On 29 January 1695, Jeane Bates, using a false name, stole silver plate and household goods from her employer Peter Courtney. Tried at the Old Bailey, she was identified as a repeat offender, found guilty of felony, falsely claimed pregnancy, and was executed at Tyburn. Her case reveals the harsh punishment for servant theft in seventeenth-century London.
Tag Archives: Newgate Prison
This Day in History: 18 January 1694 — John Edwards and the Broad Cloth Theft
On 18 January 1694, John Edwards, a plasterer of Aldgate, was implicated in the theft of forty yards of white broad cloth. Found guilty of felony, he was sentenced to death. His repentance and execution at Tyburn weeks later are recorded in the Ordinary of Newgate’s account, revealing the harsh realities of seventeenth-century justice.
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