The Trial and Conviction of John Church: The Preacher of the Surrey Tabernacle, Borough Road, at the Surrey Assizes, at Croydon, on Saturday, the 16th of August, 1817, for an Assault With Intent to Commit an Unnatural Crime.Anonymous
Religion
The Trial and Conviction of John Church: The Preacher of the Surrey Tabernacle, Borough Road, at the Surrey Assizes, at Croydon, on Saturday, the 16th of August, 1817, for an Assault With Intent to Commit an Unnatural Crime.
Anonymous
Church, J. (John), approximately 1780-approximately 1825 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Sodomy) -- England
By Mr. BOLLAND.—Whoever the person was, he left the door open, and you
saw him go out through that door; and then you observed that he had a
shirt on?—Yes.
The shirt or dress of a man is much shorter than that of a woman, and
therefore you must have seen whether it was a shirt or a shift?—It was
the shirt of a man, I am sure.
Did you see his face at all?—No, I did not. His back was to me.
When he was gone, what did you do?—I then got up and put my small clothes
on, and shoes, and went into the pottery.
What for?—To get the man to come up to the house.
Did you inform any body of what had happened?—Yes; I told Thomas West of
it.
By LORD ELLENBOROUGH.—He was in the pottery?—Yes.
By Mr. BOLLAND.—Was that the Thomas West that was in the pottery before
you went to bed?—Yes.
_Cross-examined by_ Mr. GURNEY.
The person, whoever it was, you say left the door open behind him?—No; he
opened the door and went out.
Did he shut the door after him?—Yes.
Is that so?—Yes.
Then, if he shut the door after him, how did that enable you to see any
thing by the light?—When he opened the door I saw him.
There was no light in the room?—No.
The light, as you say, came from a lamp on the Terrace?—Yes.
How far is that lamp from the door?—Between five and six yards from the
door on the Terrace.
The Terrace on which your master’s house is situated, is a row of houses
raised above the road?—Yes.
And the lamp is upon the Terrace opposite the door.—Yes.
And about five or six yards from the door?—Yes.
The light which it given to your passage is, I suppose, through the
fan-light over the door?—Yes.
Then you mean to say that the light which came through that fan-light
into your passage enabled you to see who it was, before the person had
left the room?—When he opened the door and went out I saw him.
You say that the person, whoever he was, shut the door immediately
afterwards?—Yes; but I could see him when he opened the door.
Did you see the face of the person?—No.
How then can you pretend to say that you knew who that person was?—I saw
that the person had a shirt on.
Do you mean to say that you can distinguish a shirt from a shift or a
bed-gown?—I saw that it was a shirt.
I should imagine that on an occasion of this sort you were a little
frightened?—Yes, I was rather alarmed.
Waked out of your sleep in this way, you were of course rather
alarmed.—Did it not take place all in a minute?—Yes, it was not long
about.
Did it not take place almost instantaneously?—I don’t know how long he
had been there before I awoke.
From the moment you awoke, did it not take place as fast as
possible?—Yes.
Now, you say you went directly to West?—Yes.
West and you directly came and searched the house for thieves?—Yes. We
did not know whether any body had got in or not.
And went and looked at every chamber door in the house?—Yes; except Mr.
Church’s and my mistress’s.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account