Besides being found guilty of robbing the mail, the Grand Jury, at the same Assizes, returned a “True Bill” against James Rook, for horse stealing; but he was not put upon his trial for that offence, in consequence of being left for death upon the other charge. The “Brief” for the prosecution in the horse stealing case, now “held” by the author of this book, runs thus:—

Brief for the Prosecutor.

The King agst. James Rook

On the Prosecution of
John Boyce,
For Horse Stealing.

Indictment—States—That the Prisoner James Rook on the 31st of October 1792 at the Parish of New Shoreham in the County of Sussex feloniously did steal take drive and carry away a Brown Gelding the property of John Boyce the elder of New Shoreham aforesaid.

Case

In the Afternoon of the 30th of October 1792 about 3 o’Clock John Taylor the Servant of the Prosecutor turned his Master’s Brown Horse and another Horse into a field a short distance above the Street at Shoreham and fastened the Gate

And the next Morning about 5 o’Clock he went to the Field in order to get the Horses up to Work when he found the Brown Horse missing.—On the Morning of the 1st of Novr. between 10 and 11 o’Clock the Prisoner was seen by Henry Strivens on the Prosecutor’s Horse in company with one Edward Howell who came to water their horses at a Pond near a Barn at Perching belonging to Mr John Marchant about 3 or 4 Miles from Shoreham Strivens says he had seen the Horse before and knew him but did not know at the time who he belonged to—On the Evening of the said 1st of Novr. John Stephenson the Boy who Carries the Mail from Steyning to Brighthelmston was stopped and robbed of the mail in Goldstone Bottom near Brighthelmston by the prisoner and Howell at which time the Prisoner was on Prosecutor’s Horse which the Boy knew, having several times seen the Prosecutor’s Man with the Horse and having seen the same horse in the Prosecutor’s Field at New Shoreham both before and since the robbery.

Proofs.

John Taylor.

To prove that this witness (who is servant to the Prosecutor) about 3 o’Clock in the Afternoon of the 31st of Octr. 1792 had the Prosecutor’s Brown Horse with another up to the Field—That the next Morning about 5 o’Clock he went to get the Horses up to work when he found the Brown Horse missing . . . Call . . .

Henry Strivens.

To prove that between 10 and 11 o’Clock in the Morning of the 1st of Novr. 1792 as he was Threshing at a Barn at Perching about half a mile from the Hill and about 3 or 4 from Shoreham he saw two men the Prisoner and Howell come to a Pond to water their Horses within about forty yards of the Barn. That the Prisoner was upon a large Brown Gelding with a Sprig Tail and a large Miller’s Pad upon it. That the next day he saw the Prisoner and Howell in custody on the Hill near Shoreham for robbing the mail and also saw the Horse on which the Prisoner Rode which he was informed belonged to the Prosecutor and was the one he had lost and which was the same the Prisoner was on when he and Howell came to Water their horses and to Prove that he has since seen the Horse at Prosecutor’s at Shoreham . . . Call

John Stephenson.

To prove that he was stopped and robbed of the Mail on the Evening of the first of Novr. 1792 by the Prisoner and another Man whom this Witness believes to be Howell at a place called Goldstone Bottom near Brighthelmston. That the Prisoner was on the Prosecutor’s Horse which he knew by having several times before seen the Prosecutor’s Man with the Horse and having seen the horse several times in the Prosecutor’s Field at New Shoreham both before and since the Robbery.

Call the Postboy . . .

The Brief, from the trial not having been proceeded with, is not endorsed to any Counsel, but is marked “Brooker, Brighton,” the original of the firm, Messrs. Brooker and Penfold, now Messrs. Penfold and Son, solicitors.

Phœbe Hassell, the person who was chiefly instrumental in bringing Rook and Howell to justice, was a very celebrated character. She was born at Stepney, London, in March, 1713, of respectable parents, named Smith. Of her early life little is known; but the first incident of her remarkable career, as related by herself to the compiler of this work, was her falling in love with Samuel Golding, a private in the regiment known as Kirke’s Lambs. Phœbe Smith then was but fifteen years of age, being, as she used to remark, a fine lass for her years. Golding’s regiment being ordered to the West Indies in 1728, such was Phœbe’s attachment for him, that, donning the garb of a man, she enlisted into the 5th regiment of Foot, commanded by General Pearce, then under orders, also for the West Indies, and embarked after him. There she served for five years without discovering herself to any one. She was likewise at Monserrat, and would have been in the action there, but her regiment did not reach the island till after the battle was over. Soon after her return to England her regiment was ordered to join the forces under the Duke of Cumberland, on the continent, and she was present at the battle of Fontenoy, May 1st, 1745, when she received a bayonet wound in her arm. Golding’s and her regiment were afterwards at Gibraltar, where he got wounded, and was then invalided home to Plymouth. Phœbe then informed the Lady of General Pearce of her sex and story, obtained her discharge, and was immediately sent to England. She went to the military hospital at Plymouth, with letters of recommendation from her late Colonel, and there nursed Golding; and when he came out of the hospital they were married, and lived happily together for more than 20 years. Golding had a pension from Chelsea.

After but a short widowhood, she married William Hassell, of whom little is known beyond what is recorded in the parish book of Brighton; extracts from which will show that in 1792 they were in poverty, as at a meeting of the Churchwardens and Overseers, held at the Castle Tavern, on the 5th of December that year, it was:—“Ordered that Phœbe, the wife of William Hassell, be paid three guineas to get their bed and netts, which they had pledged to pay Dr. Henderson for medicine.”

Hassell died about this period, and Phœbe then, by the assistance of a few of the inhabitants, purchased a donkey, and travelled with fish and other commodities to the villages westward; and it was on one of these journeys that she obtained the capture of Rook and Howell for robbing the mail.

The following minute appears in the Vestry book:—

1797.—20th May, at a meeting of the Churchwardens and Overseers held at the Hen and Chickens, (now the Running Horse, King Street)—Ordered, that Phœbe Hassell’s rent be paid from the present time, and that her weekly allowance be discontinued.

In the early part of the present century the infirmities of age began to tell upon her, and, being no longer able to get about the country, she was taken into Brighton Workhouse; from which, however, at her own request, she was discharged in August, 1806, as a minute of the vestry held on the 14th of that month states:—“That Phœbe Hassell be allowed a pair of stockings and one change on leaving the poor-house.”

After this period she obtained a subsistence by selling fruit, bulls-eyes, pin-cushions, &c., at the bottom of the Marine Parade, near Old Steine Street, where, in sunny weather, she used to sit in a chair with her basket of wares beside her, and obtained a good amount of custom. Her costume would, at the present day, form a great attraction. She wore a brown serge dress, a white apron,—always clean,—a black cloth cloak with a hood, surmounted by a red spotted with white handkerchief. Her head-dress was a black antique shaped bonnet over a mob cap. Her shoes were for service and not look, without any regard to “rights and lefts;” and her hands and arms were usually encased in a pair of long woollen mittens. Her walking-stick, now in the possession of Mr. Edward Blaker, of Portslade, was a serviceable piece of oak.