CHAPTERCXLIX.

CHAPTERCXLIX.THE TROUBLES OF MRS. PEACE.After Peace’s arrest, trial, and conviction, the house in the Evalina-road was no longer a home for his miserable partner.Mrs. Peace and the woman Thompson could not agree, and this, in addition to other circumstances, caused Mrs. Peace to make a precipitate retreat from the neighbourhood of Peckham, and Mrs. Thompson was left to pursue her own erratic course.There was no help for this. It was not at all likely that the two women would agree in the absence of their master.Mrs. Peace left Peckham, and at once proceeded to Hull, and from thence to Sheffield. But the police were actively engaged in ferreting out every scrap of information which might lead to the detection of other crimes committed by our hero.As a natural consequence his miserable partner was suspected, and after some searching inquiries she was arrested and taken before the sitting magistrates at Sheffield, as will be seen from the following report:—At the Sheffield Town Hall, yesterday, before the Mayor (Ald. Mappin) and W. E. Laycock,Esq., Hannah Peace, a respectably-dressed woman, 58 years of age, ofNo.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, the wife of Charles Peace, picture-frame dealer, who murdered Mr. Arthur Dyson, engineer, at Banner Cross-terrace, on the 29th November, 1876, was brought up under circumstances which are at present exciting unusual interest.The charge against her was that of being an accomplice in the recent Blackheath burglaries, on the ground that certain articles of property found at the house where she is living had been identified as part of the booty obtained at Blackheath.Prisoner seems a fairly respectable, well-dressed woman, and appeared to feel her position acutely, looking very nervous and uneasy, and occasionally sobbing. She was accommodated with a seat in the dock.The property includes several parcels of jewellery, a silk dress, two watches, and a patent clock. Mrs. Peace was charged with stealing the property, or of having received it knowing it to have been stolen. A number of persons crowded into the court during the few minutes the case was being heard.The Chief Constable said: The prisoner has been apprehended on suspicion of having stolen property or with having received it knowing it to have been stolen. I shall put a witness in the box, and after his examination I shall have to ask for a remand for a week.Henry Phillips said: I am Inspector of the Metropolitan police, attached to the Criminal Investigation Department, and stationed at Greenwich. There have recently been a considerable number of burglaries committed in the neighbourhood of Greenwich and Blackheath. At one of the houses that was burglariously broken into information was given as to a silk dress though I cannot swear to the colour. A little mantelpiece clock was stolen bearing the inscription “Waterbury Clock Company. PatentedSept.11, 1877,” and the stolen clock in every respect corresponds, I believe, with this clock. Some other houses were broken into, and property, corresponding with some of that now produced, was stolen. I believe if a remand is granted I shall be able to get further evidence.Mr. Robinson (to prisoner): Do you wish to ask any questions now?Prisoner (sobbing): I have not received them knowing them to have been stolen; no, I have not.Inspector Twibell said: I went with the last witness to the house of the prisoner, who is living at Attercliffe, yesterday. I found in her house and in her possession the property now produced.The Bench: All of it?The Chief Constable: Yes, and a great deal more.Mr. Robinson again asked the prisoner if she had any questions to ask.Prisoner: I do say that I did not know they had been stolen.The Chief Constable (to the Bench): I have now to ask that the prisoner may be remanded for a week.The prisoner was accordingly remanded for a week.Early in the afternoon Inspector Phillips, taking with him the stolen property, returned to London.From inquiries made by our reporter it has been ascertained that Hannah Peace has resided for a considerable period at Hull.About a month ago, however, she came to Darnall, to be present at the confinement of her daughter, who resides with her husband at 4, Hazel-road, Britannia-road.Although the house is stated to be in the road, it is really in a court some distance from the thoroughfare—​the middle one of a row of seven.Mrs. Peace brought with her to Sheffield a large box, which she stated contained her wearing apparel and a few “odds and ends.”She gave it out that she had been obliged to break her Hull home up on account of the persistent attentions of the police, who “dogged” her in every direction, and made her life a burden.The “odds and ends” she brought with her are likely to get her into serious trouble unless she can explain how they included goods which originally belonged to persons in the neighbourhood of Blackheath.During the time Mrs. Peace has been resident at her daughter’s house she has not, as many persons supposed, kept within doors so as to avoid being noticed. On the contrary, she has moved about and freely conversed with her neighbours, who were greatly surprised when the police apprehended her.The opinion of the neighbours is generally favourable to Mrs. Peace. People are loth to believe that she was the person to connive at the crime with which she is at present charged. They all bear testimony to her good character so far as they could tell.The daughter and her husband appear respectable people, and have resided at their present address for several years.After further examination at Sheffield, Mrs. Peace was ultimately sent to London, and on Saturday,Dec.7th, 1878, she appeared at Bow-street, before Mr. Flowers.The following is a report of her first examination in London:—Hannah Peace, wife of Charles Peace, the Blackheath burglar, now undergoing penal servitude for the attempt on the life of a police-constable while in the execution of his duty, was brought up on remand granted by the justices of Sheffield, charged with stealing or otherwise receiving a clock the property of Mrs. Dadson, of 5, Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath, part of the proceeds of a burglary committed on the 2nd of August. The clock produced in court, was found by the inspector at Darnall, near Sheffield.Henry Phillips, inspector of the R Division of the Greenwich police, having been duly sworn, said the prisoner, Hannah Peace, had been remanded by the justices at Sheffield several times for her supposed connection with the burglaries committed in Blackheath by her husband, and was, on Friday, finally remanded to London. A small mantel-piece clock had been stolen on the 2nd of August last, from the house of Mrs. Dadson, of 5, Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath, and corresponded in all respects with one found at prisoner’s house, on the 7th November at Darnall, near Sheffield, when he searched it in company with Inspector Twibell. The depositions producted were taken at Sheffield.Miss Elizabeth Marian Collison Dadson, daughter of Mrs. Mary Campbell Dadson, widow, ofNo.5, Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath, deposed that the clock produced was her mother’s property, and was first missed on the morning of the 3rd of August. The house had been forcibly entered on the night previous—​August 2nd.Mr. Flowers: I shall remand the case till this day week. Prisoner, have you anything to say?Mrs. Peace, who had been accommodated with a seat during the two or three minutes she was in court, then rose, and in a trembling voice, said: I did not steal the clock, nor did I know that it was stolen. I have no question to ask.She was then removed from the dock.There can be but little doubt as to her being a woman “more sinned against than sinning,” but the fact of her being the wife of Charles Peace brought her under the ban of the law, and for a long time she was in the depths of trouble, not very well knowing the nature of the charges that were to be brought against her.It is hardly possible to estimate the anxiety and sufferings the guilty acts of a man like Peace entail upon innocent persons.When we say innocent persons, we include his unhappy wife, for, despite the array of evidence brought against her, the police failed to prove her complicity in the crimes committed by her husband.It will be seen by the following report of her second examination that the learned gentleman engaged for the prosecution strove to prove that the ill-fated Mrs. Peace had been guilty of acts which were in themselves most suspicious, if not absolutely criminating.BLACKHEATH BURGLARIES.—​THE EXAMINATION OF MRS. PEACE.At the Bow-street Police-court, London, on Saturday, before Mr. Vaughan, Hannah Peace, aged fifty-eight, believed to be the wife of the celebrated Charles Peace, burglar and alleged murderer, was brought up in custody on remand, charged with stealing and receiving a clock and a quantity of other articles, which it is alleged are the proceeds of numerous burglaries committed by her supposed husband.Mr. Poland, barrister, instructed by Mr. Pollard, the solicitor to the Treasury, appeared for the prosecution. Mr. Walter Beard (Messrs. Beard and Son, solicitors, Basinghall-street, E.C.) was instructed for the defence.Mr. Poland, in proceeding to open the case on behalf of the prosecution, said in this case the prisoner is charged before you in the name of Hannah Peace with stealing and receiving a quantity of property, the proceeds of a number of burglaries which have been committed in various parts of London. It appears that a man, who was tried at the last sessions at the Central Criminal Court by the name of John Ward, alias Charles Peace, was sentenced to penal servitude for life for shooting at a constable, with intent to murder him, on the 10th of October last; and he was then in the act of committing a burglary at Blackheath. Now, sir, there is no question whatever that we are in a condition to show that that man undoubtedly was a professional burglar; that he was in the habit of going about to different parts of London, particularly Blackheath, committing burglaries, and taking from houses where these offences were committed valuable property, and disposing of it for his own advantage. The police, of course, endeavoured to find out what had become of the property, and where this man had been living, and they somehow discovered that he had been living at No. 5, East-terrace, Evalina-road, Nunhead, which is in the parish of Peckham, since May, 1878, in the name of John Thompson, and with a woman—​a woman, I think, of about thirty years of age—​who lived with him as Mrs. Thompson. In the same house the prisoner also lived, and she was then passing, I believe, by the name of Mrs. Ward; and there was also a young man living there who was called Willie Ward, and he was stated to be the son of the prisoner, or, as she was called, Mrs. Ward. This man (Peace) having been arrested on the 10th October, of course he did not go home that night or the following morning. The persons living in that house must have known that he had been arrested, and the prisoner appears on that day to have removed three boxes, with the assistance of a railway porter, to the Nunhead station, and then to the King’s-cross station, and these boxes were taken down to Nottingham. At Nottingham she went, I believe, to a house occupied by some relations of the woman who was passing as the wife of this man, but they, I think, declined to allow these boxes to be brought there, and we find that on the following day, the 12th October, the prisoner went with some portion of the property toNo.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, which is three miles from Sheffield. At that place her son-in-law and daughter lived, a man of the name of John Bolsover, who is a working collier. OnNov.6th the police went to Bolsover’s house at Darnall, and searched the place, and there found a quantity of property, which I shall be able to show you was the proceeds of some of these burglaries. On the 14th of November they made a further search, and found other property. The prisoner, when she was taken into custody, stated that she had received various things, but she did not know that they were stolen. She admitted that she had removed the things, and she stated also that she was the wife of the man who had been living atNo.5, East-terrace, Evalinaroad.No.82.When she stated that she was his wife, she was at once asked where she was married, but up to the present time she had not stated where the ceremony was performed.Illustration: Title or descriptionTHE WARDER SHOWING PEACE HOW TO PICK OAKUM.The prisoner: Yes, sir, I have.Mr. Poland: According to my instructions she has not stated to the police where she was married. She has given no date; she has produced no certificate. I think she stated that the certificate has been burned. So far as I am at present in a condition to deal with the case from the inquiries made by the police, they cannot ascertain that she is married. What I propose to do, with your sanction, is to prove the arrest and search of the premises, the taking of the house at Peckham, the removal of the boxes, and the identity of some of the property. Then I shall be able to show you on a future occasion by calling other witnesses that there were found at the cottage to which these boxes were removed near Sheffield, the proceeds of some ten or twelve burglaries.Inspector Phillips then said, in answer to questions proposed by Mr. Poland: I am one of the inspectors of the Metropolitan police force. On the 10th October, a man was captured at Blackheath, in the act of committing a burglary. Ultimately he gave the name of John Ward, and he was committed for trial as John Ward for shooting at a policeman and for burglary at a house inSt.John’s Park, Blackheath. OnNov.5th I went down to Sheffield, and on the 6th I went to Darnall, to the houseNo.4, Hazel-road. That is about three miles from Sheffield. John Bolsover, a labourer and working collier, lives there. His wife was there on the occasion when I called, and also the prisoner.Mr. Poland: Was it stated that Mrs. Bolsover was the daughter of the prisoner?The witness: Yes.What name was the prisoner living there in?Mrs. Ward, I think. She was generally known there, I believe, as Mrs. Peace; but I am not quite clear upon the matter.Was there anybody else in the house?There was a boy, who was called Willie. He is about twenty years of age.Did you understand that he was the son of the prisoner?Yes. He addressed her as “mother.”You saw the prisoner, and what did you say to her?I had some conversation with her first without telling her who I was. I looked round the room and saw a clock standing upon the chest of drawers, which I knew from the description. I told her I knew the clock to have been stolen from Blackheath. The prisoner replied, “I did not know it was stolen. A tall woman gave it to me five weeks ago.” I then proceeded upstairs, and said I would make further search.Before that time had you said anything to her as to who she was?I said, “Do you know where your husband is. Has he been here?” She replied, “No.” Then I said, “I will tell you where he is. He is in Newgate Prison, on a charge of burglary and shooting at a constable.” She said, “Oh dear! What trouble that man has brought me into, to be sure! He seems to be my ruin everywhere I go.” I then searched the top room in company with another officer, and found a large quantity of property.What did you do in reference to this property?I took it into my possession. After I had got the prisoner to leave the house I told her she would be charged with stealing this property, and receiving it knowing it to have been feloniously procured.Mr. Poland: Did she say anything in your presence as to whether she was Peace’s wife?Witness: I have a slight recollection of asking her for her marriage certificate and of her saying that she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield. I said, “Have you got a marriage certificate to show me?” She said, “No I have not; the old man burned it.”Mr. Samuel Smith, builder, said: I live at 68, Rhyde Villas,St.Mary’s-road, Peckham. About the latter end of May I was at East-terrace, Evelina-road, Peckham. I remember a party of four persons calling there. The prisoner was one of them. I knew her as Mrs. Ward. She gave that name. Two of the other persons were known as Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and the other one of the party was a young man they called Willie. The man known as Mr. Thompson spoke to me, and asked to look over the house, but it was too late in the evening for that. He asked me the rent, which I told him was £30 a year; and subsequently I let the premises to him. The woman I knew as Mrs. Thompson was a younger woman than the prisoner; a little over thirty I should think.I believe you asked Mr. Thompson on that occasion for some reference?I did, and he then asked me to go and see where he was living in Greenwich, which I did.Where was he living at Greenwich? Do you recollect?I do not recollect the name of the street. The house at Greenwich was a respectable house, and I saw prisoner there. The place was respectably furnished, and that satisfied me. I went to the house many times afterwards, and I know from having visited at the place that the man and woman known as Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and the woman known as Mrs. Ward, and the boy Willie, were living there. Rent was paid me up to Michaelmas. I have got possession of the house now. I heard some time after Thompson had disappeared that a man, who was believed to be him, had been taken into custody.Thomas Pickering, a porter employed at the Nunhead station on the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, said: On the 11th October, in consequence of a message I received from another porter, I went toNo.5, East-terrace, Evelina-road, which is about three minutes’ walk from the Nunhead station. When I got to the house I saw an old lady. I could not swear that the prisoner was the lady. It would be a person of about the same age. She asked me to take three boxes to the Nunhead station and label them for King’s Cross. I went into the house, got the boxes and put them on my barrow. The old lady told me to send the boxes by the five minutes to six train and she would be there. I took them to the station and labelled them for the Great Northern Railway terminus at King’s Cross. I did not notice any name or address upon the boxes. After I had taken them to the station the old lady came. She went away by the five minutes to six train that evening.Examination continued: I have seen a box at the Bow-street Police-station. It resembles the box I brought from the house in the Evelina-road, to the Nunhead station. The other two boxes were similar. I did not know the old lady before, and have not seen her since until to-day.Selina Karcher said: I am housekeeper and lady’s maid to Mrs. Wood, Sunnyside, Leigham Court-road, Streatham. I was so engaged on the 20th August. When I went to bed on that date the house was all safe, but next morning, when I came down, I found that the house had been broken into. From the house I missed a number of things, including a plate basket, a silk dress trimmed with velvet, belonging to my mistress, Mrs. Kathleen, the wife of Mr. Mark Wood. The value of the silver missed was about £30, and the silk and velvet dress, which was a very valuable one, was also worth £30.Elizabeth Mary Ann Collinson Dadson was next called, and reiterated her statement in reference to the clock taken from Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath.Louisa Newman said: I live at Richmond Lodge, Honor Oak-road, Forest Hill, and I am cook in the service of Mr. Charles Perry. On the 5th of August the placa was secured for the night, with the exception of the back drawing-room window, which was accidentally left unfastened. Next morning I went into the back drawing-room at about half-past eleven, and found that there were missing several ornaments, amongst other things a tortoise-shell casket and a red cornelian casket. These articles were produced by Inspector Phillips, and are the property of my master. A silver inkstand, a silver goblet, and a flask were also taken, and I believe that the total value of the things abstracted was between £30 and £40.The prisoner was remanded.Hannah Peace was brought before Mr. Vaughan, at Bow-street, London, on Wednesday, for the purpose of being formally remanded.It is definitely understood that Charles Peace will remain in Newgate until the authorities are prepared to proceed with the charge against him of the murder of Mr. Dyson at Banner Cross.The investigation of the police have revealed the fact of his participation in no fewer than forty-five burglaries, for the most part committed in London, but extending over an area which includes Hull, Manchester, Sheffield, Market Harborough, and Southsea.It would appear, however, that on the next examination the magistrate thought there was sufficient evidence to send the case for trial.COMMITTAL OF MRS. PEACE.At the Bow-street Police-court, on Wednesday, December 18th, 1878, before Mr. Vaughan, the woman who alleges that she is Hannah Peace, the wife of Charles Peace, the burglar, was brought up on remand charged with feloniously stealing and receiving a number of articles purloined by her alleged husband in the commission of burglaries in the neighbourhood of London, and in various parts of the country.Mr. Poland said that since the adjournment every effort had been made to ascertain whether the prisoner was or was not married. All the evidence went to show that the prisoner was not the wife of Peace. She was living with him as Mrs. Ward, the boy Willie was living there as his nephew; and Mrs. Thompson lived there as his wife, though she was not his wife, and there was evidence that Mr. Thompson used to speak of Mrs. Thompson as his wife.Emma, wife of William Gardner Shapley, said I live at Seymour Lodge, Peckham Rye. On Monday, the 23rd September, at eleven o’clock in the evening, I discovered that my house had been entered and a quantity of property taken away. A side door had been left open. I missed wearing apparel of the value of £25. I identify some pocket handkerchiefs, a night dress, a pair of slippers, two scarfs, and a pair of silk stockings, which are produced.Eliza Macdonald said: I live at 16, Kidbrooke Villas, Blackheath, and am housekeeper to Mrs. Sarah Bowcher. On the 10th August, at about ten o’clock at night, the house was fastened up in the usual way and I went to bed, leaving it safe. Next morning I found that the breakfast room window had been broken open and the house entered, and I missed a number of articles from the house. I identify the tablecloth and the silver pickle fork, now produced, as the property of my mistress. I also missed silver spoons and a butter knife.Mr. Frederick Hanley said: In September I was living at Arbutus Lodge, Denmark-hill. At that time I was at Brighton, when I heard that my house had been broken into and a number of things stolen. I returned in the ordinary course at the expiration of my holiday, and I found that two dessert knives and forks and a pair of cornelian bracelets had been stolen. From one of the drawers £30 in gold and silver had been taken, and I also missed a set of diamond studs, a diamond ring, and a variety of other rings, of the value, I should think, altogether of £50.Louisa Tweed, parlour-maid to Mr. Walter Robert Tidd, Upper Denmark-hill, Camberwell, said: On the 18th September, at a quarter to twelve at night, I discovered that Mr. Tidd’s bedroom window was open. It had been forced from the outside and the catch broken. I missed a plate-basket, with the plate, both silver and electro, five silver bangles, and a brooch, engraved with a crest and motto.A quantity of electro-plate was produced to the witness, which she identified as the property of her master. The silver articles stolen were all missing from the property recovered. Witness then identified six table spoons, twelve dessert spoons, twelve forks, eleven teaspoons, one cheese scoop, and a jam spoon.Inspector Henry Phillips said: The property belonging to Celia Korcher, which was identified on the last occasion, I found at Bolsover’s house, at Darnall, on the 9th November; also the clock belonging to Miss Dadson; and the caskets, identified by the witness Newman on the last occasion. The velvet table cover, also identified by Miss Newman, was found by Inspector Bonney. The property identified by Mr. Shapley was found at Bolsover’s house on the occasion of the second visit, on the 14th November, with the exception of a chemise, which was found at Nottingham. The table cloth shown to Macdonald was found at Darnall, on the 14th November; the pickle fork came from Nottingham. The property identified by Mr. Hawley was found at Darnall, on the 6th November. The plate identified by Louisa Tweed was found at Nottingham.Inspector John Bonney, R Division, said: On 5th November I went to Nottingham,No.11, North-street. I found there a small red box, which had the appearance of having been nailed down, but was open when I saw it. The house was tenanted by a Mrs. Gresham. I took all the things out of the box and brought them to London. The property which had been found at Nottingham was identified by the various witnesses. The red box he found at the house of a Mr. Brion, 22, Philip-road, Peckham Rye.Inspector John Pinder Twibell, of the Sheffield police, said: On Wednesday, November 6th, I assisted Phillips in searching Bolsover’s house, and saw the things found. After the search and removal of the property we went away for a short time, but afterwards returned. Bolsover was present the second time. I said to him, “We have found a large quantity of property in your house, which we have good reason to believe is stolen. There is a clock which Inspector Phillips identifies as part of the proceeds of a burglary at Blackheath. How do you account for this property being in your house?” He replied, “I know nothing about it.” I said, “It is here, and you will have to account for it.” The prisoner then said, “I brought the clock with me from Hull about five weeks ago.” I said, “How do you account for it? It is stolen.” She said, “A tall woman brought it to me. I do not know the woman. She said another woman had sent it for me. The other property was in my house nearly two years ago.”Mr. Poland: Has she given any information to you about her marriage?Witness: Yes; she said she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield, the year before her daughter was born. Her daughter is nineteen years of age. She could not fix the date other than in that way. I have not searched the register ofSt.George’s Church.William Bolsover,No.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, said: I am a miner by trade. I have known prisoner for about five years as Mrs. Peace. She was living with Charles Peace, who told me his real name was Charles Frederick Peace. They lived together as man and wife, and they had a young woman living with them, who was known as Jane Ann Peace, their daughter. There was also a lad named Willie Ward, who, I understood, was a son of Mrs. Peace by a former marriage. On the 8th January I married Jane Ann Peace, at Hull. Peace was not there at the time of the marriage. Mrs. Peace, previously to that, had kept a chandler’s shop at Hull. I did not know where Peace then was. He was not at Hull. On Whit Monday I came with my wife to London, and went toNo.4, Evelina-road, Nunhead. My wife was married in the name of Jane Ann Peace, not in the name of Ward. The man whom I had known in Sheffield as Peace I found was living as Mr. Thompson. He came to meet us at the King’s Cross Station with a woman (now in court), who passed for Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. Peace was living there in the name of Mrs. Ward, and Willie Ward was also there. On one Friday he gave me some money and I returned home. Willie Ward and the prisoner usually took their meals together, and I had mine with Mrs. Thompson. On 11th October Willie Ward came to my house at Darnall, bringing with him a concertina box and fiddle case. On the 12th the prisoner came to my house. I did not expect her. She had not written to say that she was coming. She told me that she had left a large box at the Sheffield station, and that a man whom she supposed was her husband had been apprehended. She stayed with me. On the Monday I and the lad Willie went to the Sheffield station, and fetched away the box, which was very heavy, on a truck. Willie and I brought it to the house. It was afterwards taken away by the police. Willie afterwards brought another trunk from the Darnall station to my house. After the opening of the boxes I saw things in the house which I had not seen until after the boxes were brought there. Amongst other things, a silk dress which has been shown to one of the witnesses was brought to my house. I had previously seen it at Hull in October.Eliza Bellfitt, wife of Robert Bellfitt, Great Freeman-street, Nottingham, said: On the 5th November I was living at 11, North-street, Nottingham. Inspector Bonny called upon me there. The woman known as Mrs. Thompson is a sister of mine. About the second week in October, Mrs. Thompson and the prisoner called at my house. Mrs. Thompson introduced the prisoner as Mrs. Ward. They had no boxes with them. They wanted to stay all night, but I had no accommodation for them. Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Thompson both said they were in trouble. When they left I accompanied them to the station. Mrs. Ward went to the station to get a large oval box, which was very heavy, and which they took away with them. The prisoner afterwards gave me a ticket relating to two other boxes belonging to Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. Thompson asked me to take these boxes to my house. In regard to the red box Mrs. Ward particularly requested that I should take care of it for her, as it was a family relic, and, moreover, contained her property. She promised to call for it the week afterwards. The other box—​the black box—​she said belonged to Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. Ward then went to Sheffield, taking the large oval box with her. After she had gone I took the two boxes from the cloak-room to my house. About a fortnight afterwards Mrs. Ward called again, and said she wanted some of the things out of the red box. She opened the box and took them out. She went away, again, leaving the box in my care. She took a paper parcel out of the red box and left it with me. It was sealed up. Mrs. Thompson left a table cover; and afterwards came and took her box away, and I kept the small red box and the parcel until the visit of Inspector Bonney on the 6thNov.Mr. Bonney took out some small pieces of silver—​I do not know what they were—​and some other things. About a week after that I received some letters from Mr. Brion. Mrs. Brion afterwards called, and I gave her the sealed paper parcel. In December, in consequence of a letter I received from Mrs. Thompson, I sent the small red box by rail to Mr. Brion’s.Cross-examined: I have only known my sister in the name of Mrs. Thompson—​never as Mrs. Ward. Her maiden name was Grey.Is your sister, Mrs. Thompson, in custody?She is not in custody.Where is she?She is in this court.Henry Forsey Brion said: I am a geographical engineer, and live atNo.22, Philip-road, Peckham Rye. On Sunday, the 19th of May, I called atNo.5, Evalina-road, Nunhead. I went into the breakfast-room. I there saw Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Ward, and Willie, whom afterwards I found to be William Ward. Mr. Thompson said to Mrs. Thompson, “Suey, will you fetch the child down for this gentleman to see,” alluding to a child which had been injured. As she was on the point of leaving the room, while Mrs. Ward and Willie were present, Mr. Thompson said, pointing to Mrs. Thompson, or as he called her Suey, “That is my wife.”The prisoner was then charged in the usual form by the learned magistrate, and in answer to it she said—“I am his wife, and whatever I did I did through complete compulsion.”The prisoner was then committed for trial.Mrs. Peace was at this time plunged into a vortex of troubles, and doubtless she bitterly regretted having allied herself with so heartless and unscrupulous a miscreant.Fain would we pass over in silence the troubles and perplexities with which she found herself surrounded, but it is requisite for the continuity of the story of “the Life of Charles Peace” that we are constrained to record all those events and circumstance which throw a light upon his dark doings and sinful career. His unhappy wife, as we have already intimated was committed to Newgate, and on Tuesday, January the 14th, 1879, Hannah Peace, aged fifty-eight, alleged to be the wife of Charles Peace, the notorious burglar, was indicted at the Old Bailey, London, before Mr. Commissioner Kerr, with feloniously receiving, in the county of Surrey, seven pocket-handkerchief, one nightdress, one pair of slippers, two scarves, and one pair of silk stockings, the property of the wife of Mr. William Gardner Shapley, Seymour Lodge, Peckham Rye, on the night of the 23rd September.Several other indictments charged her with stealing divers other articles of property; and she was further indicted for harbouring the man Peace.Mr. Douglas Straight and Mr. Tickell, instructed by Mr. Polland, solicitor to the Treasury, appeared for the prosecution; Mr. Forrest Fulton, instructed by Mr. Walter Beard, for the defence.Mr. Straight said the case was one of some peculiarity. If a woman were married to a man, the law assumed that any offence like the present with which the prisoner was indicted was committed under his coercion. There was, however, another element in this case which had to be considered—​viz., whether there was such independent action on the part of the prisoner, in respect to the disposal of the stolen property, as would lead to the conclusion that the prisoner was to be held criminally responsible. The prisoner was indicted in the name of Hannah Peace, and answered to the indictment in that name. The responsibility, he contended, was thrown upon her to make out the marriage. Mr. Straight proceeded to detail the circumstances of the robbery at Mr. Shapley’s, and the course adopted by the prisoner in removing all the property from the house in the Evalina-road, after her husband had been taken into custody, and he remarked that there could be very little doubt that the property so removed by the prisoner was that which was afterwards found. They had made every possible inquiry, and could find no trace of a marriage having taken place.Inspector Henry Phillips was then examined by Mr. Tickell, and said: In November last a man, named Charles Peace, was convicted of burglary and shooting at a constable with intent to murder. On the 5th November I went to a house,No.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, when I saw Mrs. Peace, a young man, named Bolsover, who is her son-in-law, and his wife. On entering the house I saw a quantity of property which I knew, from the description, to have been stolen. I was accompanied by Inspector Twibell, of Sheffield. I said that the property on the floor had been stolen, and proceeded to take charge of it. The prisoner said, in reference to a clock belonging to Mrs. Dadson, “I did not know that it was stolen. A tall woman gave it to me about five weeks ago.” I told her that Peace had been convicted, to which she replied, “He has been a great trouble to me. He seems to harass my life out wherever I go.” I afterwards searched the house, and in the top room I found a silk dress, a set of studs, identified by Mr. Wood, two bracelets, some knives and forks, and other property, belonging to Mr. Hanley, Mr. Perry, Mr. Allen, Mr. Andred, and others. Inspector Twibell was about to open a box, when the prisoner said, “I know what you want; I will give it you.” She thereupon handed to the officer a parcel containing about forty pieces of plate, the majority of which has been identified. The prisoner was taken before the magistrates, and afterwards brought to London. On the 14th of November I again visited the house, when I found two sealskin jackets and the property identified by Mrs. Shapley. On the first occasion she gave the name of Hannah Peace, and said that she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield, or rather her son said so in her presence. I brought one of the boxes up to London, and showed it to a witness named Pickering, and to Mrs. Bellfitt, of Nottingham. When she said she had been married, I asked her for her certificate, which she said the “old man” had burned some time before.Evidence was then given as to the robberies that had taken place and in recognition of stolen property.Mr. Samuel Smith, builder, Peckham, said that in May, a Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, a Mrs. Ward, and a boy, who was called Willie Ward, called upon him in reference to the letting of the house,No.5, Evalina-road, Peckham. Having satisfied himself of the respectability of these people by going to their residence at Greenwich, he let the house to them. In October, he found that the house had been deserted, and entering by the back way he took possession.Mr. Henry Forsey Brion, geographical engineer and constructor of relievo maps, living at 22, Philip-road, Peckham, said that, on the 19th of May last he went to Peace’s house in the Evalina-road. In the breakfast room he saw Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and the former, pointing to the latter, said “That is my wife.” The prisoner, who was present, made no remark. Between the months of May and August he constantly visited at the house. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson appeared to be living as man and wife. In consequence of a communication he received from Peace, in the name of John Ward, witness on the 1st of November called at Newgate to see the writer of the letter, in whom he at once recognised Mr. Thompson. He was previously asked if he knew anything of the prisoner, and declared that he knew neither the handwriting nor the name in the letter. Between May and August they came to witness’s house on one occasion. The woman known as Mrs. Thompson was introduced as the wife of Mr. Thompson, and Mrs. Ward was known by that name. In consequence of a communication, witness wrote to a Mrs. Bellfitt at Nottingham, and received from her a small red box.Robert Mapleson, warder in Newgate, deposed to the interview in Newgate between Mr. Brion and Peace.Thomas Pickering, porter, in the service of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company, at the Nunhead Station, deposed to taking three boxes to the station on the night of the 11th October, by the direction of the prisoner.Eliza Bellfitt, wife of Robert Bellfitt, Great Freeman-street, Nottingham, said that in November last she was living atNo.11, North-street, in that town. She recollected the visit of Inspector Bonney on the 6th November. Previously to that Mrs. Thompson, who was her sister, had come to her premises accompanied by the prisoner.The witness was here admonished by the prisoner (who stood up for a moment for the purpose of being identified) to speak the truth.Examination continued: They arrived between one and two o’clock in the morning, Mrs. Thompson introduced the prisoner as Mrs. Ward, and asked if they could stay all night, but they could not be accommodated. They said they were in trouble, but did not mention the nature of it. They stayed until four or five o’clock in the morning, and took their departure by an early train. Witness accompanied them to the station, where Mrs. Ward, having obtained a large box, gave her a ticket relating to two others. The box was put into the van. Witness had since seen the box at Bow-street; it was like the one which the prisoner had with her on the night in question. Prisoner asked that the boxes might be taken to the house of witness, who complied. One of them was a small red box, which the prisoner said was a family relic, and she would call for it. Mrs. Ward went to Sheffield, and witness removed the two boxes from the cloak room. About a fortnight afterwards Mrs. Ward returned, and said she wanted some of the things out of the red box, which, when she went away, she again left in the care of witness. There was also a paper parcel, of which she was requested to take charge. She afterwards gave up the red box and the parcel to Inspector Bonney, who took out some plate and a tablecloth. She subsequently received a letter from Mr. Brion, and on the 25th November handed the parcel to Mrs. Brion. On the 3rd December, in consequence of another letter she received, she took the small red box to the house of Mrs. Brion, 22, Philip-road.Mr. Fulton: What has become of Mrs. Thompson? Is she within the precincts of the court?She is not, I think.How often have you seen her since this woman was first given in charge for receiving these goods?Once.By Mr. Straight: I knew her when she was living with Peace under the name of Thompson.Mrs. Alice Brion, the wife of a former witness, said: On the 25th November I went to the house of Mrs. Bellfitt. I received the parcel produced and handed it to the police.Mr. Fulton: Is Mrs. Thompson living with you?Witness: Mrs. Thompson has been living with me.Since Peace was taken into custody?She has been.But did you know, previously to that, that Mrs. Thompson had been living with Peace as his wife?I understood she was Mrs. Thompson.Have you ever seen this unfortunate woman on any occasion?Whom do you mean?I mean the prisoner. Let her stand up.Yes, on many occasions.What position did she occupy in the house?The position of a lodger upstairs. She had two rooms besides a back kitchen.And Mr. and Mrs. Thompson occupied the rest of the house as man and wife?That is so.Wm. Bolsover, 4, Hazel-road, Darnall, near Sheffield, said: I knew the prisoner when she was living at Darnall with Peace and her daughter. I was married to the latter at Hull on 8th January, 1878. Peace was not present. On Whit Monday I came to London, and stayed with Peace at the house in Evalina-road for eight or nine days. Peace was living with a woman who was known as Mrs. Thompson, in the name of Thompson. Mrs. Ward and the boy Willie had their meals alone, and Mr. and Mrs. Thompson in another part of the house. On the 12th October the prisoner came to my house and stated that she saw by the papers that a man whom she imagined to be her husband had been taken into custody. I took her in, and afterwards fetched her luggage from Sheffield.Cross-examined: I have known Mr. and Mrs. Peace for some time, and believed them to be man and wife. Their daughter had, I understood, lived with them from infancy.John P. Twibell, police inspector, Sheffield, said he assisted Philips in searching Bolsover’s house. Between the 6th of November and the 14th witness was told by the prisoner that she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield, in the name of Hannah Ward to Charles Peace, the year before her daughter was born. She was unable to fix the date in any other way. The witnesses of the marriage were, she said, John and Sarah Clarke, who are both dead.This was the case for the prosecution.Mr. Fulton submitted that there was no case to go to the jury. Peace and the prisoner had, it was evident, far many years lived together as man and wife, and their daughter was married in the name of Peace. He further pointed out that the prisoner had given minute facts in reference to her marriage, and also gave the names of the witnesses. These being dead, the onus was, he contended, upon the prosecution to make some inquiries.Mr. Commissioner Kerr then retired to consult with Sir Henry Hawkins, whose opinion, he announced on returning into court, very closely agreed with his own,viz., that a marriage in this case might be assumed. That was to say, there was very much stronger presumptive evidence of a marriage between this woman and the man Peace than there was to the contrary.After some discussion the jury resolved to give the prisoner the benefit of the doubt, and accordingly found that she is the wife of Peace.No further contention being made on behalf of the prosecution, the jury, by the direction of the learned Commissioner, returned a verdict of acquittal against the prisoner on all counts.Mrs. Peace had passed through a terrible ordeal. There were many who averred that she had had a narrow escape, but in justice to this unhappy woman it is but fair to state that there was in reality no legal evidence to warrant the jury in finding a verdict of guilty.It is quite true that she had been connected with the most determined and cunning burglar of the day, but it does not necessarily follow that she was his accomplice.On the contrary, the whole tenour of his lawless course would indicate that both the women were mere cyphers in his establishment in the Evalina-road.No doubt they were cognisant of the fact that he was a burglar, but they were powerless. Any attempt to turn him from his sinful course would have brought down upon them the unmeasured wrath of their tyrannical lord and master.After Mrs. Peace’s acquittal she lost no time in taking her departure from the metropolis.She arrived in Sheffield on the Tuesday night by the 8.44 Great Northern express, and proceeded to Darnall at 9.5.

After Peace’s arrest, trial, and conviction, the house in the Evalina-road was no longer a home for his miserable partner.

Mrs. Peace and the woman Thompson could not agree, and this, in addition to other circumstances, caused Mrs. Peace to make a precipitate retreat from the neighbourhood of Peckham, and Mrs. Thompson was left to pursue her own erratic course.

There was no help for this. It was not at all likely that the two women would agree in the absence of their master.

Mrs. Peace left Peckham, and at once proceeded to Hull, and from thence to Sheffield. But the police were actively engaged in ferreting out every scrap of information which might lead to the detection of other crimes committed by our hero.

As a natural consequence his miserable partner was suspected, and after some searching inquiries she was arrested and taken before the sitting magistrates at Sheffield, as will be seen from the following report:—

At the Sheffield Town Hall, yesterday, before the Mayor (Ald. Mappin) and W. E. Laycock,Esq., Hannah Peace, a respectably-dressed woman, 58 years of age, ofNo.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, the wife of Charles Peace, picture-frame dealer, who murdered Mr. Arthur Dyson, engineer, at Banner Cross-terrace, on the 29th November, 1876, was brought up under circumstances which are at present exciting unusual interest.

The charge against her was that of being an accomplice in the recent Blackheath burglaries, on the ground that certain articles of property found at the house where she is living had been identified as part of the booty obtained at Blackheath.

Prisoner seems a fairly respectable, well-dressed woman, and appeared to feel her position acutely, looking very nervous and uneasy, and occasionally sobbing. She was accommodated with a seat in the dock.

The property includes several parcels of jewellery, a silk dress, two watches, and a patent clock. Mrs. Peace was charged with stealing the property, or of having received it knowing it to have been stolen. A number of persons crowded into the court during the few minutes the case was being heard.

The Chief Constable said: The prisoner has been apprehended on suspicion of having stolen property or with having received it knowing it to have been stolen. I shall put a witness in the box, and after his examination I shall have to ask for a remand for a week.

Henry Phillips said: I am Inspector of the Metropolitan police, attached to the Criminal Investigation Department, and stationed at Greenwich. There have recently been a considerable number of burglaries committed in the neighbourhood of Greenwich and Blackheath. At one of the houses that was burglariously broken into information was given as to a silk dress though I cannot swear to the colour. A little mantelpiece clock was stolen bearing the inscription “Waterbury Clock Company. PatentedSept.11, 1877,” and the stolen clock in every respect corresponds, I believe, with this clock. Some other houses were broken into, and property, corresponding with some of that now produced, was stolen. I believe if a remand is granted I shall be able to get further evidence.

Mr. Robinson (to prisoner): Do you wish to ask any questions now?

Prisoner (sobbing): I have not received them knowing them to have been stolen; no, I have not.

Inspector Twibell said: I went with the last witness to the house of the prisoner, who is living at Attercliffe, yesterday. I found in her house and in her possession the property now produced.

The Bench: All of it?

The Chief Constable: Yes, and a great deal more.

Mr. Robinson again asked the prisoner if she had any questions to ask.

Prisoner: I do say that I did not know they had been stolen.

The Chief Constable (to the Bench): I have now to ask that the prisoner may be remanded for a week.

The prisoner was accordingly remanded for a week.

Early in the afternoon Inspector Phillips, taking with him the stolen property, returned to London.

From inquiries made by our reporter it has been ascertained that Hannah Peace has resided for a considerable period at Hull.

About a month ago, however, she came to Darnall, to be present at the confinement of her daughter, who resides with her husband at 4, Hazel-road, Britannia-road.

Although the house is stated to be in the road, it is really in a court some distance from the thoroughfare—​the middle one of a row of seven.

Mrs. Peace brought with her to Sheffield a large box, which she stated contained her wearing apparel and a few “odds and ends.”

She gave it out that she had been obliged to break her Hull home up on account of the persistent attentions of the police, who “dogged” her in every direction, and made her life a burden.

The “odds and ends” she brought with her are likely to get her into serious trouble unless she can explain how they included goods which originally belonged to persons in the neighbourhood of Blackheath.

During the time Mrs. Peace has been resident at her daughter’s house she has not, as many persons supposed, kept within doors so as to avoid being noticed. On the contrary, she has moved about and freely conversed with her neighbours, who were greatly surprised when the police apprehended her.

The opinion of the neighbours is generally favourable to Mrs. Peace. People are loth to believe that she was the person to connive at the crime with which she is at present charged. They all bear testimony to her good character so far as they could tell.

The daughter and her husband appear respectable people, and have resided at their present address for several years.

After further examination at Sheffield, Mrs. Peace was ultimately sent to London, and on Saturday,Dec.7th, 1878, she appeared at Bow-street, before Mr. Flowers.

The following is a report of her first examination in London:—

Hannah Peace, wife of Charles Peace, the Blackheath burglar, now undergoing penal servitude for the attempt on the life of a police-constable while in the execution of his duty, was brought up on remand granted by the justices of Sheffield, charged with stealing or otherwise receiving a clock the property of Mrs. Dadson, of 5, Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath, part of the proceeds of a burglary committed on the 2nd of August. The clock produced in court, was found by the inspector at Darnall, near Sheffield.

Henry Phillips, inspector of the R Division of the Greenwich police, having been duly sworn, said the prisoner, Hannah Peace, had been remanded by the justices at Sheffield several times for her supposed connection with the burglaries committed in Blackheath by her husband, and was, on Friday, finally remanded to London. A small mantel-piece clock had been stolen on the 2nd of August last, from the house of Mrs. Dadson, of 5, Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath, and corresponded in all respects with one found at prisoner’s house, on the 7th November at Darnall, near Sheffield, when he searched it in company with Inspector Twibell. The depositions producted were taken at Sheffield.

Miss Elizabeth Marian Collison Dadson, daughter of Mrs. Mary Campbell Dadson, widow, ofNo.5, Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath, deposed that the clock produced was her mother’s property, and was first missed on the morning of the 3rd of August. The house had been forcibly entered on the night previous—​August 2nd.

Mr. Flowers: I shall remand the case till this day week. Prisoner, have you anything to say?

Mrs. Peace, who had been accommodated with a seat during the two or three minutes she was in court, then rose, and in a trembling voice, said: I did not steal the clock, nor did I know that it was stolen. I have no question to ask.

She was then removed from the dock.

There can be but little doubt as to her being a woman “more sinned against than sinning,” but the fact of her being the wife of Charles Peace brought her under the ban of the law, and for a long time she was in the depths of trouble, not very well knowing the nature of the charges that were to be brought against her.

It is hardly possible to estimate the anxiety and sufferings the guilty acts of a man like Peace entail upon innocent persons.

When we say innocent persons, we include his unhappy wife, for, despite the array of evidence brought against her, the police failed to prove her complicity in the crimes committed by her husband.

It will be seen by the following report of her second examination that the learned gentleman engaged for the prosecution strove to prove that the ill-fated Mrs. Peace had been guilty of acts which were in themselves most suspicious, if not absolutely criminating.

BLACKHEATH BURGLARIES.—​THE EXAMINATION OF MRS. PEACE.

At the Bow-street Police-court, London, on Saturday, before Mr. Vaughan, Hannah Peace, aged fifty-eight, believed to be the wife of the celebrated Charles Peace, burglar and alleged murderer, was brought up in custody on remand, charged with stealing and receiving a clock and a quantity of other articles, which it is alleged are the proceeds of numerous burglaries committed by her supposed husband.

Mr. Poland, barrister, instructed by Mr. Pollard, the solicitor to the Treasury, appeared for the prosecution. Mr. Walter Beard (Messrs. Beard and Son, solicitors, Basinghall-street, E.C.) was instructed for the defence.

Mr. Poland, in proceeding to open the case on behalf of the prosecution, said in this case the prisoner is charged before you in the name of Hannah Peace with stealing and receiving a quantity of property, the proceeds of a number of burglaries which have been committed in various parts of London. It appears that a man, who was tried at the last sessions at the Central Criminal Court by the name of John Ward, alias Charles Peace, was sentenced to penal servitude for life for shooting at a constable, with intent to murder him, on the 10th of October last; and he was then in the act of committing a burglary at Blackheath. Now, sir, there is no question whatever that we are in a condition to show that that man undoubtedly was a professional burglar; that he was in the habit of going about to different parts of London, particularly Blackheath, committing burglaries, and taking from houses where these offences were committed valuable property, and disposing of it for his own advantage. The police, of course, endeavoured to find out what had become of the property, and where this man had been living, and they somehow discovered that he had been living at No. 5, East-terrace, Evalina-road, Nunhead, which is in the parish of Peckham, since May, 1878, in the name of John Thompson, and with a woman—​a woman, I think, of about thirty years of age—​who lived with him as Mrs. Thompson. In the same house the prisoner also lived, and she was then passing, I believe, by the name of Mrs. Ward; and there was also a young man living there who was called Willie Ward, and he was stated to be the son of the prisoner, or, as she was called, Mrs. Ward. This man (Peace) having been arrested on the 10th October, of course he did not go home that night or the following morning. The persons living in that house must have known that he had been arrested, and the prisoner appears on that day to have removed three boxes, with the assistance of a railway porter, to the Nunhead station, and then to the King’s-cross station, and these boxes were taken down to Nottingham. At Nottingham she went, I believe, to a house occupied by some relations of the woman who was passing as the wife of this man, but they, I think, declined to allow these boxes to be brought there, and we find that on the following day, the 12th October, the prisoner went with some portion of the property toNo.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, which is three miles from Sheffield. At that place her son-in-law and daughter lived, a man of the name of John Bolsover, who is a working collier. OnNov.6th the police went to Bolsover’s house at Darnall, and searched the place, and there found a quantity of property, which I shall be able to show you was the proceeds of some of these burglaries. On the 14th of November they made a further search, and found other property. The prisoner, when she was taken into custody, stated that she had received various things, but she did not know that they were stolen. She admitted that she had removed the things, and she stated also that she was the wife of the man who had been living atNo.5, East-terrace, Evalinaroad.No.82.When she stated that she was his wife, she was at once asked where she was married, but up to the present time she had not stated where the ceremony was performed.

Illustration: Title or descriptionTHE WARDER SHOWING PEACE HOW TO PICK OAKUM.

THE WARDER SHOWING PEACE HOW TO PICK OAKUM.

The prisoner: Yes, sir, I have.

Mr. Poland: According to my instructions she has not stated to the police where she was married. She has given no date; she has produced no certificate. I think she stated that the certificate has been burned. So far as I am at present in a condition to deal with the case from the inquiries made by the police, they cannot ascertain that she is married. What I propose to do, with your sanction, is to prove the arrest and search of the premises, the taking of the house at Peckham, the removal of the boxes, and the identity of some of the property. Then I shall be able to show you on a future occasion by calling other witnesses that there were found at the cottage to which these boxes were removed near Sheffield, the proceeds of some ten or twelve burglaries.

Inspector Phillips then said, in answer to questions proposed by Mr. Poland: I am one of the inspectors of the Metropolitan police force. On the 10th October, a man was captured at Blackheath, in the act of committing a burglary. Ultimately he gave the name of John Ward, and he was committed for trial as John Ward for shooting at a policeman and for burglary at a house inSt.John’s Park, Blackheath. OnNov.5th I went down to Sheffield, and on the 6th I went to Darnall, to the houseNo.4, Hazel-road. That is about three miles from Sheffield. John Bolsover, a labourer and working collier, lives there. His wife was there on the occasion when I called, and also the prisoner.

Mr. Poland: Was it stated that Mrs. Bolsover was the daughter of the prisoner?

The witness: Yes.

What name was the prisoner living there in?

Mrs. Ward, I think. She was generally known there, I believe, as Mrs. Peace; but I am not quite clear upon the matter.

Was there anybody else in the house?

There was a boy, who was called Willie. He is about twenty years of age.

Did you understand that he was the son of the prisoner?

Yes. He addressed her as “mother.”

You saw the prisoner, and what did you say to her?

I had some conversation with her first without telling her who I was. I looked round the room and saw a clock standing upon the chest of drawers, which I knew from the description. I told her I knew the clock to have been stolen from Blackheath. The prisoner replied, “I did not know it was stolen. A tall woman gave it to me five weeks ago.” I then proceeded upstairs, and said I would make further search.

Before that time had you said anything to her as to who she was?

I said, “Do you know where your husband is. Has he been here?” She replied, “No.” Then I said, “I will tell you where he is. He is in Newgate Prison, on a charge of burglary and shooting at a constable.” She said, “Oh dear! What trouble that man has brought me into, to be sure! He seems to be my ruin everywhere I go.” I then searched the top room in company with another officer, and found a large quantity of property.

What did you do in reference to this property?

I took it into my possession. After I had got the prisoner to leave the house I told her she would be charged with stealing this property, and receiving it knowing it to have been feloniously procured.

Mr. Poland: Did she say anything in your presence as to whether she was Peace’s wife?

Witness: I have a slight recollection of asking her for her marriage certificate and of her saying that she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield. I said, “Have you got a marriage certificate to show me?” She said, “No I have not; the old man burned it.”

Mr. Samuel Smith, builder, said: I live at 68, Rhyde Villas,St.Mary’s-road, Peckham. About the latter end of May I was at East-terrace, Evelina-road, Peckham. I remember a party of four persons calling there. The prisoner was one of them. I knew her as Mrs. Ward. She gave that name. Two of the other persons were known as Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and the other one of the party was a young man they called Willie. The man known as Mr. Thompson spoke to me, and asked to look over the house, but it was too late in the evening for that. He asked me the rent, which I told him was £30 a year; and subsequently I let the premises to him. The woman I knew as Mrs. Thompson was a younger woman than the prisoner; a little over thirty I should think.

I believe you asked Mr. Thompson on that occasion for some reference?

I did, and he then asked me to go and see where he was living in Greenwich, which I did.

Where was he living at Greenwich? Do you recollect?

I do not recollect the name of the street. The house at Greenwich was a respectable house, and I saw prisoner there. The place was respectably furnished, and that satisfied me. I went to the house many times afterwards, and I know from having visited at the place that the man and woman known as Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and the woman known as Mrs. Ward, and the boy Willie, were living there. Rent was paid me up to Michaelmas. I have got possession of the house now. I heard some time after Thompson had disappeared that a man, who was believed to be him, had been taken into custody.

Thomas Pickering, a porter employed at the Nunhead station on the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, said: On the 11th October, in consequence of a message I received from another porter, I went toNo.5, East-terrace, Evelina-road, which is about three minutes’ walk from the Nunhead station. When I got to the house I saw an old lady. I could not swear that the prisoner was the lady. It would be a person of about the same age. She asked me to take three boxes to the Nunhead station and label them for King’s Cross. I went into the house, got the boxes and put them on my barrow. The old lady told me to send the boxes by the five minutes to six train and she would be there. I took them to the station and labelled them for the Great Northern Railway terminus at King’s Cross. I did not notice any name or address upon the boxes. After I had taken them to the station the old lady came. She went away by the five minutes to six train that evening.

Examination continued: I have seen a box at the Bow-street Police-station. It resembles the box I brought from the house in the Evelina-road, to the Nunhead station. The other two boxes were similar. I did not know the old lady before, and have not seen her since until to-day.

Selina Karcher said: I am housekeeper and lady’s maid to Mrs. Wood, Sunnyside, Leigham Court-road, Streatham. I was so engaged on the 20th August. When I went to bed on that date the house was all safe, but next morning, when I came down, I found that the house had been broken into. From the house I missed a number of things, including a plate basket, a silk dress trimmed with velvet, belonging to my mistress, Mrs. Kathleen, the wife of Mr. Mark Wood. The value of the silver missed was about £30, and the silk and velvet dress, which was a very valuable one, was also worth £30.

Elizabeth Mary Ann Collinson Dadson was next called, and reiterated her statement in reference to the clock taken from Kidbrook-terrace, Blackheath.

Louisa Newman said: I live at Richmond Lodge, Honor Oak-road, Forest Hill, and I am cook in the service of Mr. Charles Perry. On the 5th of August the placa was secured for the night, with the exception of the back drawing-room window, which was accidentally left unfastened. Next morning I went into the back drawing-room at about half-past eleven, and found that there were missing several ornaments, amongst other things a tortoise-shell casket and a red cornelian casket. These articles were produced by Inspector Phillips, and are the property of my master. A silver inkstand, a silver goblet, and a flask were also taken, and I believe that the total value of the things abstracted was between £30 and £40.

The prisoner was remanded.

Hannah Peace was brought before Mr. Vaughan, at Bow-street, London, on Wednesday, for the purpose of being formally remanded.

It is definitely understood that Charles Peace will remain in Newgate until the authorities are prepared to proceed with the charge against him of the murder of Mr. Dyson at Banner Cross.

The investigation of the police have revealed the fact of his participation in no fewer than forty-five burglaries, for the most part committed in London, but extending over an area which includes Hull, Manchester, Sheffield, Market Harborough, and Southsea.

It would appear, however, that on the next examination the magistrate thought there was sufficient evidence to send the case for trial.

COMMITTAL OF MRS. PEACE.

At the Bow-street Police-court, on Wednesday, December 18th, 1878, before Mr. Vaughan, the woman who alleges that she is Hannah Peace, the wife of Charles Peace, the burglar, was brought up on remand charged with feloniously stealing and receiving a number of articles purloined by her alleged husband in the commission of burglaries in the neighbourhood of London, and in various parts of the country.

Mr. Poland said that since the adjournment every effort had been made to ascertain whether the prisoner was or was not married. All the evidence went to show that the prisoner was not the wife of Peace. She was living with him as Mrs. Ward, the boy Willie was living there as his nephew; and Mrs. Thompson lived there as his wife, though she was not his wife, and there was evidence that Mr. Thompson used to speak of Mrs. Thompson as his wife.

Emma, wife of William Gardner Shapley, said I live at Seymour Lodge, Peckham Rye. On Monday, the 23rd September, at eleven o’clock in the evening, I discovered that my house had been entered and a quantity of property taken away. A side door had been left open. I missed wearing apparel of the value of £25. I identify some pocket handkerchiefs, a night dress, a pair of slippers, two scarfs, and a pair of silk stockings, which are produced.

Eliza Macdonald said: I live at 16, Kidbrooke Villas, Blackheath, and am housekeeper to Mrs. Sarah Bowcher. On the 10th August, at about ten o’clock at night, the house was fastened up in the usual way and I went to bed, leaving it safe. Next morning I found that the breakfast room window had been broken open and the house entered, and I missed a number of articles from the house. I identify the tablecloth and the silver pickle fork, now produced, as the property of my mistress. I also missed silver spoons and a butter knife.

Mr. Frederick Hanley said: In September I was living at Arbutus Lodge, Denmark-hill. At that time I was at Brighton, when I heard that my house had been broken into and a number of things stolen. I returned in the ordinary course at the expiration of my holiday, and I found that two dessert knives and forks and a pair of cornelian bracelets had been stolen. From one of the drawers £30 in gold and silver had been taken, and I also missed a set of diamond studs, a diamond ring, and a variety of other rings, of the value, I should think, altogether of £50.

Louisa Tweed, parlour-maid to Mr. Walter Robert Tidd, Upper Denmark-hill, Camberwell, said: On the 18th September, at a quarter to twelve at night, I discovered that Mr. Tidd’s bedroom window was open. It had been forced from the outside and the catch broken. I missed a plate-basket, with the plate, both silver and electro, five silver bangles, and a brooch, engraved with a crest and motto.

A quantity of electro-plate was produced to the witness, which she identified as the property of her master. The silver articles stolen were all missing from the property recovered. Witness then identified six table spoons, twelve dessert spoons, twelve forks, eleven teaspoons, one cheese scoop, and a jam spoon.

Inspector Henry Phillips said: The property belonging to Celia Korcher, which was identified on the last occasion, I found at Bolsover’s house, at Darnall, on the 9th November; also the clock belonging to Miss Dadson; and the caskets, identified by the witness Newman on the last occasion. The velvet table cover, also identified by Miss Newman, was found by Inspector Bonney. The property identified by Mr. Shapley was found at Bolsover’s house on the occasion of the second visit, on the 14th November, with the exception of a chemise, which was found at Nottingham. The table cloth shown to Macdonald was found at Darnall, on the 14th November; the pickle fork came from Nottingham. The property identified by Mr. Hawley was found at Darnall, on the 6th November. The plate identified by Louisa Tweed was found at Nottingham.

Inspector John Bonney, R Division, said: On 5th November I went to Nottingham,No.11, North-street. I found there a small red box, which had the appearance of having been nailed down, but was open when I saw it. The house was tenanted by a Mrs. Gresham. I took all the things out of the box and brought them to London. The property which had been found at Nottingham was identified by the various witnesses. The red box he found at the house of a Mr. Brion, 22, Philip-road, Peckham Rye.

Inspector John Pinder Twibell, of the Sheffield police, said: On Wednesday, November 6th, I assisted Phillips in searching Bolsover’s house, and saw the things found. After the search and removal of the property we went away for a short time, but afterwards returned. Bolsover was present the second time. I said to him, “We have found a large quantity of property in your house, which we have good reason to believe is stolen. There is a clock which Inspector Phillips identifies as part of the proceeds of a burglary at Blackheath. How do you account for this property being in your house?” He replied, “I know nothing about it.” I said, “It is here, and you will have to account for it.” The prisoner then said, “I brought the clock with me from Hull about five weeks ago.” I said, “How do you account for it? It is stolen.” She said, “A tall woman brought it to me. I do not know the woman. She said another woman had sent it for me. The other property was in my house nearly two years ago.”

Mr. Poland: Has she given any information to you about her marriage?

Witness: Yes; she said she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield, the year before her daughter was born. Her daughter is nineteen years of age. She could not fix the date other than in that way. I have not searched the register ofSt.George’s Church.

William Bolsover,No.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, said: I am a miner by trade. I have known prisoner for about five years as Mrs. Peace. She was living with Charles Peace, who told me his real name was Charles Frederick Peace. They lived together as man and wife, and they had a young woman living with them, who was known as Jane Ann Peace, their daughter. There was also a lad named Willie Ward, who, I understood, was a son of Mrs. Peace by a former marriage. On the 8th January I married Jane Ann Peace, at Hull. Peace was not there at the time of the marriage. Mrs. Peace, previously to that, had kept a chandler’s shop at Hull. I did not know where Peace then was. He was not at Hull. On Whit Monday I came with my wife to London, and went toNo.4, Evelina-road, Nunhead. My wife was married in the name of Jane Ann Peace, not in the name of Ward. The man whom I had known in Sheffield as Peace I found was living as Mr. Thompson. He came to meet us at the King’s Cross Station with a woman (now in court), who passed for Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. Peace was living there in the name of Mrs. Ward, and Willie Ward was also there. On one Friday he gave me some money and I returned home. Willie Ward and the prisoner usually took their meals together, and I had mine with Mrs. Thompson. On 11th October Willie Ward came to my house at Darnall, bringing with him a concertina box and fiddle case. On the 12th the prisoner came to my house. I did not expect her. She had not written to say that she was coming. She told me that she had left a large box at the Sheffield station, and that a man whom she supposed was her husband had been apprehended. She stayed with me. On the Monday I and the lad Willie went to the Sheffield station, and fetched away the box, which was very heavy, on a truck. Willie and I brought it to the house. It was afterwards taken away by the police. Willie afterwards brought another trunk from the Darnall station to my house. After the opening of the boxes I saw things in the house which I had not seen until after the boxes were brought there. Amongst other things, a silk dress which has been shown to one of the witnesses was brought to my house. I had previously seen it at Hull in October.

Eliza Bellfitt, wife of Robert Bellfitt, Great Freeman-street, Nottingham, said: On the 5th November I was living at 11, North-street, Nottingham. Inspector Bonny called upon me there. The woman known as Mrs. Thompson is a sister of mine. About the second week in October, Mrs. Thompson and the prisoner called at my house. Mrs. Thompson introduced the prisoner as Mrs. Ward. They had no boxes with them. They wanted to stay all night, but I had no accommodation for them. Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Thompson both said they were in trouble. When they left I accompanied them to the station. Mrs. Ward went to the station to get a large oval box, which was very heavy, and which they took away with them. The prisoner afterwards gave me a ticket relating to two other boxes belonging to Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. Thompson asked me to take these boxes to my house. In regard to the red box Mrs. Ward particularly requested that I should take care of it for her, as it was a family relic, and, moreover, contained her property. She promised to call for it the week afterwards. The other box—​the black box—​she said belonged to Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. Ward then went to Sheffield, taking the large oval box with her. After she had gone I took the two boxes from the cloak-room to my house. About a fortnight afterwards Mrs. Ward called again, and said she wanted some of the things out of the red box. She opened the box and took them out. She went away, again, leaving the box in my care. She took a paper parcel out of the red box and left it with me. It was sealed up. Mrs. Thompson left a table cover; and afterwards came and took her box away, and I kept the small red box and the parcel until the visit of Inspector Bonney on the 6thNov.Mr. Bonney took out some small pieces of silver—​I do not know what they were—​and some other things. About a week after that I received some letters from Mr. Brion. Mrs. Brion afterwards called, and I gave her the sealed paper parcel. In December, in consequence of a letter I received from Mrs. Thompson, I sent the small red box by rail to Mr. Brion’s.

Cross-examined: I have only known my sister in the name of Mrs. Thompson—​never as Mrs. Ward. Her maiden name was Grey.

Is your sister, Mrs. Thompson, in custody?

She is not in custody.

Where is she?

She is in this court.

Henry Forsey Brion said: I am a geographical engineer, and live atNo.22, Philip-road, Peckham Rye. On Sunday, the 19th of May, I called atNo.5, Evalina-road, Nunhead. I went into the breakfast-room. I there saw Mr. Thompson, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Ward, and Willie, whom afterwards I found to be William Ward. Mr. Thompson said to Mrs. Thompson, “Suey, will you fetch the child down for this gentleman to see,” alluding to a child which had been injured. As she was on the point of leaving the room, while Mrs. Ward and Willie were present, Mr. Thompson said, pointing to Mrs. Thompson, or as he called her Suey, “That is my wife.”

The prisoner was then charged in the usual form by the learned magistrate, and in answer to it she said—

“I am his wife, and whatever I did I did through complete compulsion.”

The prisoner was then committed for trial.

Mrs. Peace was at this time plunged into a vortex of troubles, and doubtless she bitterly regretted having allied herself with so heartless and unscrupulous a miscreant.

Fain would we pass over in silence the troubles and perplexities with which she found herself surrounded, but it is requisite for the continuity of the story of “the Life of Charles Peace” that we are constrained to record all those events and circumstance which throw a light upon his dark doings and sinful career. His unhappy wife, as we have already intimated was committed to Newgate, and on Tuesday, January the 14th, 1879, Hannah Peace, aged fifty-eight, alleged to be the wife of Charles Peace, the notorious burglar, was indicted at the Old Bailey, London, before Mr. Commissioner Kerr, with feloniously receiving, in the county of Surrey, seven pocket-handkerchief, one nightdress, one pair of slippers, two scarves, and one pair of silk stockings, the property of the wife of Mr. William Gardner Shapley, Seymour Lodge, Peckham Rye, on the night of the 23rd September.

Several other indictments charged her with stealing divers other articles of property; and she was further indicted for harbouring the man Peace.

Mr. Douglas Straight and Mr. Tickell, instructed by Mr. Polland, solicitor to the Treasury, appeared for the prosecution; Mr. Forrest Fulton, instructed by Mr. Walter Beard, for the defence.

Mr. Straight said the case was one of some peculiarity. If a woman were married to a man, the law assumed that any offence like the present with which the prisoner was indicted was committed under his coercion. There was, however, another element in this case which had to be considered—​viz., whether there was such independent action on the part of the prisoner, in respect to the disposal of the stolen property, as would lead to the conclusion that the prisoner was to be held criminally responsible. The prisoner was indicted in the name of Hannah Peace, and answered to the indictment in that name. The responsibility, he contended, was thrown upon her to make out the marriage. Mr. Straight proceeded to detail the circumstances of the robbery at Mr. Shapley’s, and the course adopted by the prisoner in removing all the property from the house in the Evalina-road, after her husband had been taken into custody, and he remarked that there could be very little doubt that the property so removed by the prisoner was that which was afterwards found. They had made every possible inquiry, and could find no trace of a marriage having taken place.

Inspector Henry Phillips was then examined by Mr. Tickell, and said: In November last a man, named Charles Peace, was convicted of burglary and shooting at a constable with intent to murder. On the 5th November I went to a house,No.4, Hazel-road, Darnall, when I saw Mrs. Peace, a young man, named Bolsover, who is her son-in-law, and his wife. On entering the house I saw a quantity of property which I knew, from the description, to have been stolen. I was accompanied by Inspector Twibell, of Sheffield. I said that the property on the floor had been stolen, and proceeded to take charge of it. The prisoner said, in reference to a clock belonging to Mrs. Dadson, “I did not know that it was stolen. A tall woman gave it to me about five weeks ago.” I told her that Peace had been convicted, to which she replied, “He has been a great trouble to me. He seems to harass my life out wherever I go.” I afterwards searched the house, and in the top room I found a silk dress, a set of studs, identified by Mr. Wood, two bracelets, some knives and forks, and other property, belonging to Mr. Hanley, Mr. Perry, Mr. Allen, Mr. Andred, and others. Inspector Twibell was about to open a box, when the prisoner said, “I know what you want; I will give it you.” She thereupon handed to the officer a parcel containing about forty pieces of plate, the majority of which has been identified. The prisoner was taken before the magistrates, and afterwards brought to London. On the 14th of November I again visited the house, when I found two sealskin jackets and the property identified by Mrs. Shapley. On the first occasion she gave the name of Hannah Peace, and said that she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield, or rather her son said so in her presence. I brought one of the boxes up to London, and showed it to a witness named Pickering, and to Mrs. Bellfitt, of Nottingham. When she said she had been married, I asked her for her certificate, which she said the “old man” had burned some time before.

Evidence was then given as to the robberies that had taken place and in recognition of stolen property.

Mr. Samuel Smith, builder, Peckham, said that in May, a Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, a Mrs. Ward, and a boy, who was called Willie Ward, called upon him in reference to the letting of the house,No.5, Evalina-road, Peckham. Having satisfied himself of the respectability of these people by going to their residence at Greenwich, he let the house to them. In October, he found that the house had been deserted, and entering by the back way he took possession.

Mr. Henry Forsey Brion, geographical engineer and constructor of relievo maps, living at 22, Philip-road, Peckham, said that, on the 19th of May last he went to Peace’s house in the Evalina-road. In the breakfast room he saw Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and the former, pointing to the latter, said “That is my wife.” The prisoner, who was present, made no remark. Between the months of May and August he constantly visited at the house. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson appeared to be living as man and wife. In consequence of a communication he received from Peace, in the name of John Ward, witness on the 1st of November called at Newgate to see the writer of the letter, in whom he at once recognised Mr. Thompson. He was previously asked if he knew anything of the prisoner, and declared that he knew neither the handwriting nor the name in the letter. Between May and August they came to witness’s house on one occasion. The woman known as Mrs. Thompson was introduced as the wife of Mr. Thompson, and Mrs. Ward was known by that name. In consequence of a communication, witness wrote to a Mrs. Bellfitt at Nottingham, and received from her a small red box.

Robert Mapleson, warder in Newgate, deposed to the interview in Newgate between Mr. Brion and Peace.

Thomas Pickering, porter, in the service of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company, at the Nunhead Station, deposed to taking three boxes to the station on the night of the 11th October, by the direction of the prisoner.

Eliza Bellfitt, wife of Robert Bellfitt, Great Freeman-street, Nottingham, said that in November last she was living atNo.11, North-street, in that town. She recollected the visit of Inspector Bonney on the 6th November. Previously to that Mrs. Thompson, who was her sister, had come to her premises accompanied by the prisoner.

The witness was here admonished by the prisoner (who stood up for a moment for the purpose of being identified) to speak the truth.

Examination continued: They arrived between one and two o’clock in the morning, Mrs. Thompson introduced the prisoner as Mrs. Ward, and asked if they could stay all night, but they could not be accommodated. They said they were in trouble, but did not mention the nature of it. They stayed until four or five o’clock in the morning, and took their departure by an early train. Witness accompanied them to the station, where Mrs. Ward, having obtained a large box, gave her a ticket relating to two others. The box was put into the van. Witness had since seen the box at Bow-street; it was like the one which the prisoner had with her on the night in question. Prisoner asked that the boxes might be taken to the house of witness, who complied. One of them was a small red box, which the prisoner said was a family relic, and she would call for it. Mrs. Ward went to Sheffield, and witness removed the two boxes from the cloak room. About a fortnight afterwards Mrs. Ward returned, and said she wanted some of the things out of the red box, which, when she went away, she again left in the care of witness. There was also a paper parcel, of which she was requested to take charge. She afterwards gave up the red box and the parcel to Inspector Bonney, who took out some plate and a tablecloth. She subsequently received a letter from Mr. Brion, and on the 25th November handed the parcel to Mrs. Brion. On the 3rd December, in consequence of another letter she received, she took the small red box to the house of Mrs. Brion, 22, Philip-road.

Mr. Fulton: What has become of Mrs. Thompson? Is she within the precincts of the court?

She is not, I think.

How often have you seen her since this woman was first given in charge for receiving these goods?

Once.

By Mr. Straight: I knew her when she was living with Peace under the name of Thompson.

Mrs. Alice Brion, the wife of a former witness, said: On the 25th November I went to the house of Mrs. Bellfitt. I received the parcel produced and handed it to the police.

Mr. Fulton: Is Mrs. Thompson living with you?

Witness: Mrs. Thompson has been living with me.

Since Peace was taken into custody?

She has been.

But did you know, previously to that, that Mrs. Thompson had been living with Peace as his wife?

I understood she was Mrs. Thompson.

Have you ever seen this unfortunate woman on any occasion?

Whom do you mean?

I mean the prisoner. Let her stand up.

Yes, on many occasions.

What position did she occupy in the house?

The position of a lodger upstairs. She had two rooms besides a back kitchen.

And Mr. and Mrs. Thompson occupied the rest of the house as man and wife?

That is so.

Wm. Bolsover, 4, Hazel-road, Darnall, near Sheffield, said: I knew the prisoner when she was living at Darnall with Peace and her daughter. I was married to the latter at Hull on 8th January, 1878. Peace was not present. On Whit Monday I came to London, and stayed with Peace at the house in Evalina-road for eight or nine days. Peace was living with a woman who was known as Mrs. Thompson, in the name of Thompson. Mrs. Ward and the boy Willie had their meals alone, and Mr. and Mrs. Thompson in another part of the house. On the 12th October the prisoner came to my house and stated that she saw by the papers that a man whom she imagined to be her husband had been taken into custody. I took her in, and afterwards fetched her luggage from Sheffield.

Cross-examined: I have known Mr. and Mrs. Peace for some time, and believed them to be man and wife. Their daughter had, I understood, lived with them from infancy.

John P. Twibell, police inspector, Sheffield, said he assisted Philips in searching Bolsover’s house. Between the 6th of November and the 14th witness was told by the prisoner that she was married atSt.George’s Church, Sheffield, in the name of Hannah Ward to Charles Peace, the year before her daughter was born. She was unable to fix the date in any other way. The witnesses of the marriage were, she said, John and Sarah Clarke, who are both dead.

This was the case for the prosecution.

Mr. Fulton submitted that there was no case to go to the jury. Peace and the prisoner had, it was evident, far many years lived together as man and wife, and their daughter was married in the name of Peace. He further pointed out that the prisoner had given minute facts in reference to her marriage, and also gave the names of the witnesses. These being dead, the onus was, he contended, upon the prosecution to make some inquiries.

Mr. Commissioner Kerr then retired to consult with Sir Henry Hawkins, whose opinion, he announced on returning into court, very closely agreed with his own,viz., that a marriage in this case might be assumed. That was to say, there was very much stronger presumptive evidence of a marriage between this woman and the man Peace than there was to the contrary.

After some discussion the jury resolved to give the prisoner the benefit of the doubt, and accordingly found that she is the wife of Peace.

No further contention being made on behalf of the prosecution, the jury, by the direction of the learned Commissioner, returned a verdict of acquittal against the prisoner on all counts.

Mrs. Peace had passed through a terrible ordeal. There were many who averred that she had had a narrow escape, but in justice to this unhappy woman it is but fair to state that there was in reality no legal evidence to warrant the jury in finding a verdict of guilty.

It is quite true that she had been connected with the most determined and cunning burglar of the day, but it does not necessarily follow that she was his accomplice.

On the contrary, the whole tenour of his lawless course would indicate that both the women were mere cyphers in his establishment in the Evalina-road.

No doubt they were cognisant of the fact that he was a burglar, but they were powerless. Any attempt to turn him from his sinful course would have brought down upon them the unmeasured wrath of their tyrannical lord and master.

After Mrs. Peace’s acquittal she lost no time in taking her departure from the metropolis.

She arrived in Sheffield on the Tuesday night by the 8.44 Great Northern express, and proceeded to Darnall at 9.5.

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