said he could drink as much again. They all came round and shoved me away; he said, let me see if my money is safe; he could not find it, I said, let me feel; I put my hand into his fob, took out the notes, and put them into his hand; he told me to put it into the fob, I did. I said if you do not come out of this place, I shall bid you good bye. I immediately came out, and the servant of the house is witness that he saw me put it into his fob.[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.
Lists
- Not included in Sussex, Lucy, compil. 'References to Robin Hood up to 1600', in: Knight, Stephen. Robin Hood: A Complete Study of the English Outlaw (Oxford, UK; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1994), pp. 262-88.
Sources
Also see
- 1793 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (1)
- 1810 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (4)
- 1810 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (5)
- 1813 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (4)
- 1831 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (1)
- 1838 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (5)
- 1860 - Proceedings of the Old Bailey (1)
- Robin Hood (Bishopsgate).
Notes