On January 3, 1898, Inspector Thomas Hawkes travelled from Southam to Cardiff Docks to arrest George Potts, who had disembarked from the ship ‘Claverdon’ which had arrived from Bilbao in Spain. Some time before, Potts had been arrested by the Spanish police in the town of Robledo, having unluckily been mistaken for a notorious Spanish Anarchist whilst sitting in a café. He escaped, was soon recaptured, then managed to evade his warders again by jumping from a railway carriage. He spent some days hiding in a wood before being tracked down by bloodhounds and taken to Madrid for interrogation. After some international exchange of information, he was finally extradited to England to face criminal charges of: ‘…obtaining money by means of forged cheques…in Southam and Long Itchington…’

Potts, who was married with eight children, lived in Southam and was at one time a shoemaker, before becoming an agent for the Prudential Insurance Company. He opened an account at Lloyds Bank of Southam on August 6, 1897, before closing it on August 11. He used the forged signature of Mr W. J. Lancaster (General Secretary of the Prudential) to give credence to his ‘modus operandi’.

Then on November 13th and 15th 1897, he proceeded to defraud a number of local people using some seemingly plausible stories. His victims included:

  • Joseph Slater, keeper of the Black Dog, Southam who was asked by Potts at 9.30 a.m. on Monday 15th to cash a cheque for £10 5s, claiming he wanted to get away before the bank opened as he had, ‘ … a long journey … ’ Joseph Slater agreed, later to be told by the bank manager of Lloyds that there was no such account.
  • David Slade, an innkeeper from Southam, who was visited by Potts on the evening of Saturday 13th, claiming he needed to cash a cheque for £11 10s but the bank was closed.
  • Thomas Grant, a Southam butcher, was asked to cash a cheque for £15 on the same morning, making a deduction in the cash for Potts’ meat bill.
  • Fred Dickenson, keeper of the New Inn in Long Itchington, was similarly defrauded by Potts under the pretence of paying a claim for ‘ … some poor people of Stockton … who did not understand cheques … ’ Over a glass of beer, Potts was happily given eleven sovereigns and a half sovereign for another forged cheque.
  • Thomas Jeffs of the Co-operative stores in Long Itchington was similarly deceived, handing over £10 in cash.

Potts made good his escape on his ‘long journey’ to Spain, where his luck ran out. He was presented before the Warwick Assizes and sentenced to twelve months in gaol with hard labour for each indictment. In one sense he was lucky, as two years previously he had induced an elderly couple from Long Itchington to invest £15 (which he kept) of their life savings in a Prudential share and, although he was charged with fraud, the case was dismissed on a technical issue.

Some justice was done in that about £27 was found on Potts when he was arrested and was subsequently divided between those swindled.

The New Inn, Long Itchington, circa 1920/30 – now The Duck on the Pond. Reproduced from “Our Warwickshire” website: © W.C.R.O PH, 226/165, img 225

The second volume of Southam: Law, Order and Policing by Dr Roland Raffell is now available from Southam Heritage Collection, price £5.

 

Southam Heritage Collection is located in the atrium of Tithe Place opposite the Library entrance.  Opening times Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings from 10am to 12 noon. To find out more about Southam’s history, visit our website www.southamheritage.org  telephone 07710 012052 or email  southamheritage@hotmail.com  You can also follow us on Facebook.