Some time at the end of July 1785, a lady walked into a draper’s shop on Tower Hill, run by Mr John Wiltshire. She identified herself as Mrs Watson and said that she ran a similar shop in Paradise Street, Rotherhithe, and wished to buy a large quantity of quality Irish cloth.
Mrs Watson then spent a good deal of time examining the best cloth John Wiltshire had available and selected some tablecloths, handkerchiefs and other items, to the value of between £50 and £60 (about £3,300 in today’s money). Then, almost as an afterthought, Mrs Watson remembered that she had a customer calling that very afternoon, who also wanted a nice piece of Irish linen. A piece was selected, to the value of fifty shillings (c.£160 today), and Mrs Watson said that she would take this item with her, as she needed to show her own customer later that day.
At first, John Wiltshire was loath to let his new customer take this linen with her. After all, it was the first time she had purchased anything from him, so she had not established a business relationship, which allowed for such credit. Mrs Watson seemed so concerned, though, that she might have to break her promise to her customer and, of course, John did not wish to lose such a valuable order. After much discussion, he allowed Mrs Watson to take the piece of linen, valued at fifty shillings and said he would deliver the rest of the order the next day, when Mrs Watson would settle his bill in full.
The next day, John Wiltshire parcelled up the rest of the order and travelled to Paradise Street. There was no sign of any draper’s shop in the area and when John asked local people if they knew of Mrs Watson, none of them did. It seemed that John had been the victim of a fraud and had lost linen worth fifty shillings.
The matter would, no doubt, have rested there but, some six weeks later, John Wiltshire was in Rosemary Lane when he spotted a familiar face: none other than Mrs Watson. He accosted her and demanded to know why she had defrauded him in this way. She begged him not to expose her, saying that she was a mother who had a bad husband and he had forced her into the subterfuge. Mr Wiltshire was not to be moved. He called for a constable and Mrs Watson was taken into custody.
Mrs Watson, subsequently identified as Elizabeth Watson, faced her trial on a charge of fraud, on 19 October 1785. In addition to John Wiltshire, the prosecution also called Francis Holdsworth who lived in Paradise Street. He had been approached by John whilst searching for Mrs Watson’s shop, and was able to confirm that he had lived in the area for some considerable time and had never heard of a draper’s shop run by a Mrs Watson.
Asked to explain her actions, Elizabeth admitted that she had taken the cloth and had no defence to what she had done. She went on to say that she had given birth to eight children so far and, as the court could plainly see, was now heavily pregnant with the ninth.
Found guilty, Elizabeth was told that normally, a crime such as hers would attract a sentence of at least one year in prison. However, due to her condition and the fact that she had admitted her crime to the court, it was decided to be merciful. She was sentenced to just three months which meant that with the time already served since her arrest, she would be free by the end of November 1785.
Elizabeth, though, did not learn from her brush with the law, for she was back in court on 23 May 1787, charged with an almost identical offence: the theft, by fraud, of goods worth sixty-one shillings, from John Wilkinson.
John Wilkinson ran a draper’s shop, specialising in woollens, from Cock Court, Ludgate Hill. On 1 December 1786, Elizabeth Watson walked into his shop and identified herself as the wife of Captain Pearce, who lived at the King’s Head, Stratford. She went on to explain that there had been a recent death in the family and she would, therefore, require enough grey cloth to make up two mourning coats; one for Captain Pearce and one for his friend.
After some discussion about how much material would be needed, a total of seven yards was agreed upon. Elizabeth then stated that the family had been customers of Mr John Sloan, a tailor, of Johnson’s Court, Fleet Street. Mr Sloan had died recently but his widow had agreed to make up the mourning coats and the material should be sent to her establishment. John Wilkinson, of course, knew all about Mr Sloan and this story seemed to confirm in his mind that the sale was a genuine one. For that reason, he raised no argument when Elizabeth went on to say that she wanted some material to make up suits for two boys who were at boarding school. Three and a half yards of suitable material, valued at sixty-one shillings, was then selected, parcelled up, and taken by Elizabeth to a waiting coach on Ludgate Hill.
Naturally, when arrangements were made to deliver the rest of the material, and the bill for the whole order, to Ann Sloan, the tailor’s widow, she knew nothing of it. Nor had she ever heard of a Captain Pearce, who was supposed to be one of her husband’s customers.
Elizabeth Watson had, however, made a number of rather fundamental mistakes. First, she had committed a similar offence less than two years before. Secondly, she had once lodged with Thomas Blackburne, who lived at Stratford. Although he was now a carpenter by trade, he had once been the constable of the district and, when the police began searching the area, looking for the miscreant, he was able to confirm that the description of the customer served by John Wilkinson, matched that of Elizabeth Watson.
Elizabeth was traced, arrested, and placed on trial again. John Wilkinson positively identified her as the woman who had defrauded him out of the three and a half yards of material. Other witnesses were then called, including William Bantock, who had lived at Stratford for seventeen years and confirmed that no gentleman named Captain Pearce had ever lived in the area. This was also confirmed by John Batt, the landlord of the King’s Head.
In her defence, Elizabeth simply claimed that she was not the woman who had gone into John Wilkinson’s shop and stolen the material. She was not believed and a guilty verdict was returned. Before sentence was passed the judge explained:
I am extremely sorry that your conduct puts it out of the power of the Court, to show you that leniency that they might otherwise incline to do. You are the same person who about two years ago was sentenced to be imprisoned for six months. It is the duty of the Court on a second conviction, certainly to pass a severer sentence than that of the first.
Elizabeth Watson was then sentenced to be transported, for a term of seven years.