London Standard 4 Feb 1829: Wilson and Cunnington trial for theft
DARING BURGLARY.Two men, who have since said their names were Henry Wilson and John Smith, went to the shop of Mr. Myers, on Tuesday evening, the 27th of January, a silversmith, in this town, and offered for sale a quantity of broken silver spoons and thirteen old coins, for which he agreed to pay them six pounds; but, suspecting at the same time that the articles had been stolen, he very prudently and judiciously told the men that he had no money enough by him to pay the sum agreed upon; but if they would call the next morning at 10 o’clock, they should have the money: to this they assented. Mr. Myers then applied to our most active constable, E. Ward, to whom he told his suspicions, and desired him to be at his (Myers’s) house the next morning at the appointed time; he accordingly was there with an assistant and took the men into custody; they were afterwards taken before the alderman. On their road thither one of them confessed that the property was stolen; but refused to repeat it before the magistrate. On being searched, more broken silver was found upon them, and a mourning ring lettered Thos. Wilson, D.E. aged 81 Died April 15, 1784. They were committed for further examination until Monday.
On Monday, the before-mentioned prisoners, whose names appear to be John Wilson and John Cunnington were again brought before P. Cullum, Esq. our chief magistrate, for further examination; at the same time Mrs. Martha Humphries, a widow lady, residing at Trumpington, whose house had been robbed of the articles found upon the prisoners, attended from Cambridge, and identified nearly the whole of the silver spoons, rings, and coins &c then produced; and, as the two culprits did not attempt to deny the fact, they were sent, in the custody of Ward and a Cambridge constable, to the magistrates of that jurisdiction where the offence was committed.
By their confession, it appears that John Cunnington is a Leicestershire man, and by trade a gardener, and he had been recently discharged from Cambridge castle, where he had been sentenced to imprisonment for stealing some clothes belonging to a woman of his acquaintance that he, soon after his liberation, joined another man with whom he committed a burglary at Shepersworth. His companion in that robbery is not yet taken. They sold the goods so stolen to a person at Barnwell, and sent thence to Newmarket, and fell in company with John Wilson, the other prisoner; they soon became acquainted; and the three agreed to return to Cambridge, and rob the house of Mrs. Humphries, who they heard was a widow lady living alone with a deal of property at Trumpington they immediately left Newmarket, and arrived at the destined spot about midnight and commenced their operations, by taking down a window shutter) one got into the house, and from the inside opened a door, and admitted his companions. They opened the drawers, and tied up a quantity of apparel below stairs: they then went up stairs into Mrs. Humphries’s bedchamber, who on seeing them enter, cried out, “who are you, and what do you want?” they answered, “we want your money - lie still, and we shan’t hurt you.” Mrs. H. offered to get up and shew them where the money was, which they forbade. They then pillaged the drawers, packed up all the plate, a watch, wearing apparel, and some bottles of liquor and wine and left the house. Some of the property, a watch, tea caddy, &c, they carried to the house of a notorious receiver of stolen goods, at Barnwell, who purchased them, and is now in custody — the things having been found in her possession. The three men returned to Newmarket, where one of them took his share, and left his companions. The other two, Cunnington and Wilson, came on to Bury, and offered the goods as before stated to Mr. Myers, which led to their apprehension.
The prisoner John Wilson, was a private in the 23rd regiment of foot, and afterwards in another regiment, in which he served at the battle of Waterloo; he states this to be his first offence. — Suffolk Herald