The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 2/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841Pelham, Camden
History
The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 2/2: being a series of memoirs and anecdotes of notorious characters who have outraged the laws of Great Britain from the earliest period to 1841
Pelham, Camden
Crime -- Great Britain; Criminals -- Great Britain; Newgate (Prison : London, England)
The particulars of his trial do not reach us in any very perfect form;
but the following is the report of his examination before the
magistrates at Marylebone police-office, upon the charge, upon which
conviction finally ensued, as it appeared in one of the newspapers of
the time. The circumstances detailed well describe the artifices to
which a person following the practices of "Dick Bowers," as he was
familiarly called, had recourse. Dick was perfectly notorious throughout
London; and we believe that there was scarcely a police-office in the
metropolis at which he had not been in custody. It may be remarked that
he had but one leg, the deficiency being supplied with what he usually
denominated a "timber toe."
"Dick Bowers, who has been several times in custody for duffing, was
charged with having robbed Mr. Philips, of Bryanstone-street. The
complainant said, that on the 6th July, (1827,) he was accosted, in
Duke-street, by a person who said he had a quantity of kid gloves,
shawls, &c., which he could afford to sell cheap. He accompanied the
person to a public-house in Robert-street, Oxford-street, and on
entering the room he was introduced to another person, and they produced
from a bag a pair of gloves as a sample; and it was agreed upon that he
should have two dozen pairs for a sovereign, the price demanded being
ten pence a pair. One of the men wrapped up the pair of gloves, and
produced a small silk shawl and a piece of cloth, and delivered them
into his hands, saying, that he was only an agent, and, therefore,
could not let him have the two dozen pairs at that time, but he might
take the piece of cloth as a security; and on furnishing him with his
address, he (Mr. Philips) might rely on receiving the gloves in a few
days. He, accordingly, gave the man a sovereign and took up the parcel.
Both the men then left the room, and the prisoner entered, who pushed
rudely against him and seized the parcel out of his hands. He told the
prisoner that the parcel was his property, having just paid a sovereign
for it; but the prisoner insisted on retaining it unless he consented to
give him more money. He of course refused to pay anything more, and
attempted to take it away by force, but not succeeding, he quitted the
house."
It subsequently turned out that Bowers was a member of the gang of
"duffers," by whom Mr. Philips had been accosted, and that his violent
effort to procure the return of the property to himself was only a part
of the scheme intended to be put in operation.
At the ensuing Old Bailey sessions, Bowers was convicted of the offence
imputed to him, and on Tuesday, 17th July 1827, he received sentence of
transportation for fourteen years.
EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD, WILLIAM WAKEFIELD, AND FRANCES WAKEFIELD.
CONVICTED OF THE ABDUCTION OF MISS TURNER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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