When the churchwarden is a thief
Published:Friday | October 4, 2024 | 12:08 AMPaul H. Williams/Gleaner Writer
THE STORIES of bank employees pocketing the money of their employers and clients have been around since the start of the formal banking system. Some people just cannot help themselves from helping themselves with the money that is put into their trust, despite the possible legal consequences, including imprisonment, for their acts of dishonesty.
Sometimes, the story is not so much about the act and the amount of money, but the people who commit such acts. Upstanding, well-known, respected, reverend, beloved people, some already wealthy themselves, are the shockers.
Right here in Jamaica, the stories of bank workers who have become bank robbers abound; several are still before the court.
James Wilson had long faced the court, despite his efforts to escape the law, spent his time in jail, and is long dead. And, today, we rehash his story, as it was one of the most scandalous in Jamaica’s banking history, and it started in Falmouth,Trelawny, and ended in Kingston.
Wilson was the secretary of the Trelawny Savings Bank, and a churchwarden. In June 1867, he and some of his associates went to Ulster Spring, Albert Town, and a place called Wilson’s Run to collect back rent from land tenants. But, after night fell Wilson was reported missing, causing much worry and anxiety.
A massive search party, including people from the neighbouring parish of Manchester, searched for him all over the place throughout the night. Wilson seemed to have vanished. For several days, the bank secretary was out of the sight of those who were looking for him. Yet, there were those who knew where he was, and about the predicament that was tearing his life to pieces. But, why was he hiding?
The answer came on June 20. Wilson had stolen £8,000 from the Trelawny Savings Bank. Robert Nunes, the custos of Trelawny, notified the police, authorising them and the people to capture Wilson upon sight. Posters splashing the news and calling for his apprehension were mounted as far as Linstead in St Catherine. The inspectors of police of St Ann and Trelawny commissioned men to search for him.
It turned out that Wilson was not the only one in the scandal. It was alleged that James Stewart, Joseph Stewart, somebody called J. Greenwood, a Mrs Maltzan, and her son, Alexander Dixon, were his accomplices. And, if there were any doubt about Wilson’s guilt, it was obliterated by a confession letter written by Wilson himself.
He was inspired by his desire to live a certain life, one that “other schemers” were living. So, he adjusted the bank records after his pilfering so that they could reflect that nothing was awry. However, he might not have been as smart as he thought he was, for the records brightly reflected that the churchman had disobeyed at least one of the Ten Commandments, and had fled the wrath to come. He also made it clear in the letter that he would not submit to be captured alive.
On Wednesday, June 26, the magistrate, Justice Davidson presided over the investigation into the role that Joseph Stewart, Benjamin Stewart and Thomas Dixon played in the Wilson affair. He interviewed eight witnesses, with more to come. But, in the night, the news that Wilson was found in Dry Harbour (Discovery Bay), St Ann by Inspector Hart of the St Ann police threw the matter into another gear of the excitement. Lewis was not very far from Falmouth.
But, he was not alone. There were at least two people who were taking care of him. One had taken him to Dry Harbour, put him into a boat, and taken him to an old fort. He was also sighted the Sunday prior in Stewart Town.
In Dry Harbour, Inspector Hart chanced upon a youngster coming from the aforementioned fort. The boy had two letters in his hand. Upon seeing Hart, the boy gave him the letters; he gave the wrong person the letters, the letters from James Wilson. They were meant for William Nash and William Knox.
In the letter to Knox, Wilson expressed his deep distress, fear, hunger and thirst. He requested food and water, and his desire to be hidden by Knox. He called himself a “poor, repentant sinner”, who wanted help by boat to get to Cuba. There was already a failed attempt. The presence of William Nash was also urgent, so he disclosed his whereabouts.
In the note to Nash, whom he called Willy, he also uncovered himself, and requested paper, envelopes, lead pencils, and a canoe. His starvation was also noted. To this, Inspector Hart gave the boy food and water to take to him, after which he requested two policemen to keep vigil near Wilson’s hiding place, and rushed off to Falmouth to inform Custos Nunes of the latest development.
The plan to arrest Wilson included the intervention of Custos Nunes, Inspector Stewart of Falmouth, Inspector Hart of St Ann, and 20 policemen, four men sent by Nash to give Wilson tea and food. Hart told the men to give the food to Wilson, and to nab him as soon as he had begun to drink the tea. They did just that. It is written that when Wilson realised he was surrounded, he could only say, “Good God!”
The arrest and trial of James Wilson brought much excitement to Falmouth, where he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced by Judge Edward Kemble on Friday, July 26. Despite the noise surrounding the trial the former churchwarden was quietly taken to spend 16 years in prison with the prison warden in Kingston.