Continuing our blog series written by volunteer, Katherine Bett.

‘THE GREAT SILVER ROBBERY’ - that was the headline on the front page of the London Evening Standard for weeks, as the newspaper’s reporters followed every twist and turn of the trial. George William White was the man at the centre of this case, and ultimately was sentenced to 5 years in prison. His photograph appears in the album of prisoners at Reading Prison on 17th December 1894 - eleven months later he would be joined in the prison by Oscar Wilde.

The story takes place in East London, on the docks, at the silver refinery Messrs Lock, Lancaster and Company. It was a Thursday in late July and Theophilus W. J. Hallett, the assistant manager, locked ten pieces of freshly refined silver in a safe, inside a strong room. They weighed ‘between 7000 and 8000 ounces’ each (198-226kg, using today’s definition of an ounce).

After a weekend off, he returned to work to find the safe had been broken open and four pieces of silver were missing, to the value of £1200. A key had been used in each lock, before being prized open by a steel instrument.

The police arrived and started taking statements from workmen. They also noticed a button on the floor of the strong room.

George William Wight was the night watchman on the wharf - he’d worked that weekend. When officers questioned him, they noticed his coat - the buttons were the same as the one that was found on the strong room floor and two of them were missing

Within a couple of days, two pieces of silver were found, one was buried underneath a railway arch. A reward of £150 was promised for information on the location of the other two pieces.

A few weeks later, more evidence was presented to the Thames Police Court. On the night of the robbery, John William Ennever came to the docks, looking for White. He wanted to pass on some ‘written orders’. After fifteen minutes, White appeared, his coat covered in a ‘white chalky substance’. According to the newspaper, ‘calcined bones’, used in silver refining, look like this. This white substance was also on the floor of the strong room.

Less than a month after the crime took place, the jury deliberated for an hour and found White guilty of stealing the silver. No sentence was given at this point - instead the judge offered White the opportunity of giving information to the police about the two missing pieces of silver.

A month later, in October, ‘the men had not given any information. It was obvious that several persons were concerned in the robbery’. Clearly, White did not want to land any of his accomplices in trouble so was sentenced to five years in prison.