Quote of the Day: When Wisdom Begins to Resemble a Clearance Sale

“When wisdom is offered with the frequency of a retailer’s sale, it begins to lose its ivory sheen.”
— The Sage

The Sage has long suspected that scarcity plays a quiet role in how we value things. Ivory, once prized for rarity and refinement, carried weight precisely because it was not everywhere. Wisdom, he suggests, behaves much the same way. When insight is shared sparingly and thoughtfully, it retains its polish. When it is broadcast endlessly, it risks becoming background noise.

He observes that modern life rewards frequency. Opinions are posted hourly, advice is dispensed freely, and profound statements are packaged with the enthusiasm of seasonal promotions. There is nothing wrong with sharing knowledge, The Sage admits — but when wisdom begins to resemble a clearance sale, its substance can dull.

With gentle irony, he reminds us that true wisdom rarely needs aggressive marketing. It does not flash, discount, or repeat itself for attention. Like ivory once did, it carries quiet distinction — not because it is loud, but because it is rare. And rarity, he notes, has a sheen that frequency cannot replicate.

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Advice of the Day: Modern Dating

Avoid awkward silences on a date by bringing a stopwatch and announcing, “Right — we’ve got 90 minutes. Impress me.”

– The Sage

Dating can be stressful. There’s the small talk, the menu anxiety, the quiet panic when someone says, “Tell me about yourself.” The Wise Sage believes all of this can be eliminated with structure. A strict time limit, a clipboard, and a mild air of professional assessment will keep things brisk. Nothing says romance like performance metrics.

If conversation begins to falter, simply rate the previous answer out of ten and request clarification. For bonus points, occasionally nod thoughtfully and mutter, “Interesting strategy.” This keeps your date alert and encourages continuous personal development. If they leave halfway through, you have successfully filtered for resilience.

Remember: if you split the bill exactly to the penny, it demonstrates fiscal discipline. If you ask for a receipt, it shows long-term planning. And if you schedule a follow-up date immediately using shared calendar invites, you are clearly serious about scalability.

As always, The Sage accepts no responsibility for drinks thrown, doors slammed, or unexpected solo taxi rides home.

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This Day in History: 26 February 1872 — The Urinal Robbery of Old Street

On 26 February 1872, Horace Crosby and George Dowling, both aged eighteen, stood before the Central Criminal Court, charged with robbery with violence.

The stolen goods?

Three postcards.
A handful of papers.

The violence, however, was real.

They were sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment and twenty lashes with the cat.

Old Street, 1:30 in the Morning

Edward Charles Carpenter, a wicker-worker of Addison Square, admitted he had been “tipsy.”

At around half past one in the morning on 17 February, he entered a public urinal off Old Street.

The two prisoners followed him in.

Inside one of the compartments:

  • Dowling seized him.
  • Threw him backwards.
  • Knelt across his chest.
  • Clamped a hand over his mouth.

Meanwhile, Crosby rifled his pockets.

Carpenter later recalled hearing:

“He ain’t got nothing.”

Followed by:

“Are you sure he ain’t got nothing?”

He had money — but hidden in his boot.

His pockets yielded only:

  • Papers
  • Bills
  • Three postcards

Here is Edward Carpenter’s Testimony:

EDWARD CHARLES CARPENTER . I live at 10, Addison Square, and am a wicker-worker—on the morning of 17th February I remember going into a urinal—I was tipsy—the two prisoners followed me in—Crosby looked me very hard in the face, and Dowling was behind me, and all in a moment he put his arms round my head and against my breast, and the other hand he put on my fob, and forced me back on the ground—while I was on the ground he kept his hand over my mouth, and knelt across my chest—Crosby rifled all my pockets—I had nothing in them but papers and bills, and two or three post-cards—I heard Crosby say “He aint got nothing”—Dowling said “Are you sure he aint got nothing?”—Crosby said “Yes, nothing at all”—I don’t remember crying out at all—I did not see a policeman come into the urinal—I lost my senses—I was very much hurt across my chest—I thought I was dying—these (produced) are the papers and post-cards I had in my pocket.

Cross-examined by MR. WILLIAMS. I had some money about me, but it was in my boot—there were three or four compartments in the place, with an entrance on each side—I was in one of the compartments.

The Policemen Arrive

Police Constable Arthur Stevens heard cries of “Police!”

He entered from one side of the urinal.

He saw:

  • Dowling kneeling on the victim’s chest
  • Crosby with his hand inside the victim’s trousers pocket

The two attempted to flee.

They ran straight into the arms of another officer at the opposite entrance.

The prosecutor lay on his back, bleeding slightly from the mouth. His pockets were turned inside out.

The Defence

Dowling offered an imaginative explanation before the magistrate:

He claimed he had entered the urinal and seen another man fleeing, pursued by a policeman — and had himself been mistakenly seized.

The jury was unmoved.

Verdict and Sentence

Guilty.

Sentence:

  • Eighteen months’ imprisonment
  • Twenty lashes with the cat

The Cat in 1872

By 1872, the death penalty for robbery without murder had long been abolished.

But corporal punishment remained.

The “cat” — short for cat-o’-nine-tails — was a whip of multiple knotted cords.

Flogging in prison was:

  • Painful
  • Public within the prison
  • Intended as deterrent

Twenty lashes was no light punishment.

It was inflicted on the bare back.

Why This Case Is So Striking

Compared with our previous February cases:

  • 1771: Death by hanging for shooting.
  • 1784: Death sentence (commuted) for pistol robbery.
  • 1790: Death for burglary.
  • 1872: Eighteen months and flogging — for violent theft of postcards.

The legal world had changed.

Violence still mattered.
But the Bloody Code was gone.

The state now punished with imprisonment and corporal discipline rather than the gallows.

Why It Matters

This case reveals:

  • The everyday vulnerability of Victorian urban life
  • The persistence of violent street crime
  • The transformation of English punishment
  • The strange triviality of stolen goods compared to the brutality used

Three postcards.

Twenty lashes.

Justice, by 1872, had shifted from execution to correction — but it was not gentle.

Sources

  • Central Criminal Court Sessions Paper, 26 February 1872
  • Trial of Horace Crosby and George Dowling

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This Day in History: 25 February 1784 — John Smith and the Harley Street Robbery

On 25 February 1784, John Smith stood before the Old Bailey, charged with violently robbing Francis Franco, Esq., on the King’s highway.

He was found guilty.

He was sentenced to death.

But he did not hang.

The Robbery in Harley Street

At two in the morning on 12 February, Francis Franco was travelling alone in a hackney coach through Harley Street.

The coach stopped.

The door was opened.

A pistol was presented.

The command was simple:

“Deliver.”

Franco hesitated.

The robber swore he would shoot if he were not quick.

Franco handed over:

  • A silk purse containing forty-one guineas and two half-guineas
  • A gold watch worth £20
  • Two cornelian seals set in gold

The total value exceeded £60 — an enormous sum in 1784.

The Watchman’s Rattle

Just as the watch was delivered, Franco saw a watchman turning the corner and heard the rattle.

The robber fled.

Franco leapt from the coach.

The coachman and watchman pursued.

Within minutes, another watchman seized the suspect.

A pistol was found near where he had fallen during his flight.

The stolen watch was discovered in his coat pocket.

On being confronted, the prisoner said:

“As you have got your watch you may as well have your purse.”

He returned it himself.

The Confession

In court, John Smith did not deny the crime.

“I am guilty of the robbery; great distress and necessity forced me to do it; I leave myself to the mercy of the Court and the prosecutor.”

The jury convicted him.

Sentence: Death.

Mercy and Commutation

Remarkably, both prosecutor and jury recommended Smith to mercy.

The judge’s note recorded:

“Street robbery committed with a pistol and accompanied with threats.”

Officially, no mercy was granted.

Yet the death sentence was later commuted to seven years’ transportation to America.

On 31 July 1784, Smith was transported.

Money Then & Now

Forty-one guineas equalled over £43, plus the watch valued at £20.

Total loss: more than £60.

In 1784, £60 represented:

  • Several years’ wages for a labourer
  • Or the equivalent of many thousands of pounds today

Highway robbery of this magnitude was treated as a grave threat to public security.

Highway Robbery in Georgian London

Robbery “on the King’s highway” carried capital punishment.

The use of a firearm — especially accompanied by threat to shoot — made conviction almost certain.

Yet by the 1780s, juries increasingly recommended mercy in cases where:

  • No injury occurred
  • Property was recovered
  • The offender confessed

The Bloody Code remained severe, but its application was beginning to soften.

Transportation to America — 1784

Smith’s sentence is particularly interesting.

In 1784, Britain was in a transitional moment.

The American War of Independence had ended in 1783.

Transportation to America was technically disrupted — yet convicts were still, in some cases, sent under altered arrangements before the Australian system was established in 1788.

His case sits at the cusp of imperial penal transition.

Within four years, transportation would shift decisively to New South Wales.

Smith narrowly missed becoming one of its first inhabitants.

Why This Case Matters

John Smith’s story reveals:

  • The swiftness of eighteenth-century street justice
  • The power of watchmen in London’s night policing
  • The importance of confession in capital trials
  • The growing tension between law and mercy

From pistol to pardon, the entire arc — crime, capture, conviction, commutation — unfolded within months.

In Georgian London, fortune turned quickly.

Sources

  • Old Bailey Proceedings, 25 February 1784, trial of John Smith
  • Transportation record, 31 July 1784

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Advice of the Day: Mastering Microwave Cooking

Reduce stress in microwave cooking by setting the timer for one hour and leaving the house. That way, you don’t have to listen to it beep.

-The Sage

There’s something deeply unsettling about standing in front of a microwave, watching your dinner rotate slowly like a nervous astronaut. The Wise Sage believes this can be avoided entirely. Simply set an ambitious cooking time, press start with confidence, and immediately pop out “for milk.” By the time you return, either your meal will be ready — or the house will have achieved an exciting open-plan redesign.

Of course, microwave cooking is all about efficiency. Why pierce film lids when steam naturally seeks freedom? Why stir halfway through when chaos is nature’s seasoning? The Sage insists that “unevenly heated” simply means “adventurously textured.” If one corner is molten and the other is Antarctic, you’ve successfully created culinary contrast.

And remember: if the instructions say “let stand for two minutes,” this is merely the meal attempting to negotiate with you. Stand firm. If you cannot see actual sparks, it is technically still cooking. Probably.

As always, The Sage accepts no responsibility for minor scorch marks, major scorch marks, or spontaneous kitchen light shows.

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Quote of the Day: Warmth often matters more than certainty

“A sweater at twilight carries more comfort than certainty ever could.”
— The Sage

The Sage has always preferred simple comforts to rigid assurances. As daylight fades and twilight settles in, the world grows softer at the edges. Questions that felt urgent at noon lose their sharpness, and the need for definite answers quietens. In such moments, he notes, warmth often matters more than certainty.

He observes that certainty can be heavy. It demands defence, explanation, and proof. Comfort, by contrast, asks very little. A sweater pulled around the shoulders at dusk does not promise solutions; it simply offers steadiness. The Sage finds that in twilight — that gentle in-between — people rarely need clarity as much as they need calm.

With his characteristic softness, The Sage reminds us that not every evening requires conclusions. Sometimes it is enough to sit with the fading light, wrapped in something warm, carrying no more than the day has already given. Certainty may shout in daylight — but at twilight, comfort speaks more wisely.

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Quote of the Day: Squandering Brilliance

“Brilliance is wasted when you treat people like dolls and life like a shareholders’ meeting.”
— The Sage

The Sage has always been wary of systems that measure everything but understand very little. When people are reduced to figures, roles, or assets, something essential is lost. To treat a person like a doll — positioned, adjusted, and displayed — is to overlook their agency, complexity, and quiet unpredictability. And brilliance, he suggests, cannot thrive in such tidy arrangements.

He observes that modern life often resembles a shareholders’ meeting: performance reviewed, value calculated, outcomes scrutinised. There is nothing inherently wrong with accountability, The Sage admits — but when every interaction becomes transactional, creativity begins to wither. Brilliance requires room, trust, and the freedom to exist without constant appraisal.

With gentle but pointed humour, The Sage reminds us that true brilliance emerges when people are treated not as assets to manage, but as minds to respect. Dolls may be arranged and shareholders may vote — but brilliance grows only where humanity is allowed to breathe.

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Advice of the Day: Selfie Geometry

“Hold the camera higher than your expectations.”

– The Sage

The Sage has studied many things in his long life — stars, storms, supermarket reductions — and now, reluctantly, camera angles. His advice for taking a selfie is rooted in simple physics: “Hold the camera higher than your expectations.”

According to The Sage, gravity is not your friend. It drags, it shadows, it reveals truths you did not request. By lifting the camera just above eye level, you restore order. Features realign. Light behaves. Optimism returns. The Sage insists that angle is everything — character is optional.

He does warn against excess. Raise the phone too high and you become a confused ceiling ornament. Too low and you summon dramatic lighting worthy of a ghost story. But just high enough? That is balance. That is wisdom. That is the difference between “Oh dear” and “That’ll do.”

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This Day in History: 24 February 1790 — James East, William Wilson, and the Black Horse Burglary

On 24 February 1790, James East and William Wilson stood before the Old Bailey, charged with burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of George Wood in Kingsland Road.

They had stolen not gold, nor jewels —

—but spirits.

They were found guilty.

They were sentenced to death.

The Black Horse, Kingsland Road

George Wood kept the Black Horse in Kingsland Road.

On the night of 22 January, his house was carefully secured. Heavy shutters. Bolts top and bottom. A movable inner bar shutter that only he could lift.

At half past two in the morning, the watchman raised the alarm.

Wood discovered:

  • Outside shutter smashed
  • Window sash raised
  • Four rows of bricks removed beneath the window
  • Inner shutter taken down from inside

A man-sized hole had been cut into the wall.

Inside, a street-lamp burner lay discarded.

The Spoils

The theft was extraordinary in its variety:

  • Brandy
  • Rum
  • Aniseed
  • Peppermint
  • Bitters
  • Raspberry
  • Cholick water
  • Seven casks
  • Five china punch bowls
  • Linen, worsted, apron strings
  • 168 copper halfpence
  • 336 copper farthings

The value of spirits alone exceeded several pounds.

This was no opportunistic theft.

It was organised burglary.

The Lamp and the Crow

Accomplice William Lister testified that East:

  • Broke the outer shutter with a crow
  • Removed bricks from beneath the window
  • Entered through the hole
  • Took down the inner shutter
  • Stole lamp burners from nearby street lamps to light the bar

The image is almost theatrical: thieves stealing light from the street to illuminate their crime.

Spirits were passed out of the window and carried across a field.

Some linen and small goods were sold for eightpence.

Five china bowls were sold for four shillings.

The casks were moved from house to house in Hackney Road and Golden Lane.

Here is his full testimony:

WILLIAM LISTER sworn.

On Friday night, the 22d of January, James East and William Wilson and me were drinking together at the Gentleman and Porter, which Webb keeps: we came out of there about half after eleven at night: the women were in company; but they went forwards: William Wilson and me and James East , went to East’s house, about an hundred yards from the Black Horse, which was broke open; we staid there about half an hour or an hour: we went together to Mr. Wood’s. East took a crow from his pocket, and broke a piece of the outside shutter of the bar window, and then put up his arm, and unbolted the bolt of the outside shutters, and broke a pane of glass, to hoist up the sash: Wilson broke the pane of glass, with the same crow; the sash was fastened so that we could not open it: East took the crow and made a hole through the wall, and got in through the hole underneath the frame, and took down the inside shutter of the bar window, and placed it against the bar door: he hoisted up the sash, and came out from the inside: we crossed the road all three together; we had no light: East got up the lamp post, and took the burner out alight: he came back to the window, and delivered the burner into my hand; and afterwards, East got in; nobody else: East took the burner out, and we all went together to another lamp, and took the glass and burner both alight: then we all came back to the window with the glass lamp, and the burner alight in it: East gave it into my hand, while he got in at the window; he handed out a small basket with some linen in, and tape and worsted; and then handed out the till with some halfpence: the halfpence were emptied into Wilson’s pocket, and the till left the outside of the window: East came out of the window, and we all three took the things into the field facing the house: we moved them out of the field, up to Wilson’s house: we only just rested in the field: Wilson’s house was just across the field. The small trifle of linen was sold to Wilson’s wife for eight-pence: we took the seven kegs of liquor down to one Lewis’s in Hackney-road; Wilson’s wife and Mary brought the five china bowls down to Lewis’s, in the morning: I was there then: afterwards, Wilson’s wife and Mary Linton took each a cask apiece from Lewis’s, and the five china bowls: Wilson’s wife carried the bowls: I followed them down; they took them to the house of one Mr. Handfield; we were all in there together: East went backwards to Mr. Handfield, and asked him some questions which I do not know: we went to Handfield’s to try to sell the goods: then East came back to us into the tap-room, and said that Mr. Handfield would have nothing to do with them: then we all came out together, and went from thence to Golden-lane, to the prisoner Mackaway’s; the two women brought each one cask and the five bowls away: we left the other two bowls at Lewis’s: we all went into Mackaway’s entry; and East and I took the two casks and the five bowls from the women, and left them at the door, and Wilson with them: we saw Mrs. Mackaway, and told her we had seven casks of liquor in the whole; she would say nothing to them; East and I left the two casks of liquor at Mrs. Mackaway’s house, and sold the two bowls to her for four shillings; she told us to leave the two casks till the others were brought up at night: for she would give us no answer till her mother came from Woolwich: the five china bowls we sold to Mrs. Mackaway’s daughter for four shillings; we left the two casks there; then we came out, and Wilson and his wife and Linton went one way, and East and me went another way: and in less than a quarter of an hour, going through Play-house-yard, East and me were taken: I was buying a pair of old shoes at a clothes shop: I have nothing to say against the woman Ann East ; she had nothing to do with this robbery: I cannot tell what became of the rest of the casks that were left at Lewis’s: Lewis keeps a smith’s shop in Hackney-road; they were put in an empty room before he was up in the morning; the door of which was open: I never was in East’s apartments, nor do I know who lived there.

Jury. Whether when he was at Mackaway’s it was an absolute sale, or was it a loan? – They were sold to her: East asked her five, and she would give but four.

Was not it a contract to bring the rest of the things? – No; she gave us four shillings for the five bowls; nothing else.

The Receivers

Four women were indicted for receiving stolen goods:

  • Mary Mackaway
  • Mary Linton
  • Ann East
  • Jane Wilson

Goods were found concealed in gardens and under bedding.

An iron crow covered in brick dust was produced.

Mary Linton (aged 20) and Ann East (aged 17) were convicted and sentenced to fourteen years transportation to New South Wales in January 1791.

Mary Mackaway and Jane Wilson were acquitted.

The Verdict

James East (aged 28)
William Wilson (aged 19)

GUILTY. Death.

The Bloody Code remained unforgiving toward burglary committed at night.

Breaking into a dwelling-house after dark was a capital felony.

Night Burglary Under the Bloody Code

By 1790, more than 160 offences carried the death penalty.

Night burglary was treated as particularly dangerous:

  • It violated domestic security
  • It implied potential violence
  • It threatened property and life

Even theft of spirits and household goods could bring the gallows if committed by breaking and entering after dark.

Transportation to New South Wales

The two young women convicted were transported in January 1791.

This was only a few years after the establishment of the penal colony at New South Wales (1788).

Unlike earlier convicts sent to America, these women were among the early waves sent to Australia — to a penal experiment still in its infancy.

Transportation meant:

  • Years of forced labour
  • Permanent exile
  • Often no return

Money Then & Now

Thirty shillings of brandy, twenty of rum, plus multiple casks — the spirits alone represented several months’ wages for a labourer.

Five china punch bowls valued at thirty shillings suggest the Black Horse was no humble alehouse.

In modern purchasing power, the total value likely equates to several thousand pounds.

Yet the bowls were sold for only four shillings.

Desperation discounts heavily.

Why This Case Matters

The Black Horse burglary reveals:

  • Organised urban theft networks
  • The role of accomplice testimony
  • The importance of receivers in criminal economies
  • The brutal sentencing framework of the Bloody Code
  • The early use of Australian transportation

It is also a reminder that capital punishment often fell upon the young.

Wilson was nineteen.

Ann East was seventeen.

Sources

  • Old Bailey Proceedings, 24 February 1790, trial of James East and William Wilson
  • Transportation record, January 1791

Historical Footnote: What Became of William Lister?

One curious footnote to the Black Horse burglary concerns William Lister, the accomplice whose testimony secured the convictions of James East and William Wilson.

Lister was not sentenced in 1790. His detailed account of the burglary suggests he had turned King’s evidence — a common eighteenth-century practice in which an accomplice testified for the Crown in exchange for pardon or non-prosecution.

Yet five years later, on 14 January 1795, a man of the same name and plausible age (34) appeared again at the Old Bailey — this time convicted of stealing a watch and sentenced to seven years’ transportation.

There is no definitive proof this was the same William Lister.

But the chronology fits.

If so, the man who avoided the gallows in 1790 ultimately shared the fate of the transported women he had helped convict.

Mercy in the eighteenth century was often temporary.

What Ship Might He Have Sailed On? (1795–1796)

By 1795, transportation no longer meant America.

Convicts were sent to New South Wales, where the penal colony at Sydney Cove had been established only seven years earlier (1788).

Convict ships departing in 1795–1796 included vessels of what historians often call the Third Fleet and subsequent early transports.

Ships sailing in this period included:

  • The Surprize (1794–95 voyage)
  • The Indispensable (1796)
  • The Marquis Cornwallis (1796)
  • The Britannia (1797, slightly later)

Seven-year male convicts sentenced in early 1795 were commonly held:

  • In gaols or prison hulks on the Thames
  • For several months
  • Before embarkation

The voyage to New South Wales typically lasted:

  • 6 to 8 months
  • Under harsh and cramped conditions
  • With significant mortality rates in earlier fleets (though improving by mid-1790s)

If this was the same William Lister:

He likely would have:

  • Been transferred to a Thames hulk in 1795
  • Embarked in 1795 or 1796
  • Arrived at Sydney Cove during the colony’s formative, difficult years

Upon arrival, seven-year convicts were typically assigned to:

  • Government labour gangs
  • Private settlers
  • Construction, agriculture, or timber work

By around 1802, his term would have expired — assuming survival.

The Irony

If the 1790 accomplice and the 1795 convict were indeed the same man, his story becomes quietly tragic:

  • 1790: Helps send others to death and transportation.
  • 1795: Sentenced himself.
  • Destination: The same penal system he once helped enforce.

The eighteenth-century criminal world was fluid.

Today’s witness could be tomorrow’s transport.

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This Day in History: 21 February 1787 — Charles Shaw and the Robbery at St Paul’s

On 21 February 1787, Charles Shaw stood before the Old Bailey, charged with feloniously assaulting John Hughes on the King’s highway and stealing his watch and personal effects.

He was found guilty.

He was sentenced to death.

He was hanged at Newgate Prison on 26 April 1787.

The Victim: A Ship Caulker Abroad in the City

John Hughes, a ship caulker of Ratcliffe Cross, had been to Chelsea earlier that day to receive rent.

At about seven in the evening, he was walking near the south side of St Paul’s Cathedral, near St Paul’s Churchyard and the Old Change.

He was accompanied by Jane Winter and her young child.

As they passed through Watling Street and crossed towards Ludgate Hill, Hughes was suddenly tripped.

“I had my heels tripped up… and he took my watch out of my pocket.”

He fell against the iron rails of a cellar window, losing his breath.

The Theft

The items taken were substantial:

  • A silver watch, valued at 40 shillings
  • A steel chain
  • Two seals
  • A silver-mounted cane

Forty shillings represented a considerable sum — roughly two pounds — a significant amount for a working man.

Hughes felt the watch being drawn from his pocket.

He cried out immediately.

When he struggled to his feet, he seized Shaw by the collar.

“I never quitted my hold till he was in custody.”

Shaw attempted to wrest the silver-mounted cane from him as they grappled.

Assistance came quickly.

He was taken into Mr Holland’s oil shop.

Was He Drunk?

The defence leaned heavily on Hughes’ condition.

Had he been drinking?

Hughes admitted to perhaps “a glass of punch,” but insisted he was compos mentis.

Jane Winter testified he was “rather in liquor,” but sober enough to know what had happened.

The constable agreed: “very little in liquor.”

The jury clearly accepted that he knew his watch had been taken.

Here is John Hughes’ actual Testimony:

“I live at Ratcliffe-cross; I am a ship caulker ; I was robbed on the 21st of February, on the fouth side of St. Paul’s church-yard , within two doors of St. Paul’s chain; as I was going from Watling-street towards Ludgate-hill, about seven on Wednesday evening; I had my heels tripped up, by I believe the prisoner at the bar, and some more that were with him; I do not know whether the prisoner or his accomplices tripped up my heels; I cannot say how many were with him; I know there was more than himself; he fell upon me; I felt some person or persons upon me, and he took my watch out of my pocket; as soon as I felt my watch go out of my pocket, I called out; I felt him draw my watch out of my pocket; it was a silver watch; there was a steel chain and seals, as described in the indictment; I have never seen the watch since; when I found the watch go, I cried out, and the prisoner attempted to take my cane; my cane was mounted with silver; I cried out, you have got my watch; the prisoner strove to wrestle the cane out of my hand; I held fast, and got up by this time, and seized him by the collar; I never quitted my hold till he was in custody; when I seized him by the collar he wrestled for the cane; before I got up the watch was drawn from me; I cannot say whether I was on my legs or down when I collared him; assistance came immediately and seized him; it was a woman named Jane Winter that was with me; he was taken into a gentleman’s shop named Holland; and they sent for Mr. Stretton; I cannot tell how many men there were; I had such a fall on the iron rails; I fell on my short ribs, and it deprived me of my breath.

The prisoner never got away after you collared him? – No, Sir, I will be bound if I collared him he would not get away from me.

Did he? – No, he did not.

Had you been any where that day? – I had been to Chelsea receiving some rent.

Had you been drinking? – I might have been drinking a glass of punch, but I was compos mentis; I was in a state of mind that I knew how to take care of myself very well if I had not been interrupted by these rascals.

Do you recollect when you last saw your watch? – Yes, I recollect very well I saw it about three o’clock; I am sensible.

I had the watch in my pocket at the time I was tripped up; I did not see it after three, but I saw the trinkets afterwards.“

Here is the Prisoner’s Defence:

“I was coming along the back of St. Paul’s, this gentleman was so much in liquor that he ran against me; he fell to the ground, and said, I had robbed him of his watch and cane; he found his cane under him; he took me into a gentleman’s house and searched me; there was no watch found about me; I am in the butchering way; and I could have sent for some witnesses if it had not been Saturday.

Are you an apprentice? – No, Sir; I only work along with them as a journeyman with my father.“

The Missing Watch

No watch was found upon Shaw when searched.

He claimed Hughes had simply fallen against him.

But the prior jostling by multiple men, the tripping, and the attempt to seize the cane told another story.

Jane Winter was firm:

“He never lost sight of him after the dispute about the cane.”

Verdict and Sentence

The London Jury returned:

Guilty.

The sentence:

Death.

Charles Shaw was executed at Newgate Prison on 26 April 1787.

Highway Robbery in the City

Robbery “on the King’s highway” was among the gravest offences under the eighteenth-century Bloody Code.

Even without murder, violent theft in public streets could carry a capital sentence.

St Paul’s Churchyard, though central and well-trafficked, was no guarantee of safety after dark.

Urban robbery was treated as a threat to public order itself.

Money Then & Now

Hughes’ silver watch was valued at 40 shillings (£2).

In 1787:

  • £2 could equal several weeks’ wages for a labouring man
  • A skilled tradesman might earn 12–15 shillings per week

In modern equivalent purchasing power:

  • Roughly £250–£350 today

A watch was not a mere ornament. It was a valuable possession and symbol of reliability.

Why This Case Matters

The Shaw case illustrates:

  • The severity of eighteenth-century robbery law
  • The role of bystander testimony in street crime
  • The importance of immediate accusation
  • The thin line between drunken misfortune and violent assault

It also shows how quickly the justice system could move:

Robbed in February.
Executed in April.

The city offered little mercy.

Sources

  • Old Bailey Proceedings, 21 February 1787, trial of Charles Shaw
  • Execution record, 26 April 1787

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