Millbank Prison
Family history research usually involves searching for documents which are few and far between. That seems to be true the further back in time that you go and the 1840s are pretty far back there in the murky past. Research into the trials affecting the Arment family has had the opposite result. There is so much information available that it is hard to find the truth behind it.
The main suspects and charges:
Henry Samuel Chester - theft
Abraham Greaves Fain - theft and receiving
Thomas Arment the younger - theft and receiving
Thomas Arment - theft and receiving
The swag:
Dry goods comprised of rugs and fabric
Henry Samuel Chester
Why don't we start with the information that is more certain, that about one of the suspects, Henry Samuel Chester. An oddity about the Old Bailey trials was the the defendants didn't speak. The main testimony was given by witnesses. So, Henry didn't speak at his own trial but his story came out when he was a witness in another related trial.
Henry Samuel Chester was charged with theft from his employers, Messrs. Druce and Co. He pleaded guilty to stealing two lots of carpet, one piece of 18 yards and one of 8 yards, as well as a hearth rug. Further charges were made against Henry Samuel Chester in conjunction with Thomas Arment and the younger Thomas Arment. The goods were worth more in this case as they were damask, a fabric often used in upholstery, and the amount was 54.5 yards. Our relative certainty about Henry's involvement comes from the fact that he also pleaded guilty to the theft of the damask.
The sentence:
Henry Samuel Chester was sentenced to transportation for ten years.
The witness testimony:
More came out about Henry Chester's story when he testified as a witness at the trial of Abraham Greaves Fain which took place May 7, 1849. Henry said that he knew Abraham Fain from the time that they had both worked together at Wilcoxon. There, Henry was employed as a furniture polisher and Abraham Fain was a carman.
It was Henry Chester's testimony that he was asked to take goods from his new employers, Druce and Co., by Abraham Fain. Henry had been let go by Wilcoxon as they preferred another man who was a faster polisher. He was easily persuaded to steal from his new employers because he had been a month without work and needed money to support his wife who was about to give birth.
After further questioning Henry Chester admitted that he had also taken goods from Wilcoxon, or rather, he had placed goods in Abraham Fain's van so that he could take them away from the premises. He further testified that Abraham Fain took the ill-gotten goods to the elder Arment and that Henry himself only went once to the elder Arment's.
Despite Henry Chester's testimony and that of other witnesses, Abraham Greaves Fain was found not guilty.
What happened to Henry Samuel Chester?
Henry Samuel Chester was never transported despite his sentence. Sadly, testifying as a witness was one of the last things that he did. He died at Millbank Prison on June 14, 1849 of natural causes, in this case, peritonitis. He was 24 years old.
Photos:
By Thomas H. Shepherd - This file
is from the Mechanical Curator collection, a set of over 1 million images
scanned from out-of-copyright books and released to Flickr Commons by the
British Library.View image on FlickrView all images from bookView catalogue
entry for book., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32133944
By Herbert Watkins - Created from
a photograph by Herbert Watkins, 179 Regent Street, LondonMayhew, Henry and
Binny John. The Criminal Prisons of London, and Scenes of Prison Life, Volume 3
of The Great Metropolis, Griffin, Bohn, and Company, 1862, p. 388. The image
caption is, "Burial-Ground at Millbank Prison. From a Photograph by
Herbert Watkins, 179, Regent Street." [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20643005
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