May 01 1824 Parcel Theft Case #11 Dowling v. Hicks - Cumberland and Westmorland Newspaper Transcriptions

May 01 1824 Parcel Theft Case #11 Dowling v. Hicks

The Times, Saturday, May 01, 1824; pg. 3; Issue 12327; col A

                                     LAW REPORT.
                                       -------------
COURT OF KING'S BENCH, WESTMINSTER, APRIL 30.

                              DOWLING V. HICKS.

The examination of John MURRAY and George THOMPSON was as follows: -

"Cumberland, to wit. - The several informations and complaints of John MURRAY
and George THOMPSON, both of the city of Carlisle, in the said county, clerks or
assistants in the mail-coach-office, within the said city; and first, the said
John MURRAY, on his oath, saith, that when the Glasgow mail-coach to London
arrived at Carlisle on the morning of Saturday, the 13th day of September now
last, he unlocked the box containing the parcels, when a person stating his name
to be DOWLING inquired for a parcel directed to him at Carlisle, and which
informant found and gave to him; and informant further saith, that at the time
when he so gave to said DOWLING the parcel directed for him as aforesaid, he the
said DOWLING took up another parcel, stating that it belonged to him also, and
which he took up and carried away with him without permitting this informant to
perceive the directions thereon. And this informant, George THOMPSON, on his
oath saith, that the parcels for conveyance by the Glasgow mail-coach to London,
and which left Glasgow on the evening of Friday the 12th of September last, were
inscribed or written on a way-bill, accompanying the said mail-coach, and were
sixteen in number; one of which was to stop at Carlisle, being directed there
for Mr. DOWLING, and the others to proceed onwards and beyond Carlisle; and this
informant further saith, it is the custom of the proprietors of the said
mail-coach to make out at Glasgow a way bill, containing the passengers and
parcels to Carlisle, where that way-bill is detained, and then to make out
another way-bill at Carlisle, containing the parcels and passengers to be
conveyed to any places beyond Carlisle. And this informant further saith, that
on examining the way-bill of the Glasgow mail-coach of the 12th of September
last, with the parcels thereby, and which he did at Carlisle on the morning of
the 13th of September, he found that two parcels going by the said coach beyond
Carlisle were missing - the one directed to HOLDEN, COPLEY, and Co., York, and
the other to the Editor of The Times; and that all the parcels from Glasgow
upwards, with the exception of such two parcels, and a parcel directed to Mr.
DOWLING at Carlisle, were sent forward from Carlisle. And this informant further
saith, that the parcel so directed to HOLDEN, COPLEY, and Co., at York, was
omitted to be sent by the Glasgow mail on the 12th of September, and was not
sent until Sunday the 14th of September, and arrived at Carlisle on the 15th,
from whence it was forwarded to its place of destination; so that all the
parcels were then accounted for with the exception of the parcel to the Editor
of The Times, and which parcel the person calling himself DOWLING (having taken
two parcels away, as stated by the other informant MURRAY) must have taken, as
only one parcel came by the said mail-coach directed to him. And this informant
further saith, that the said person so calling himself DOWLING left Carlisle
almost immediately afterwards for London by the mail-coach."

The warrant dated the 4th of October, 1823, and the recognizance of bail, and
the bill of indictment, were read. The warrant was as follows: -

"Cumberland, to wit. - To the constable of the county aforesaid, and to each and
every of them.

"Whereas, information and complaint hath been this day made upon oath before me
(Rowland FAWCETT, Esq.,) one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for the said
county of Cumberland, by George HICKS, of Printinghouse-square, in the city of
London, gentleman, that he hath cause to suspect and doth suspect that Vincent
DOWLING the younger, late of London, reporter, did, on or about the 13th day of
September last, feloniously steal, take, and carry away a paper parcel directed
to the Editor of The Times, London, containing a report of what had transpired
at a dinner given by the citizens of Glasgow to Henry BROUGHAM and Thomas
DENMAN, Esqrs., the property of the proprietors of The Times newspaper, at the
parish of St. Cuthbert, Carlisle, in the said county. These are, therefore, in
his Majesty's name, to require and command you and each and every of you,
immediately upon sight hereof, to apprehend Vincent DOWLING the younger, and
bring him before me, to answer unto the said complaint, and be further dealt
with according to law. At the same time, you or one of you, are to give notice
to the said Vincent DOWLING, the younger, to bring with him sufficient sureties
for his personal appearance at the next general quarter sessions of the peace to
be holden in and for the said county. Given under my hand and seal, the 4th day
of October, 1823.
                                                  "ROWLAND FAWCETT." (L.S.)

The witnesses on the back of the bill were George HICKS, William M'ADAM, John
ALLEN, John MURRAY, and George THOMPSON.