Postby dognose » Fri Feb 28, 2020 5:41 am
JOSEPH ADELMAN
Withy Grove, Manchester
CHESTER HALLMARK - CHARGE AGAINST A JEWELLER
Joseph Adelman, a manufacturing jeweller at Withy Grove, Manchester, was on Monday charged before Mr. Brierley, the stipendiary magistrate, at the City Police Court, with having transposed certain hallmarks from gold rings to other rings, of inferior quality, with intent to defraud; and also with having "uttered" rings which bore the hallmarks so transposed.
Mr. Cobbett, who appeared to prosecute, said the proceedings were taken at the instance of Mr. J.F. Lowe, of Chester, the Master of Assays there, and the principal officer of the Company goldsmiths of Chester. The charge against Adelman was, in substance, that he had removed from a number of gold rings the mark of the company's die indicating that the gold was of the quality of 18 carats, and transposed the mark to other articles of gold ware. The offence was one created by statute, and was punishable as a felonv. There was another information which charged the prisoner with having "feloniously uttered" two gold rings into which the hallmark had been transposed from other rings on which they had been originally impressed by the Assay officers. This prosecution had been instituted upon information received by these officers that the accused was carrying on this kind of business extensively. On the 9th March two gold rings were purchased at his establishment - he himself being the vendor — which on being subjected to the usual tests were found to bear hallmarks which had been transposed from other rings of standard quality. Eight of these rings were assayed. In one ring the parts to which the hallmark had been transposed were of correct quality, the remaining seven being below the quality of the transposed parts bearing the hall-marks, one ring being only 15 carats. On Friday last, on the information of the Master of Assay, a search warrant was applied for and granted, under which nineteen rings were seized on the defendant's premises. Of these eight were found to bear transposed hallmarks, and out of those eight seven were of 15-carat gold only. The prisoner had only been arrested that morning, and a long remand would be necessary, as the case was one that would require some elaboration.
Evidence with regard to the arrest and the execution of the search warrant was given by Inspector Hough, and the accused was then remanded until Tuesday next, the magistrate expressing his willingness to accept bail in two sureties of £100 each.
Source: The Chester Courant - 5th April 1905
THE HALLMARK CASE - COMMITTAL OF THE ACCUSED
Joseph Adelman, in business as a manufacturing jeweller at premises in Withy Grove, appeared again last week, before Mr. Brierley, the stipendiary magistrate, at the Minshull-street Court, Manchester. He was charged with transposing the hall-marks from certain articles of goldware to other similar articles of the same or inferior value, with having in his possession gold rings the hallmarks on which had been so transposed, and with uttering gold rings of the same character, in contravention of the Goldsmiths Act. The bulk of the evidence in support of the charge was taken at a former sitting. The only witness on Tuesday was a working jeweller, formerly employed by the defendant, who spoke to seeing gold strips which had been stamped with the defendant's name mark being sent to the Assay Office at Chester and being returned bearing the official hallmarks. These strips represented the condition of 18-carat gold which had to be cut up and made into rings (each ring bearing its own hall-mark); but Adelman's practice, the witness said, was to cut out the hall-marks and solder them into gold rings which were generally of inferior standard. He did a considerable business, turning out about three dozen rings a week. The money gain per ring by this practice would not amount to more than 6d. to 1s. The defendant, when the witness first went to him, had four workmen and several apprentices. Most of them were engaged at various times in this work of transposing hallmarks. The witness added that he had himself done it, under Adelman's direction. The defendant was committed for trial at the assizes, the same bail as before being accepted.
Source: The Chester Courant - 26th April 1905
Trev.