“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.
NO case of a similar nature ever excited one quarter of the degree of interest which was produced by the extraordinary abduction of Miss Turner, a wealthy heiress, and the daughter of Mr. Turner, a gentleman of the highest respectability living at Shrigley in the county of Cheshire, by Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield. The notoriety of the case renders it unnecessary for us to do more than to give a general history of the circumstances attending the abduction, and the final termination of the proceedings against the defendants, Mr. E. G. Wakefield, and his brother William, and Mrs. Frances Wakefield.
It would appear that Miss Turner, at the time of this affair, had just entered her fifteenth year. Her father was a man of large property, and was high sheriff of Cheshire; and with a view to the proper education of his daughter, who was a young lady of lively disposition, of quick perception, and besides of great personal beauty, he placed her at the school of a Mrs. Daulby, at Liverpool. She had continued there during a considerable time, when in the month of February 1827, Mr. E. G. Wakefield and his brother William went to Macclesfield on a visit, where they learned the situation, the wealth, and the beauty of Miss Turner. A design was soon formed, by means of which they proposed to secure possession of the person of Miss Turner, and it was but too successfully carried out. With this view they quitted Macclesfield on the evening of the 5th March, with the professed object of proceeding to the metropolis on their route to Paris; but instead of taking the road to London, at seven o’clock on the morning of the 6th of the same month they presented themselves at the Albion Hotel, Manchester, in a Wilmslow post chaise. Having purchased a carriage in this place, they went on towards Liverpool; and at eight o’clock on the morning of Tuesday the 7th March, the newly bought carriage was driven up to the house of Mrs. Daulby, and a servant alighting from it presented a letter, which was in the following terms, and which he professed to have brought with him from Shrigley. It was addressed to Miss Daulby, and was as follows:—
“Shrigley, Monday night, half-past Twelve.
“Madam,—I write to you by the desire of Mrs. Turner, of Shrigley, who has been seized with a sudden and dangerous attack of paralysis. Mr. Turner is unfortunately from home, but has been sent for, and Mrs. Turner wishes to see her daughter immediately. A steady servant will take this letter and my carriage to you to fetch Miss Turner; and I beg that no time may be lost in her departure, as, though I do not think Mrs. Turner in immediate danger, it is possible she may soon become incapable of recognising any one. Mrs. Turner particularly wishes that her daughter may not be informed of the extent of her danger, as, without this precaution, Miss Turner might be very anxious on the journey; and this house is so crowded, and in such confusion and alarm, that Mrs. Turner does not wish any one to accompany her daughter. The servant is instructed not to let the boys drive too fast, as Miss T. is rather fearful in a carriage I am, madam, your obedient servant,
“John Ainsworth, m. d.