The hero, Mr Broderip, was worth looking into. His biography, filched from the DNB, follows the newspaper report. Turns out he was an interesting chap, acquaintance of Darwin, etc..
Thames-police. — Yesterday Matilda Box, a middle-aged woman,
whose emaciated appearance and hollow eyes, bespoke the deepest distress and
misery, was brought before Mr. Broderip, the sitting magistrate, charged with
stealing two pieces of beef from the shop of Mr. Smelley, a pork butcher, in
High street, Shadwell, on Saturday night.
John Marks,
shopman to Mr. Smelley, stated that the prisoner called at his master's shop on
Saturday night, and cheapened two pieces of beef lying on the board in front of
the house, which she took into the shop, as he supposed, for the purpose of
having them weighed ; instead of which she put the beef under her shawl, and
walked off. He pursued and took her into custody, and afterwards conveyed her
to the watchhouse.
The prisoner
(who had a child in her arms, which appeared in a sickly state), being called
upon for her defence, burst into tears, and said that the most urgent distress
had driven her to commit the offence. When she stole the beef, neither she nor
her child had tasted food for many hours. About a month since, her husband, who
was a ship-joiner, fell from the mast- head of a vessel into the hold, and,
besides other injuries broke three of his ribs. He had since been confined in the
London Hospital, leaving her with the infant she held in her arms and another
child without any means of support.
Mr. Broderip
said, if her statement was true, she certainly was an object of pity, and
inquired if she had applied to the parish for relief.
The prisoner
replied in the affirmative, and said that the overseers of St. George's in the
East had given her 4s. since her husband's illness, for the support of herself
and two children, but had refused all further relief because she had slept out
of the parish.
Mr. Broderip
said the child the prisoner held In her arms appeared to be severely afflicted,
and inquired the cause.
The poor woman
replied that it was labouring under an attack of the small pox, and she was not
able to procure sufficient nourishment for its support.
Deverell, the
beadle of Shadwell parish, confirmed the truth of the woman's story, and the
shopman said his master was aware the prisoner was impelled to the commission
of the theft through distress, and had no wish to prosecute.
Mr. Broderip said
the poor woman waa a deserving object of compassion, and ordered her to be
discharged, with a caution not to be again guilty of a similar theft, or she
would be severely punished. Ellis, an officer of this establishment, was
directed to go with the poor Woman to the overseers of St. George's, to which
parish she belonged, in order that she might be relieved, and the wants of the
child supplied. Ellis soon after returned with the woman, and stated that the
overseer, whom he had seen, had peremptorily refused to relieve either mother
or child, and had ordered her to attend at the board in the evening, when her
claim would be taken into consideration.
Mr. Broderip, after some severe
remarks, ordered some food to be instantly given to the wretched woman and her
child, and directed Ellis, the officer, to make another application to the
overseers of St. George's in the evening, and if they again refused to relieve
her, to represent the case to the Lambeth-street magistrates.
Broderip, William John (1789–1859), lawyer and naturalist, was
born on 21 November 1789 at Bristol, the eldest son of William Broderip,
surgeon. After being educated at the Revd Samuel Seyer's school in his native
city, he matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, in 1807 and graduated BA in
1812. While at college he found time to attend the anatomical lectures of Sir
Christopher Pegge, and the chemical and mineralogical lectures of John Kidd.
After completing his university education, he entered the Inner Temple, and
began studying in the chambers of the then well-known Godfrey Sykes, where he
had as contemporaries Sir John Patteson and Sir John Taylor Coleridge. He was
called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 12 May 1817, when he joined the western
circuit, and shortly after, in conjunction with Peregrine Bingham, began
reporting in the court of common pleas. These reports were published in three
volumes between 1820 and 1822. In 1822 Broderip accepted from Lord Sidmouth the
appointment of magistrate at the Thames police court. He held this office until
1846, when he was transferred to the Westminster court, where he remained for
ten years. He was compelled by deafness to resign, having obtained a high
reputation for his good sense and humanity. In 1824 he edited the fourth
edition of R. Callis's work on the Statute of Sewers, which, with its
combination of antiquarian and strict legal learning, was exactly suited to his
taste and talent. He was elected bencher of Gray's Inn on 30 January 1850 and
treasurer on 29 January 1851, and was given care of its library.
Throughout his life Broderip was an enthusiastic collector of natural objects. His conchological collection was unrivalled, and many foreign professors inspected the treasures which were accumulated in his chambers in Gray's Inn. This collection was ultimately purchased by the British Museum. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1824, of the Geological Society in 1825, and of the Royal Society on 14 February 1828. In co-operation with Sir Stamford Raffles he was instrumental in the formation of the Zoological Society in 1826 and was one of the original fellows. He was secretary of the Geological Society for some time, and performed the arduous duties of that office with Roderick Murchison until 1830. To the Transactions of this society he contributed numerous papers, but most of his original writings on molluscs are to be found in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Zoological Society. Broderip's descriptions of animal habits were graphic. His ‘Account of the manners of a tame beaver’, published in the Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society, is a prime example of his tact as an observer and power as a writer. He published extensively on zoological matters. His contributions to the New Monthly Magazine and to Fraser's Magazine were collected in the volumes entitled Zoological Recreations (1847) andLeaves from the Note-Book of a Naturalist (1852). He wrote zoological articles in the Penny Cyclopaedia, including all the articles relating to mammals, birds, reptiles, crustacea, and molluscs. His last publication, ‘On the shark’, appeared in Fraser's Magazine in March 1859. Broderip died in his chambers, 2 Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn, London, on 27 February 1859. He was unmarried.
Throughout his life Broderip was an enthusiastic collector of natural objects. His conchological collection was unrivalled, and many foreign professors inspected the treasures which were accumulated in his chambers in Gray's Inn. This collection was ultimately purchased by the British Museum. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1824, of the Geological Society in 1825, and of the Royal Society on 14 February 1828. In co-operation with Sir Stamford Raffles he was instrumental in the formation of the Zoological Society in 1826 and was one of the original fellows. He was secretary of the Geological Society for some time, and performed the arduous duties of that office with Roderick Murchison until 1830. To the Transactions of this society he contributed numerous papers, but most of his original writings on molluscs are to be found in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Zoological Society. Broderip's descriptions of animal habits were graphic. His ‘Account of the manners of a tame beaver’, published in the Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society, is a prime example of his tact as an observer and power as a writer. He published extensively on zoological matters. His contributions to the New Monthly Magazine and to Fraser's Magazine were collected in the volumes entitled Zoological Recreations (1847) andLeaves from the Note-Book of a Naturalist (1852). He wrote zoological articles in the Penny Cyclopaedia, including all the articles relating to mammals, birds, reptiles, crustacea, and molluscs. His last publication, ‘On the shark’, appeared in Fraser's Magazine in March 1859. Broderip died in his chambers, 2 Raymond Buildings, Gray's Inn, London, on 27 February 1859. He was unmarried.
From the DNB
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