Bank Robbers on the Run
It was 1848 and £1900 was a small fortune; enough money to change a life.
It was certainly enough to change the lives of two young men named Brady and M’Naughton, if for no other reason than they’d stolen it. The duo had robbed the Bank of England in Manchester and, in doing so, became the subject of a trans-Atlantic manhunt that brought them to Newfoundland.
Before it all unravelled, they lived large in St. John’s leaving behind a mystery that remains unsolved to this day.
The Robbery
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In 1848 William Francis M’Naughton was a clerk for the merchant firm of Mssrs. Alex. Henry and Co. in Manchester, England. As a clerk, M’Naughton observed the running of the office and handled paperwork for the company.
He watched vast sums of money moving through the firm — far more money than he could ever hope to earn. As a clerk he was perfectly situated to learn the paperwork that directed the money in and out of the firm’s hands.
It occurred to him, that with the right documents, he could direct some of that cash into his own hands.
On March 29, 1848 he presented himself to a teller at the Manchester branch of the Bank of England. In his possession was a forged cheque in the name of the firm. He asked to have it cashed. It was for the exorbitant sum of £3450, 17s.
The teller obliged, giving M’Naughton six £500 Bank of England notes, four £100 notes, one £50 and 17s. in gold and silver.
Later that day, M’Naughton proceeded to the Cunliffes, Brooks & Co.'s Bank seeking a letter of credit for the Liverpool Bank. He produced three of his stolen £500 notes.
The request raised the suspicions of the bank, they asked M’Naughton to bring someone who could verify his identity. His companion, Hugh Brady, vouched for him. The bank remained suspicious.
Cunliffes, Brooks & Co.'s Bank, Manchester/ M.J. Starling, public domain
Feeling they were about to be discovered, M’Naughton and Brady hurried from the bank, leaving their £1500 behind.
They were disappointed to have lost so much money, still they had over £1900. It was a fortune. In modern spending power it would equate to over £180 000 (over $300 000 CDN).
Brady and M’Naughton realized that if the bank in Manchester had been suspicious, they were in trouble. If they hoped to remain free men, they needed to get away from England.
The pair decided a new life in North America looked appealing. So, travelling under the assumed names of Bradshaw and O’Kelly they began their trek.
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In some re-tellings of this story it is said that M’Naughton and Brady crossed the Atlantic on the Britannia and that one of their fellow passengers was Charles Dickens.
I found no evidence to support this. Reports at the time say they sailed on a ship called the Vesuvius. On top of that, Dickens does not appear to have travelled to America in 1848.
It is possible M’Naughton and Brady regaled people with false tales of Dickens — robbers/forgers aren’t known for their honest conduct.
By March 30th they were in Dublin. They took advantage of their time in the city to get a makeover and to spend some of their cash. They got haircuts and treated themselves to some expensive new jewellery.
On April 1st they boarded a ship called the Alcester and, in due time, they found themselves on the New York waterfront.
New York
The story gets a little fuzzy here.
The timeline suggests that the pair spent about two months in New York, but little is known about their time in the city. It seems life wasn’t as relaxed as they’d hoped — word of their crime had reached the States. Worse than that, the police had let it be known that the bank robbers might have made their way to New York.
Suddenly, staying in New York seemed like a risky thing to do. It was certainly no place to spend their stolen cash. Cashing a large sum of English money might bring with it too many questions. Worse again, the papers had printed the serial numbers on the bills — any suspicious banker could easily identify the stolen bills.
M’Naugton and Brady needed to find a place further off the beaten track. They headed to the waterfront and were greeted with an ideal opportunity. Right in front of them was a small ship taking on cargo for Fogo, an island off the northeastern coast of Newfoundland.
It was the perfect, out-of-the-way place the pair needed to throw the police off their trail.
Fogo
M’Naughton and Brady approached the ship’s captain. It was as if fate were smiling on them — the boat was short two deckhands. Without any hesitation they took the jobs and, within hours, they — and their ill-gotten cash — were en route to Newfoundland.
The trip to Fogo was uneventful. M’Naughton and Brady proved themselves to be able seamen. By the time the ship had tied-up in Fogo, the captain was impressed enough with their work that he offered them the opportunity to accompany him on a fishing expedition to the Grand Banks.
The thieves had no intention of accepting; they hadn’t robbed a bank so they could become fishermen. They wanted a taste of the sort of life £1900 could buy.
In Fogo harbour the secured passage aboard a schooner headed for St. John’s.
St. John’s
It was early July when the set eyes on St. John’s — they had been on the run for over three months.
When Brady and M’Naughton had robbed the Bank of England, it wasn’t the life of a fugitive they had in mind; neither was it life in Newfoundland. As they began to explore St. John’s, they realized that the city was nothing like New York — for better and worse.
It lacked the opulence of New York but, importantly, it offered the pair a chance to start afresh. No one in St. John’s knew the ‘Bank of England robbers’ were anywhere near.
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The fugitives wasted little time in exploring the finer things St. John’s had to offer. They dipped into their cash and bought themselves stylish new clothes. The soon embarked on a plan to head to Spain.
Going to Spain was going to involve spending more money, and though the pair felt relatively safe in St. John’s, they weren’t reckless. They were careful to spend only small bills. Spending the large notes, they reasoned, might look suspicious or, at the very least, pique curiosity.
Along the way, the pair frequented all of the city’s most fashionable and expensive establishments. To the citizen’s of St. John’s, the pair appeared to be well-educated, affluent Irish gentlemen. They were charming and entertaining, and soon found themselves rubbing elbows with the well-to-do.
M’Naughton and Brady were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
There was just one problem; by the end of July, with their preparations for Spain and lavish lifestyle, they had burned through their small cash.
They were going to have to spend some of their stolen banknotes.
They made a plan.
The Bookseller and the Bishop
They decided to buy some books.
On July 31st, M’Naughton approached Mr. Duffy, of the Dublin Bookstore on Water Street. He told him that, if he could change a £100 Bank of England note, he and Brady would buy £12-worth of books.
Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming, Wikimedia
A sale of £12 seemed like too good a deal to pass up. Still, it was an awful lot of money to have in a single note — remember, £100 in 1848 was equivalent to the spending power of something-like $25 000 CDN nowadays.
It was more money than Duffy had on hand, but he assured the men he could find the change. He took the note and instructed the men to meet him back at his storefront later that evening.
Though he’d agreed to the deal, something didn’t sit right with Duffy. He went to see his friend, Bishop Fleming to discuss the matter.
As the Bishop examined the note, he paused; he had a faint recollection. He’d read about a robbery in England in which two thieves had fled with a number of large banknotes. If his memory was correct, the newspaper had printed the serial numbers of the bills.
He set about searching for the newspaper.
In short order, he found it. There, printed in black and white, was the number 38,458 — the same serial number as M’Naughton’s and Brady’s £100 note.
Police Notice, The Manchester Times, April 15, 1848
The Arrest
They summoned the Chief of Police. Duffy told him everything he knew about the bill, M’Naughton and Brady. The police descended on the hotel where the bank robbers had been living. They arrested them and carted them to jail on Signal Hill.
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News spread through St. John’s like wildfire. No one, least of all the new friends of Brady and M’Naughton, could believe it. They insisted that there had to have been some miscarriage of justice.
M’Naughton and Brady thought so too.
A Chance at Freedom
They argued that their arrest had been unlawful. On August 5th, they took their case to the magistrate who, upon investigation, decided there had been irregularities in the arrest. Ultimately, the chief justice quashed the writs against the men. Not satisfied to let them go on a technicality, he ordered them detained until the proper paperwork was obtained.
The men were returned to Signal Hill.
Escape from Signal Hill
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M’Naughton and Brady may have lost their appeal for freedom but they lost none of their resolve. Their morale was bolstered by the circle of friends they’d made in town.
Against prison protocols, some of their friends began visiting them. They brought with them gifts including new clothing and food. One day, according to legend, a large cake was delivered to their cell. Inside were hidden the tools needed break free.
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Smuggling tools into a jail inside a cake seems like a cliche.
And perhaps, in this case, it is a tall tale. Newspapers of the day don’t mention a cake but they do report that the pair had unsanctioned visitors who brought gifts. It is believed that one of these visitors supplied them with the chisel they used to break out of the jail.
M’Naughton and Brady used a chisel to quietly chip away at a wooden door.
The night of August 15th was foggy. It was the perfect time, they decided, to make their escape. They slipped through the now-open wooden door, up into the prison’s attic, the through a window, and onto the roof of a prison outbuilding. From there they crept along a narrow cliff-side pathway until they could get to the prison gate.
The gate was guarded by a sentry. The duo waited until the guard patrolled to the far end of the fence.
Just as they were about to escape, M’Naughton decided to turn back. He had, apparently, forgotten his boots in the cell. The pair quickly agreed to meet-up outside the fence.
Behind the guard’s back, Brady bolted for freedom while M’Naughton crept back inside.
Just as M’Naughton began moving toward the prison, the guard reached the end of his beat. He turned around, spotted motion in the jailyard and raised an alarm.
M’Naughton was quickly captured. The activity directed toward M’Naughton bought Brady time to get clear of the prison.
The jail sent word to the police that Brady escaped. A manhunt was mounted. They searched the city, the coastline and the forest but no sign of Brady was ever found.
The Trial of William M’Naughton
On August 24th M’Naughton was transported back to England aboard the steamer Vesuvius. His trial began on September 9th where he was examined in a courtroom that the newspapers described as “exceedingly crowded.” There was much interest in the case, especially among the business people of Manchester. They wanted to see how a man who had defrauded a business of so much money was prosecuted.
The evidence from St. John’s was included in the trial and in December M’Naughton was convicted.
His sentence was “to be transported beyond the seas for a term of 10 years.”
What of Hugh Brady?
Nobody knows how Brady’s story ends.
Some say, he died of exposure in the wilderness.
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Others insist that he made his way to the base of Signal Hill and swam across the narrows to Fort Amherst, where he hid in the forest until daylight. From there he made his way to Black Head where, he hid in a hayloft.
Some insist that his friends aided in his escape. Which is not a crazy supposition, after all he had friends loyal enough to smuggle a chisel into his jail cell.
It is said that he cut his hair, got the clothes of a fisherman and assumed a new identity in a small Newfoundland outport, where he started a new life. It’s possible he has descendants living in Newfoundland today, none-the-wiser as to the true identity of their great-great-grandfather.
Or, perhaps he did make an escape and was reunited with M’Naughton.
We’ll never know.
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Naughton the Forger, The Patriot, Oct 28, 1848
M’Naughton, Northern Star, Sept 16, 1848
M’Naughton, The Forger, Northern Star, December 30, 1848
Judicial, The Patriot, August 9, 1848
Story of Bank of England Robbers, The Book of Newfoundland
Daring Escape from Signal Hill Prison, NQ, 1962
Note:
M’Naughton’s name appears as McNaughton, M’Naughton and Naughton in various re-tellings of this story. I’ve chosen M’Naughton as that was the spelling used in the coverage of his criminal trial in 1848.
