Newton and the Counterfeiter (37 page)

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 He used the warrant to blackmail victims: Mint 17, deposition 193, of John Holloway and Elizabeth Holloway, 14 and 17 April 1699.
hint of sexual extortion: "a certain pension," Mint 17, document 198, deposition of Mary Townsend, no date; "in company with one Mr. John Gibbons," Mint 17, document 240, deposition of Mary Townsend, 31 August 1698; "Gibbons corresponds," Mint 17, document 31, deposition of Edward Ivie, 22 August 1698. The eighty-pound price, Mint 17, document 38, deposition of Mary Hobbs, 2 July 1698; "a little adjouning room," Mint 17, document 44, deposition of Elizabeth Bond, 15 July 1698. Hints that Gibbons regularly demanded sexual payment from women—coiners in their own right and those women who came to beg or buy his intercession for relatives or lovers—come in a number of the depositions Newton took in the summer of 1698. Besides Bond's testimony about Mrs. Jackson, there are several other, similarly indirect descriptions. But explicitly, witness after witness made the point that Gibbons had his victims absolutely in his power: they could hand over whatever he sought, or they could go to Newgate and the gallows. It seems clear from reading the numerous depositions that Gibbon lusted after more than money. See also J. M. Beattie,
Policing and Punishment in England, 1660–1750,
pp. 241–42. Beattie documents the authorities' knowledge of Gibbons's untrustworthiness.

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"sought after for coyning of Gineas and pistols": "The Examination of Elizabeth Ivie of Liccabone street in Holbourn Widdow 13 October 1698," Mint 17, document 104.
"Taverns & Prisons & other places": Isaac Newton to the Treasury, i October 1699,
Correspondence 4,
document 617, p. 317.

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"boxefulls of informations" John Conduitt,
Character,
Keynes Ms. 130.7, p. 3r, online at the Newton Project,
http://www.newtonproject.sussex.ac.uk
. England's most prolific torturing monarch: John H. Langbein,
Torture and the Law of Proof,
p. 82.
Little Ease: Ibid., p. 85. The rats did not have the desired effect on Sherwood, so his interrogation intensified with a session on the rack, ordered two weeks later.
"marching to the beat of drum": British History Online, Lambeth—Lambeth Palace,
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45290
.

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 "to cause him to be racked": David Jardine,
A reading on the use of torture in the criminal law of England before the Commonwealth,
pp. 57–58.
Archer did not speak: L. A. Parry,
The History of Torture in England.
The description of the rack comes on pages 76–77; his account of John Archer's case is on page 60. Torture continued to be used legally in Scotland long after the practice ceased in England. Most notably, in 1693 King William took advantage of the fact that he ruled two separate kingdoms to transport Henry Neville Payne from London to Edinburgh to torture him there. evidence gained under torture: See Langbein's analysis in
Torture and the Law of Proof,
pp. 134–39.

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 "I shall have Irons put on me tomorrow": "Thomas Carter's Letter to the Warden of the Mint Sunday Afternoon," Mint 17, document 130.
"The blood of coiners and clippers": Frank Manuel,
A Portrait of Isaac Newton,
p. 244.

17. "I H
AD
B
EEN
O
UT
B
EFORE
N
OW
B
UT FOR
H
IM
"

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 arrested Ball and Miller: Mint 17, document 6, deposition of Mary Miller, 19 July 1698. Miller made this statement before Isaac Newton about two weeks after the events described.
Miller was a known quantity: Mint 17, document 12, deposition of Mary Miller, 5 August 1698.

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 six or seven pence per coin: Mint 17, document 27, deposition of Samuel Bond, 16 September 1698.
"imposing up on a whole Kingdom":
Guzman Redivivus,
p. 3.

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"Debased, Diminished and Counterfeited": William Chaloner, "The Defects in the present Constitution of the Mint," p. 1.
The rot started at the top: "Report of the Committee Appointed to Inquire Into the Miscarriages of the Officers of the Mint," reprinted inRogers Ruding,
Annals of the Coinage of Britain and its Dependencies,
vol. 2, p. 468.
"hath got a great estate": Ibid., p. 467.

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 why not add "an Officer": William Chaloner, "The Defects in the present Constitution of the Mint," p. 1.
"Morally impossible to Counterfeit": Ibid.

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 "such bad Workmanship": Ibid.
"to perform some of his Proposals": Ibid., p. 2.
Newton's responses: Isaac Newton, untitled and undated memo, Mint 19/1, f. 496.

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 "undeniable demonstrations": "Report of the Committee Appointed to Inquire Into the Miscarriages of the Officers of the Mint," reprinted in Rogers Ruding,
Annals of the Coinage of Britain and its Dependencies,
vol. 2, p. 467.
"M
^r
Chaloner may make an Experiment": Mint 19/1, f. 516. Reprinted in
Correspondence 4,
pp. 231–32.
And there the matter rested: Isaac Newton, "An Answer to M
^r
. Chaloner's Petition" (draft), Mint 19/1, f. 499. See also John Craig, "Isaac Newton and the Counterfeiters,"
Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London
198, no. 2 (December 1963), p. 141.
Newton's testimony: "Report of the Committee Appointed to Inquire Into the Miscarriages of the Officers of the Mint," reprinted in Rogers Ruding,
Annals of the Coinage of Britain and its Dependencies,
vol. 3, pp. 533–42.

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 "libeling ... in print": Isaac Newton, "An Answer to M
^r
. Chaloner's Petition" (draft), Mint 19/1, f. 499, and an untitled memo, Mint 19/1, f. 496.

18. "A N
EW AND
D
ANGEROUS
W
AY OF
C
OINING
"

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 "fun[ne]d the Lords of the Treasury": "The Information of John Peers taken upon Oath ye 18
^th
day of May 1697," Mint 17, document 86. This deposition was taken by a judge, Francis Negus, and not Newton himself. Newton heard much the same thing, possibly from Chaloner's close associate Thomas Holloway. In "An Answer to M
^r
. Chaloner's Petition" (draft), Mint 19/1, f. 499, Newton writes that Chaloner said he was on the verge of "funning the Parliament as he had done the King and the Bank before." "the Character he deserv'd":
Guzman Redivivus,
p. 6.

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 "a new and dangerous way of coining": Isaac Newton, untitled memo, Mint 19/1, f. 496, and "An Answer to M
^r
. Chaloner's Petition" (draft), Mint 19/1, f. 499.

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 "a house in the Country": Isaac Newton, "An Answer to M
^r
. Chaloner's Petition" (draft), Mint 19/1, f. 499, and untitled memo, Mint 19/1, f. 496. See also "Chaloner's Case," Mint 19/1, f. 503.

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 practically indistinguishable: Isaac Newton, "Chaloner's Case," (undated, probably late 1697), Mint 19/1, f. 503. See also parts of this account repeated in various drafts, especially in Mint 19/1, f. 496.
"might be hidden anywhere" : Isaac Newton, "Chaloner's Case," (undated, probably late 1697), Mint 19/1, f. 503.
"new way quick and profitable": Ibid.

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 Chaloner make his famous boast: "The Information of John Peers taken upon Oath ye 18
^th
day of May 1697," Mint 17, document 86.

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 He bailed his man out: He was reimbursed. See John Craig, "Isaac Newton—Crime Investigator,"
Nature
182 (1958), pp. 150–51. Newton's accounts show two sums paid out of his own funds for "frustrating the designs of Chaloner + his associates in their conspiring to set on foot a new way of coyning in summer 1697 and of apprehending some of them." The two entries total twenty-three pounds eighteen shillings, and while Newton did not itemize his expenses, the cost of funding Peers and hauling him out of jail both fit the general category here. The charges are recorded in Mint 19/1, f. 577.
Newton again arrested Holloway: Isaac Newton, "Chaloner's Case" (undated, probably late 1697), Mint 19/1, f. 503.

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 he was to arrest William Chaloner: John Craig, "Isaac Newton—Crime Investigator,"
Nature
182, no. 4629 ( July 19, 1958), pp. 150–51.
Chaloner readied his counterattack: Ibid.

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"asked him if Holloway was gone away": "The Information of Henry Saunders of Cross Lane in ye parish of St. Gyles in the Fields in the County of Middx, Tallow Chandler 25 augt. 1698," Mint 17, document 98. The details of Holloway's escape to Scotland come from this deposition and from Mint 17, documents 80, 81, and 107. Document 80 contains "The Information of rob Brown Joyner at the Turk's head near the Hermitage Bridge in Wapping 13 December 98." Documents 81 and 107 are depositions by Elizabeth Holloway.

19. "T
O
A
CCUSE AND
V
ILIFY THE
M
INT
"

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 "such redress as shall seem best": William Chaloner, "Petition by Chaloner," late 1697, copied out by Isaac Newton, Mint 19/1, f. 497. Also
Correspondence 4,
document 580, pp. 259–60.
"raised himself by coyning": Isaac Newton, "An Answer to Mr. Chaloner's Petition," early 1698, Mint 19/1, ff. 497–98, reprinted in
Correspondence 4,
document 581, pp. 261–62.

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 "any privilege or direction was given": Ibid.
Newton was standing in the dock: John Craig, "Newton and the Counterfeiters,"
Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London
18, no. 2 (December 1963), p. 141.
gaps turned up in the plaintiff's story:
Calendar of State Papers Domestic,
1697, p. 339.
a bald rejection: Isaac Newton, untitled and undated, Mint 19/1, f. 503.

20. "A
T
T
HIS
R
ATE THE
N
ATION
M
AY
B
E
I
MPOSED
U
PON
"

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 "being afraid to have them": "The Examination of Thomas Carter Prisoner in Newgate 31 January 1698/9," Mint 17, deposition 118.
"they were so light": "The Deposition of John Abbot of Water Lane in Fleet street Refiner 15
^th
day of February 1698/9," Mint 17, deposition
H
9. "he would do some better": "The Examination of Thomas Carter Prisoner in Newgate 31 January 1698/9," Mint 17, deposition 118.

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 "to engage themselves in this Fund": Thomas Neale,
A Profitable Adventure to the Fortunate,
p. 2.

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 to secure the best possible return: See Anne L. Murphy's analysis in her article "Lotteries in the 1690s: Investment or Gamble?,"
Financial History Review
12, no. 2 (2006), pp. 231–32.
a quarter of a million pounds behind: Ibid.
"Credit and Honour of the Nation": Anonymous petitioner quoted in ibid., p. 231.

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 actual bills of exchange: Thomas Neale, "Fourteen Hundred Thousand Pound, made into One Hundred and Forty Thousand Bills of Ten Pounds apiece, to be given out for so much as Occasion requires, and to be paid as Chance shall Determine in course, out of 1515000 l. being left to be only made use of to pay Interest, Premium and Charge," 1697.
"nobody does or will understand": Anne L. Murphy, "Lotteries in the 1690s: Investment or Gamble?,"
Financial History Review
12, no. 2 (2006), p. 233.
forty-five thousand pounds' worth: "The fourth parliament of King William: First Session,"
History and Proceedings of the House of Commons,
vol. 3, pp. 91–106,
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=37657
.

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the smaller and less valuable fish: All the quotes and the narrative of Davis's pursuit of Chaloner come from the deposition in which Davis described the information he provided Secretary Vernon, Mint 17, document 85.
Robert Morris: John Craig, "Newton and the Counterfeiters,"
Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London
18, no. 2 (December 1963), p. 142.

21. "H
E
H
AD
G
OT
H
IS
B
USINESS
D
ONE
"

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 "why am I so strictly confined": William Chaloner, "Letter to the Warden of the Mint," undated, Mint 17, document 133.
"he had a Trick left yet":
Guzman Redivivus,
p. 7.

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 Brady had received some of his supply: "The Examination of Edward Ivy als Jonas late of [
sic
] in London Gentl[eman] taken before me the 17th day of May 1698," Mint 17, document 31.
Newgate or some other jail: See, for example, Mint 17, document 99, "The Information of Mary Townsend of the p[ar]ish of St. Andrews Holborn in the County of Midd[lese]x Widdow taken this 31 day of Augt. 1698," a deposition in which Townsend implicates John Gibbons and Edward Ivy. Two months later, Elizabeth Ivy complains of Gibbons and John Jennings in document 104, along with Brady—all of whom were named later by her husband—and someone Townsend omitted, a Valentine Cogswell. Newton already knew about Cogswell, though, because in May, an informant whose name is missing from the surviving portion of his or her deposition mentioned "Cogswell a Gent[leman]," whom Brady initiated into the coiners' society. That witness was clearly well placed, listing eighteen men and women involved in clipping, coining, and other crimes in document 91—a tally that included the horrifying charge "that one Capt. Tuthill" kept "a Rape Mill." This informant
did
mention Chaloner under his pseudonym Chandler, reporting that his coining operation ran under the protection of John Gibbons—but here again, his was just one name in a list. The point of the testimony as recorded by Newton's clerk was to paint a synoptic picture of a capital overrun with counterfeiters from every class.

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 more than 140: The Mint 17 file contains obvious omissions—at one point there are some one hundred numbers missing in the document sequence. I share the conclusion of John Craig ("Isaac Newton—Crime Investigator," p. 151), that up to half of the relevant documents are missing.
Newton and his witness signed the document: This procedure is pretty clear from the depositions themselves, but I was pointed to this view of Newton's handling of the witnesses by John Craig in "Isaac Newton—Crime Investigator," p.151.
"abot. 7 or 8 years ago she hath seen": "The Information of Katherine Coffee wife of Patrick Coffee Goldsmith late of Aldermanbury by Woodstr[eet] 18 day of February 1698/9," Mint 17, document 124.