Solomon's Conviction Record - 1805 aged 30 - no family noted - born c1775
SOLOMON WISEMAN was indicted for feloniously stealing 704 pounds weight of Brazil wood, value 24 l. in a lighter, in the navigable River Thames, the property of Matthias Prime Lucas, John Lucas, and John Barber.
Second Count. For like offence, only laying it to be the property of Richard Buller, Hieroniman Berminster, and Cornelius Buller.
(The case was stated by Mr. Pooley.)
MATTHIAS PRIME LUCAS sworn. - Examined by Mr. Pooley. Q. What are the names of your partners? - A. My brother John Lucas, and John Barber, we are lightermen, and merchants agents.
Q. Were you in the month of April, 1804, employed to convey any Brazil wood from a vessel belonging to Messrs. Bullers, then stationed at Horslydown? - A. We were.
Q. Where was it to be conveyed to? - A. It was entered at the Custom-house, and suffered to be landed at the Steel-yard, by an order of the Commissioners of the Customs.
Q. Did you send a lighter on the 9th of April? - A. Messrs. Bullers and Co. entered the wood on the evening of the 9th, a lighter was sent to the ship.
Q. Who went with that lighter? - A. Wiseman, I believe, I am not positive to that fact.
Court. Q. You believe Solomon Wiseman was to go down to the ship on the 9th of April? - A. Yes, he went down on that night with the tide, preparatory to receive it the next day.
Q. What was Wiseman? - A. He is a journeyman lighterman, and had been constantly in our employ for three years.
Mr. Pooley. Q. You went the next morning? - A About two o'clock, on the 10th of April, I went on board the ship for the purpose of ascertaining whether the lighter would receive all the wood on board, so as to come up on the return of the flood-tide in the evening; I took with me a marking iron which I had made about a month previous for the purpose of marking wood or other packages.
Q. Taking the marking iron with you, did you mark any wood? - A. I did mark in the cabin a certain number of pieces of Brazil wood.
Q. After having marked the Brazil wood, you
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left it with certain orders? - A. Yes, and the lighter was so far loaded, the quantity she had received, they could not do any otherways than lay it uppermost; there was very little more than what was in the cabin to be delivered, which I desired to be put in last.
Court. Q. She was so far loaded, that these marked pieces of wood must be on the top? - A. Yes, or nearly so. After that, I left the ship, and returned home, and I met by appointment three persons who were particular friends, and persons in the same line of business with myself; I took them down with me between eight and nine at night; we went down close to where this lighter lay with the Brazil wood at Horslydown, on the 10th of April, before low water, we placed ourselves very near to the ship that brought the wood, and the lighter that had received it on board, at slack tide, when the flood-tide began to make, I heard Wiseman's voice in the lighter, and by the reflection of a light from the ship's deck, I saw him, and I knew him, he then was in the act of getting the lighter from along side of the ship, in order to proceed up with her with the flood-tide towards the wharf where she was directed to go.
Q. Had you seen Wiseman that day? - A. I did not give him the directions, I knew he had been ordered; I saw him there. He got under weigh with the lighter, and we followed him in a punt; we sat in the cabin, a place covered with a stern sheet, that we could retire to; Mr. Richard Rowey , Mr. John Mitchell , and Mr. Henry Cooper were with me, and the punt was navigated after the lighter, by Mr. Rowey, and we had likewise a skiff, what we fastened to the punt. We were sometimes in the cabin, and sometimes out, at all times some one or other of us out, and always so near as to be able to distinguish Wiseman's voice, and I observed every thing that passed on board the lighter, we were so close to her. Between the ships and London-bridge, Mr. Rowey left the oars of the punt to Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Rowey got into the skiff for the purpose of rowing round the lighter; almost immediately after Mr. Rowey had left us, and had got into the skiff, I heard Wiseman's voice, asking some person to give his partner (the officer) a cast on shore. Mr. Rowey returned to us, we still noticed the officer in the lighter with Wiseman. The lighter passed the bridge, and we passed through after her in the punt. When the lighter had got somewhere about the Steel-yard or rather above; I again heard Wiseman's voice, calling out Ned, a man aNew South Walesered to the name of Ned, and Wiseman as they appeard to get nearer, said d - n your eyes, why did not you come down to lend a hand with the lighter; the person aNew South Walesered that he could not come any sooner or words to that effect in a low tone of voice; he said, he come as soon as he could, or he could not come any sooner. The punt we were in moved up rather above the lighter; we were then all in the cabin at that time, being near them.
Q. How near were you to them? - A. About the length of the Court; we were near enough to observe them in the lighter; we continued in the cabin until we understood that they had taken the officer out of the lighter.
Q. How do you know the officer was taken out? - A. We left the punt cabin and walked into our own lighter; we had reason to believe that the officer, with Wiseman and the man who then was with them, had assisted in taking the wood from the lighter, and believing that, we came out for that purpose; when we came out of the cabin we found ourselves alongside of the lighter completely; we were within the lighter, and the lighter lay along-side of the punt; we were between the lighter and the shore.
Q. Did you then get into the lighter? - A. I got into the lighter and walked round it, and then I took notice at that time that there was no barge, punt or craft laid alongside of her but ours; our barge laid in the position as we lay.
Q. There was nobody in the lighter when you went into it? - A. None; the wood was there; we returned back into the punt, understanding Wiseman was returning to the lighter.
Q. When you got into the punt what did you hear or observe? - A. I heard Wiseman's voice again; he came and spoke to Mr. Rowey, and so did the other man with him, whom he called Ned.
Q. Where was Mr. Rowey when they spoke to him? - A. In the punt putting the oars in a position as if he was locking the oars to leave them; Wiseman spoke to him and so did the other man, but I am not conscious who was the man that asked the question; one of them asked him what he was going to do with his punt; he said, he was going to leave her there for the night; at the time they were talking to Mr. Rowey they stood close to the cabin where we were secreted, so that we could hear all that they said; I then desired Mr. Rowey to leave us and take the little boat away with him, and to place himself at a distance and to come so near to us again as to be able to come to our assistance if we should want him.
Q. Did Mr. Rowey then leave you? - A. I believe he did, but we did not come out of the cabin to see; within ten minutes after Mr. Rowey had left us, we heard something as if a craft had come alongside of our wood lighter; almost instantly afterwards the wood began to move; we heard the wood rattle as if the logs in the lighter were being moved, and by the sound I had no doubt of the fact; we heard distinctly three different kinds of sounds after we heard it move in the lighter; we heard the logs rattle against each other as if some person was moving them; the next sound I heard was, apparently to me, as though a log of wood was scraping over the gunnel of the lighter, as if a person was easing it down, we then heard a hollow sound as if it was set down on the floor at the bottom of the barge, it was a noise that wood would not make were it put on other wood, but a noise that wood makes in an empty barge, it was a thump, and then, secondly, lowered down at the other end to make as little noise as possible, there were two distinct thumps. After we heard four or five logs had been moved, Mr. Cooper left the punt's cabin and went on his hands and knees, he stooped low enough, as it appeared to me, he went on his hands and knees from the cabin to the other side of the barge next to where the wood lay; I followed him in the same position; I saw two persons in motion, it was too dark to distinguish features, and their motions satisfied me that they were moving the wood, from their attitude, because the sound corresponded with their moving.
Q. What were they moving it from? - A. From my lighter into something at the off side as we lay in the river close to her.
Q. Could you see what sort of a vessel they were moving it in? - A. I could not, the lighter was higher than our punt, and higher than the vessel they were putting it into; I fixed my eyes upon one of the men.
Court. Q. Did you find out that the vessel that this wood was removed into was a barge. - A. Afterwards I did; Mr. Cooper and I, each of us sprung from the barge we were in; I kept my eye on the person I saw in motion, I could not see the whole length of him at that time, still I kept my eye on him till I sprung upon the barge's gunnel, and then I ran across the lighter in direction to him, and jumped into the adjoining barge close against him.
Q. Was he in that barge? - A. He was in that barge.
Court. Q. You jumped close to him? - A. Yes: I then knew that man to be the prisoner at the bar, Wiseman. I struck at him with a small hanger; he retreated back from me, and said, pray do not, for God's sake, or words to that effect; I did not attempt to pursue the blow, but thought of closing with him, and taking him by the collar; I sprang towards him, with an intention of laying hold of him; the oars of the barge were then lying sloping from the fore-beam, and whoever the man was, he put his feet down to the bottom of the barge; I did not observe the oars; I fell over the oars, and he jumped into a little boat.
Q. From the expressions that that man made use of to you, can you tell who that man was? - A. Yes, it was the prisoner at the bar; I have no doubt whatever.
Court. Q. You falling over the oars gave him an opportunity of getting away? - A. Yes; I saw him pushing a little boat away, and getting off.
Q. What did you find in that barge? - A. Twelve pieces of Brazil wood; a rough great coat, containing in the pockets a pocket-handkerchief, marked E. P. and a piece of paper.
Mr. Pooley. Q. Was part of the wood found in the barge that had been taken from the lighter? - A. I have no doubt of it whatever.
Q. Upon examining the wood in the barge, had it that mark that you could know it by? - A. The whole of the wood had the Portugal port mark; I do not know of my own knowledge that there was any deficiency; but Mr. Berminster will state that.
Court. Q. Was it the same kind of wood that you had in your lighter? - A. Exactly so; Brazil wood.
Q. Was any of it marked? - A. The whole of it was marked with a brand mark, the Portugal mark, which the whole of Mr. Buller's wood has: one of the pieces had a mark which I had no doubt was the piece that I had marked; it was a remarkable piece of wood, I had noticed it, it was cut at one end with a hammer I carried on purpose; that piece is here.
Mr. Pooley. Q. When you came to the wharf, when Wiseman called out to a person of the name of Ned, was that a person in your employment? - A. It was not; I did not know that man; but by his voice I knew he was not a servant of mine; nor was any servant of mine ordered to assist him with the lighter.
Court. Q. That man is not here? - A. No.
Q. You need not pursue that. - What was the value of this wood that was taken out of the lighter; what was the weight of it? - A. There were twelve pieces, weighing six hundred pounds weight; I do not positively know, if I may be allowed to speak from the accounts, it has been valued at 85 l. a ton.
Q. Whereabouts was the lighter? - A. She was fastened to the craft at Parker's; to the craft at the Three Cranes, the City side of the river.
Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. You have spoken to the pieces of wood found in the craft? - A. I have.
Q. And there is only one piece that you can particularly speak to, that you put your own mark on it? - A. There are two pieces.
Q. You said one; with respect to the other pieces of wood they had the Portugal mark, all the wood imported by Buller and Co. would have that mark on them? - A. Yes.
Q. Now with respect to this one piece of wood which you can speak to by your own particular mark, will you give us the value of that piece of wood - upon your oath can you say it is worth more than forty shillings? - A. It weighed more than an hundred pounds; I should suppose it is worth about four or five pounds.
Q. I understood you to have said, it was a very dark night, and therefore the only opportunity that you had of knowing about it was, that it was the voice of Wiseman? - A. I knew him by his person when I got to him.
Q. But before you only knew him by his voice? - A. I believed that the person I saw in motion was the prisoner, and when I got to him, I knew that person to be the prisoner at the bar.
Q. That is, in other words, you knew Wiseman when you got up to him? - A. I identified him by his voice repeatedly before.
Q. From that you were led to suppose it was Wiseman - you were not certain of it until you came up, and found it was so? - A. I did not hear any voice at the time the wood was in motion; at that time, if I had been asked, I could not have sworn to the person of Wiseman, I can now swear that one of the persons that I saw, when the wood was in motion, was Wiseman; that I could not then swear to; when I got near to him, that person was Wiseman, and I never lost sight of him, because I saw the very person that was moving the wood was Wiseman.
Q. Did not you ever hear two persons pretty near of similar voices? - A. I hardly ever met with two persons that I had been familiar with in business, but what I could distinguish them by their voices.
RICHARD ROWEY sworn. - Examined by Mr. Pooley. I live in Upper Gower-street, Christ-church.
Q. Did you go with Mr. Lucas to Horslydown? - A. I did.
Q. What time did you get there? - A. About nine o'clock in the evening.
Q. You came up in the punt from Horslydown to the Three Cranes? - A. Yes; when I came to the Three Cranes, I put the punt alongside of the lighter.
Q. Do you recollect that Mr. Lucas and Mr. Cooper got into the lighter, when the persons who had brought the lighter had left her? - A. Yes.
Q. Was there any barge of the river-side of the lighter? - A. None, except the punt, and I was in that.
Q. Do you recollect any men coming back? - A. There were two persons come back to the lighter; they spoke to me, they asked me where I was going in the punt.
Q. Which of them spoke to you? - A. I am sure it was Wiseman, I knew him by his voice. I was in the habit of seeing and speaking to him; when he asked me what I was going to do with the punt, I told him I was going to put the punt to the wharf above; I, after that, returned to the cabin where Mr. Lucas was; I told him I should leave him, which I did; I went into the skiff, and rowed off with the tide into the middle of the river; I stopped the boat, by rowing against the tide a convenient distance from the lighter, till I heard Mr. Lucas's voice calling out, Rowey; after which I discovered a boat coming from where the lighter lay with two men in it I followed them, and when they came to Crawshay's wharf, the iron wharf, I rowed my boat close; I got on board of theirs; one man jumped overboard; I told him I would shoot him, if he attempted to make his escape. Not hearing any more of him, I supposed he was drowned; I turned my attention to the prisoner at the bar, who was then in the boat; he exclaimed, for God's sake, Mr. Rowey, have mercy, you know the consequence, or something to that effect; he then stepped on the aft, athwart of the boat, and made a spring into the river; he got hold of my boat, which I had left, and made his escape from the boat I then was in; I rowed to Mr. Lucas then, and we went in pursuit of the prisoner; I found a hat in the boat; as to speaking to that direct, I cannot; there were two cuts in it.
Q. How were you dressed at this time? - A. I had a rough coat on, I was exactly as a working man in the river was; I endeavoured to disguise myself as much as I could, because they were in the habits of knowing me.
Cross-examined by Mr. Gurney. Q. You had no opportunity of observing the face of the man - it was much too dark a night to observe countenances? - A. It was, I allow.
Q. Did you ever hear his brother speak? - A. No.
Q. Because if you did you could not tell the difference I am told? - A. I will speak by the voice, the shape, and make of the man.
Q. What, speak to the shape and make of a man of a dark night - you cannot speak to the shape and make of a man in a dark night? - A. I do not say that I can, unless I was particularly well acquainted with him; I do not mean to say directly I can, or cannot, speak to facts in this case.
Court. Q. Have you any doubt that he was that man? - A. None in the least.
Mr. Gurney. Q. It being a dark night, you cannot make out that you knew him by shape and make? - A. I have said so much, I should be sorry to say any thing that is an untruth.
Q. That was an hasty speech that you knew him by shape and make, you do not mean that you could? - A. I was in the act of closing in with this man; it was impossible but I must know him from his speaking to me, I knew him by his voice; I might hastily say that about his shape and make.
Mr. Pooley. Q. From the voice and the figure of that man in the boat, whom do you believe that person was? - A. The prisoner at the bar.
HENRY COOPER sworn, - Examined by Mr. Pooley. Q. You were at the Three Cranes what in the punt? - A. I was.
Q. How many voices did you hear? - A Two; one I knew the voice of, the other I did not.
Q. That person that you knew his voice, who was he? - A. The prisoner at the bar; I saw the figure of him, I could not swear to his person, I could swear to his voice; when I came out of the cabin, after hearing the wood removed, I saw the motions of two persons - one in the act of lifting the wood out of the lighter and putting it into the barge, and the appearance of another in the act of receiving it. Mr. Lucas, I believe, followed me; I turned round to him, and told him, I believe, they were putting the wood out of the lighter into the barge, there came a small lamp; when we got into the barge, there were eleven or twelve pieces of wood, I believe, I cannot exactly speak to the quantity; there was a great coat also; I heard several pieces move, it was remarkably dark; I jumped upon one, which was not the prisoner at the bar, it was the other man, who was in the act of lifting it out of the lighter; I got hold of him, I fell, and he fell; he got near to the lighter's gunnel, and threw himself over; I did not know there was any craft along-side of the barge at the time; he threw himself into the craft, where the other person was; I was obliged to quit my hold, as the other person shoved it away, or else I must have gone overboard.
JOHN MITCHELL sworn. - Examined by Mr. Pooley. Q. You, I believe, was with the other gentlemen at the Three Cranes? - A. Yes; I heard two voices, I knew the voice of Wiseman, and I saw the motion of the men in the lighter, in the act of moving the wood.
Court. Q. Do you know any thing more than the voice? - A. Nothing more.
HIERONIMAN BERMINSTER sworn. - Examined by Mr. Pooley. Q. What are the names of your partners? - A. Richard Buller and Cornelius Buller.
Q. Had you any Brazil wood in a vessel of your's in April 1804? - A. Yes.
Q. Did you employ Mr. Lucas to carry it up to the Steel-yard wharf? - A. I did.
Q. Can you tell whether that is part of it? - A. I cannot say that is part of it, we exclusively import it; there is now and then some comes by way of accident by a contraband trade.
Q. What is the value of that wood? - A. Unless I knew the weight I cannot tell you the value of it.
Q. What would 600 pounds weight be worth? - A. Twenty-eight pounds.
Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. What would that piece of wood be worth that is marked, it weighs an hundred pounds? - A. It is worth four pounds ten shillings.
Mr. Lucas. This particular piece of wood I noticed; I noticed this cavity here; I have no doubt but that is one I marked in the cabin.
Q. What became of this man afterwards? - A. I never heard of him afterwards, I offered a reward for him.
Court. Q. Mr. Berminster, I suppose you have a particular mark on wood of this kind? - A. I have a bill of lading that corresponds with it, I never saw the wood before.
Q. Perhaps you never saw the wood before at Horslydown? - A. No, I was not on board this ship.
Mr. Pooley. Q. Does it correspond with your bill of lading in description? - A. Yes.
Mr. Gurney. Q. All the wood in other ships have the same marks; it does not more correspond with that bill of lading than it does with any other bill of lading - is there the mark upon that wood which is not the mark of every other cargo, you have generally these marks? - A. Yes, exactly.
Prisoner's defence. After I brought that lighter up, I left her, I did not see her afterwards; I meant to come to her at high water; I left her when I put the officer on shore, and when I heard there was such a piece of work about her, I was afraid to come back; Mr. Lucas knows no lighter upon the river could come to her.
The prisoner called seven witnesses, who gave him a good character.
GUILTY, Death, aged 30.
London Jury, before Mr. Recorder.
