The Chieftain: Victorian True Crime Through The Eyes of a Scotland Yard Detective (23 page)

The third major burglary case that Clarke worked on occurred in February 1871 in a middle-class neighbourhood in Stratford. The attempted burglary involved a style of entry that was favoured by the native English criminal, in which the burglar sought to gain entry to a property through a first-floor window, by climbing up the portico above the front door. Clarke’s report describes the events:

13th February 1871

With reference to the attempted larceny at the residence of Mr Galloway, No. 2 Oxford Villas, Romford Road (K Division) and the attempt made on this gentleman’s life by the thieves.

I beg to report that in conjunction with Sergeant Gibbs of this Department and Inspector Mason, and P.S. Briden (Detective) K Division, I have made enquiry and ascertained the subjoined particulars. The persons committing this outrage must have been in the neighbourhood for at least an hour and a half during which time they made two separate attempts to enter houses
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. at Mr Pedlar’s, Romford Road, and Mr Paize’s, 10 Vicarage Terrace, both houses being within a distance of three hundred yards from Mr Galloway’s.

Martha Barker, servant to Mr Pedlar states that at 7.15 p.m. 9th Inst. she heard the gate bell ring and upon going to the front door saw a man who had one leg over the iron fence, and two other men were standing on the footway. She called out to the man saying ‘You have no business there, go away’. At this time a constable came up and in his presence repeated that the men had no business there; she then shut the door. Shortly after, the bell again rang and upon answering it she saw [another] policeman who enquired if she knew the men, and she replied no. Upon examining these premises I find that the wire in connection with the bell runs along the iron fence and the man catching his foot in it caused the bell to ring, and was, when seen by Barker in the act of making off. I have seen the Constable spoken of, Edward Blackett 542K who states that on passing he saw three men standing on the footway. He said ‘what are you doing here taking up the whole of the footway’. They replied they were only having a lark, upon which he told them to go away. This they did turning down Vicarage Lane. The P.C. denies seeing either Mr Pedlar’s servant, or any other person on the force. I have however no doubt that this is untrue the statements being made to screen himself from having neglected his duty in not either satisfying himself who these men were or keeping some observation on them. He is further unable to give any description of the men and I place but little reliance upon what he says.

About 8.15 p.m. a man was seen by Miss Elizabeth Green of No. 4 Stratford Green to slide down the pillar of the portico in front of the residence of Mr Paize; two other men were also standing on the pavement; she thought the circumstance a very suspicious one and called the attention of a gentleman to it who happened to be passing. She gives a description of them and could identify them.

About 8.40 p.m. Miss Howlett niece of Mr Galloway saw a man on the front door step, and acquainted her uncle with the circumstance. He at once went to see what was the matter followed by his wife. Mrs Galloway states her husband ran out of the house and overtook a man about twenty yards distant whom he seized and accused of attempting to rob his house. Upon this two men crossed from the opposite side of the road, one of whom, struck the husband in the face. He fell and upon Mrs Galloway screaming out, a policeman came up and assisted Mr Galloway in-doors. She informed the P.C. her husband had been attacked by three men who ran down the road in the direction of Romford. The P.C. endeavoured to find some trace of them but being unable to do so, went to West Ham police station and acquainted Inspector Mason with the particulars. Constables were at once despatched to the several Railway Stations and other places in the neighbourhood with a view of intercepting the persons guilty of the outrage but without success. P.C. Young 53K, who went to Mrs Galloways assistance states that he found Mr Galloway lying on the foot path, but the men had escaped and, after assisting to remove the gentleman into the house, went to West Ham Station and reported the circumstance to Inspector Mason by whose direction he then returned to Forest Gate Railway Station where upon his arrival at 9.56 p.m. he found the train had just left. Upon enquiry of the porter Henry Pickett he was informed that two men who seemed excited and appeared to have been in a scuffle had entered the station at the last minute and left by the train referred to. They both took third class tickets to Shoreditch. In consequence of there being no telegraph at the station no communications could be sent.

From the description given by the porter I have no doubt these were two of the men engaged in the three successive attempts at robbery on the night in question.

In addition to the persons whose names have been given as having seen these men, they were observed to run away from the neighbourhood of Mr Galloways house (after he had been stabbed) by William Nott, 7 William Cottages and Thomas Whitmarsh, 7 Back Barracks, Stratford, both of whom would be able to identify them. I beg to add that every exertion is being used to effect their apprehension. Mr Galloway was alive at a late hour yesterday, but was still unconscious and Mr Kennet his medical attendant informs me there is no hope that his life can be spared.
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Samuel Galloway died on 15 February without regaining consciousness and a ‘£100 Reward. Murder’ poster containing a description of the three men was issued on 16 February. The reward was later increased to £250 by sums donated by residents of Stratford and other private individuals. A few days later Clarke reported the latest developments:

21st February 1871

I beg further to report … On the evening of 15th Inst. Sergeant Briden and P.C. Chapman Divisional Detectives K Division having been informed by a person (whom they introduced to me) that the murder was committed by three men who were known to the informant as ‘Michael Campbell’, ‘James Bouger’ alias ‘Montague’ alias ‘May’, and ‘Charles Skinner’ and who up to this time frequented the ‘Seven Stars’ and other Public Houses in the neighbourhood of Brick Lane, Spitalfields and further stated that about 4 p.m. 9th Inst. he saw the man ‘Bouger’ who said he was going with others to ‘do a climb’ (Portico Larceny) and asked him (the informant) if he would lend him a knife for the purpose of pushing back the window fastenings, which he did not do.

The following day the informant again saw ‘Bouger’ who said ‘we were damned near caught last night down below Stratford, a gentleman came out caught hold of me and accused me of trying to get in his house, but Campbell who is a good mate come up and struck the gentleman on the head with the Jemmy and we all run away. I struck across the fields and found myself at Forest Gate Railway Station.’

In consequence of this statement which I believed to be true, I used every exertion in conjunction with the Officers above named and Divisional Detective P.C. Foster H Division and yesterday P.C. Foster ascertained that Mrs Campbell the mother of the man ‘Campbell’ resided in some Court in the neighbourhood of Samuel Street, St Georges in the East; upon being informed of this I went to the Vestry Hall, St Georges and saw Mr Pritchard Inspector of Nuisances and induced him with Dr Reigate of the Parish to accompany me into some of the small Courts under the pretence of inspecting the houses. On going to No. 18 Waterloo Court, in a room upstairs I found a woman and two young men, one of whom answered the description which I had received of ‘Campbell’. I then left and fetched P.C. Foster (who knew Campbell) who was waiting in the immediate neighbourhood with Inspector Mason K Division; upon going into the room he told me that he recognized ‘Campbell’ as the person alluded to by the informant.

I at once arrested him and conveyed him to Leman Street Police Station and thence to West Ham Station when I met Superintendent Worels, and it was arranged to call in 5 young men who were passing, for the purpose of placing the prisoner among them for identification.

On Mrs Galloway going into the room she at once recognized the prisoner ‘Campbell’ who (to the best of her belief) was the man who struck her husband. I then took in Miss E. Green who at once identified Campbell as the person who she saw on the Portico of the house of Mr Paize, 10 Vicarage Terrace, about half past 8 o’clock on the night of the attack on Mr Galloway. I then took in William Nott of 7 William Cottages who identified Campbell as one of three men whom he saw near the spot a few minutes before the attempted robbery took place, and subsequently ran away from Mr Galloway after he had fallen on the pavement.

I then took in P.C. 87 John Barnes K Division who identified Campbell as one of three men whom he saw near this spot on the night in question; he was then charged with being concerned with others with the Wilful Murder of Mr Galloway; he was this day taken before J. Spicer Esq. and Mr. Howard of the Town Hall Stratford and remanded to the Petty Sessions Ilford Saturday 25th Inst.

The other two men are still at large but the enquiry is being continued.
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St George’s in the East, where Clarke arrested Campbell, was an infamous area in which the tenement rooms were usually filled with as many beds as could be fitted in.
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The scene of the arrest would probably have graced any Dickensian description of crime and poverty in London’s East End.

Four days later Clarke was able to report that a second man, ‘Charles Skinner’ who gave the name John Calbraith, was successfully apprehended, and had also been identified by several witnesses as one of the three men seen at the time that Samuel Galloway had been assaulted. The jury at the inquest on Samuel Galloway on 24 February recorded a verdict of wilful murder against Campbell, and wilful murder of the second degree against Calbraith.
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Clarke also followed up the concerns that he had expressed about P.C. Edward Blackett and also a second P.C., John Barnes, reporting that: ‘had the Constables performed their duty with any intelligence they would have arrested the men at the time, and I am of opinion that they now deny the facts to cover their negligence.’
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As a consequence of Clarke’s report, Blackett was dismissed without pay and Barnes was resigned compulsorily.
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At several magistrate’s hearings the men arrested for Samuel Galloway’s murder were remanded in custody and ultimately committed for trial at the Old Bailey on 5 April 1871. Montagu Williams appeared for Campbell and has left an account of the trial; he described Campbell as ‘a very peculiar man in appearance, and several witnesses identified him by the mark or hole under his left eye’, a distinctive feature for identification purposes. Williams also commented that: ‘The principal witness to the murder was the dead man’s wife, and anything more painful than her presence in the box has never come under my notice.’
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As a consequence, Williams made a decision not to cross-examine Mrs Galloway, as he saw no benefit to be gained for his client. At the end of the prosecution evidence the judge, Mr Justice Lush, advised the jury that there was insufficient evidence to convict Calbraith of wilful murder and he was formally acquitted of that charge.

In his defence of Campbell, Williams pointed out that there must be something faulty on the part of the prosecution in not producing the constable (Blackett) who should have been the best qualified to speak to the identity of the prisoners. This weakness in the prosecution case did not in the end deflect the jury from returning a ‘guilty’ verdict against Campbell.
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Before being sentenced to death Campbell admitted the offence but stated that he had not meant to kill Galloway. He was executed at Springfield Prison, Chelmsford, on 24 April 1871; the first execution behind closed doors at the prison. Thus, George Clarke has the dubious distinction of bringing to justice the last person to be hung in public at Chelmsford (Köhl) and the first to be executed under the new regime (Campbell).

Clarke and the Treasury prosecution team must have anticipated that the case for wilful murder against Calbraith was a weak one, as they had another charge up their sleeves. The day after the murder trial, Calbraith was back at the Old Bailey on a charge of ‘breaking and entering’. He was found guilty and sentenced to twenty years’ penal servitude.
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Despite the circulation of a description of the third man to all police forces in the country, and the allocation of other police in London to help track him down, ‘James Bouger’ was never found.

Clarke added to his growing reputation by his handling of this case, not least in his uncompromising attitude in addressing the incompetence and attempted cover-up by two police constables. His efforts received reward; Henderson wrote to the Treasury recommending a £3 gratuity for Clarke and £2 for Inspector Mason. When the £250 reward was distributed, the informer, revealed as ‘William Maxwell’, received the government’s £100, while the remaining £150 was distributed amongst the police team and witnesses, with Clarke receiving the largest individual amount of £30.
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Bribery

Two weeks after the death of Sir Richard Mayne, Clarke found himself handling a crime linked to a defence procurement contract. However, it had nothing to do with the purchase of sophisticated (or unsophisticated) Victorian weapons, or the latest version of an ironclad battleship; instead, it concerned a supply contract for 300 loads of elm timber for the Royal Navy at Portsmouth Dockyard.