Part 17

He was respited for six weeks, in consideration of the further disclosures he was to make, or of any evidence he might be required to give, and in this time, so moving was his tale, and so useful was the information he had given, that the corporations of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, and Taunton, together with numerous private gentlemen of considerable influence, petitioned that he might be reprieved. It is probable that these efforts would have been successful; but Poulter was an unlucky man, and at this particular crisis in his affairs happened in some way to rouse the ill-will of the gaoler, who was never tired, in all those days of suspense, of assuring him that he would certainly be hanged, and serve him right!

It is not surprising that, under these circumstances, the unhappy Poulter endeavoured to escape. With, the aid of a fellow-prisoner, committed to gaol for debt, he forced an iron bar out of a window, and the two, squeezing through the opening, broke prison at nightfall of Sunday, February 17th, 1755. They intended to make for Wales. All that night they walked along the country roads, Poulter with irons on his legs as far as Glastonbury, where he succeeded in getting them removed. When day came, they hid in haystacks, resuming their flight when darkness was come again. They next found themselves at Wookey, near Wells, much to their dismay, having intended to bear more towards the north-west. Poulter was by this time in a terribly exhausted condition, and his legs and ankles were so sore and swollen from the effects of being chafed with the irons he had walked with for ten miles, that it was absolutely necessary he should rest. He did so at an alehouse until two o'clock in the afternoon, and was about to leave when a mason at work about the place entered, and recognised him. Calling his workmen to help, he secured Poulter, who was then taken back to Ilchester. Nine days of his respite were left, but a strong and murderous animus was displayed against this most unfortunate of men, and it was decided to hang him out of hand. The execution could not, however, take place earlier without a warrant from London, and the trouble and expense of sending an express messenger to the local Member of Parliament, then in town, demanding his instant execution, were incurred, in order to cut shorter his already numbered days. The messenger must have been phenomenally speedy, for he is said to have returned with the warrant within twenty-four hours; and Poulter was at once taken out of his cell and hanged, February 25th, 1755.

PAUL LEWIS

Paul Lewis, who was, like Nicholas Horner, the son of a clergyman, was born at Hurst-monceaux, in Sussex, and was originally put to the profession of arms, and became an officer of artillery. The usual career of gambling and debauchery, so productive of highwaymen, led him first into difficulties with his creditors, and then caused him to desert from the army. He left one service only to enter another, for he joined the navy, and rose from the rank of midshipman to that of lieutenant.

[Illustration: PAUL LEWIS.]

None doubted his courage, nor, on the other hand, was there any mistaking his depravity. He robbed his brother officers of the small sum of three guineas, and made off with that meagre amount to begin the life of the road in the neighbourhood of Newington Butts. He levied contributions from a gentleman travelling in a chaise on this spot, but this, his initial effort, resulted in his capture. The plea of an _alibi_ set up for him, however, secured his acquittal. Later he was seized at night by a police-officer while in the act of robbing a Mr. Brown, whose horse he had frightened by discharging a pistol. Mr. Brown was flung violently to the ground, and Lewis was in the act of going over his pockets when Pope, the police-officer, who had been on the look-out for him, secured him, after a struggle.

Lewis was duly sentenced to death at the ensuing Sessions.

The Newgate Calendar, recounting all these things, says: "Such was the baseness and unfeeling profligacy of this wretch that when his almost heart-broken father visited him for the last time in Newgate, and put twelve guineas into his hand to repay his expenses, he slipped one of the pieces of gold into the cuff of his sleeve by a dexterous sleight, and then, opening his hand, showed the venerable and reverend old man that there were but eleven; upon which his father took another from his pocket, and gave it him to make the number intended. Having then taken a last farewell of his parents, Lewis turned to his fellow-prisoners, and exultingly exclaimed: "I have flung the old fellow out of another guinea!"

Lewis said he would die like a man of honour; no hangman should put a halter round his neck. He would rather take his own life. But this he had not, after all, sufficient courage to do. A knife he had secreted in his pillow fell out one day, either by accident or design, and was taken away from him. He was executed at Tyburn on May 4th, 1763, aged twenty-three.

THE WESTONS

The careers of George and Joseph Weston read like the imaginings of a romantic novelist, and, indeed, Thackeray adopted some of the stirring incidents of their lives in his unfinished novel, _Denis Duval_.

George Weston was born in 1753, and his brother Joseph in 1759; sons of George Weston, a farmer, of Stoke, in Staffordshire. Early in 1772, George was sent to London, where a place in a merchant's office had been secured for him, and there he was fortunate enough to be promoted to the first position, over the heads of all the others, upon the death of the chief clerk, eighteen months later. He was then in receipt of £200 a year, and on that amount contrived to take part pretty freely in the gaieties and dissipations of Vauxhall and similar resorts. At this period he introduced his brother Joseph to town, and also began a series of peculations in the office, in order to support the extravagances into which a passion for gambling and "seeing life" had led him. When he could no longer conceal his defalcations, he fled to Holland, and Joseph, suspected of complicity, was obliged to leave London.

Within three months George had returned to England in disguise. He made his way to Durham and there entered the service of a devout elderly lady of the Methodist persuasion. Pretending to have adopted the religious convictions of George Whitefield's followers, he affected the religious life, with the object of marrying the lady and securing her ample fortune. But he was recognised on the very eve of the wedding, and exposed. He then fled southward, with as much of the old lady's money and valuables as he could manage to secure at the moment.

But he speedily lost nearly all his plunder in backing outsiders at York and Doncaster races, and entered Nottingham with only one guinea. There he fell in with a company of strolling players, managed by one James Whiteley, who offered him the post of leading gentleman. He accepted it, and under the name of Wilford, remained with them a little while.

It was not a distinguished troupe, which perhaps accounts for his having been so promptly given a leading part in it. It consisted of two runagate apprentices, a drunken farrier, a stage-struck milliner, two ladies whose characters it were well not to study too closely, the manager's wife, a journeyman cobbler, a little girl seven years of age, and a stage-keeper, who alternated his stage-keeping with acting and barbering.

The theatre was a decrepit and almost roofless barn, and the stage consisted of loose boards propped up on empty barrels; while the scenery and the curtains were chiefly dilapidated blankets. Barn-storming in such pitiful circumstances did not suit our high-minded hero, who soon made his way to Manchester, where he became a schoolmaster, and a leading member of a local club, where he read the papers and conducted himself with such a show of authority that the parson, the lawyer, and the apothecary, who had before his coming disputed for pre-eminence over their fellow-members, yielded before his masterful ways. He shortly became High Constable, and soon began to abuse the position by blackmailing innkeepers and forging small drafts upon them. The more timid and easy-going submitted for a while to this, but others resented it in the very practical way of taking steps to secure his arrest. George then obeyed the instinct of caution and disappeared.

About the year 1774 the brothers met at a fair in Warwickshire, where Joseph had been playing the game of "hiding the horse," and had hidden three so effectively from their owners that he was presently able to sell them, unsuspected, for over £70. They then had thoughts of purchasing a farm, and travelled to King's Lynn, where, in the name of Stone, they lodged some time with a farmer. Pretending to be riders (_i.e._ travellers) to a London distiller, they wormed themselves into the confidence of the farmer and appointed him local agent for the non-existent firm, showing him tricks by which he would be able to water down the spirits he was to receive, and so cheat the retailers. On the strength of these confidences, they borrowed over a hundred pounds, and then decamped, leaving only their "sample bottles" of brandies and rums behind.

They thought it wise to travel far, and so made their way into Scotland, and in the name of Gilbert took a small farm, where they remained for only a few months, leaving secretly and at night with all the movables, and with two geldings belonging to a neighbour.

Cumberland had next the honour of affording them shelter. In October 1776 they were apprehended on a charge of forgery at Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, and must have received an altogether inadequate sentence, or perhaps escaped, for they are next found in Ireland, in the following summer, at Baltinglass, county Wicklow. They were shortly afterwards at Dublin, frequenting the clubs under the name of Jones. There they met a noted plunger of that time, one "Buck" English, and fooled him in the highest degree; cheating at hazard, and obtaining money from him in exchange for forged bills and drafts. At length, after a fierce quarrel with English, who fought with George in the Dublin streets and wounded him in the right hand, the Westons left for Holyhead. Landing there with plenty of ready money, they toured Wales at leisure; Joseph as "Mr. Watson," and George as his valet.

In May 1778 they were at Tenby. On leaving the inn, where they had stayed and run up a bill of £30, they paid the landlord with a forged cheque and departed grandly with the change, in a post-chaise and four. They then visited Brecon and Bideford; George now posing as master, in the name of Clark, and Joseph acting as Smith, his valet. Next they are found at Sutton Coldfield, then on the Sussex and Kentish coasts, where they purchased a vessel and became known to the fishermen of Folkestone, Deal, and Dover as the "Gentlemen Smugglers," trading between those parts and Dunkirk. They did very well, too, until an interfering Revenue cutter chased them and forced them to run their craft ashore.

After this exciting episode, they made their way to London, and led a fashionable life, strongly flavoured with gambling and forgery. George took a house in Queen Anne Street, and the two "commenced gentlemen," as we are told; George passing for a wealthy squire of sporting tastes. Hounds and whippers-in were almost daily at the door in the morning, and at night the rooms were filled with callow young men about town, attracted by the brilliant card-parties given—at which, it is scarcely necessary to add, they were thoroughly rooked.

The brothers lived here in great style, on the proceeds of forgery and cheating at cards. They induced a lady next door to lend a sideboard full of valuable silver plate, on the pretence that their own had not arrived from the country, and sold it; and, advertising largely that they were prepared to purchase plate, jewellery, and annuities, did, in fact, make several such purchases, paying for them in worthless bills. A good deal of the property thus obtained was stored at a residence they had hired at Beckenham, in the name of Green.

At length warrants were issued against them, and they fled to Scotland. At Edinburgh they posed as merchants trading with Holland, and acted the part with such complete success that they secured a considerable amount of credit. After forging and cashing numerous acceptances, they left for Liverpool, where, in the guise of "linen merchants," they repeated their Edinburgh frauds; and then, transferring themselves to Bristol, they became "African merchants." There they did a little privateering with one Dawson, but that, being legalised piracy, did not appeal to these instinctive criminals, to whom crime was a sport, as well as a livelihood.

London called them irresistibly, and they responded.

Riding up to town from Bristol to Bath, and then along the Bath Road, they overtook the postboy in the early hours of January 29th, 1781, driving the mail-cart with the Bristol mails, between Slough and Cranford Bridge, and bidding him "good night," passed him. Arriving at the "Berkeley Arms," Cranford Bridge, they halted for refreshment, and then turned back, with the object of robbing the mail.

George took a piece of black crape from his pocket and covered his face with it; and then they awaited the postboy.

Halting him, George ordered him to alight, and when he meekly did so, seized and bound him, and then flung him into a field. The two then drove and rode off to Windmill Lane, Sion Corner, and thence on to the Uxbridge road, through Ealing, and up Hanger Hill to Causeway Lane. There, in "Farmer Lott's meadow," they rifled the contents of the cart and took the bags bodily away.

Having disposed the mails carefully about their persons, they hurried off on horseback for London, to a house in Orange Street, near Piccadilly, where they were well known. The bags proved to contain between ten and fifteen thousand pounds, in notes and bills.

A clever plan for immediately putting a great part of the notes in circulation was at once agreed upon; and in the space of an hour or two, George left the house fully clothed in a midshipman's uniform, with Joseph following him dressed like a servant. They went to the "White Bear," in Piccadilly, and, hiring a post-chaise, set out upon what was nothing less than a hurried tour of the length and breadth of England; tendering notes at every stage, and taking gold in exchange. By way of Edgeware, they went to Watford, Northampton, Nottingham, Mansfield, Chesterfield, Sheffield, York, Durham, Newcastle, and Carlisle. Thence they returned, on horseback, by way of Penrith, Appleby, Doncaster, Bawtry, and Retford, to Tuxford, where they arrived February 1st. Putting up for a much-needed rest there, with an innkeeper well known to them, they were informed that the Bow Street runners had only that day passed through, in search of them, and had gone towards Lincoln.

Early in the morning, the Westons resumed their express journey, making for Newark, where they were favoured by some exclusive information from an innkeeper friend, which enabled them narrowly to escape the runners, who had doubled back from Lincoln.

Thence, post-haste, they went to Grantham, Stamford, and Huntingdon, to Royston, halting two hours on the way at the lonely old inn known as "Kisby's Hut."

At Ware they took a post-chaise and four, and hurried the remaining twenty miles to London; arriving at the "Red Lion," Bishopsgate, at eleven o'clock on the night of February 2nd. The officers of the law were not remiss in the chase, and were at the "Red Lion" only one hour afterwards.

Once in London, the brothers separated; Joseph taking another post-chaise, and George a hackney-coach. They were traced to London Bridge, but there all track of them vanished.

Meanwhile, the Post Office had issued a long and detailed notice of the robbery, and had offered a reward of two hundred pounds for the apprehension of the guilty person, or persons:

[Illustration: [++] Post Office logo.]

"General Post Office, Jan. 29th, 1781.

"The Postboy bringing the Bristol Mail this morning from Maidenhead was stop't between two and three o'clock by a single Highwayman with a crape over his face between the 11th and 12th milestones, near to Cranford Bridge, who presented a pistol to him, and after making him alight, drove away the Horse and Cart, which were found about 7 o'clock this morning in a meadow field near Farmer Lott's at Twyford, when it appears that the greatest part of the letters were taken out of the Bath and Bristol Bags, and that the following bags were entirely taken away:—

Pewsy. Ramsbury. Bradford. Henley. Cirencester. Gloucester. Ross. Presteign. Fairford. Aberystwith. Carmarthen. Pembroke. Calne. Trowbridge. Wallingford. Reading. Stroud. Ledbury. Hereford. Northleach. Lechlade. Lampeter. Tenby. Abergavenny. Newbury. Melksham. Maidenhead. Wantage. Wotton-under-Edge. Tewkesbury. Leominster. Cheltenham. Hay. Cardigan. Haverfordwest.

"The person who committed this robbery is supposed to have had an accomplice, as two persons passed the Postboy on Cranford Bridge on Horseback prior to the Robbery, one of whom he thinks was the robber; but it being so extremely dark, he is not able to give any description of their persons.

"Whoever shall apprehend and convict, or cause to be apprehended and convicted, the person who committed this Robbery will be entitled to a reward of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS, over and above the Reward given by Act of Parliament for apprehending Highwaymen; or if any person, whether an Accomplice in the Robbery or knoweth thereof, shall make Discovery whereby the Person who committed the same may be apprehended and brought to Justice, such discoverer will upon conviction of the party be entitled to the Same Reward of TWO HUNDRED POUNDS and will also receive His Majesty's most gracious Pardon.

"By Command of the Postmaster-General,

"ANTH. TODD, Sec."

It was soon ascertained that the Westons were the robbers, and careful descriptions of them were at once circulated:

"George Weston is about twenty-nine years of age, five feet seven inches high, square-set, round-faced, fresh-coloured, pitted with small-pox, has a rather thick nose, his upper lip rather thick, his hair of lightest brown colour, which is sometimes tied behind, and at other times loose and curled; has much the appearance of a country dealer, or farmer. One of his thumb-nails appears, from an accident, of the shape of a parrot's bill, and he is supposed to have a scar on his right hand, from a stroke with a cutlass."

The younger brother was just as closely described:

"Joseph Weston is about twenty-three years of age, five feet nine inches high, slender made, of a fair and smooth complexion, genteel person, has grey eyes and large nose with a scar upon it; his hair is of a light brown colour, sometimes tied behind, at other times loose and curled; his voice is strong and he speaks a little through his nose; has a remarkable small hand and long fingers."

While these descriptions were staring from every blank wall, George and Joseph were hiding, in disguise, in the Borough. They had a large amount of money, realised by their tremendous exertions over that long journey, and they added judiciously to their store by carrying on their business of lending money on plate and jewellery, and paying for the articles in the remaining notes stolen from the Bristol mail. The famous "Perdita" Robinson was one of those victimised in this way; and, as a contemporary account says, "lost her diamond shoebuckles which a certain Heir Apparent presented her with."

It was in October 1781, when paying for some lottery tickets in Holborn, with stolen notes, that George and Joseph became acquainted with two pretty girls, cousins, employed as milliners near Red Lion Square. George gallantly bought some shares for them, and in the evening took them to Vauxhall Gardens. The delighted girls were told the two gentlemen were Nabobs just returned from India; and, dazzled with the wealth they flung about, readily consented to go and live with them. They were soon, accordingly, all four in residence in a fine house near Brompton; George adopting the name of "Samuel Watson," and Joseph passing as "William Johnson."

They left Brompton for a while and migrated to Winchelsea, where they took the "Friars," a fine house with beautifully wooded grounds. The foremost furnishers in London, Messrs. Elliot & Co., of 97, New Bond Street, were given orders for furniture, cutlery, and a generous supply of plate, and from other firms they procured horses and carriages, finally establishing themselves at the mansion in December 1781. While in residence there the ladies conducted themselves with such propriety, and the gentlemen appeared so distinguished and so wealthy, that they soon moved in the best society of the neighbourhood. It did not, apparently, take long in those times, or in the neighbourhood of Winchelsea, for strangers to obtain a footing in local society, for all this short-lived social splendour began in December, and ended in the middle of the following April. The last, sealing touch of respectability and recognition was when George was elected churchwarden of the parish church in Easter 1782. From that pinnacle of parochial ambition, however, he and his were presently cast down, for Messrs. Elliot & Co., growing anxious about their unpaid bills for goods delivered, sent two sheriff's officers down to Winchelsea to interview the brothers. The officers met them at Rye on horseback, and endeavoured to arrest Joseph. When he refused to surrender, they tried to dismount him, but the two brothers overawed them by presenting pistols, and escaped; making their way back to Winchelsea, and thence travelling at express speed to London, in their own handsome chariot. Their identity with the Westons and the robbers of the mail was revealed in that encounter with the sheriff's officers, one of whom had observed George's peculiarly distorted thumb-nail. Information was thereupon given, and a redoubled search begun.

They went at once to their old hiding-place in the Borough, and might again have escaped detection had they been sufficiently careful. But, gambling for high stakes at the "Dun Horse," they quarrelled violently, and in the hearing of the ostler used some remarks that led him to suspect them. He communicated his suspicions to the police at Bow Street, and although they appear to have become uneasy and to have then left the Borough, they were traced on April 17th to Clements' Hotel, in Wardour Street. Mr. Clark, the officer sent to arrest them, met Mrs. Clements at the entrance and asked if two gentlemen of the description he gave were in the house. She said she would see, and went and warned them. Down they came, and, with pistols cocked and presented at him, walked past as he was standing in the passage, and, without a word, into the street. Once out of the house, they ran swiftly up Wardour Street, into Oxford Street, and then doubled into Dean Street and into Richmond Buildings. Unfortunately for them, this proved to be a blind alley, and an unpremeditated trap. They hurried out again, but already the mob was coming down the street after them, and they had only reached Broad Street when they were overtaken. Both fired recklessly upon the crowd; no one but a butcher-boy being hit, and he only slightly grazed under the left ear.