State Trials, Political and Social Volume I Part 16

_Millington_ was at Mr. Tryon's house on Sat.u.r.day evening, and finding Turner in custody, there was asked by him to intercede, in order that he might have his liberty to go about the jewels. Afterwards Turner, at his own house, sent his wife to Whitechapel or Tower-hill, where she would meet a man who would give her something. The wife brought the jewels to the Hoop Tavern, and from there they were taken to Mr. Tryon's, where they were examined, and none were found missing except a carcanet jewel.

_Mannock_ had been told by Turner in Newgate that he was to have 500 for recovering the jewels and the money; he had recovered 500 and most of the jewels; if Sir Thomas had not secured him, he would now have them all; 'but Newgate was not the place to find them out.'

_Sir T. Chamberlain_ was sworn and said, that hearing on Friday morning that Mr. Tryon had been robbed, he went to his house about three in the afternoon.

I found a great many people about him; sir T. Aleyn, lady Garret, and the countess of Carlisle was there. I told him, Mr.

Tryon, I understand you have been robbed. Yes, says he, I have a great loss. I found him very staggering what he should do. I said, you must do like a man, or you will lose all: said I to sir T. Aleyn, if you do not help the poor man, being ancient, he will quite lose all. With that I went up above in the house, sir T. Aleyn was pleased to call me along with him, I was by at all the examinations; I did mistrust, and told Mr. Tryon in French, that no doubt but that gentleman was in the robbery: the reason was, that he being a frequent man in the house, knew everything: he was there continually, coming for jewels and things, and no man could do it but himself: that was my judgment, I told sir T.

Aleyn a.s.suredly he had a hand in it. My lord, the while we were examining the servants, word was brought in, that he was hearkening at the door, and in the yards, which made me more and more mistrust him. We heard that the maid had been gadding abroad several times: I desired sir T. Aleyn to examine the maid how often she had supped at Turner's, she denied any time. The young man was examined, who said, they had been thirty or forty times feasted at col. Turner's. My lord, sir T. Aleyn has given you a just account, but he omitted one thing; he had a note sent him, which he had in his pocket, touching Mr. Turner's going about removal of the money into the Minories; and before Turner came in, he examined Mrs. Turner upon that note: says he, you were there too, and carried the money. Says she, she [_i.e._ Mrs. Fry] is a liar and a wh.o.r.e for saying so. Col. Turner came in and said, why do you torment and vex my wife; and falling a cursing, and swearing and banning, said she was with child, you will make her miscarry, let her alone. Sir T. Aleyn examined him where he had been that day, and that night; he told me of many taverns, and going to see his horse, and I know not what, but we found him faltering. When the jewels were brought, there being two notes, sir T. Aleyn had one, and I another. The old gentleman was so joyful to see them again, that lying by him, and handling them, he pulled two or three down with his sleeve.

Says Mr. Turner, come, I know what belongs to them better than any of you, and read them over, and I will shew them you. There wanting one jewel, says he, that rogue that has the other money hath this jewel, but I do not doubt but I shall find that out too. We put them all together, and sir T. Aleyn sealed them with his seal. For the bags of money, I saw them taken out, and one being sealed with a small seal, I put on both my spectacles, I found a lion rampant at top in one of the quarters; said I, this is a seal of some great person; and then a letter was brought down, and being compared, I was satisfied in my conscience they were alike. Sir T. Aleyn told me he must make a mittimus for him and his wife: said she, Do you send me of your errands? you shall send somebody else another time: I thought it would come to this. After much ranting and swearing (I thought the devil would have fetched him out of the room) he said, that he had better have kept the jewels, than to bring them forth, and to suffer for it himself, for he had p.a.w.ned his soul, and would not reveal it; and said, that Mr. Tryon had likewise engaged the like to him. For the 600 he offered his bond.

_Hill_ recalled, said that Turner had been employed by Tryon about some mortgages; but he knew of no particulars.

SIR T. ALEYN--My lord, John Turner his son there, fled away from me when I came to the house in the Minories.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--Why did you fly away?

JOHN TURNER--I did not, sir.

SIR T. ALEYN--You did not fly! You ran away as fast as you could.

JOHN TURNER--My lord, a woman cried out 'Get away, and save your life!' and not knowing what the matter was, I went away.

COL. TURNER--Poor boy! he thought thieves had been coming, and affrighted him.

SIR T. ALEYN--As to Ely Turner, I examined him upon the Sunday, the day after his father was committed; he would not confess the carrying of any money, and the maid swearing it, I committed him also.

COL. TURNER--What's that of Ely? upon my soul, the boy carried none.

JOHN TURNER--I carried what was carried.

COL. TURNER--My Lord, one son is as dear to me as the other, but if either be more, it must be my eldest; but yet I must say, it was John my eldest son that carried the money.

SIR T. ALEYN--My Lord, W. Turner was brought before me on Tuesday or Wednesday: sir R. Brown sent out his warrant for him, being a person of evil name, and likely to do such a fact; being taken, he was brought before me. My Lord, when Mr. Tryon looked upon him, he suspected him: I examined him when he saw Col.

Turner; he said not these three years, not to speak to him; and yet one at the c.o.c.k behind the Exchange said, this W. Turner staid for Col. Turner at his house two hours, that Col. Turner came in, paid for the pot of drink, and for ought he knew they both went together: thereupon I committed him. In the afternoon I ordered this person to send his servant; one came and made oath that he came in, and enquired for Col. Turner, asked for him, staid two hours for him; that they went both out of the house together: and this was on the Wednesday before the robbery.

_William Dawes_ and _John Rouse_, his servant, corroborated what Sir T.

Aleyn said as to William Turner.

_Garret_, _Watcher_, and _Culley_ were called to prove that Turner had said that the money he took to Tryon's house was his own money, and that he was going to recover the jewels; 'if any man could say that he lost sixpence of his money, or six-penny worth of his jewels, he had two fellows in custody should answer for it.'

_Pilkington_ corroborated what other witnesses had said as to the account Turner gave of the way in which the robbery was committed.

_Tryon_ was recalled to identify William Turner as one of the two men whom he saw in his room, and as being the man who knocked out his tooth.

The men were barefaced; one said to the other that it was only just past eleven o'clock.

_Hyde, Lord Chief-Justice_, then called on the prisoners to make their defence. He shortly recapitulated the case against them. William Turner and his father Col. Turner had met on the day before the robbery; the robbery must have been committed by some one who knew where the money and jewels were locked up, and Col. Turner had this knowledge. Early on the morning after the robbery Col. Turner, his wife and his son, moved a quant.i.ty of money out of their house, and asked a neighbour to take charge of it, falsely alleging that it belonged to a merchant who wanted to hide it. Afterwards they admitted that it was their own, but it appears that one of the bags in which it was, was sealed with the seal of the bishop of Chichester; and at the time of the burglary there was 600 in bags left with Mr. Tryon sealed with the same seal. William Turner, on people coming to his father's house, 'takes footing and leaps over the ditch to escape, which is a good just ground of suspicion that he is guilty of somewhat that he would not abide to answer.' Col. Turner and his wife show an exact knowledge of the way in which the crime was committed; 'Lay all this together, unless you shall answer it, all the world must conclude that you are the one that did this robbery.'

TURNER--I shall first prove that upon Thursday night, the time of that supposed burglary, that myself, my wife, and all my family, were in bed, fast asleep and innocent, not knowing anything of this business. This I shall prove, if not, let me hang and all my family.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--All this may be true, and yet this not to the purpose.

TURNER--Then I cannot be guilty of the burglary.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--If you will lay and plot such a robbery, though you are not there, yet you are guilty of it; for it is ordinary that the main setter will not be present at such times, but will then be in bed, that people may take notice thereof. But satisfy the court by what means you came by this money and jewels, and then call your witnesses.

_Turner_ in his defence said that his name was first mentioned by the man Hill, the manservant, who, when he came home late after the robbery, said that he and the maid had been at supper at his house, which was false. The fact was that the first he heard of the burglary was when the constable came to him and found him and all his family in bed. On being informed of what had taken place, he at once went to Tryon's house, and discussed the matter with him. Tryon suspected Christmas of being one of the men he had seen in his room, and he was fetched by a constable and afterwards sent to the Compter. Turner had prevented a robbery at the same place a year since, and he set to work to see if he could not recover the stolen property by the same means that he had used on that occasion. He remembered one John Wild, and he went to look for him 'beyond the little postern between the two Tower Hills, near the Tower ditch.' On Friday night when he got to the house where he had found the persons he wanted the year before, he 'pa.s.sed a fellow in black, in a large coat, such another man as this (pointing at one that stood by); he was in a black loose coat, and he was trimmed with ribband at his knee.'

Thinking he must be one of the men he was in search of, either Wild or White, he seized him, and charged him with the burglary.

Said I, Mr. Tryon's house was robbed, and you are the person that I will lay flat felony to; you should have been one of them that were to rob him a year since, when Col. Ashton betrayed you all. He began with some hard oaths; be quiet, said I, I will call out; you are an undone man; I will lay this felony to you.

I shifted my hold from his collar to the waistband of his breeches; I thought I had him more secure. Said I, Wild, do not deceive yourself, play not the fool; if you will save your life, let me see where those goods and monies are, else you will go to pot. We walked to the hill. I had fast hold of his breeches all this while; and yet I was afraid he might have some dagger, and stab me; Said I, be brief, you are alone, either resolve me or I will call out.

Thereupon Wild, having bound Turner by an oath that his life should be safe if he discovered the thing, whistled thrice, and so called White, to whom he explained the situation, and sent him for the money. White went off and brought back 500 in two journeys, Turner holding Wild by his breeches all the time. This lasted four hours,[45] from midnight till four, during which time Wild gave Turner the account of how the burglary was committed, which he afterwards explained to the witnesses.

When the 500 was all brought, Wild and White carried it to Turner's house, and threw it down on the floor of his parlour, promising to bring the rest of the money and the jewels the next day. White then objected that the men who had them would not come into the city, and it was arranged that they should bring them to Betty Fry's house in the Minories, an appointment being made to meet at the Blue Boar on the afternoon of the same day. Turner, his wife, and his son John (not Ely as Fry had sworn) took the five bags to Fry's house, and later on Turner went to Tryon's house, where he met Gurney ('Jesus! what a noise is here in the court. My Lord, I can hear but with one ear'), and told him that he would recover all his money except a few shillings. Tryon was delighted, promised him 500, and swore not to betray Wild and White. At eight o'clock on Sat.u.r.day night,[46] he found Wild by the Blue Boar in Tower Hill, and told him where the money was, and Wild said it must be moved to St. Catherine's by the water-side. Some of the money was carried there,[47] and as the rest was being moved Sir T. Aleyn came up, and John Turner ran away. Col. Turner told Sir T. Aleyn that the money was his, because Tryon had promised it to him, and he wanted to conceal the transaction. They all took the money to Mr. Tryon's house, where Tryon acknowledged his promise, and Sir T. Aleyn agreed that if the goods were restored, the old man's word should be made good.

More that that, he said he would make up the business, or he would smother it. My Lord, you have a great deal of patience, I am humbly bound to you, here is nothing but the naked truth, step by step, as I trod it. Afterwards[48] Wild came and said, All will be well. Said I, What have you done? Are you sure, saith he, the jewels nor nothing shall be stirred? Said I, You see all is spoiled; Sir Thomas Aleyn is come where we had lodged the money, the thing is known, do they not hear of it? Yes they hear as well as you, and know what is done, and some have eyes upon you. Said I they will run away with the jewels. No you shall meet about three o'clock either by the Blue-Pig at Tower-Hill, or at Nag's-Head over against White-Chapel church.

n.o.body knows me but you, your wife, and your son who saw me this morning.

Coming home about Change time Stubbs told him it was said that he had been concerned in the robbery, and later he was arrested by Cole for his debt to Lyon and taken to the Hoop Tavern, where he was still in custody when a constable came with a warrant to take him before Sir. T. Aleyn.

He asked Sir Thomas to allow him to go to fetch the jewels, but he was not allowed to go out of the liberties.

He then remembered that Wild had said he could send his wife, whom he described as

a full short woman about forty or fifty years old, she had a black scarf on; ... I told Sir Thomas this story. My wife came to me publicly, I did not whisper with her.

MRS. TURNER--Nay, look you, husband----

TURNER--Pr'ythee Mall, sit down; you see my lord, my wife will interrupt me with nonsense. Pr'ythee sit thee down quickly, and do not put me out; I cannot hold women's tongues, nor your lordship neither.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--This is not a May-game.

TURNER--My Lord, it is a serious business, and I hope G.o.d will bless it. 'Pray,' said I, 'Mall go.'

His wife went as she was told.

She found this Nag's Head, she sat down, being somewhat fat and weary, poor dear! I have had 27 children by her, 15 sons and 12 daughters. Seven or eight times did this fellow round her----

MRS. TURNER--Let me give that relation----

TURNER--You cannot, it is as well; pr'ythee sit down, dear Mall, sit thee down good child, all will be well.

Mrs. Turner, in short, brought back the jewels which were given to Tryon, in Chamberlin's presence, and Turner offered to forego his 500, but was nevertheless committed by Sir T. Aleyn.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--Have you any witnesses to prove all this discourse pa.s.sed between you and Wild?

TURNER--I have by, witnesses to prove I said this, that there was such discourses between us.

BRIDGMAN, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--No doubt of it; and so will many a man at Newgate frame such a story as this.

HYDE, LORD CHIEF-JUSTICE--You have told a long story about Wild, that you took him by the throat, and that you were alone: what weapons had you?