1887 Farmer Robbed of £961 in daylight
This story received Australia wide coverage in major newspapers .
Money Stolen from Former Clyde Farmer
A farmer named William Sykes who lived at Dandenong, reported a serious loss on Saturday last. He cashed two cheques at the Colonial Bank to the amount of close upon £1000, receiving the money nearly all in £100 notes, placing the money in a pocket book.
He went towards the Post Office but shortly afterwards discovered that he had lost it. The Bank officials knew nothing about him subsequent to their paying him the cash, so that he seems to have very little chance of recovering his property. It is not improbable, however, that the number of such large notes must be known.
The Argus, Saturday 4 June 1887 |
The Mysterious Sykes Robbery
Wednesday 13 July 1887
It will be remembered that on the 11th May last William Sykes, farmer of Dandenong reported to the police that he had lost a pocketbook containing £961 in notes and also a passage ticket by the Sorata to England, under circumstances which led to the belief that the money had been stolen from him.
He had that morning received from Messrs. Campbell, Pratt, and Co. two cheques, one for £990 and the other for a small amount, the money being the proceeds of the sale of his property at Dandenong, which the firm had effected. Mr Sykes cashed the cheque for the larger amount at the Colonial Bank, on which it was drawn, receiving nine £100 notes, three £10 notes, and the remainder in £1 notes. He counted the money at a table in the banking-room, and placed £961 in a pocketbook, and then put the book in the inner breast pocket of his coat.
Mr Sykes proceeded to the General Post office, and there he found that the pocket-book was no longer in his possession.
He hastily retraced his steps to the bank, and made every enquiry, but without effect. No one had touched him, so far as he knew, whilst the notes were in his possession, but he recollected afterwards that a man had been standing near him with a note in his hand whilst he was counting the money, and this was the only person whom he could connect in the slightest degree with the loss of the money.
His only hope of tracing the money lay in the circumstance that the notes were for such large amounts that they could not be easily negotiated by any person of a suspicious character, but even this hope was a very slender one, as the numbers of the notes had not been taken either by the bank officials or by Mr Sykes.
lt was regarded as such an extraordinary circumstance that a man not accustomed to have such a large sum in his pocket could be robbed of it in broad daylight, or could even so far forget his possession of it as to drop it without instantly recognising his loss, that the story was received with a considerable amount of incredulity, and it was broadly hinted in some quarters that Mr. Sykes had invented the story of the loss to serve some purpose of his own. Some circumstances have recently transpired which confirm the story of the loss, and indicate the direction in which the lost money has gone
Discovery of Lost Bank Notes
By Telegraph. 1
Melbourne, July 12.
Last May William Sykes, a farmer, of Dandenong, cashed two cheques on the Colonial Bank, Melbourne, receiving £900 in notes, three £10 notes, thirty one £1 notes, £961 in all. He counted the money at the table of the banking-room and placed it in his pocket book, and put the book in the inner breast pocket of his coat.
Shortly after leaving the Bank Sykes found the book no longer in his possession, and returned to the Bank and made enquiry without effect. A large reward was offered, but nothing farther was heard of the money till Saturday last, when five £100 notes and two £10 notes were received in Melbourne from the Chartered Bank of India for collection. It has been ascertained that these notes were exchanged at the Bank at Bombay for coin.
The remainder of the notes are expected to be returned in a few days. It Is believed that the thief left Melbourne for Europe by the P. and O. steamer two or three days after the notes had been lost, as there has just been time for the notes to reach Bombay and return.
There is no prospect of Sykes being indemnified for his loss.
South Australian Register, Wed 13 July 1887 |
( indemnified – protected, compensated)
Robbery of Bank Notes
Saturday 13 August 1887 Western Mail - Perth
The Melbourne correspondent of the S. M. Herald supplies that journal with the following particulars in relation to a very remarks able robbery :-In May last William Sykes, a farmer living at Dandenong, cashed two cheques at the Colonial Bank, Melbourne, receiving nine £ lOO-notes, three £lO-notes, and thirty-one £1-notes-£961 in all. He counted the money at the table in the banking-room, and placed it in his pocket-book, and put the book in the inner breast pocket of his coat. Shortly after leaving the bank Sykes found that the book was no longer in his possession.
He returned to the bank and made every inquiry without effect. A large reward was offered, but nothing farther was heard of the money till Saturday last, when five £100 notes and two £10 notes were received in Melbourne from the Chartered Bank of India for collection. It has been ascertained that these notes were exchanged at the bank at Bombay for coin less exchange. The remainder of the notes are expected to be returned in a few days. It is believed that the thief left Melbourne for Europe in the P. and O. steamer two or three days after the notes were stolen, as there has just been time for the notes to reach Bombay and return.
There is no prospect of Sykes being indemnified for his loss.
A Good Haul for Sharpers
It will be remembered (says the Argus) that on May 14 last William Sykes, a farmer of Dandenong, reported to the police that he had lost a pocket-book containing £961 in notes, and also a passage ticket by the Sorata to England, under circumstances which led to the belief that the money had been stolen from him.
He had that morning received from Messrs. Campbell, Pratt, and Co. two cheques, one for £990 and the other for a small amount, the money being the proceeds of the sale of his property at Dandenong, which the firm had effected. Mr. Sykes cashed the cheque for the larger amount at the Colonial Bank, on which it was drawn, receiving nine £100-notes, three £10 notes, and the remainder in £l-notes.
He counted the money at a table in the banking room, and placed £961 in a pocket-book, and then put the book in the inner breast-pocket of his coat. Mr. Sykes proceeded to the General Post-Office, and there he found that the pocket-book was no longer in his possession. He hastily retraced his steps to the Bank and made every enquiry, but without effect. On Saturday, the 3rd inst., five £100 and two £10 notes on the Colonial Bank, Melbourne, were received in Melbourne from the Chartered Bank of India for collection. Four of the notes came in one letter, and the other one, with the £10 notes, in a separate enclosure. Mr. Greenlaw, the Manager of the Colonial Bank, suspecting that these were identical with the notes lost by Mr. Sykes, communicated with Inspector Kennedy, of the detective police.
Owing to the fact that it was impossible to identify the notes through the numbers not being known, it was not thought worth while to cable to Bombay for information as to how the notes reached the Bank there, but Mr. Sykes was informed of the receipt of the notes, and he agreed to pay the heavy cable rates. By this medium it was ascertained that the notes were not paid into an account at the Bank at Bombay, but were simply exchanged there for their value less exchange. The man who presented them is not known, and cannot be traced.
Six men went to Bombay from Australia by the steamer which must have carried the notes. Three of these are well known and respectable men, and of the others one has since gone to China, and the whereabouts of the other two is not stated. The remainder of the notes have no doubt been cashed before this, and it is expected that they will turn up at Melbourne before long, but there is no possibility of identifying them, nor is there any prospect of Mr. Sykes being indemnified for his loss. He has spent £26 for cable messages and other charges.
The theory of the detective police is that Mr. Sykes placed the pocket-book carelessly in his pocket, and dropped it before he reached the Post-Office, He would no doubt be shadowed by one of the sharpers who hang about the principal Banks, especially before the departure of the mail steamers.
South Australian Register, 15 July 1887 |
sharper - A sharper is an older term, common since the seventeenth-century, for thieves who use trickery to part an owner with his or her money possessions.
This story received coverage in:-
The Argus Melbourne, The West Australian, Perth
Western Mail. Perth
Morning Bulletin Rockhampton QLD
Sydney Morning Herald