FAMOUS TRIALS RETOLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 19

FAMOUS TRIALS RETOLD.

The tale of this latter begins on an r afternoun In May ISGII, when two men with an unmistakable air of officialdom about them ran-; the bell of No. lij. Hamilton Square. Blrkenhead. The person fur whuiu they inquired there was v well known and respected resident. Major Frederick Beswick, chief constable of the city. He was at horoe. ami. when they were ushered in to him. he recognised one of. his visitors as Detective-Sergeant Skate, a member of the Liverpool Force with whom he had often bad business transactions. The man accompanying him. however, was a stranger. On being asked his name and purpose, he said he was Detective-Sergeant Webb, of the City of London Police, and that he held a ■warrant, issued by the Lord Mayor, for Major Beswlck's arrest. The charge, be added, was forgery, and he would read it If required. Remarking casually that he had to go to London "on business," and would be back in a few days. Major Bewick bade his wife goodbye and accompanied his callers to the station. It was many a long day, however, before he was back In Birkenhead. That evening he went up to London under escort. The next morning he appeared in the dnck of the Justice Room at the Mansion Housp, where the elm apa lost him was heard by the Lord Mayor. It was that of "forging and uttering a power of attorney for the transfer of a share in £4216 13/4 three per cent Consols, with intent to defraud the Gov( nor and Company of the Bank of England." A Remarkable Story. The story unfolded by counsel for the prosecution was a remarkable one. A sum of £4216 13/4 in Consols stood, he said, In the books of the Bank of England in the joint names of Frederick Beswick and Henry T. Maxted. What was alleged against the accused was that he had forged Mr. Maxted's name to a power of attorney for the transfer of £431 of this amount. During the earlier portion of his military career, Major Beswick was stationed at Gibraltar. There, continued counsel, he became acquainted with Mr. Maxted, a civilian official. This gentleman had a wealthy friend, Miss Agnes Cundy. also living In Gibraltar. Just before her death fbc appointed him one of the two trustees of her estate. On the death, in 1869. of the second trustee, It occurred to the survivor that Major Beswick should fill the vacant place. He was living in England, as were the beneficiaries under Miss Cundy's will. Hence, he could look after their interests Mr. Maxted did not know very much abont him, as. except for a few hours in 18D6 (when Major Beswick's ship touched at Gibraltar, on the way back from the Crimea, where he had been serving), it was nearly twenty years since they had last met. He was, however, a man of position, and had occupied the important office of Chief Constable of Blrkenhead since 1863. Everybody, too, spoke well of him. He was fifty-one years of age, married, and had a family of ten children. Under these circumstances, and his agreement having been obtained, his name was added to the trust deed. It appeared a good move, for the major showed himself active and businesslike and the annuitants were visited by him at regular intervals, and received their dividends punctually. The next chapter began In February, 1869, when the prisoner called on Mr. Jinde, the manager of the Alliance Bank, at Birkenhead, and told him that a sum of approximately £400 would shortly -c paid out of this trust fund. His fellow trustee (Mr. Maxted) he said had given his consent by letter, and would execute the necessary power of attorney If the bank would supply it. He wae on his way from Gibraltar to America, and would stop at Liverpool to odd his signature. Thus instructed, ..ir. Hlnde obtained the required instrument from the Bank of England. When they forwarded It, the head office, as a precautionary measure, notified Mr. Maxted that they had done so, and would want his signature in due course. At the same time Major Beswick wrote to him to explain his attitude in thus taking upon himself to apply for a transfer. It was, he declared, caused eolely by his desire to improve the financial position of the various beneficiuries from Miss Cundy's estate. The capital, he pointed out, was only earning three per cent in the Funds. He knew "plenty of good things" in which it could be invested to far better advantage. What were his co-trustee's views on the subject? The power of attorney, however, had already been sent from London to Birkenhead, and Major Beswick had handed it to Mr. Uinde. It appeared to be perfectly in order, and to be jointly executed by Mr Maxted and Major Beswick, whose signatures were attested by Colonel Twi.j and a clerk in the Chief Constable s office. Mr Hinde inquired how Mr. Maxted's signature hid been obtained. Major Beswick's answer was that this gentleman had left Gibraltar, and had signed the document at his house. Thereupon Mr. Hinde sent i back to Threadneedle Street, and thought no more about it. A couple of days later, however, be thought a good deal about it. This was because the Bank of England wrote to say that having heai. from Mr. Maxted, they had stopped the transfer. Naturally enough, he asked Major Beswick for an explanation. The one offered was that he had put forward the document in good faith, but had himself been made the victim of what he characterised as a '-swindle." Certainly something very curious a;peared to havj happened, for the major wrote at once to Mr. Maxted, specifically Inquiring if anybody resembling him, and familiar with the details of the trust, had recently left Gibraltar. "If so," he added, "pray let mc iu-.-e - full description of name and person, as a most vile attempt at imposition _v Just been made upon mc. -ie had reaso to believe, he went on, that this lndividu masquerading as Mr. Maxted, was still Liverpool. However, "he had put his long would lay him by the heels." Mr. Maxted's answer to this astonishing communication was that nobody bearing the smallest resemblance to himself had left Gibraltar, and that no outsider had any knowledge of the trust. Without informing Major Beswick, he then telegraphed to the Bank of England, and the bank, dls covering that a gross fraud had been committed, brought him to London. As a result of what he told the officials there a wan ant was issued for the arrest of Major Beswick. The first witness for the prosecution was Mr. Maxted. He stateu that he lived In Gibraltar, and that, until the present moment, he had never been in England. He had not written to Major Beswick Baying tnat he was going to America, and would meet him at Liverpool. He had not proposed or authorised or even discussed a power of attorney. His signature on the

CASE OF MAJOR BESWICK. I'RCM CHIEF CONSTABLE TO CONVICT,

(By HORACE WYNDHAM.)

one produced was not genuine. The last ( time he saw Major Ueswlck was In 1850, ( when they spent a few hours together. Mr. Wontner, who appeared for this pur- ] pose, told the Court that his client. Major ] Heswick, had served for many years in the , leached field rank, and had been decorated , Crimea. He submitted .hat there was no , guilty intent disclosed in any pnrt of the . transaction before them. What had hap- , pened was that Major Beswick himself had been victimised by a daring aud unscrupulous individual masquerading as Mr. Maxted. I At the next hearing, the principal evidence was given by Mr. Ulnde, the bank manager j at Blrkenhead. Major Beswick, he said, was a customer, and, acting on his Instructions, he applied to the Bank of England for the power of attorney. When it was handed back to him, signed and completed, the accused assured him that Mr. Maxted was . staying In his house. Three days later the , London office wrote that they had heard from Mr. Maxted, who was not In Birkenhrad. but In Gibraltar, and that they had ' stopped the transfer. In consequence of this, he went to see Major Beswici, by whom he was told a most remarkable story. He embodied this in a letter, which he sent to the head office, first reading a copy of It to the prisoner. Dated February 26, it ran as follows • I ' " I I "My customer, Major Beswick, has re 1 quested mc to give you some explanation . about the transfer, which has been etopped. This evening, on his return home, he was ' surprised to tind not only my note, but one ) from Mr. Maxted, of Gibraltar, which he ; has shown mc, declining to make the well acquainted with the circumstances of the trusteeship sent a letter, purporting to I be signed by Mr. Maxted, requesting the ' I sale, and stating that he himself would pass through Liverpool on his way to the United Sta tes, nnd would execute it. Mfljor Bes- ' wick, who has not seen his co-trustee since Jhe was In Gibraltar with his regiment ! a young man, acted on this letter, giving up the instructions upon which the transfer was made out. The party presented himself this week, signed it, and appears to have Intended to come to-day to arrange about the distribution of the fund. From the letter received tonight, there Is little doubt someone is personifying Mr. Maxted, and the matter has been placed In the detectives' hands, and it is for this reason the de- , mining of the transfer Is desired. Mr. j Beswick, who. perhaps, from the fact of his being the head of the police-force here, feels acutely the trick which has been, played upon him." The Loom of the Law. The trial began at the Old Bailey on June 9, 1869, before Mr. Barcn Pigott. The prosecution, instituted by the E ;nk of England, was entrusted to Hardlnge GiCard, Q.C., with H. B. Poland (who was In all the big cases of the period) as his Junior ; and the prisoner's counsel was a rising young barrister, Mr. Metcalf. Mr. Glffard brought out one or two fresh points. To Snd a motive for what was, alleged against him, he proved by the entries in his pass book that Major Bes- • wick's balance at the beginning of the year ' was only a few shillings. Further, he was miirh pressed for money, and luict even, bor- : rowed £100 from Ms own clerk. Docu-! menta found in his desk showed that the local tradesmen were clamouring for a settlement of their accounts. Altogether, he owed the best part of 1400. This, of course, was significant, as it practically coincided with the amount on the power of attoroney which the r-osecution now charged him with having obtained by fraud. When the power of attorney was banded back to Mr. Hlnde the signatures of both Major Beswlck and Mr. Maxted appeared on it. The bank, having discovered that Mr. Maxted was living in Gibraltar when the document professed to be signed by him in Blrkenhead, naturally demanded an explanation. The one offered by the prieoner was that somebody had "impersonated" his co-trustee. On making this discovery, he appeared to have shown himself zealous In doing his best to bring the alleged "impersonator" to justice. Thus, aa Chief Constable, he had issued a notice offering a reward of £20 for bis apprehension ; he had Instructed detectives to search for him ; and he had given the police a description of him ; and in many particulars this description resembled that of Mr. Maxted. Hence, on the face of it, all this certainly looked like a genuine attempt to secure the arrest of a daring criminal. As presented In this manner, the case against the prisoner looked black. Still the defence put up a good fight. The line It took was that Major Beswick had himself been the victim of an imposition. lie know perfectly well, said counsel, that the Bank would follow its regular practice and inform his co-trustee that an application had been made for a transfer. Indeed, he wrote to Mr. Maxted himself on the eubject. His story was that he had then received a reply, purporting to come from Mr. Maxted, Baying that he would call on him and put his signature to the document: and that somebody whom he genuinely believed to be Mr. Maxted, had called on him and ha.- signed it. As Major Beswick and Mr. Maxted had oi;ly met once during the last twenty-five years, and then only for a few hours, it was quite possible, submitted counsel, for him to be deceived by a stranger masquerading as Mr. Maxted. nis theory, in short, was that a clever swindler, who knew of the existence of the trust, had concocted and carried out the whole scheme. • • • The sad drama was fast drawing to a lose. Sir Gillery Plgott summed up in a :!«hion that was eminently fair, and did ot incline to one aide more than the rther. At first, it looked as If the jury ould not want to leave the box. Finally, hey elected to retire. But they only -topped away for half an hour, and then aine hack with a verdict of "Guilty." They added, however, a strong recommendation to mercy "on account' of the prisoner's large family and previous good conduct.' . Major Beswick had worn the Queen's uniform for thir'y years. He had faced the Queen's enemies at the Alma and Sevastopol without flinching. He did not flinch now. Erect and soldier-like as if still on parade, he stood up while the judge addressed him:: "Frederick Beswick," said his Lordship, "it Is with extreme pain that I am called upon to pass sentence for snch an offence on a person in your station in life, and who has hitherto enjoyed so high a reputation for Integrity. I cannot pronounce a less vitude." Thus, a Chief Constable became a convict. HORACE WTNDHAM. |