"29. Richard Buckley , and John Buckley , was indicted for breaking and entring the House of William Clark , and stealing four Silver Spoons, five Silver Tea Spoons, two Suits of Head Cloths, five Guineas, and twenty Shillings, Nov. 18 in the Night .
The Witnesses were examined apart.
William Clark . I live at New Turn-Stile in Holborn . My House was robbed on Monday Night, Nov. 18. or on Tuesday Morning. My Wife and I lay in the Shop. The Goods and Money we lost were taken out of a Nest of Drawers which stood upon a Dresser in the same Shop. We had a Rush Candle burning by us all Night. The Door was left upon the Latch that my Sister might come in, in the Morning without disturbing us. We went to bed about eleven, and saw no body, nor heard the least Noise all the rest of the Night: But the next Day the Nest of Drawers was missing, and at Night it was found in the Cellar, but the Goods and Money were taken out of it. I have known the Prisoner Richard Buckley about a Year, and never heard any ill of him till I
See original was informed by his Son Butler Buckley , a little Boy, that he and the other Prisoner, his Brother, with Sweet and Wilkinson, who were both hanged at Kingston, for robbing the Church, were the Men who had robbed my House.
Mary Audry (Mr. Clark's Sister) I got up between seven and eight in the Morning, and mist the Case of Drawers off the Dresser; I found the Back Door which leads into Princes Street half open, which I am sure was bolted a little before it was dark - there are two Back Doors, one to the House, and one to the Yard - The next Night I found the Nest of Drawers in the Cellar, but the Money and Goods were taken out.
John Busby . I live at Kingston. On Saturday the eighth of March, at Night, after I and my Wife were gone to Bed, there was an attempt made to rob my House by some Persons who came up the Passage. On Sunday the Church was robbed. At Night the little Boy, Butler Buckley, came up the Passage to my House. My Boy seeing him, asked where he was going. He answered he was going to the Oven to warm himself. My Boy told him there was no Oven that way. I coming up, took hold of Butler's Hand, upon which he screamed out, and begged me not to send him to Bridewell. I asked him if he knew what Bridewell was. He said, no, but he was afraid I would send him there. I led him to Mr. Belcher, who examined him where his Father and Mother were. He told us first at one place and then at another, but both proved to be false. We caught him in several Lies, and so he was sent to the Stock-house. Next Morning he confest that he came down to Kingston with his Father and Uncle (the two Prisoners) and William Sweet and Phillip Wilkinson , and that on Saturday Night they attempted to rob my House, and on Sunday robbed the Church; and farther, that they had robbed Mr. Clark (the Prosecutor)'s House at Little Turn-Stile in Holborn, and another House upon Little Tower-Hill, and gave us an account of what they took from each. I and Mr. Banford resolving to enquire into these things, we took Horse and rode to the Swan with Two Necks in Tothill Street, where we put up, and from thence went to Mr. Clark (the Prosecutor's) and enquired if he had been robbed, and of what. He said, yes, and named the particulars, which agreed with the account the Boy had given us. We asked him if he knew Butler Buckley. Mr. Clark said, yes, very well, that he had often been at their House, and they had given him Victuals; that his Father (the Prisoner Richard) was a Drawer at the Sultana's Head Tavern in the Hay-Market, and his Mother lodged at the Green Canister at the upper end of Oxenden Street, in Piccadilly. We told him what the Boy had informed us of, at which he appeared to be very much surprised.
Mr. Banford and I then went to the Green Canister, and there meeting with the Boy's Mother, we took her to the Sultana Tavern, where we found her Husband (the Prisoner Richard) and told him what his Boy had told us. He said that Sweet was a notorious Rogue, and had enticed the Boy to Kingston. Richard agreed to go with us to look for Sweet. We were informed that he was gone but that very Day to be a Drawer at the Bell at Aldgate. We found him there, and took him with us in a Coach to the Swan in Tothill Street, where we sat up all the remaining part of the Night. The Warrant we then had was only for taking Sweet and Wilkinson. But next Day Mr. Clark went to Kingston, and got a Warrant for the two Prisoners, and thereupon Richard Buckley was sent to the Gate-house. His Brother John hearing of it, went to him, and afterwards came to the Swan and Two Necks, and said, Who wants to speak with me? Who are you, says I, My Name, says he, is John Buckley , I live at the Cross Keys in Bond Street, and defy all the World to take me. Be ye the Devil, I'll take you, says I, and so I seiz'd him.
John Banford deposed to the same Effect: And the manner of apprehending the Prisoners and Sweet, was confirmed by Richard Mitchell , the Constable.
Butler Buckley, the Boy (nine Years old the eighteenth of December last) being examined as to the nature of an Oath, and the
See original consequence of false Swearing, and giving satisfactory Answers, the Court admitted him to be sworn.
Butler Buckley. My Father Richard Buckley, and my Uncle John Buckley, and William Sweet, and Phillip Wilkinson (who were both hang'd at Kingston) and I, went out together between six and seven at Night, to rob Mr. Clark's House at Little Turn-Stile in Holborn. I knew Mr. Clark, and had been at his House several times. When we came there, Mr. Clark and his Wife, and Sister, and Daughter, and two Gentlemen were sitting by the Fire in the Shop, and the Screen was drawn. My Father put me in at the Shop Door, which was open, about eight o'Clock. I went and hid my self in the House of Office till between one and two in the Morning, and then I opened the Entry Door on the left side of the House leading into the Alley (Little Turn-Stile) - 'Tis the Door where the Lodgers go in and out. I let in Wilkinson, and Sweet, and went out my self, and found my Father and Uncle standing to watch. One of them stood at the end of the Alley next Holborn, and the other at the end next Lincoln's Inn Fields. Wilkinson and Sweet staid about half an Hour, and then they brought out ten Guineas, nine Silver Spoons, and two Suits of Brussels Laced Head Cloths, which I saw as soon as we came home, and we went home directly.
Court. Where was your home? Boy. At my Father's Lodging, up two Pair of Stairs forward in Mrs. Doyley's House the Green Canister in Piccadily.
R. Buckley. Pray, my Lord, take notice of that,
Court. How came you to make this Discovery?
Boy. Mr. Busby took me at Kingston, and forced me to tell.
Court. How did he force ye?
Boy. He said he'd turn me at my own liberty, if I wou'd confess the truth.
Court. Did he say any thing to you about your Father or Uncle?
Boy. No.
Court. Who named them first?
Boy. I my self.
Court. Did he, or any other at Kingston mention Mr. Clark's House?
Boy. No.
Court. How came you to speak of it then?
Boy. Because I had a mind to own it all out.
Mr. Busby. I had heard nothing of Mr. Clark, till the Boy spoke of it himself.
R. Buckley. Was not the Boy whipt and hung up by the Heels?
Mr. Busby. Mr. Bailiff Belcher shewed him a Whip, to make him confess where he came from, and the Justice threatned to send him to Bridewell, and have him whipt there, if he would not tell who he belong'd to.
R. Buckley, to the Boy. When and where did you see me and your Uncle together?
Boy. You were both with us at Kingston, and went to Hampton Court that Day as the Church was robbed - the ninth of March - And in London, at the Coffee House in Coventry Street; and at my Uncle's Lodging, the Cross-Keys in Bond Street, by Woodstock Meuse, where he lived when he was taken - He's a Shoe-maker - And twice at the Canister where we lodged, once was on a Thursday Morning about eleven, and once on a Saturday about two in the Afternoon. Besides the time when we carried home the Goods.
R. Buckley. Did you never see us together at Mrs. Macrakan's, against the Royal Oak in St. Giles, where I lived before I went to the Canister?
Boy. Yes, four or five times, but I never saw Sweet or Wilkinson there.
R. Buckley. Where did you lie on Saturday Night the eighth of March, the Night before Kingston Church was robbed?
Boy. At the House on this side the Waterman's Arms in Kingston.
Mr. Busby. The Boy carried us to the Crown by the Waterman's Arms, and described the Furniture of the Room before he went in with us.
The Defence of the Prisoners.
R. Buckley. I have taken what care I could in giving my Boy good Instructions, but my care had but little effect on him.
See original He was always very perverse, and a notorious Lyar, for which I have often corrected him, though not with severity, for fear of hardening him. On Friday Night the seventh of March, I sent him to Cranburn Alley for some Worsted. He staid out that Night; I asked him next Day where he had been; he said, with Mrs. Loyd. Butler, says I, Your Chalks are out, and we must reckon. But I being sent for, he ran away, and I saw him no more till Tuesday following; for as I was informed, Sweet and Wilkinson had decoyed him to go with them to Kingston: But he did not go to Kingston till Sunday, as I shall prove, tho' he swears he lay there on Saturday Night. I had not seen my Brother John for near five Years, till I was taken up, there having been a Quarrel between us; but then I sent him word of his being in the Warrant.
J. Buckley. I never saw Sweet nor Wilkinson in my life.
Eleanor Clark (the Prosecutor's Wife.) The first or second Day after I was robbed, I went to see Mrs. Buckley, the Wife of Richard Buckley the Prisoner, at Mrs Macrakan's, against the Royal Oak in Little Earl street, by the Seven Dials. I desired her to go with me to Monmouth Street and Rag Fair to shew some of my Goods.
Grace Rose . I remember on a Thursday Morning in November, Mrs. Clark (who keeps a Cook's Shop in Little Turn-Stile) told Mrs. Buckley she had been robbed the Night before *. She and her Husband had lived at Martha Macrakans a Year and two Months; they moved thence to the Canister, on a Monday, about a Month before he was taken. I never saw his Brother John at Mrs. Macrakans.
* The House was robbed on Monday Night, as Mr. Clark deposed.
R. Buckley. I was taken in March: The House was robbed in November: The Boy swore I then lived at the Canister - and that my Brother John had been several times with me at Mrs. Macrakans.
Martha Macrackan , deposed to the same effect, and added, that the Boy was a notorious Lyar.
Jemima Covedale Between ten and eleven on Saturday Night - next Saturday it will be six Weeks ago - I saw this Boy standing by Mrs. Gaskins Door, near King Edward's Stairs, in Wapping. He pray'd me to tell Mrs. Gaskins her Cousin wanted to speak with her. She came to him; he said, How do you do Cousin? She asked him how he came to be out so late and so far from home. He told her he came to play with her Son Bobby. She chid him, and threatned to send him to his Father, but at last took him in.
Sarah Gaskin . The Boy lay at my House all that Saturday Night (which was the eighth of March) and went away about eight o'Clock on Sunday Morning.
R. Buckley. And yet he swore he lay at Kingston that Night.
Mrs. Fromage. I keep the Sultana Tavern. Richard Buckley was a Waiter at my House, he came some time before Christmas; it was the Day before his Glasses came in - He was recommended to us from Pontacks; and my Husband trusted him to receive Money at the Bank, fifty, sixty, or one hundred Pound at a time. He was a very good Servant, and never out of his Business, but when he went to see after his Boy, who had been a great Grief to him.
R. Buckley. The Boy swore I was with him at Kingston on Saturday Night the eighth of March.
Mrs. Fromage. That Night he was waiting on some Noble Men at my, House and they burnt his Wig; and next Morning they gave him half a Crown a piece to make him amends - He complained that his Boy was missing, and he was afraid he was got into ill Company.
John Ferry . I am a Waiter at the same House. On Saturday the eighth of March, several Noble Men dined at our House, and bespoke a Dinner on Sunday. The Prisoner waited on them, and I left him there at twelve on Saturday Night. On Sunday Morning I saw his Wig was burnt, and at Noon he and I breakfasted at Mrs. Bonifaces. I left him at eleven that Night. He being taken up the Tuesday following, I
See original I set down the Day of the Month that I might not forget it.
Mary Whitron . I am servant at the Sultana. The Prisoner came to our House on the eighteenth of November, and the next Day his Glasses were sent in. - I set down the Day of the Month for my own satisfaction. On Saturday the eighth of March, he waited on some Noble Men. Between twelve and one that Night, he came to me in the Kitchen, and said the Company was going. I asked him where his Wig was, and he said, one of the Noble Men had burnt it.
Mrs Boniface. On Sunday Noon, March 9th (the Day before the Prisoners dyed) R. Buckley, and his two Fellow Servants, Penny, and Morris, breakfasted at my House. He was not then drest.
Mr. Graves, at the Ship Tavern, Temple Bar. On the eighteenth of November, R. Buckley, desired me to give him a Letter of Credit to Mr. Maidwell for some Glasses, which I did, and I believe they were sent in next Day, for I have here Mr. Maidwell's Bill for such Glasses, dated Nov. 19.
R. Buckley. The Boy told Mr. Justice Deveil, that I had been in Newgate several times.
Mr. Deveil. He said his Father had been in Newgate, and had been brought before me, but I don't know that he ever was.
Keeper of Newgate. I never saw either of the Prisoners before.
Henry Vipont . I keep the Long Room at Hampstead, the Prisoner lived with me from June last to November, and was a very faithfull and just Servant. On Sunday the ninth of March about nine in the Morning, he came to me, and I agreed with him to serve me at Scarborough, during the Season. He went away between ten and eleven.
Edward Waile . I went to see the Boy in Bridewell, at Kingston, and told him I was sorry to see him in such a place. He said he did not mind it, for he should be a brave Man when the two Men were hang'd at Kingston, and his Father and Uncle at Tyburn - He's an impudent, lying, mischievous Boy.
John Herring . I live at the Cross Keys, in New Bond-street. John Buckley lodged there a Year and a Quarter. He went away at Midsummer last, and has not been there since, but lived at a House in Tyburn Road.
R. Buckley. The Boy swore that my Brother lived in Bond street when he was taken, and that we often met together lately, but I have not spoke to him several Years on account of a difference between us.
Robert Forest . Richard had been very kind to his Brother John while he was an Apprentice; but about five Years ago John disobliged Richard, by refusing to make a Pair of Shoes for his Wife, upon which they fell out. I met Richard two Months ago, and prest him to be reconcil'd, but says he, I can't be friends with him, for I have been a Father to him, and he's an ungratefull Rascal.
William Griffin . John Buckley lived next Door to me three Quarters of a Year, and I believe he's a very honest Man. I keep a Chandler's Shop, and on Sunday the ninth of March (the Day the Boy charges him with being at Kingston) he came four times to my Shop, betwixt nine in the Morning and eight at Night for odd things that he wanted. I never saw his Brother Richard with him.
Several other Witnesses gave the Prisoners the Character of honest Men, and deposed that they had not seen them together for some Years past. The Jury acquitted them.
They were a second time indicted for breaking and entering the House of Alexander Calder , (on Tower hill ) and stealing two Silk Gowns, a Callico Gown, a Quilted Petticoat, four Shirts, six Shifts, two Pair of Sheets, a Velvet Hood, and several other things, October 23 . in the Night .
There was no Evidence against them but the Boy, who swore positively that they and Sweet, and Wilkinson, broke open the House and stole the Goods, but he being detected in several Falshoods and Contradictions, and a sufficient Number of Creditable Witnesses appearing in the behalf of the Prisoners, the Jury acquitted them." (3)