The Fall and Rise of Mr Berry

The British Newspaper Archive is a fantastic resource. Every so often my research into our family's history uncovers something that really brings an individual to life. The edition of The Morning Post published on Thursday 19th January 1854 does just that. Page 7 carries details of a case that was heard at Marlborough Street Magistrates Court. The article reads:

 EXTENSIVE EMBEZZLEMENT - William Henry Berry, confidential clerk in the service of Mr William Ward, wine merchant, 27 Regent Street, was brought up for final examination charged with having embezzled money to a large amount, the property of his employer.
Mr Ward said the prisoner had been in his employ, as clerk and collector, for about 12 years - he left about three or four years ago, but came again into his service in October 1852. From that period the prisoner was authorised to receive money on his account, and to enter the money so received in the cash book, paying the same into his bankers, Messrs Prescott and Co. Prosecutor had discovered that the prisoner had received from Mr Howse the sums of 8l 16s, 4l 3s, and 5l 15s without making any entry in the cash book. On the 5th instant prosecutor received the following letter from the prisoner:-

"17 Green Walk, Jan 5, 1854

W.Ward Esq.
Sir, - Pardon the liberty I take in presuming to address you. It is not to palliate my conduct in having abused the confidence you placed in me, but to appeal to your pity on behalf of my innocent wife and children - if you could refrain from prosecuting me I should owe a lasting debt of gratitude, which a whole life can never repay, and I am anxious and willing to make every reparation and restitution in my power by endeavouring to repay my defalcations, and, if you require it, to point out in the books the items which I have appropriated to a use which I am heartily ashamed to name. Oh! the first false step, to what has it brought me. If I had only told my wife when I was a little involved, I should have been saved; but I thought to retrieve myself without her knowing it, and thus made bad worse. Oh! sir, pray have pity on them. You will say I myself ought to have done so. I ought; and if I only had to suffer I should deserve no pity. But the pangs of conscience I have felt for some time past, and now, is a dreadful punishment., and has unfitted me for business. But it will be a warning to me, never again to indulge in any kind of vice. The time was when your presence in the business was a pleasure to me; but latterly, a fearful discovery has made it a burthen, and it has been a relief to me when you have left. Twelve months ago no man had a happier mind or happier house than I; but now I have made my mind a wreck. I could bear it no longer and was almost mad. Should you determine to take extreme measures, I should give no trouble, but will plead guilty to all, and you can produce this letter against me. - With grateful thanks for past kindness, and sincere sorrow for my ingratitude to you, I am, your unhappy servant, W. H. Berry"

Prosecutor caused the prisoner to be apprehended on the 7th inst., on which occasion the prisoner begged for mercy on account of his wife and children.
Mr Howse proved the several payments to the prisoner.
The amount supposed to be embezzled was 300l.
Police-constable Stringer, C193, took the prisoner into custody. Heard him ask for mercy on account of his wife and family, and found the rough draft of the penitential letter upon him.
The prisoner made no defence, and was fully committed.


So who was William Henry Berry and what became of him? The simplified family tree explains the relationship:

William was my great x3 grandfather and at the time of the trial he was a 38 year old man living at 17 Green Walk in Bermondsey with his wife, Eliza and their 7 children.

He was born in 1815 and baptised at St Giles in the Fields on 29th November. The baptism record shows that his father, John, was a servant living at 38 Bedford Square, Bloomsbury.

Within 2 years of his birth, the family moved across London to the parish of St Botolph without Aldgate and his father established an eating house located at No. 9 Minories. In the years that followed the family grew with the addition of 5 siblings; Henry, Charlotte, Frederick, Frances and Tanny. Then in 1827, when he was just 12 years old, his mother passed away. His father re-married the following year and went on to have 2 more children with his new wife.

By 1831, his father's business had fallen on hard times. He was declared insolvent and sent to Whitecross Street debtor's prison. It appears the debt was eventually paid as his father was released following a hearing at 9am on 31st May 1831. At this time, William was just 16 years old and was probably working to support his younger brothers and sisters. His experience echoes that of Charles Dickens, who at the age of 12 had to work at a Blacking Factory near Charing Cross whilst his own father was incarcerated in the Marshalsea debtor's prison.

Seven years after these traumatic events, William was married. His bride was Eliza Baker, the daughter of a builder from Portsmouth. The ceremony took place on 14th February 1838 at St Paul's church in Covent Garden. At the time of his wedding, William was working as a cook, just like his father.

 During the early years of their marriage, the young couple moved frequently. When their first child, Alice, was born a year later,  they were living at Park Side, Knightsbridge. A year after that, they had moved back east to familiar territory and were residing in the parish of St Botolph again when his son Thomas was baptised.


That same year, 1840, his father, John, passed away. In his will, he left £100 to William's sister Charlotte and the eating house business was left in his wife's trust until his youngest son, John Robert Berry, reached the age of 21. William received nothing, implying perhaps some bad blood between the two of them.

The census of 6th June 1841 shows William and his young family living in Charlotte Street, Whitechapel. The street has now been renamed as Fieldgate Street and runs behind the East London Mosque. At the time, William was working as a waiter.

The newspaper article transcribed at the beginning of this blog explains that William had been working as a clerk for Mr Ward, a wine merchant based at 27 Regent Street,  since October 1852, but he'd previously been in his employment some 12 years prior to the magistrates hearing. That would mean they became acquainted with one another in around 1842. Shortly afterwards, William and his family moved away from the East End and settled south of the river in Bermondsey.

 By 1849, William had found a new job working as a coal merchants clerk in Great New Street, in the City of London. His family continued to grow and his youngest, Jessie, was born on 15th March 1851. Things appeared to be going well for William. On the 23rd September 1852, he became a Freeman of the City of London and was promoted from the role of a clerk to that of a coal merchant. It seems strange then, that in October of that year he had ceased trading in coal and had returned to his previous position as a wine merchants clerk for Mr Ward.

In my opinion, his grovelling letter to his former employer alludes to a gambling problem which spiralled out of control. He concealed it from his wife in the hope of covering his losses with a big win, but it never materialised. It appears he stole from his employer to feed his habit and as the sums he embezzled increased, his ability to hide it became increasingly difficult. Knowing that his crimes could no longer be hidden and that his imprisonment would mean destitution for his wife and children, he made a last minute appeal to his employer. It didn't work and he was committed for trial.


The trial took place at the Middlesex Guildhall on Parliament Square on 6th February 1854. He was found guilty on 2 counts of embezzlement and handed a sentence of 3 months for each one. He was then taken to the Middlesex House of Correction, Cold Bath Fields. The prison known as "The Steel" was a forbidding structure situated in the Mount Pleasant area of Clerkenwell.

Even though he only served a 6 month prison sentence, the consequences for him and his family were severe. He had lost his reputation and would have undoubtedly encountered difficulties in securing the type of employment he was accustomed to. It is highly probable that the family slipped into poverty. Less than two years after he had served his debt to society, his wife Eliza contracted tuberculosis. She died on 3rd January 1856 at the age of just 37. At the time of her death, the family were living at  8 Pleasant Row, Stepney Green.

Eliza was laid to rest at Tower Hamlets Cemetery on 10th January 1856. It's not difficult to imagine that William felt immensely guilty over his wife's death, which came about due to the family having to live in much reduced circumstances following his imprisonment.

William and his family struggled on for a few more years and eventually he met a young woman by the name of Jane Brown. Like his first wife, she was also from Portsmouth. The couple were married at St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe church close to Blackfriars, on 8th May 1859. At the time of wedding, William was living in Tooke's Court, Castle Street, which is near Chancery Lane. After his time spent in prison, he was now ironically working as a law writer.

  Remarkably, even after wartime bombing and the constant redevelopment of London since, Took's Court is still there and retains its Victorian character. The street was renamed as Cook's Court in Dickens' novel Bleak House and was where the law stationer Mr Snagsby lived and worked in the book. Two years after the wedding, the couple had moved a short distance to 2 Middle New Street and were living there with his two youngest children, John and Jessie. He was still living in the heart of the London's legal district and  working as a law writer.

During the 1860s William's career changed direction again. By the time of the 1871 census he had returned to South London and was residing at 14 Wells Crescent in Camberwell. He was no longer a law writer and was instead an accountant working for the parish, putting to good use the bookkeeping skills he must have learned whilst working as a clerk earlier in his life. The 55 year old was living with his 41 year old wife, his 20 year old daughter, Jessie, and his father-in-law, Lewis Brown. It seems he finally found some stability in his old age and continued working as an accountant for the parish vestry for at least 10 more years. By 1881  William and his wife Jane had moved the short distance to 238 Southampton Street. Senile dementia eventually ended his career and William passed away at the Havil Street workhouse on 30th November 1883.