A PEDIGREE HUNT

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6344, 25 November 1898, Page 2

A PEDIGREE HUNT

m COLOtfEL- SHIPWAY'S ANCESTORS. EXTRAORDINARY FRAUD* THREE YEARS' PENAL SERVITUDE,, United Press Association — By Electric Telegraph— Copyright LONDON, Nor. 24. Herbert Davies, described as a surgeon, was charged with defrauding LieutenantColonel Shipway, of Chiswisk, of- ovfir £600, through fabricating a pedigree and ; coat-of-anns : for him by means ©f forging ! parish records, wills, inscriptions on tomba ! and church effigies. The: prosecution, was instituted by the Treasury Department,, and (created much sensation. Davies pleaded guilty,, and was sentenced" 1 , to three years' penal servitude.

; I A London contemporary raports on the-" foregoing; ease as follows : — ; At Bow Street Police Const, Herbert Davies, sucgeon, of Castelnau Gardeng,Barnes, was charged, on remand, withfraud. On the last occasion Mr Bodkin stated- thas - Colonel Shipway, of Chiswick, employed prisoner to trace his right to bear arms and to trace the pedigree of his family. For doing, this he was paid £683, and it was alleged that he forged three wills and entries in parish registers, removed a lead coffin, and did several other extraordinary things in order to-' make Colonel Shipway believe that his ancestors were people of importance. John Preddy r a blacksmith, living at Mangotsfield, Gloucestershire, stated that he was seventy-two years of age. He was born at Mangotsfield, and had lived there all his life. He stated that behind the organ in the . church wag a niche containing the stone effigy of^a woman. Witness remembered that his mother, who died thirty years ago, said that there used to be a second figure in. that niche. On the south side of the church there was a monument to the Andrews family, with a shield, on which nothing could be deciphered. Dr Davies arrived in the autumn of 1896. He first asked witness to take down the Andrews shield. Prisoner began to scrape it with his pocket-knife. Nothing was found, however, and the shield was packed up and sent to Mangotsfield Station. Davies had been inquiring about vaults under the altar, and the altar was moved. The ground was dug up, and eighteen inches beneath the surface the stone figure of a man was found. Davies said he expected to find a grave or a vault there. However, he had the figure cleaned and placed with the female figure in the niche behind the organ, which was moved so as not to hide it. He heard Davies say that this figure represented one of the Shipways. The niche was then covered in with a wooden frame and glass — which remains' there to this day — to preserve the Shipway effigies frcm the hand of time. SIXTEENTH CENTURY JOHANNIS, Witness saw on the wall above the niche the words " Johannis Shipway," apparently in blacklead pencil, that had never been there before Dr Davies "dug up the stone effigy. Witness touched it and the black came off, leaving the bare stone wall. A brass plate was placed on the glass case containing a description of the Shipway effigies. Shortly after this effort, Davies borrowed some tools and went alone into the belfry. Witness heard hammering there, and g6ing up; fojuid ,the ; leitersr."'Jolittinfii»- Sltt^wayy" " • lSWvV.carVedon' the central beam of . the ; • .■■"■-■' : ' .■-•:.■■; -'-•- : Witness was .'then' taken to the church- •■" yard. Forty odd 'years ago its level, was lowered, and one of the tombs there was of Pennant stone, bearing the name of "Samuel Hicks, Esq.' Prisoner asked if witness knew of any lead coffin in the ._ churchyard. Witness saidL "Yea, there's one under the Pennant stone tomb," witness having seen it when the churchyard was lowered. HICKS BECOMES SHIPWAY. On the leaden coffin they found a brass jjlate, well preserved, and witness saw quite plainly the words, " Samuel! Hicks, Esq." The coffin was taken to the vestry, and next day Davies sent for witness, who then saw on it the name of Shipway and a coat of arms. Mr Bodkin, who prosecuted, had photographs of this, antiquarian wonder. Then came the story of the old oak chest in the vestry. It had an old hinge, which, at Davies's suggestion was sent to Colonel Shipway, as a benefactor So the % ohuroh. When it reached the benefactor this hinge had on it the words, "Ye giffte of J. 5.," which were not on it when witness saw it. ENGRAVED AT BRISTOL. Albert Edwin Silby, engraver, Bristol, proved that in October, 1896, Davies brought him the hasp (from the old chest). He then dictated to' him the words, "Ye giffte of J. 5.," and asked him to put them on in a very old style and to " make it look old.' After cutting it witness nibbed in printer's ink, emery paper, and dust, to get the antique, effect. A month later witness engraved' th» tablets recording the discovery of Colonel Shipway's ancestors, placed en the glass case iin- the chtirch; . , v Witness also engraved a brass, plate with the word "Johannis" and a second "Shipway." The hearing was again adjourned.