Burglary in Dore!

The Rent Day Burglary

Collier Samuel Sykes had his home in Dore burgled on Wednesday 3^rd June 1874 between nine and eleven o'clock at night. The story, as pieced together from accounts in the Sheffield Daily Telegraph for 8^th and 13^th June and 4^th July 1874 and the Sheffield Independent for 15^th and 20^th June 1874, is as follows. Samuel lived in East Rushley, now known as Rushley Road. His house, Rushley Cottage, was rented from the Duke of Devonshire.

The rent was due on 3^rd June, so Samuel went after work to the Hare and Hounds Inn (known locally as "Mrs Parkin's") to pay it. His wife Hannah had already gone there to assist Mrs Parkin, who had to provide food and drink for the many rent payers.

The Break In

Hannah, who had locked the house door before she left, found when she got home that someone had broken into the house via the pantry window, which had been smashed, and provisions and crockery had been stolen.

Samuel immediately contacted Sergeant Borritt of Dronfield, who "obtained evidence causing him to suspect that several well-known characters living at Dore were the guilty parties."

He summoned assistance and obtained the necessary authority, then searched the house in Dore occupied by an "old man" named William Wragg and his two sons, labourers Mark and Albert Wragg; the sons, according to the newspaper account, were "better known under the alias of Unwins".

The Police Search

When he searched William Wragg's house on the afternoon of 4^th June, Sergeant Borritt found not only some of the items stolen from Samuel Sykes but also many other stolen items, said to be too numerous to list in full. Items which were identified by their owners included:

• A valuable double‐barrelled gun and an ivory‐handled carving knife and fork stolen from its owner, master grinder William Barker of Heeley, a little more than six months before
• An electro‐plated silver pint tankard belonging to, and bearing the name of, Joe Rowbotham, innkeeper, of Ecclesall Road – a well‐known cricketer
• A riding saddle and stirrups, peck measures, and a toast‐rack belonging to farmer Joseph Coates of Dore
• Three sieves belonging to Joseph Coates's sister
• Part of a sack of linseed meal taken from Mr Green's
• A new horse rug stolen from Mr W H Haig, cab proprietor, Ecclesall Road
• A set of fire‐irons belonging to Mr W Fisher of Dore
• A barndoor fowl belonging to Mr Flint, farmer of Dore (this would have been an ordinary hen or cockerel which lived in the farmyard).

The Culprits Apprehended

Sergeant Borritt also apprehended one of the Wraggs. He recovered so much stolen property that he had to hire a horse and cart and make at least two trips from Dore to the police station at Dronfield, first with the prisoner and some of the stolen property, and then with the rest of the stolen property.

Although witnesses said that the Wraggs had been seen loitering about the burgled premises at various times, and one of the Wragg brothers admitted that his father and brother were "at fault", some surprise was expressed in the village that the Wraggs were "a gang of robbers" — they had apparently not previously been suspected of dishonesty, and an (unnamed) unfortunate young man who also lived in Dore had been wrongfully suspected of the thefts.

The Court Appearance and Sentencing

The father and sons appeared before the magistrates on various charges of burglary and theft, and were committed to the Derby Quarter Sessions on Tuesday 30^th June. They were said to have been engaged in a systematic course of robbery for nearly two years.

They were acquitted of the charge of stealing Joseph Flint's barn door fowl, but Mark Wragg was found guilty of stealing, and William and Albert of receiving, two and a half loaves of bread, four pounds of lard, two earthenware jars, and other articles belonging to Samuel Sykes. Five other charges of theft were not proceeded with. The prisoners were each sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment with hard labour.