Charles James Cramp [38285]

  Noted events in his life were:

• Newspaper: THE GREAT DIAMOND ROBBERY IN BIRMINGHAM, 1886 Nov 9, Newcastle District, New South Wales. ¹ THE GREAT DIAMOND ROBBERY IN BIRMINGHAM. (1886, November 9). Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) , p. 6. Retrieved July 18, 2014, from <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138949816>

THE GREAT DIAMONLD ROBBERY
IN BIRMINGHAM.
AT the Birmingham Police-court,
before Mr. Kynnersley, stipendiary,
Joseph Spencer and Charles James
Cramp, manufacturing jewellers, of
Regent-place, Birmingham, were again
placed in the dock on acharge of stealing
diamonds and brilliants, value £4,000,
from Mnurice Gratz, diamond merchant,
Vyse-street, Birmingham, between
the 7th July and 11th September. The
accused men were defended by Mr.
Fitter and Mr. O'Connor. The prose-
cution was conducted by Mr. Row-
lands. The prosecutor said that
between the 7th July and 11th
September, he had numerous trasanac-
tions with the prisoners. On August
12 he became uneasy, being under the
impression that a quantity of diamonds
which he had left with the prisoners
were of greater weight than the
prisoniers themselves stated they were:
He, as was the custom of the trade,
carried the diamonds about with him
in papers, and the prisoners, after the
selection was made, would weigh the
diamonds on their own scales. On Sept.
6 he had a conversation with Mr.
Goldsmidt. That conversation led him
to take stock of his diamonda, and on
doing so he found that between the
date of his first transactions with the
prisoners and the date of stock-taking
there wias a dificiency of no less than
648 carats in his diamond stock. On
one subsequent occasion he weighed a
parcel of diamonds, and after he had
been to the prisoners and they had had
the parcel, he found that there was a
deficiency of 26 carats on that one
parcel alone. Witness had in his
possession a parcel, of diamonds, and
that parcel was opened and counted in
the presence, of the police. He then
went to the prisoiners with the parcel.
They opened the parcel, but pretended
not to take any of the diamonds, and
having resealed it handed it back to
him. The parcel was taken back to the
police, and it was found when it was
weighed and counted there was a
deficiency of 9½ carats. On the 11th
September it was arranged that he
should submit yet another weighed and
counted parcel to the prisoners.
Detective Cooper was concealed in the
place while Spencer was examining the
parcel of diamonds, and at a signal
Cooper appeared upon the scene and
arrested the prisoners. On that day
(the 11th September) they had appro-
priated 22½ carats of diamonds from the
parcel. Spencer had a breast pocket,
and while he pretended to be looking
the diamonds he would allow somie
of them to drop into his pocket. When
searched Spencer had 22½ carats of
diamonds in his breast pocket. In a
card box the officers found a number of
weights which had been tampered
with. A 16 carat weight turned the
scale at 20 carats. Eleven pawn
tickets found in the box showed that a
London pawnbroker had advanced over
£8,000 on diamonds to the prisoners
within the last three months. When
arrested both, prisoners admitted their
guilt, and endeavoured to compromise
the matter by asking, "Will any
monoy settle it?" The prisoners were
committed to the sessions. Cramp
was further charged with stealing four
diamonds value £39 from a Birming-
ham diamond merchant named
Solomon Hillner on the 11th inst. On
this charge he was remanded for a
week.