Below also see: Thomas Alfred Evans, 1894
Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, Mon 18 Jun 1894 1
POLICE COURT.
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Monday, June 18th, 1894.
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(Before Mr Badham, Police Magistrate.)
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YOUNG BEGINNERS.
Thomas Alfred Evans (aged 12) and William Evans (11) were charged with stealing £6, the property of their father, George Henry Evans.
Constable Kinkade deposed that last evening he arrested the lads at their father’s residence; they mads no reply, and he locked them up; When I arrested the lads, Alfred said: “I had £5 which I gave to young Thompson; we bought a gun in George-street for 12s 6d and some cartridges; we sold the gun at Brewongle for 4s 6d; Thompson went to buy the tickets, but the stationmaster took the £5 and would not give it to us back again;” the other lad said nothing.
George Henry Evans, engine-driver on the railway, deposed that he laid an information against his sons so that they should not get into further trouble; on Thursday afternoon the lads were sent to school but did not return; he had £6 2s in a drawer in the house; consisted of one £5 note and £1; the drawer was locked and his wife had the key; saw the money on Monday night; and the Thursday night before starting for Sydney he missed the money; no one but his wife had a right to remove it; on Friday a guard of another train gave him information which was acted upon.
Hannah Evans, wife of the previous witness deposed that the boys, with two younger ones, left for school on Thursday afternoon; the two elder ones did not return again until last night; after they left witness missed some money; last night she asked them about it and the eldest boy told her they had taken it, and that Thompson’s boy had the £5 note in his waistcoat, and had given it to the stationmaster at Brewongle, who would not return it; they gave no account of themselves when away; they have never taken any money before; the eldest is 13 years and the youngest 11.
Herbert Henry Johnson, locksmith, of George-street, deposed that a lad like Thomas Alfred Evans came to the shop and bought a pea rifle and box of cartridges; these came to 17s, and he tendered a £1 in payment; a number of boys were with him.
The lads selected to be summarily dealt with and both pleaded guilty.
The Police Magistrate said he understood the reason why the father had taken this course, as it was to save them from getting into further mischief. If he had not done so, other and more serious consequences might have followed. From their statement they had been well-behaved lads and he regretted that they should have now acted in this way. This was a painful thing for the parents who were most respectable people. He would have to pass a sentence on them but their father could enter into a bond for their good behaviour. He could not remove the stigma.
The father and mother were deeply affected, and felt their position keenly. The father said that he was absent from home so much on duty that he could not enter into any bond for their good behaviour.
The Police Magistrate said that on account of the previous good conduct of the lads, and their youth, he would not pass a severe sentence, but to them it would be severe as under the new system, during their incarceration they would not be allowed to speak to anyone. The eldest [Thomas Alfred Evans] he sentenced to seven days, and the younger to three days’ imprisonment.
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National Advocate, Tue 19 Jun 1894 2
BATHURST POLICE COURT.
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Monday, June 18, 1894.
(Before Mr CLC Badham, PM.)
…
STEALING MONEY.
Thomas Alfred Evans, 13, and William Evans, 11, two lads in knickerbockers, were charged with stealing the sum of £6 1s, the property of their father, George Henry Evans.
Constable Kinkade deposed to the arrest of the lads at their father’s house. The elder lad made a voluntary statement to the effect that he had £5 which he gave to ‘young Thompson.’ He also said they bought a gun in George-street for 12s 6d, and some cartridges; they sold the gun at Brewongle for 4s 6d; Thompson went to the station master at Brewongle to get three railway tickets; the station master refused to sell the tickets, but took the £5 and kept it; neither of the accused said anything in reply to the charge.
George Henry Evans, father of the accused, deposed that he was an engine-driver; he laid the information which led to the arrest of his sons, as he thought it was the best course to pursue; on Thursday afternoon he had sent the boys to school, and they did not return as usual; when he was leaving home to go away by his train to Sydney he missed the sum of £6 1s from a locked drawer on a shelf in the bedroom; the money consisted of a £5-note, a £l-note, and 1s; his wife had possession of the key, and no one else had any authority to go to the drawer; the boys had no authority to go to the drawer; before leaving for Sydney he told his wife to lay the information against the boys.
Anna Evans, mother of the accused, corroborated her husband’s evidence as to the amount of money that was put in the drawers. The money was missed after the boys went to school. She had given neither of the accused permission to take the money. When the accused returned home the eldest boy said that the lad Thompson who was with them had £5 in his vest pocket, and that the stationmaster at Brewongle had taken it.
Herbert Henry Johnson, locksmith and gunsmith, believed that the accused Thomas Alfred Evans was the boy who called on him one day last week and bought a pea-rifle for 12s 6d and four boxes of cartridges for 4s 6d; the boy tendered a £1 note in payment; there were a number of other boys with the accused.
The father [George Henry Evans] of the boys, in reply to a question from the PM, said that beyond playing truant occasionally the accused had conducted themselves well.
His Worship said that playing truant was rather serious offence, and if the boys were not looked after, they might yet be prosecuted by somebody else.
The accused, in reply to the usual question, pleaded guilty and elected to be dealt with by the Bench.
His Worship said that if the father of the lads entered into bonds for their good behaviour, and they failed to conduct themselves property, they were liable to be brought before the Court at any time and sentenced.
Mr Evans said he was not prepared to go bond for the boys’ good behaviour.
His Worship said although it was a painful case, he would be forced to sentence the boys to a short term of imprisonment. He gave the boys a severe lecture on the gravity of their offence and sentenced Thomas [Alfred] Evans to 7 days imprisonment, and William Evans to 3 days, the lads to be kept separate from other prisoners.
Thomas Alfred Evans, 1896
[Unfortunately no newspaper report(s) could be found for Evans’s 18th October 1896 absconding from the Carpenterian Reformatory at Dundas.]
1 Bathurst Free Press and Mining Journal, (NSW), Mon 18 Jun 1894, p. 3. Emphasis added.
2 National Advocate, (Bathurst, NSW), Tue 19 Jun 1894, p. 2. Emphasis added.