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The Undertaker Arrested In The Middle Of Conducting A Funeral For Stealing Feathers For His Horses
More than a century ago, a British mortician made headlines for buying stolen goods — something he apparently had experience with
Funerals are by nature solemn affairs, as loved ones and the world at large bid farewell to somebody leaving the earthly world behind. There has to be something big to disrupt such proceedings, and that’s exactly what happened more than a century ago when an English undertaker was arrested in the middle of conducting a funeral for theft of decorative majestic feather plumes and velvets used to adorn horses.
It was reported that in 1907 London, Joseph Barker, an undertaker from Shoreditch suffered the indignity of being arrested by police while he was finishing funereal rites. He was charged with knowingly accepted stolen goods consisting of “three pairs of feather plumes and three pairs of horse velvets.”
Futhermore, a local coffinmaker named John (Jack) Sigournay was also arrested for stealing 12 pairs of feather plumes and 14 pairs of velvets — all worth in excess of 100 pounds. These items were taken from another area undertaker named Henry Wade Simpson.
Simpson seemingly knew who stole his horse gear and led police to the cemetary where a very awkward scene ensued. Simpson simply explained, “You are using some of my plumes and velvets on your horses.”
Barker, likely embarassed beyond belief, pleaded, “Wait till I have finished the job. Then you can have them all back.” He also claimed that he had lawfully bought the items from Sigournay for a total of five pounds, who he believed had obtained them from a retailer.
Holding that the deceased who was having their funeral hadn’t done anything wrong, the authorities allowed Barker to finish the ceremony. After which, they took the undertaker into custody. Back at the station, he further explained:
“I paid Jack the money ten shillings at a time, as I could not afford more. Jack told me they came off a man who had gone broke.”
When the dust settled, Sigournay was found guilty and sentenced to performing six months of hard labor. However, the magistrate believed that Barker had not intentionally done anything wrong, and indicated he didn’t believe it was worthwhile holding him over for trial.
Lest anyone assume that Barker was the victim of false accusations, it must also be taken into account he was arrested previously for the same crime. In 1903, he was taken in by police on charges of stealing a motorcycle. Once again, his defense was that he had obtained in legally and was paying it off little by little due to a lack of money.
