[ Case of James Samuel Brown / Proceedings of the Old Bailey ]
The Old Bailey (properly known as The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales) was the principal criminal court in London in the 18th and 19th centuries (and remains in use to this day). The records of trials held at the Old Bailey have been digitized and made freely available online (oldbaileyonline.org).
This particular case (reference number t18420919-2752) was heard on 19 September 1842 and involved a charge of forgery and intent to defraud by cashing forged money orders. Much of the testimony in the trial concerned the very erratic behavior of the accused.
During the course of the trial the defendant's younger sister makes mention of the family's Newfoundland:
"On my brother's wedding-day [another brother, not the accused] the prisoner tied some white satin ribbon round the cats' necks, and in his own shoes — he always used to take the cats up to bed with him — we had a large Newfoundland dog in the factory [a foundry owned by her father], and he took him up to bed with him one night — he has frequently called me from the top of the house to the bottom, without wanting me, and has said, "Don't you think I am very beautiful?" or "very lovely?"
The defendant's brother also remarks on the family dog:
". . . one Sunday afternoon he came to my house with my father's Newfoundland dog, brought it into my front parlour, and said he would make a bet with me, or any of us, that this dog would swallow a sovereign — nobody made him any reply — he took a sovereign out of his pocket, and dropped it on the ground — the dog was making towards it, and he took it up, and put it into his pocket — he then pulled out a shilling, threw that on the ground, and let the dog swallow that, which he did, and he remarked, "The vagabond has got enough in his inside to last him a week."
The accused, although clearly the author of the forged money orders, was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
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.case of james samuel brown / proceedings of the old bailey