This is the eighth installment in our on-going series about Robert Austin Shearn - A Criminal in the Family.
Part One - Troubled: A Criminal in the Family
Part Two - 1877: A Fateful Year
Part Three - British Army Service
Part Six - Melbourne to Adelaide and Incarceration in the Parkside Lunatic Asylum
Part Seven - Parkside Lunatic Asylum: A Closer Look
In this eighth installment we examine the records regarding theft of a bicycle and subsequent arrest of Robert Austin Shearn in Dunolly, Victoria, Australia.
Police records show that Robert Austin Shearn was arrested on 3 April 1905 for stealing a bicycle. As expected, the police record is brief and straightforward:
Robert Austin Shearn. Arrest no new. That he at Dunolly on the 2nd April 1905 did break and enter the shop of William Watts and therein did feloniously(?) steal one bicycle. Remanded to Dunolly on the 12th inst.
Victoria, Australia, Petty Session Records, 1854-1922
There are found two newspaper articles about the arrest. One is from the Mount Alexander Mail in Victoria dated 4 April 1905:
A clever arrest was made by Constable Walsh yesterday morning. Noticing in the “Argus” that a shop in Dunolly had been entered on Saturday night and a new bicycle stolen, he kept his eye open for any strange cyclist. He ascertained that a tall, shabbily dressed man had arrived in the town on a new bicycle on Saturday night, and on making further inquiries he found that the man had put up at an hotel. Not having a warrant or any official knowledge of the theft he could not arrest the man, so he contented himself with shadowing him for a time. The man leaving the bicycle at the hotel strolled up the street, and in due course attempted to sell a bicycle kit to a business man in Barker-street. Constable Walsh then took a hand and questioned the stranger, who returned evasive answers, with the result that he was arrested. At the lockup he admitted breaking into the shop at Dunolly and stealing the bicycle. He gave the name of Robert Austin Shearn. He is over 6ft in height, and is possessed of a superior education, and stated that he had been in the Guards in England. He will appear at the Police Court this morning , when remand will be asked for. Constable Walsh is to be commended for a clever piece of work.
The second article was from the same date, 4 April 1905, in The Age from nearby Melbourne, Victoria.
Bicycle Robberies
Dunolly, Monday.
Petty thefts about the town are becoming somewhat frequent. About ten days ago a bicycle, left standing outside a business place, was stolen, and last week was recovered at Harcourt, having been abandoned there by the thief. The police watched two days for the person to take it away, but no one putting in an appearance the machine was returned to its rightful owner. Another bicycle was stolen early on Sunday morning from the shop of Mr. W. Watts, of portion of the brick wall being broken down at the rear of the premises by the thief to gain admission. A new Humber bicycle was taken from the window, and the back door left open. Information was telegraphed by the police to the surrounding stations, and word was received about noon to-day about the recovery of the bicycle and arrest of a suspect at Castlemaine.
CASTLEMAINE, Monday.
Constable Walsh made a neat arrest on Monday. Noticing in the papers that own Sunday morning the bicycle depot of Mr. W. Watts at Dunolly had been burglariously entered and a No. 1 Humber machine, valued at £16, stolen, and seeing a stranger in Castlemaine with a brand new machine, he shadowed him for a while. On finding that the man was trying to dispose of the machine constable arrested him. He found that the machine tallied with the description of the bicycle stolen from Dunolly. Accused, who is about 30 years old, gave the name of Robert Austin Shearn.
The article in the Mount Alexander Mail mentions that Constable Walsh was aware of the robbery because he read about it in the “Argus.“ The “Argus” was another periodical from Melbourne. The piece of note was from the Monday 3 April 1905 edition:
Bicycle Robberies
Dunolly, Sunday - A most daring robbery was committed here this morning. Mr. William Watts’s bicycle depot, in Broadway, was broken into, and a No. 1 Hummer, valued at £16, was stolen. Entrance was effected by the bricks being removed from the back of the premises. The thief is supposed to be a tramp who was in the town for the past three days.
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Mon 3 Apr 1905
Sentence
Shearn was sentenced on 14 April 1905 the charge was shop breaking and larceny. Theft of a bicycle (valued at 16 pounds) from Mr. William Watts at Dunolly, Victoria. He was sentenced to 4 months hard labor (Ararat General Sessions, Ararat, Victoria, Australia).
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