On this day, 11 November 1794, the Old Bailey heard the curious case of John Webb, a London labourer accused of stealing three pewter quart pots from a tavern in the city. The theft itself had taken place some weeks earlier, but the echoes of that small crime reached the courtrooms of justice on this damp November morning.
The theft
The indictment read plainly enough:
“John Webb was indicted for stealing, on a certain day in October, three pewter quart pots, value three shillings, the goods of Thomas Brown.”
It was the sort of offence that kept constables busy — unglamorous, commonplace, yet vital to the rhythm of Georgian London.
Brown kept an inn near the Borough; Webb, a familiar customer, knew his way around the cellar and the shelves.
When three of the landlord’s pots disappeared, suspicion naturally followed the man who’d left the tavern a little too merry, with a bundle that clinked when he walked.
Landlord: “I missed three pots from the shelf, and sent the pot-boy to look among the benches. He came back with none. A neighbour said he’d seen Webb pass with something under his arm.”
The constable found him a few streets away, the bundle heavy with pewter and guilt.
The trial at the Old Bailey
In court, Webb played the fool, claiming coincidence and misfortune.
Clerk: “You stand indicted for stealing three pewter quart pots, the property of Thomas Brown. How say you — guilty or not guilty?”
Webb: “Not guilty, my lord. I found them in the street.”
The evidence was so straightforward that the jurors scarcely warmed their benches.
Foreman: “Guilty.”
Sentence and aftermath
Though pewter theft may sound trifling today, in Georgian London it was treated as a serious betrayal of trust and livelihood.
The judge delivered the standard sentence for repeat petty larceny:
Judge: “You will be transported beyond the seas for seven years.”
Within weeks, Webb was shackled aboard a prison hulk on the Thames, awaiting transport to Botany Bay — one more Londoner sent to the farthest corner of the empire for the price of three drinking pots.
Why this mattered
John Webb’s trial reminds us that the Old Bailey did not just punish grand villains and murderers.
It dealt daily in the ordinary sins of ordinary men — a few missing spoons, a stolen handkerchief, or a tavern pot gone astray.
Each verdict echoed through the alleys of London, proof that in 1794 even a pewter tankard could change a life forever.
Source
R v. John Webb (t17941111-25), tried at the Old Bailey on 11 November 1794 for theft of pewter pots from publican Thomas Brown. Verdict: Guilty. Sentence: Transportation for seven years.
Old Bailey Proceedings Online
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