FOWL STEALING
James
Bennion, a potter, and the youngest son of John Bennion and Mary Child, was
sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with hard labour after being found guilty
of stealing four fowls from a cote in Burslem, Staffordshire.
The police
had traced a trail of feathers from the cote to the house of John Bennion. And when
James saw the police he ran off but was captured by Constable Cope who found
feathers in his pockets.
The police also
searched his brother-in-laws house, where John was running to at the time of
his capture. There they found two fowls concealed under the bedclothes and two
others stuck up the chimney. William Bloor denied all knowledge of the fowls exclaiming
“Oh dear, dear that’s Jim”.
Whilst John
Bennion and William Bloor were also arrested and tried they were given the
benefit of the doubt and discharged by the magistrate.
In the 1861
Census records James is recorded as an inmate in the District County Prison at
Stafford (RG6; Piece 1907; Folio 143; Page 8; GSU roll: 542885)
A full
report of the incident can be found in the Staffordshire Advertiser, Saturday 2
March 1861.