A Private Detective's Manuscript Diary, 1854.
Book Description
Henry Goddard was born in 1800 and became a Bow Street Runner in 1824. By 1826 he was a plain-clothed detective at Great Marlborough Street Police Office. Intelligent, tenacious and hard working, he rejoined the runners in 1834, becoming one of the eight best-paid detectives in London. Keenly observant, in 1835 he became the first person in the world to compare bullets fired from the same gun and used this new evidence to solve a case of murder. When the Runners were disbanded in 1839 his talents were recognised and he became the first Chief Constable of the County of Northampton, staying in the post until 1849. He then returned to London, taking up a position as doorkeeper, under Black Rod, of the House of Lords. He also resumed private detective work. This 104 page private diary from 1854 contains records of his daily investigations, enquiries and expenses.
His story has been written before. Towards the end of his life he used his diaries, his memory and his archive of newspaper cuttings to dictate four volumes of narratives. These are now in the Metropolitan Police Museum in Charlton, London. A biography of his life and thrilling accounts of 34 of his cases were published by Museum Press in 1956 as 'Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner,' edited by Patrick Pringle. Pringle's introduction is invaluable and it is impossible to overstate the achievements of Goddard. He apprehended escaped convicts, wore disguises, and more than once tracked crooks from England to New York. In 1856 he recovered half a million pounds worth of bonds from a iron clad strongbox for the Rothschilds. It is the stuff of countless Victorian short stories - yet it is all true; and here is the last of his diaries in private hands, unseen by Pringle. Interestingly, the most famous fictional detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes (as played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is seen reading 'Memoirs of a Bow Street Runner' in the 2012 BBC production of ‘The Reichenbach Falls.’ This is intriguing, as Goddard's exploits would make a fine podcast or television series - it is the last untapped vein of authentic Victorian detective narrative. Furthermore, Goddard's 1849 appointment as doorkeeper at the House of Lords makes it likely that he undertook discrete enquiries amongst the highest strata of society in the land. This worked both ways: in October 1849 he was employed by a Sunday newspaper to shadow the Duke of Brunswick! Pringle also tells us that he once 'read to the King at Windsor Castle for half an hour' from his 1836 diary.
Goddard took on many cases for John and David Forrester, who ran the principle private detective agency in London in the mid 1800s. Pringle describes their activities in some detail: ‘For about forty years they enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the trade of crime-detection in the City...’ and ‘...had they published their story they would probably have acquired the same immortality as Vidcoq in France and Pinkerton in the United States.’ He also frankly states in his introduction: 'Of the 34 chapters in this book the last four – in my opinion easily the best – describe cases he undertook as a private detective. These and his diary for 1856 show that he was nearer to the private detective of fiction than of fact. It is true that he collected evidence for divorce sometimes, but he also carried out some of the most extraordinary and audacious criminal investigations. These last cases show that the modern thriller, in which the private detective solves the mystery while the police are baffled, is not untrue…’ Henry Goddard was the Forrester's un-official partner and worked closely with them. The evocative last entry in this diary tells all the story: '31st December: Dined with John Forrester at his house.' Pringle would have made much of this, but he never saw this diary - only the one for 1856. This diary, from 1854, is clearly a work of enormous potential.
Dealer Notes
Pettit’s Octavo Diary for 1854. With 104pp of manuscript entries, day by day, plus 36pp of printed material at the back. Original brown cloth gilt, hinges weak but holding. Not signed by Goddard. There are only a few lines for each day and there are therefore no real details of his cases. Like all good private eyes, he is meticulous in keeping note of his expenses for dinner, cabs and the ‘buss.’ However, there are hundreds of entries which illustrate a lively and exciting year searching for missing gold, chasing suspects, serving writs, taking affidavits, wining and dining, dashing to the continent, and always ‘making enquiries.’ In other words, business as usual...
A flavour of what lies within come on the endpapers, which have been used for notes: ‘A. Miggs next the Black Bull Hammersmith,’ ‘Spark 147 Whitechapel,’ and on the inside of the rear we find: ‘James Withall alias Sam’ and an address off Commercial Road. On an early blank at the front is a list of dates concerning Tattersalls, the horse auctioneers; later there is another short list of bills delivered, one for £1800 - another for £5000 is ‘from the Sydney lying in East India Docks.’ There is also a page of names beginning with ‘Sophia Stevens, servant to Mrs Roberts’ which details the arrival of ‘a cab to 3 Sussex Villas at 12 at night.’ He put in a bill for £11 ‘relating to expenses at Chelsea’ and one for 10 shillings for ‘Robbery on board Sidney in the matter of Webb in Surrey gaol.’ One expense is simply ‘Lord Lucan’ and the last is ‘due to me from Mr J Forrester this year ending 1853: £62 14 shillings.’ The Forresters feature throughout, see above. Some sample entries:
Jan 9th he commences making enquiries for a Mr Flood, possibly another agent as this goes on all month.
10th Making enquiries at St John’s Wood for John Forrester respecting a man named Webb in Gurnsey gaol
20th paid postman for information…
Feb 11th Rochester police office
14th Night, going with Chas Forrester to the Old Kent Road and other places after Jackson
18th Bus to Mansion House to Mr J Forrester at 9. Going with him to Dalston waiting at the East India House and taking Mather to the Mansion House and Bow Lane Station. Forrester gave me 10s.
4th March J Forrester advanced me £2 on account for Greek Prince.
6th March morning with Mrs Miller and daughter at Chelsea saw the man.
22nd March Employed all day going to East India Docks searching and making enquiries respecting a large quantity of gold stolen from the Sydney.
23rd March With J Forrester making enquiries respecting the gold stolen from the Sydney going twice to German Street respecting the address and character of a man for Sheppard.
6th April: He starts looking for a man called Henry Spark. On the 8th, in Whitechapel, he learns that over 100 enquiries have been made for Spark. On the 22nd he successfully serves a writ on Spark.
April 26th: to 4 Shaftsbury Terrace Pimlico making enquiries after B King charged with forgeries. The next day he spent the morning ‘looking for postman in Shaftsbury Cresent and watching number 4. He spends several more days doing this.
May 8th still making enquires after J B King for forgery.
24th May going onboard the Rhine steamer to Rotterdam with D Forrester
28th May arrived at Hull and express to Manchester.
12th June from Ramsgate to London and attending Tattersalls
22nd June Dining at Nicholls and going with Bryon Bennett and gent from Paris to Crystal Palace.
7th July Going to Brompton… Jackson policeman knows Mrs Roberts also William Yate
28th July met Thompson in Berner’s Street Saw Mr and Mrs Trevor leave house No7 Sydney Street with little boy…
August 7th At 5 this morning following Colonel Topsham and Lady Bay to London Bridge Station…
9th At home attending to my dear wife who was dangerously ill
10th My dear wife died this morning
14th Burying my dear wife at Highgate Cemetery
15th At the house afterwards going with J Forrester to make enquiries at 14 Montague Sq.
25th At Chelsea Mrs Roberts told me she opened the door to man who came in and saw Mr Hunt was introduced to him by elderly gent the season before last at Malvern...
And so on. There are no details, and the work is in no sense a narrative, but diligent research could flesh out many of the stories hinted at here and this remains an astonishing item: an unseen diary of a famous Victorian private detective.
A flavour of what lies within come on the endpapers, which have been used for notes: ‘A. Miggs next the Black Bull Hammersmith,’ ‘Spark 147 Whitechapel,’ and on the inside of the rear we find: ‘James Withall alias Sam’ and an address off Commercial Road. On an early blank at the front is a list of dates concerning Tattersalls, the horse auctioneers; later there is another short list of bills delivered, one for £1800 - another for £5000 is ‘from the Sydney lying in East India Docks.’ There is also a page of names beginning with ‘Sophia Stevens, servant to Mrs Roberts’ which details the arrival of ‘a cab to 3 Sussex Villas at 12 at night.’ He put in a bill for £11 ‘relating to expenses at Chelsea’ and one for 10 shillings for ‘Robbery on board Sidney in the matter of Webb in Surrey gaol.’ One expense is simply ‘Lord Lucan’ and the last is ‘due to me from Mr J Forrester this year ending 1853: £62 14 shillings.’ The Forresters feature throughout, see above. Some sample entries:
Jan 9th he commences making enquiries for a Mr Flood, possibly another agent as this goes on all month.
10th Making enquiries at St John’s Wood for John Forrester respecting a man named Webb in Gurnsey gaol
20th paid postman for information…
Feb 11th Rochester police office
14th Night, going with Chas Forrester to the Old Kent Road and other places after Jackson
18th Bus to Mansion House to Mr J Forrester at 9. Going with him to Dalston waiting at the East India House and taking Mather to the Mansion House and Bow Lane Station. Forrester gave me 10s.
4th March J Forrester advanced me £2 on account for Greek Prince.
6th March morning with Mrs Miller and daughter at Chelsea saw the man.
22nd March Employed all day going to East India Docks searching and making enquiries respecting a large quantity of gold stolen from the Sydney.
23rd March With J Forrester making enquiries respecting the gold stolen from the Sydney going twice to German Street respecting the address and character of a man for Sheppard.
6th April: He starts looking for a man called Henry Spark. On the 8th, in Whitechapel, he learns that over 100 enquiries have been made for Spark. On the 22nd he successfully serves a writ on Spark.
April 26th: to 4 Shaftsbury Terrace Pimlico making enquiries after B King charged with forgeries. The next day he spent the morning ‘looking for postman in Shaftsbury Cresent and watching number 4. He spends several more days doing this.
May 8th still making enquires after J B King for forgery.
24th May going onboard the Rhine steamer to Rotterdam with D Forrester
28th May arrived at Hull and express to Manchester.
12th June from Ramsgate to London and attending Tattersalls
22nd June Dining at Nicholls and going with Bryon Bennett and gent from Paris to Crystal Palace.
7th July Going to Brompton… Jackson policeman knows Mrs Roberts also William Yate
28th July met Thompson in Berner’s Street Saw Mr and Mrs Trevor leave house No7 Sydney Street with little boy…
August 7th At 5 this morning following Colonel Topsham and Lady Bay to London Bridge Station…
9th At home attending to my dear wife who was dangerously ill
10th My dear wife died this morning
14th Burying my dear wife at Highgate Cemetery
15th At the house afterwards going with J Forrester to make enquiries at 14 Montague Sq.
25th At Chelsea Mrs Roberts told me she opened the door to man who came in and saw Mr Hunt was introduced to him by elderly gent the season before last at Malvern...
And so on. There are no details, and the work is in no sense a narrative, but diligent research could flesh out many of the stories hinted at here and this remains an astonishing item: an unseen diary of a famous Victorian private detective.
Author
Henry Goddard
Date
1854
Publisher
Unpublished
Condition
Very good
Pages
104
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