"On Tuesday evening a large pane of glass, valued at from £4 to £5, was broken in the shop window of Mr. Adams, silversmith, High-street. A person named Williams, a shoe closer on the tramp for work, was seen to throw a stone at the window by several persons in Martins-lane.
"He was seized , and said that he had done it to procure a night's lodging - an object which he attained by being taken to the Station-house.
"He was brought before the Magistrates at the Guildhall next morning, when the Bench, considering that he might have purchased one night's lodging by breaking a sixpenny pane, sent him to the House of Correction for two months".
This was a harsh sentence on poor Williams who must have been truly desperate when he chucked the brick. As usual the Times' reporter gives the impression that everybody in Court, including the prisoner, was having the time of his life and enjoying every moment of the session, . It can't have been like that!
None of my dictionaries gives 'shoe closer' but the shorter OED had 'boot-closer' as 'one who sews together the upper leathers of boots.' - self-evident I suppose! The division of labour was marching on.
Source: The Western Times, 27th April 1844.
''l on nothing a year.
No comments:
Post a Comment