[list-cumbria] Carlisle Patriot, 10 Apr 1824 - A Wholesale Swindler (2)

[Petra Mitchinson]

Saturday 10 Apr 1824   (p. 3, col. 3-5)

 

A WHOLESALE SWINDLER. 

 

[continued] 

 

Mr. SAUL began to make this will out in due form, a great anxiety was expressed to have it completed; but the following day, the
"dangerous pain of the heart" seems to have abated, for the sick man called on that gentleman and informed him in confidence, that
he was going to be married, and therefore the will would be useless, as he must make a different arrangement. This disposed of with
address, he again called on Mr. SAUL, and said he had been applied to by Mr. NORMAN, solicitor, to advance £2400 on certain property
in the immediate vicinity of the town, and induced Mr. G. SAUL to go and look at it to see that he was acting "with safety," for he
was excessively cautious in all his money transactions; and he at the same time instructed Mr. SAUL to write to Mr. PECKOVER, of
Wisbech, banker, whom he represented as trustee under his father's will, for the requisite sum in order to advance it to Mr. NORMAN
through Mr. SAUL.* But before this letter could be written he again calls and has a new scheme. Coledale Hall, situate about a mile
from Carlisle, was to be disposed of, he had heard, and he thought he would buy that, instead of lending his money on mortgage, if
he could get it reasonably. Mr. GATE, the architect, was therefore called in to give his opinion; and the agent of the owner was
requested to write to Mrs. SISSON, who resides near Appleby, to say that CAVE would give £1850; hence arose the necessity of
delaying the letter to Mr. PECKOVER, in order to ascertain the precise sum that would be wanted. 

 

By this time he had made the wished-for progress in his amour with Miss CAPE. She, poor girl, thought she had met with the very beau
ideal of a man, and appears to have been "nothing loth." He offered marriage, which offer she accepted, and her friends were
agreeable to the match, but were not in a hurry. Not quite so ardent as 'ladies in love,' they wished for a little time, and felt a
natural desire to receive some confirmations from the depositaries of the wealth of the newly-found Crœsus. He, however, was not to
be daunted by suspicion. He plied his suit with some skill; and even instructed Mr. G. SAUL to settle upon her some pretended real
property in Sussex; he often called upon that gentleman to hasten his labours; and as he wanted to get married, and an unexpected
delay had taken place in writing to Mr. PECKOVER, he obtained a loan of £30 without difficulty. 

 

The evening of the 18th of March was fixed upon by the ardent lovers for a trip to Gretna Green. CAVE, Miss CAPE, her mother,
sister, and her friend Miss WAUGH, repaired to the Circus. During the performances, CAVE slipped out and ordered a chaise from the
Bush, to be ready at Eden Bridge at a given time, and returned; the parties all quitted the Circus together; and as it was nothing
but a common act of politeness to see Miss WAUGH home, the lovers undertook that office; but instead of going home, the gallant and
the two ladies turned down the Horse-market, thence to Eden Bridge, and drove off for Gretna. Thither they were pursued by Mr.
DONALD, who received prompt intelligence of their movements, and he arrived before the knot was tied; but CAVE contrived to get him
out of the room in which he had found them, gave him the slip, got the "parson" into another apartment, and was there married before
the pursuer had the power of effectual interference. 

 

'What cannot be cured,' says the proverb, 'must be endured.' The run-aways, attended by Mr. DONALD and Miss WAUGH, returned to
Carlisle. On the 23rd, CAVE, with the consent of his bride, assigned over to her mother, by an instrument prepared by Mr. SAUL, five
hundred pounds of her money, upon trust, the interest of which she was to enjoy for life; and after her death the principal was to
be repaid to CAVE. On the 25th they were re-married at St. Cuthbert's church; previous to which CAVE had the impudence to write to
Mr. G. SAUL for another loan of £30; and as no answer was returned to his request, he made a personal application, and by
plausibility, obtained an additional £10. 

 

Meanwhile, an answer had been received that Coledale-Hall might be had for two thousand guineas; Cave refused to go beyond his offer
of £1850, and again expressed a desire to advance the £2,400 on mortgage; and Mr. SAUL was requested by him write to Mr. PECKOVER
for the money. He frequently called at the office, and was very particular in his inquiries as to when an answer might be expected,
and was told that it could not arrive sooner than the 31st. "Are you quite sure of that?" Certain, was the reply, it cannot come
before. The calculation, unfortunately for Mr. CAVE, was wrong. A letter from Mr. PECKOVER, dated "Wisbech, 25th March," arrived on
the 28th. He informed Mr. SAUL that he knew nothing of any such person as "Charles Samuel CAVE," but, says he, 

 

"There was a Samuel CAVE resident in this place a short time ago, who took a gentleman in named COX (Thos. COX, Esq.) for several
hundred pounds, and decamped, and has not since been heard of—and, I understand, left a wife to bewail his absence." 

 

On the receipt of this letter, Mr. SAUL at once saw with whom he had to deal; he therefore lost not a moment in having the impostor
apprehended as a swindler and consigned to safe custody. Had he waited till the next day, he would have been too late, as the wary
gentleman had made arrangements to go to Appleby 'to see his friends' and to take up some money which he had left at the Kendal and
other Banks in his way down; in other words, to take French leave, having got all he was likely to obtain by his imposture. His wife
expressed a desire to go with him; but he persuaded her out of it: "I shall only be away a few days," he observed at breakfast on
the morning of his apprehension, "and you had better not go: besides, there is a lady at Appleby whom I disappointed; and if you go
thither she will pull your cap!" 

 

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* It appears that his first attempt was upon Mr. NORMAN, solicitor, to whom he applied for advice as to the prudence of purchasing
Coledale-Hall with an income of £500 a year. He observed, that if, by the purchase and furniture, he reduced this sum to £350
annually, he should probably find himself rather straitened. Mr. NORMAN acquiesced; particularly as he talked of keeping hunters and
gigs. After this introductory confabulation, he made an attempt to borrow money; but finding no encouragement, he withdrew, and
commenced a deeper game. 

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[to be continued] 

 

 

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