5 GEO. IV. c. 107.

An Act to prevent the illegal Pawning of Stores and Clothes belonging to Chelsea Hospital; to give further Powers to the Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer of Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals; to punish Persons fraudulently receiving Prize Money or Pensions; and to enable the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital to hold Lands purchased under the Will of Colonel Drowly.

[24th June, 1824.]

ating persons

entitled to

changed to

tion, &c. (1)

V. And whereas it is expedient that the crimes Punishment of personating and falsely assuming the name and for personcharacter of any person entitled to prize money prize money or pension, for the purpose of fraudulently re- or pensions, ceiving the same, should no longer be punished transporta. with death: be it further enacted, That from and after the passing of this act, whosoever shall willingly and knowingly personate or falsely assume the name or character of any officer, soldier, seaman, marine, or other person entitled or supposed to be entitled to any wages, pay, pension, prize money, or other allowances of money for service done in his majesty's army or navy, or shall personate or falsely assume the name or character of the executor or administrator, wife, relation, or creditor of any such officer or soldier, seaman, marine, or other person, in order fraudulently to receive any wages, pay, pension, prize money, or other allowances of money due or supposed to be due for or on account of the services of any such

(1) See stat. 4 Geo. 4. c. 46. s. 1. ante.

officer or soldier, seaman or marine, or other person: every such person, being thereof convicted, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond seas for life, or for any term of years not less than seven, or to be imprisoned only, or imprisoned and kept to hard labour, in the common gaol or house of correction, for any time not exceeding seven years.

1. Indictment for personating a seaman entitled to prize money, &c.

KENT, to wit: The jurors for our lord the king upon their oath present, that A. B., late of the parish of Greenwich, in the said county, labourer, on the day of, in the

fifth year of the reign of our sovereign ford William the Fourth, by the grace of God of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland king, defender of the faith, at the parish aforesaid in the county aforesaid, did willingly, knowingly, and feloniously personate one C. D., a seaman, ["officer, soldier, seaman, marine, or other person,"] then and there entitled to certain prize money, ["wages, pay, pension, prize money, or other allowance of money,"] for service by him the said C. D. before that time done in his said majesty's navy, to wit, in and on board of a certain ship and vessel of our said lord the king, called the -; in order then and there fraudulently to receive the said prize money then due for and on account of the services of the said C. D. in his said majesty's navy as aforesaid; against the form of the statute in that case made and provided, and against the peace of our lord the king, his crown and dignity. (Second count.) And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present, that the said A. B., on the day and year aforesaid, at the parish aforesaid in the county aforesaid, did willingly, knowingly, falsely, and feloniously assume the name and character [ name or character"] of the said C. D., the said C. D. being then and there a seaman entitled to certain prize money, for service by the said C. D. before that time done in his said majesty's navy, to wit, in and on board of the said ship and vessel of our said lord the king, called the in order then and there fraudulently to receive the said last-mentioned prize money then due to the said C. D., for and on account of his services in his said majesty's navy as last aforesaid: against the form of the statute in that case

made and provided, and against the peace of our lord the king, his crown and dignity. [If it cannot be proved that the party personated was actually entitled to prize money, &c. or if it be doubtful, add the following count: And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present, that the said A. B., on the day and year aforesaid, at the parish aforesaid in the county aforesaid, did willingly, knowingly, and feloniously personate the said C. D., a seaman, then and there supposed to be entitled to certain prize money, for service by him the said C. D. before that time done in his said majesty's navy, to wit, in and on board of the said ship and vessel of our said lord the king, called the -; in order then and there fraudulently to receive the said prize money then supposed to be due for and on account of the services of the said C. D. in his said majesty's navy as last aforesaid against the form of the statutes in that case made and provided, and against the peace of our lord the king, his crown and dignity. [As it may possibly be thought that this offence is not a felony, as the statute does not make it one, the reader will do well to consider this point before he draws an indictment from this precedent; my own opinion is, that it is a felony, and that the statute only alters the punishment from death, to transportation or imprisonment, &c.]

Evidence.

To maintain this indictment, the prosecutor must prove : 1. That the prisoner personated one C. D., that is to say, represented himself, or procured some other person to represent him to be C. D. In Rex v. Martha Potts, the indictment charged that one John Williams personated Thomas Jacobs, a seaman, and that the prisoner was present, aiding and abetting; and in evidence it appeared that she was present at the time, and asserted that John Williams was Thomas Jacobs: the judge at the trial doubted whether she could be convicted; the statute on which the indictment was framed (57 Geo. 3. c. 127. s. 4.) makes no mention of principals in the second degree; in other cases, all principals, as well in the second degree as those in the first, may be charged in the indictment with having actually committed the offence; but in this case it would be difficult to allege that a man and a woman jointly personated one man the prisoner, however, being convicted, the judges held the conviction to be right. R. & R. 353.

2. That there was such a person as C. D., that he was a seaman, &c., and belonged to the ship named, as stated in the indictment. Where, upon an indictment, charging the

prisoner with personating one William Wheeler, a seaman, entitled to prize money for service on board the Terpsichore, it was objected that it was not proved that any such person as William Wheeler ever served on board of the Terpsichore, or indeed ever existed; and the judges held the conviction to be wrong. R. v. Brown, 2 East P. C. 1007. So, where the indictment charged the prisoner with personating Peter M'Cann, a seaman entitled to prize money on account of his services on board of the Tremendous, and it turned out that there was no such person as Peter M'Cann on board of the Tremendous, but there was a Peter M'Carn, and the jury found that the prisoner really intended to personate M'Carn the judges, however, were of opinion, that the personating charged must be of some person who belonged to the ship; and that as that was not the case here, the conviction was wrong. R. v. Tannett, R. & R. 351. where the indictment charged the prisoner with personating one Joshua Boatwright, and it appeared in evidence that Boatwright was dead at the time, and that the prisoner did not obtain the money still the judges held the conviction to be right, and that the statute applied, although the seaman personated was dead at the time. R. v. Edward Martin, R. & R. 324. So, where not only the person personated was dead, but his mother had previously received the prize money due to him; the prisoner being convicted, the case was reserved for the opinion of the judges, whether the person personated could be considered a seaman, supposed to be entitled to prize money at the time of the offence committed, within the meaning of the statute: the judges held the conviction to be right. R. v. Sumuel Cramp, R. & R. 327.

But

3. That C. D. was, at the time, entitled, or supposed to be entitled, to prize money, &c., as stated in the indictment. There is something equivocal in these words " supposed to be:" Do they mean that the party practising the fraud, “ supposed" that the person he was personating was entitled to prize money? or do they mean, that there was actually reason to believe that, at the time, he was entitled to prize money, as for instance, that a prize was taken, but not then condemned, or the like? In R. v. Cramp, above mentioned, the seaman personated had been actually intitled to prize money, but it had been paid to his mother, before the prisoner was guilty of the personation, so that at that time no prize money was actually due: yet the judges held it to be a case within the statute.

4. That the prisoner personated the seaman in question, for the purpose of obtaining the prize money &c., to which he was, or was supposed to be, then entitled. This may be proved, by proving facts and circumstances from which

the jury may fairly presume it. It is not necessary, however, that the prisoner should have succeeded in his fraudulent purpose, to bring him within the penalty of the statute: in Martin's case, and Cramp's case, (supra, p. 166,) the prisoners did not obtain the prize money they sought; and yet their convictions were holden right.

2. Indictment for personating the executor, &c., of a seamun entitled to prize money, &c.

KENT, to wit: The jurors for our lord the king upon their oath present, that A. B., late of the parish of Greenwich in the said county, labourer, on the day of, in the fifth year of the reign of our sovereign lord William the Fourth, by the grace of God of the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland king, defender of the faith, at the parish aforesaid in the county aforesaid, did willingly, knowingly, and feloniously personate one C. D., the executor, ["executor or administrator, wife, relation, or creditor,"] of one E. F. deceased, he the said E. F. being, at the time of his decease, to wit, on the day and year aforesaid, there a seaman entitled to certain prize money, ["wages, pay, pension, prize money, or other allowances of money,"] for services done in his said majesty's navy, to wit, in and on board of a certain ship and vessel of our said lord the king, called the

:

in order then and there fraudulently to receive the said prize money then and there due to the said C. D. as such executor as aforesaid, for and on account of the services of the said E. F. in his said majesty's navy as aforesaid against the form of the statute in that case made and provided, and against the peace of our lord the king, his crown and dignity. (Second count.) And the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do further present, that the said A. B. on the day and year aforesaid, at the parish aforesaid in the county aforesaid, did willingly, knowingly, falsely, and feloniously assume the name and character [name or character"] of the said C. D. the executor of the said E. F. deceased as aforesaid, he the said E. F. being at the time of his decease there a seaman entitled to certain prize money for service done in his said majesty's navy, to wit, in and on board of the said ship and vessel of our said lord the king, called the -; in order then and there fraudulently to receive the said lastmentioned prize money then and there due to the said C. D. as such executor as aforesaid, for and on account of the service of the said E. F. in his said majesty's navy as aforesaid against the form of the statute in that case