The Denouement
The trial was drawing to its conclusion. After the final witness had given evidence, a written declaration was read out by Murray’s defence counsel as he had declined to give evidence in person before the court. Briefly, it stated that he had worked in the naval service of the Honourable East India Company where he had amassed enough wealth on which the interest was sufficient to enable him to maintain a comfortable standard of living. After counsels for the Prosecution and Defence had delivered their Closing Speeches it was now incumbent on the 15-man jury to deliberate and state its verdict. Even though the time was approaching 10.30 pm the public gallery in Edinburgh’s High Court of Justiciary remained crowded for the trial had attracted widespread interest due to the enormous sum of money involved. In addition to the trial judge, various important personages such as Lord Abercromby and Sir John Connell had availed themselves of privileged seats either alongside or behind the Lord Justice Clerk (the trial judge) to witness the day’s proceedings.
Robert Murray stood unmoved in the Dock as he had done for most of the day. Smartly dressed and giving off an air of quiet respectability, to many onlookers it felt surreal to think such a person could have perpetrated the audacious crime of which he was being accused. However, Murray’s inner tension was betrayed as he swallowed hard when the foreman of the jury rose to deliver the verdict.
***
It had been a highly rewarding day at Thirsk Races in Yorkshire for Robert Murray (alias Graham). His wagers had been comfortably rewarding for almost every race thanks again to his valuable contacts within the horse-racing fraternity. After paying-off his trusted tipsters for their insider knowledge he treated himself to a hearty meal in a local inn before retiring to his room upstairs. The toll roads in England were no better than those north of the border so his flight from Scotland a few days earlier had been tiring and uncomfortable. Still, he had the satisfaction of knowing that his share of the mail coach robbery proceeds was now safely deposited in an English bank while his mood was further buoyed by the thought of the third package of bank notes which he had hidden under a hastily-built roadside cairn just outside Kirkliston. Once the hue and cry had died down sufficiently it was his intention to recover the money sometime that Spring.
A loud hammering on the bedroom door woke Murray from his slumbers after barely an hour of sleep. “Who the devil is that?!” cried Murray, angry at been disturbed at such an hour. Without waiting for an invitation, three men burst into Murray’s room and stood over him before he could get out of bed.
Thanks to some diligent and careful enquiries, the police in Edinburgh had managed to gain a fairly clear picture of Murray’s movements as he fled from Scotland. This information had been communicated to the authorities in the north of England to where it was believed Murray had made his way. Thomas Forsyth, head constable at Newcastle and Serjeant Stewart of the Edinburgh Police along with a Mr Edwards of the Bank of Scotland had finally tracked down their quarry. After a brief conversation during which Murray denied their accusations that he was the wanted man from Edinburgh, he soon realised that the men possessed too much information for him to persist in his assertions that his name was Graham. Murray was conveyed to Newcastle prison and thence transferred to Edinburgh where he was arraigned for trial.
***
As Robert Murray was brought up from the cells, he blinked hard at the spectacle before him. The public gallery was full to capacity with folk from all walks of life who could spare the time to witness proceedings. He looked in vain for a sight of his fellow robbers Darling and Fairlie, but was not entirely surprised. Fairlie could be anywhere in Europe by now and Darling was probably drinking himself into oblivion with his share of the proceeds.
The trial progressed at a steady pace as a succession of witnesses, including the mail coach guard (who, unsurprisingly was no longer employed in that capacity) were brought forth to give their account of what happened on that night in December. Significantly, none of them were able to place Murray at the scene of the crime, although he had most certainly been spotted in the vicinity of South Queensferry on the night of the robbery. Perhaps the most damning evidence was Murray’s sudden flight from his lodgings in Edinburgh and his suspicious behaviour when confronted and arrested in Thirsk. Whether this circumstantial evidence was enough to tip the scales of justice against Murray remained to be seen as the trial progressed to its conclusion.
“Not Proven, your honour.”
Gasps from the public gallery followed this bombshell of a verdict, but the jury had no other option to return ‘that bastard verdict’ which the celebrated Sir Walter Scott would go on to disparage.
Having heard the evidence against Murray, the judge had concluded that the case was too weak to return a Guilty verdict. Even counsel for the Prosecution had not been emboldened enough to ask the jury to find the accused Guilty, but instead moved for a Not Proven verdict. Under the circumstances, the judge simply directed the jury to return that verdict without recourse to any deliberations.
“Robert Murray, you are free to go,” said the Lord Justice Clerk, scarcely able to disguise his distaste on being compelled to release someone he knew in his heart was most certainly guilty.
Murray could not conceal his elation, clapping the three members of his defence counsel on the back and shaking their hands vigorously. Stepping out into the cold February air that chilled Parliament Square, Murray had barely a moment to savour his regained freedom before a heavy hand was placed on his shoulder.
“Robert Murray, you are under arrest for being a convict at large. You have the right to remain silent, but anything you do say will be noted and maybe used in evidence.”
The following is an extract from ‘The Edinburgh Annual Register’, February, 1825:
‘At the close of Murray’s trial, he was taken into custody, on a charge of being a convict at large, and committed to jail till liberated in course of law. The same evening he was examined before the Sheriff, and identified by Mr Lavender, of the Manchester police establishment. The following particulars of Murray’s history are said to be correct: - When a boy, he was sentenced to transportation for life, under the name of Henry Herrings. He, however, returned from Botany Bay in the ship with Governor Hunter, by whom he was recommended to Mr Hookman, the bookseller, Bond Street, London. While in Mr Hookman’s service, he managed to steal a ticket to the grand fete given by the Prince Regent in 1813, which he attended, but was detected stealing a gold snuff-box from Lord Normanton. For this offence he was tried, and sent to the Hulks, from which he made his escape. Soon after, a mail coach robbery took place; and he, along with others, was suspected of being concerned in it, and consequently apprehended, but the charge was abandoned. He was, however, put upon trial, for having been found at large without lawful cause; and on that charge was sentenced to be transported for life.This took place, it is said, at Bristol, about the end of 1814. About two years afterwards, he effected his escape from Botany Bay, by way of the East Indies, and returned to this country, where it is believed he has since existed by levying contributions on various bankers. Murray was rather surprised when given to understand that he was to be detained on the charge of returning from transportation, and maintained Mr Lavender was egregiously mistaken. Lavender is quite confident as to his man – Murray wants the first two joints of the forefinger on the left hand – so did Herrings. He also has a cut on his right hand, similar to one upon Herrings. Herrings had a nose, however, which Murray has not. – this may probably be a recent mutilation.’
It seems that Herrings had for some time worn a prosthetic nose, most likely fashioned out of soft leather adhered to his face. The false nose must have appeared quite authentic for it not to have been remarked upon by the various witnesses who gave evidence his trial.
Henry Herrings; aka Robert Murray, aka Graham was subsequently convicted at Devon Assizes and transported for the third time in his life on the vessel ‘Minstrel’, 5th April 1825, arriving at New South Wales on 22nd August, 1825.
***
Postscript
Kenny Deuchar, an elderly farm worker from the Dalmeny Estate had been tasked with steeping the hedges adjoining the Queensferry to Kirkliston road. It was a skilled art, partially cutting through the base of the stems, bending them over until they were parallel to the top of the bank and weaving or pegging them down, but Kenny was a past master at the job and soon got into a comfortable rhythm.
For early October, it was an unusually warm and sunny day causing Kenny to make frequent pauses to mop his brow. Around midday, he decided it was time for lunch and a wee drop of small beer to quench his thirst. Finding a small cairn of stones on which to sit, Kenny took out his cheese sandwich and bottle of beer from the small satchel he always carried with him to work. Sitting quietly there in isolation, his thoughts wandered over his prospects of winning next month’s Winchburgh Club Collar and Stakes hare-coursing event. His lurcher Nugget was a fast runner and Kenny was hopeful of some useful prize money before Yuletide. Reaching for his beer bottle, Kenny accidentally dislodged the stone on which it rested causing more than half the contents to spill over the mossy cairn. Cursing loudly at this mishap, he quickly grabbed the bottle to save the remaining ale and in doing so, noticed a piece of torn paper protruding from the cairn. His curiosity aroused, Kenny prised away more stones to reveal a package concealed within.
Robert Murray had managed to find the third package of
banknotes the previous year. His quick mind and animal cunning gave him an
inspired notion: what if he hid the package and pretended he’d been unable to
find it? He could easily return at a later date and keep its contents for
himself alone. Unfortunately for Murray, events had overtaken him and he had
been in no position to retrieve the package. For Kenny Deuchar, this was the
chance of a lifetime! Like everyone for miles around, he knew of the mail coach
robbery that had taken place the previous year and was astute enough to realise
he had come across some of the proceeds from that robbery. He quickly
considered his options: hand in the packet at the police station in Kirkliston
High Street forthwith, or …
It is said that Kenny Deuchar never laboured again.
***
Author's Notes
The characters, locations and events mentioned in Parts One and Two of this story are all genuine with the following exceptions:
at his trial, Robert Murray refused to name the third person he was with on the night of the robbery so your writer has created Alistair Fairlie to fulfil this role. How 'Fairlie' made his actual departure from South Queensferry is not recorded;
the scenario in which William Home meets Murray in 'The Auld Hundred' pub and eventually falls in with Murray's plan to rob the mail coach is an invention of your writer. However, in his opinion the circumstances of the robbery point to collusion between Home and Murray. This is not necessarily such a far-fetched hypothesis, for in 1822 the Postmaster-General received information that an extensive system of depredation and fraud was being carried out by some of the Post Office clerks and the whole body of the letter-carriers. Home may have taken his inspiration from this state of affairs;
Murray's fondness for horse racing is another of your writer's creations. Money (or lack of it) is sometimes said to be the root of all evil. This may have been the catalyst for Home's eventual capitulation under pressure from Murray;
we do not know if it was indeed a cheese sandwich in the pocket of the cloak discovered lying on the Queensferry road. Your writer apologies for his levity in this instance;
the windfall enjoyed by the Dalmeny Estate farm worker in discovering the third packet of bank notes is based on a letter published in the Linlithgow Gazette in 1903; his identity is ficticious.
Having meticulously locked the mailbox at every stage of the journey except before heading to Kirkliston was highly suspicious. Additionally, not checking the contents of the mailbox at Kirkliston was an omission which lacks credibility. We
also know that the coach was still full of passengers when it left
Kirkliston as a would-be passenger was denied a seat on the coach for
that reason.
Therefore, on 'discovering' that the money parcels were missing when he
reached Corstorphine, why didn't Home insist on searching the mail
coach passengers? He could have held them all at gun-point if necessary!
His apparent distress and confusion seem convenient excuses for what
points to his complicity in the robbery. The timely appearance of Murray and his accomplices in Kirkliston to find an unlocked mail box containing a fortune in banknotes is too much of a coincidence.
It is now your turn, dear reader to draw you own conclusions. To assist you in this task, attached below is a transcript of Robert Murray's trial which appeared in the Caledonian Mercury, Thursday, March 3rd, 1825.
Report on proceedings in the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh by the Caledonian Mercury, Thursday, March 3rd, 1825, Issue: 16151
The Court
then proceeded with the case of Robert Murray, some time in the service of the
Hon. the East India Company, who stood accused of being concerned in the
robbery of the Stirling mail coach of three parcels of bank notes, addressed to
the Bank of Scotland, the Commercial Bank of Scotland, and the Leith Bank on
the 18th December last, while the horses were changing at
Kirkliston, in the county of Linlithgow. The prisoner pleaded Not Guilty.
Mr
JEFFREY rose and observed, that he had no objection to offer to the relevancy
of the indictment, but had to state for the prisoner, that he knew nothing
whatever of the robbery, nor was he on the spot when and where it was alleged
to have been committed.
The
Jury were then chosen.
John
McMillan, agent for the branch of the Bank of Scotland at Stirling, described
the mode of transmitting the money parcels to the Bank in Edinburgh, which was
by the guard of the mail, to whom they were always delivered by the teller. A
specification of the notes was always inclosed [sic] in the parcel, a duplicate
of which was kept at the Bank in Stirling. The paper now shown him is a copy of
that double, which he was not aware would be retained by the Sheriff, as he had
only taken it to speak more correctly.
Mr
JEFFREY objected to the paper being received in evidence, as it was not a
principal document.
Another
paper, partly printed and partly written, purporting to be a more exact copy of
the duplicate, was handed to the witness, to which the same objection was
stated.
The
examination being resumed, Mr McMillan was proceeding to state that he had the
cash book with him, when Mr JEFFREY again rose, and pressed for judgment on the
objections he had stated.
The
LORD JUSTICE CLERK said, the Court were ready to hear any thing on the part of
the prosecution, in answer to the objection by the Counsel for the prisoner; if
they had nothing farther to offer, the Court would proceed to give judgment.
No
farther [sic] observation being made by the Crown Counsel, the Court unanimously
sustained the objection, which the LORD JUSTICE CLERK remarked was essential
for the ends of justice, and as it related to the prisoner also.
Mr
McMillan’s examination was again resumed, which chiefly related to the forms of
office in making transmissions of money to the Bank in Edinburgh. The sum
remitted on the occasion libelled on amounted to L.2434 17s in notes of various
denominations.
John
Boyd, teller in the same branch bank, proved the delivery of the parcel to
Home, the guard; and James Thomson swore to his having packed it up, and
addressed it to Mr Cadell, treasurer to the Bank of Scotland.
Alexander McDonald, agent for the Leith Banking Company at Callendar, and Angus
McDonald, a clerk, detailed the formalities attending the transmission of a
parcel, containing the sum of L.1754 10s; the delivery of which to the same
guard, on the 18th of December, was proved by James McPherson, keeper
of the coffeehouse in Stirling.
William
Home, formerly guard of the Stirling mail coach, was then called, and was
informed by the Court that nothing he might then say could possibly affect him,
so as he told the truth. From this witness’s evidence, who had been nearly
eight years guard of that coach, it appeared that guards take bankers’ parcels
on their own responsibility, as the proprietors of coaches will not take them.
He received, on the 18th of December, one parcel for the Bank of
Scotland, and another for the Leith Bank, which he placed in the road bag, and
a third for the Commercial Bank was placed in the mail box, or boot, by John
Nicholson, in the employment of Mr Telford, cashier for the Stirling Bank, who,
according to Home’s evidence, observed at the time that he did not like the
look of some of the insides. The coach set off from Stirling at a quarter past
three o’clock for Edinburgh, having four inside passengers – three men and a
woman, and three outsides – one man and two women. The mail box remained locked
till the coach arrived at Falkirk, where he took up a bag, which he deposited
in the road bag, at which time the parcels were all safe, and he again locked
the box. One inside passenger left the coach at Falkirk, whose seat was taken
by another. He never quitted his seat till the coach arrived at Linlithgow; the
bag which he received there he placed in the sword case, at the back of the
coach, in which the fire-arms are deposited. According to his usual custom, he
opened the box at Lauriston, two miles from Falkirk, and put the parcels into a
canvas bag, which he kept for that purpose, and placed them in the right hand
corner of the box. At Winchburgh, twelve miles from Edinburgh, he again
unlocked the box, to put in the bag he took up at Falkirk; through neglect he
did not lock the box again, and in that state it arrived at Kirkliston, at
forty minutes past six o’clock; he went into the post office for a bag, which
occupied about a minute and a half, and then assisted putting on the leaders;
the whole time occupied by the stoppage was under five minutes, the time
allowed for the changing horses. The night was very dark. After he remounted
the coach, one of the inside passengers wanted to get into the coach, who he
had not observed get out. He did not observe any of the outsides get off, who
were all ready when he resumed his seat. Saw no one about the coach, except one
person, who the coachman told him was a servant of Mr Pyper, who wanted to be
taken on to East Craigs, but the coach being full (another outside passenger
having got up at Falkirk), witness could not do it. – At Corstophine he had
occasion to open the box to put in a bag, when he discovered the canvas bag and
parcels were gone. He took no notice of the circumstance. At Frederick Street
two insides and one outside left the coach, at which time he was in such a
state of agitation he did not know what he was doing, but he is certain they
were not the perpetrators, as two of them had no luggage, and the third had
only a small green bag that had been lying on the fore-boot. As usual, persons
from the Banks were waiting for the parcels, which he informed them were gone.
He returned with one of them to Kirkliston, where only the robbery could have
been committed. Being earnestly pressed by the Counsel, he solemnly declared he
had no participation, directly or indirectly, in the theft, and of course did
not know, or suspect, by whom it was done; it was entirely the result of
neglect on his part. Two miles on this side of Linlithgow a gig overtook the
coach, with one lamp burning on the near side, which kept up with the coach
till it arrived at Kirkliston; he thinks the horse was a dark one, but he
neither knows who or how many were in the gig. The mail lamps throw all the
light forward.
The
witness was cross-examined at some length by Mr JEFFREY, but nothing was
elicited to shake his testimony. He had never before lost the value of a
shilling.
BY
THE COURT. – He did not know the names of any of the passengers.
Colin
Laing, traveller for Fountain Brown, merchant, Leeds and Hills Brothers,
woollen manufacturers, Eastington, Gloucestershire, stated, that he was
travelling in a gig from Stirling to Edinburgh on the 18th of
December, and having much property with him in cash and bills, he was anxious
for the company of the mail, and therefore kept up with it to Kirkliston. It
was very dark. As there was no hostler, he was under the necessity of unloosing
his horse himself, during which a Mr Rowley, with whom he was acquainted, came
from the coach to speak to him. While engaged in the stable the coach drove
off. In about half an hour, he proceeded to Edinburgh in company with the
Glasgow heavy coach. Hearing next day of the robbery, and that it was supposed
to have been committed by persons who had followed the coach in a gig, he
mentioned what had occurred to himself to Mr Herriot, Lawnmarket, who having
seen the Sheriff of Linlithgowshire pass, went and brought that gentleman to
his shop, to whom witness explained what related to himself. The cause of only
one lamp being lighted, was, that the glass of the other was broke.
Cross-examined
by Mr JEFFREY. – His horse taking up all his attention, he did not observe any
one about the mail, nor did he see the prisoner at Kirkliston.
George
Jack, porter to the Leith Bank, who accompanied Home back to Kirkliston, stated
that he was much agitated when he told him (witness) that the parcels were
gone, observing that he was a ruined man.
James
Logan, porter to the Bank of Scotland, corroborated the evidence of the last
witness as to the extreme agitation of Home.
Mrs
Dobie stated, that she resides in Kirkliston, to the westward of the Post
Office. She was standing at her door when the Stirling mail arrived on the
night of the 18th of December, with a child in her arms; she went up
to the coach, and saw the guard get down, who looked at his timepiece by the
light of one of the lamps. While she was standing a man jumped from the hind
part of the coach among her feet; he then ran across to the dark side of the
road, and proceeded westward; a man came from the stable door, who gave a broad
stare as he passed, and then joined the other person. She proceeded home, and
lost sight of them, it was so dark, but she heard them whispering, and also the
noise of their feet. The witness was then interrogated as to the road leading
to the Queensferry, which, we understood her to say, the persons might have got
into by crossing a grass park to a road that runs parallel with the high road.
Cross-examined
by Mr JEFFREY. - The person who stared
at her was not the prisoner, nor did she think she should know the person. She
had been standing by the coach about a minute and a half when the person jumped
down; the person who went from the stable door walked slowly to join the other;
did not see that they were carrying any thing, nor did she see any one carrying
a bag at the time.
Thomas
Boyd was going home to Milton from Kirkliston, on the 18th of
December, about 20 or 25 minutes past six o’clock; when about 200 yards on the
road heard the mail coach horn blow. Having walked a little farther, about 300
yards, John Leitch, who was with him, picked up a light coloured great coat;
the night was particularly dark. A few yards farther on two men came up behind
them at a quick pace; they had each a bundle, at least the man next witness had
one; the bundles were about the size of a hat, scarcely so big, and nearly
square; the men did not speak as they passed. A little farther on witness found
two mantles of a dark colour, and of a hard sort of stuff. In the pocket of the
coat were a small paper parcel and a white neckcloth, such as coachmen wear in
bad weather. A third man overtook witness and demanded the articles they had
found; he was forty yards behind the other two. The third man grasped the
cloaks and said they were his; witness asked how they came to be his, and he
said his gig had run away and they had dropt [sic] out. Witness and his
companion gave up the articles, and the man, on their asking something for
their trouble, gave them a shilling. The first two did not run, but walked very
quickly; the third came up almost out of breath, and ran off when he got the
cloaks and great coat in search of his gig, as they thought. The man who came
last spoke the Scots accent, and they took him for a servant. Witness went back
the same way on Sunday morning, along with James Spaddle, who first saw a horse
and gig lying in a ditch, and called to witness to run, for there was a gig and
a horse; this was about three quarters of a mile from Kirkliston, and to the
north of the place where the men passed them the night before. The horse was
very weak, and the gig broken in pieces; it was half a mile south of Dundas
Castle gate; informed Mr Dundas, and he sent witness to the Police Office in
Edinburgh with the gig, and the horse was sent to Mr Smith, stabler, who
claimed it. Saw in Mr Smith’s a cloak, which was dirtied like that he had found
the night before, and thought it the same. Examined the road, and saw the track
the horse and gig had left; it had run part of the way on the middle of the
road, but it appeared the horse had been frightened, and had run about three
hundred or four hundred yards before it overturned, sometimes on one side of
the hedge, sometimes on the other, and fragments of the gig were lying along
the road. The gig had been twice drawn up across the road; the wind was high
from the west, and at both places the horse had faced the east; and from its
foot marks the horse had been uneasy and fretting.
The
witness was cross-examined, but nothing material was elicited.
John
Leitch, on being asked the usual question, if any body had given him any thing
for giving his evidence, answered “yes;” and when called on to explain what it
was, he said Captain Brown had given him - a summons; this created an
involuntary burst of laughter. His evidence was to the same facts as the last
witness, and corroborated him.
Thomas
Forsyth, head constable at Newcastle, was applied to by a person from Edinburgh
to assist in apprehending persons charged with theft; he proceeded along with
Mr Edwards of the Bank of Scotland, and Serjeant Stewart of the Edinburgh
Police, to Thirsk, in Yorkshire, where he found the prisoner in bed in the inn;
on knocking at the bed-room door, heard a voice from within, and immediately
rushed in, went to the prisoner’s bedside, and asked him his name; he said it
was Graham; witness looked at him and said he answered the description of a
person named Murray he was in search of from Edinburgh. Witness seized his hand
and desired Mr Edwards to examine his leg, and, at that moment, he said, “well
then, I am Murray,” and in a low tone of voice added, “it’s up.” Witness called
in Serjeant Stewart, who was at the window; and searched the prisoner’s
clothes; found in his pocket a L.10 Bank of England note, a L.10 post bill, 26
sovereigns, and a quantity of English provincial notes. Cautioned prisoner not
to commit himself by what he might say, and offered to take him to York, as he
said he had an aunt ill there, but he declined, and witness took him to
Newcastle prison. On going down in the coach, prisoner said, “they’ll get it
again.” There was a general conversation in which Bristol was mentioned – and
prisoner said, “there’s to be no prosecution there;” found a receipt for L.40
in his pocket, and he appeared to have stopped at Thirsk, having suffered much
from cold. In the course of his inquiry witness found that a person named
Graham had been booked for the top of the coach at Newcastle for York.
Serjeant
Stewart corroborated the evidence of Forsyth.
Mrs
Wilson, who keeps lodgings in Rose Street, and in whose house the prisoner
lived for nearly six weeks, stated that he drove out several times from her
house in a gig he hired from Mr Smith; on the Saturday before he left her house
he went out between eleven and twelve in the forenoon, and said he would be
home between six and seven, but did not come till after eleven. On Sunday
morning he went out twice and returned; he asked for his account, as he was
going away, but did not get it, and she never saw him again until in the jail;
he left all his clothes, and did not say where he was going. He used to pay her
every week regularly.
Cross-examined
– Supposed Murray to be an Englishman from his speech; he had always sufficient
command of money, and was attended by Mr George Bell in his medical capacity.
When prisoner went away, he said was obliged to go on account of an aunt’s
death, and would be back in three weeks.
David
Ince, hostler to Mr Smith, said prisoner was in the habit of hiring a gig, and
on the Wednesday before his master’s gig was broken, the prisoner engaged a gig
for the Saturday following at twelve o’clock. Witness was not at home when he
got it, but met him in the gig on the road to Portobello; he had ordered one
with lamps, but got one which had none; he had a cloak hanging over the gig. A
quarter before eleven that night he came to witness’s house in the same dress,
but with the cloak hanging over his arm very dirty; he told witness that he had
lost the horse and gig on the road near Queensferry, the night being so dark he
could not find his way, and went out of the gig to knock at a gate and inquire
the road, when the horse had run off. He desired witness to go and look for the
gig, and he went that night in search of it.
Cross-examined
– When prisoner came back he did not appear in the least alarmed.
Joseph
Smith corroborated the evidence of the preceding witness. Prisoner told him he
need be in no way alarmed about his gig, as he would pay the damage. Witnessed
proposed that he should return to the spot and search for the gig, but he said
that was impossible, as there was a letter intimating the death of a relation,
and he must go to the funeral. Witness went to prisoner’s lodgings next morning
to ask the landlord if he was good enough for the value of the gig; he again
saw the prisoner, and got four ten pound notes of the Bank of Scotland as a
deposit for the gig – not as the price of it, for which he gave a receipt. The
prisoner did not appear agitated.
John
Crocket was asked by one of two men in a gig in Queensferry, on the 18th
December, where they could get stabling for their horse? He took them to
Halliday’s inn; the prisoner is one of the men, and witness took two cloaks, a
pair of shoes, and a paper parcel out of the gig.
Margaret
Halliday said her father keeps an inn at Queensferry, and that two men came to
the house in a gig; she saw only one of them, and the prisoner is the person;
they were joined by another man; two of them left the house ten minutes before
the other; and they went towards Kirkliston.
Robert
Halliday corroborated his daughter’s evidence, and said the gentleman said when
he left that he was going to Scotston, which is a quarter of a mile on the
Kirkliston road.
Archibald
McLaren, waiter at Newhalls inn, said the prisoner had been several times there
in a gig, and dined at Newhalls on Tuesday before the robbery; on the Saturday
night he came about eight o’clock on foot, with a cloak under his arm much
dirtied, he said he had been thrown from his gig, and asked for a post chaise.
As witness had seen him pass that day with another person in the gig, he asked
what had become of the other gentleman, and prisoner said he left him groping
for the cloaks, and would take him up in the chaise.
Alexander
Adams drove the chaise to Edinburgh; he took one gentleman in at Newalls, who
desired him to drive as quick as he could, as he had lost a gig and a horse,
and expected to find it at the next turnpike; when about three quarters on the
way, the gentleman inside called to stop, and let in a gentleman they met on
the road. Came to Edinburgh by Stockbridge, as he was desired to do so by the
gentleman first in the carriage; to this he objected, but the gentleman said he
would not take him farther than Stockbridge, where he stopt [sic], and was paid
L.1 as his hire, fifteen shillings as the fare, and five shillings for himself.
The first who went out had on a cloak, and might have had a parcel under it; he
walked smartly away.
Alexander
Robertson keeps a public house in Musselburgh, and thinks he saw the prisoner
in it on a Sunday night, about seven o’clock; he hired a chaise to Haddington;
observed something under his arm, and thinks he had a great coat over it. Reid,
witness’s waiter, got a L.5 note of Ramsays, Bonars’ and Company’s Bank, which
he gave to witness before the person from whom he had it left the house, and
gave it up to the Sheriff. When the prisoner came, he asked when the mail
passed, and it they took up passengers there, and on being informed they did
not, unless the ticket was taken out at at [sic] Edinburgh, he ordered a
chaise; his shoes were dirty as if he had been walking.
Reid,
the waiter, corroborated his master’s testimony, and said the parcel prisoner
had was in a black or blue case.
Thomas
Pearson, clerk to the mail coach office, makes up the waybill of the mail and
proved that a person named Graham was booked as an outside passenger, but no
such name as Murray was in the bill.
The
declarations of the prisoner were now read, which generally corresponded with
the account he had previously given of himself. He declined answering several
questions, particularly such as related to the persons along with him, one of
whom he named William Darling, the name of the other he refused to give.
Mr
ALISON then addressed the Jury on behalf of the Crown, and referring to the
declaration of the prisoner, showed that, in various particulars, he had stated
what was evidently false. Every possible exertion had been made to bring the
offenders to justice; but the corpus delicti had not been fixed on the
prisoner. He would not trouble either the gentleman on the other, or the Bench,
to enter minutely into the case, by asking a verdict of guilty; for though
strong suspicions of guilt attached to the prisoner, yet evidence being
inconclusive, all he craved was a verdict not proven.
Mr
JEFFREY next addressed the Jury on behalf of the prisoner, and contended, from
the evidence which had been led, that he was fully entitled to a verdict of
acquittal. The magnitude of the offence, the daring crime which had been
committed, completely justified the Public Prosecutor in bringing forward this
case. But though the prisoner might have been near the place where the crime
had been perpetrated, and though he might have conducted himself both previous
and subsequent to the time of the robbery with some degree of suspicion, yet
that would not criminate him. There was such a want of specific evidence to
bring the guilt of the charge home to the person at the bar, that he felt
himself called on to ask a verdict of acquittal at their hands.
After
a few words from the LORD JUSTICE CLERK, The Jury, without leaving the box,
returned a verdict, unanimously finding the libel Not Proven.
The
prisoner was accordingly dismissed from the bar simpliciter, but was
immediately apprehended on a warrant of the Sheriff, on a charge of returning
from transportation. Lavender, Superintendent of Police at Manchester (formerly
of Bow Street), is here, for the purpose of establishing his identity as a
convicted felon.
Counsel
for the Crown – R. Dundas, A. Alison and A. Wood, Esqrs; Agent, A. Rolland,
Esq.
Counsel
for the prisoner – F Jeffrey, J. A. Murray, and T Maitland, Esqrs; Agent, James
Hathorn, Esq, S. S. C.
This
case occupied the Court till half past ten at night, and during the whole time
the crowd was excessive. Lord Abercromby and Sir John Connel sat a considerable
time on the Bench, and the Hon. Captain Duncan and Baron d’Eude sat behind it
most of the day. The prisoner, who was remarkably well dressed, conducted
himself with marked propriety, and frequently communicated with his agent by
note and verbally.
A P George
Kirkliston Heritage Society
SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle, January 2nd, 1825
Caledonian Mercury, March 3rd, 1825
Encyclopedia.com
Linlithgow Gazette, May 8th, 1903
National Library of Scotland
State Library of New South Wales
The Edinburgh Annual Register, January, 1825
The National
Wikipedia