He was also known as William Urmston Searle Glanville Richards. He was also known as William U S G Richards recorded in the 1861 census. He was also known as Wm U S G Richards recorded in 1881 census. He was also known as William Richards recorded in the 1891 & 1921 censuses. He was also known as William Urmston Searle Richards registered at birth.
William and
Edith Bennett had 4 children by the 1911 census, all still living at that date.
On 16 February 1891 The Times p13 reported he was charged on remand at Bow Street - his address given as Sherwell Cottage, Old Lairn Road, Plymouth. At this time he was committed for trial.
He was charged with damaging manuscripts in the British Museum by altering pedigrees, adding the name Leete to the family of Avenel and was paid between £20 and £30 for research by Joseph Leete. He was found guilty and sentenced to Two months without hard labour.
On 9 March 1891 the proceedings of the Old Bailey recorded:
WILLIAM URMSTONE SEARLE GLANVILLE RICHARDS (35) , Unlawfully damaging certain manuscripts of and belonging to the British Museum.
MESSRS. FORREST FULTON and HORACE AVORY Prosecuted.
JOSEPH LEETE . I am a merchant, and live at South Norwood Park—in 1883 I came across a book written by the defendant, a history of the family of Glanville from the Norman Conquest—I had in 1881 published a book called "A Record of the Leete Family"—I was brought into contact with the defendant through my being a co-trustee for a member of his family—on 3rd May, 1883, I received this letter from him, in which he gave an extract from some work referring to the Leete family—on 13th May, 1883, I received this other letter from him, and another on 28th May. (These letters had reference to certain manuscripts in the British Museum, showing a connection of the Leete family with that of Avenel, and expressing a readiness to make research on the subject, adding that he was working hard for his ordination, and that his means were of a limited character)—that letter, I believe, enclosed a scrap of information upon the subject. (Several other letters were put in and read, all bearing on the same matter)—I sent him £5 and other sums on account of current researches—the letter of 16th August, 1883, enclosed what purported to be a copy of part of a manuscript from one of the Harleian Collection, 6164, showing a connection between the Avenel family and the family of Leete—the letter also enclosed a reading-room ticket, it has his writing on it—that letter contained the first and only information from the manuscripts—I cannot remember whether I acknowledged the receipt of that letter; I may have seen him afterwards—I think I was absent from London at the time—I think after that there was very little correspondence—possibly I sent him in all three sums, amounting to £20 or £30, in the course of six months—some time that year his researches on my behalf entirely ceased—the documents were sent to me from time to time while he was making his researches; I put them away—his last letter, of 27th September, suggested that I should recast my book altogether and publish it afresh—some time in the spring of 1890 I handed over all the notes and documents to Mr. Corbet Anderson, and he reported to me the result of his investigation.
Cross-examined by the Prisoner. I was acquainted with your stepfather;
I was a mutual friend of the family—I have nothing to say against you.
EDWARD JOHN LONG SCOTT . I am the Keeper of the Manuscripts and Egerton Librarian at the British Museum—the whole of the MSS. there are under my charge, I am responsible for them; I am intimately acquainted with the Harleian MSS.—I have before me No. 6,148—turning to folio 108 I find that certain parts have been interpolated; in the right-hand lower corner there are a number of entries in modern ink of the present century of an entirely different colour to the original—the object of that interpolation is to connect the family of Avenel with the family of Leete; that would be the effect of it—it is my duty to have an intimate knowledge of handwriting—I have had placed before me a number of letters purporting to be in the handwriting of the prisoner; I have compared them with the interpolations here, and I say the writing is identically the same, there is not the slightest attempt at disguise—turning to 6,164, folio 64, I find that five generations have been interpolated in modern handwriting and modern ink, and did not form part of the original MS.—they are entirely spurious, the handwriting is the same, but slightly disguised, with a few flourishes and alterations to make it look more ancient and more like the genuine entries on the same page—I find running through the undoubted handwriting of the prisoner that he always makes his capital L like a small h; that is most remarkable; it occurs not in every case, he gradually drifts into it on many occasions, but keeps out of it on some occasions—in the additional MS. 5,937, folios 43 and 44, a whole leaf has been interpolated, two pages; that is absolutely spurious; it is fitted in with tracing paper; if it becomes necessary to insert a page we do not do so, we guard it with a small piece of paper on the left-hand side of the page; this is numbered 44a, we should put 43 and a star—the whole of this is spurious—the effect of the interpolation is to give the family of Avenel an entirely different character—it appears to be slurred and blotted over to give it the appearance of age; it is headed "Avenel and Leete"—these MSS. are useful for the purposes of art and literature, and are of priceless value and curiosity—they are carefully examined by me to detect forgeries—attempts are made to palm off spurious MSS.—I am responsible for their genuineness before they are purchased—the MSS. are allowed as evidence in the Courts of Law—in pedigree cases, the Heralds' Visitations are taken as evidence—the Visitations commenced in the reign of Richard III., and terminated with Charles II.; they were generally made in the reign of Elizabeth, as late as 1634—readers in the Museum have to obtain a certificate of good character—anybody whose name is in the Post Office Directory can give a reference—readers can get out what books they require—in 1883 the MSS. were examined in the,. large room, the same room the readers used; since that they are only used in a small room—a reader requiring a MS. had to get a green ticket, which contained the place named, the number of the seat, the date, and the volume required—the ticket was deposited in a basket and was collected by the attendant; when the volume is returned the ticket is given back to him, and then his responsibility ends—when the MSS. are returned to the attendant they are brought down to the examination department and examined by two assistants the next morning; they are not examined carefully, for this reason, that they only have between ten minutes past five and ten next morning, and in those fifty minutes they have over two hundred to examine; they turn them over hastily just to see if any damage has been done, which would catch the eye; such alterations as these might very well escape observation unless their attention is particularly drawn to them—seat L 9, which was occupied by the defendant in August, 1883, was as near the door as could be—it is perfectly possible that these interpolations could be made in a short time at the Museum; the double page could not be done there, that must have been' done at home, and afterwards brought to the Museum; it bears traces of haste, the tracing paper is torn.
Cross-examined. Additions have been made to the Harleian MSS., not many, but of this class, more or less, some are invaluable—it would be malicious to add or correct notes—no reader is allowed to make any mark on any MS. or book—I do not say it was gross carelessness on the part of the officials not to have discovered these additions at once; they have so many to look through and so short a time in which to do it—all these MSS. were entered and indexed before they came into the Museum—these insertions are not indexed, showing that they were made subsequently to their coming into the Museum—the MSS. are not all of equal value—the giving up the ticket would not release the reader from all liability—in the winter months the seats are fully occupied; in the summer months the seats are half empty—I have nothing to prove whether these notes are right or wrong—I have merely to say they are additions to the MSS.—we did not purchase these MSS.; they were given to us by the nation—the Government bought them in 1879 as genuine.
By the COURT. These alterations and interpolations are of the very substance of the pedigree; they absolutely destroy its veracity.
Re-examined. No reader has authority to make any addition or alteration.
JOHN CORBET ANDERSON . I have been a student at the Museum upwards of forty-five years—I have given a good deal of time to antique researches, and have written works on the subject—in the course of 1890 Mr. Leete handed to me letters, documents, and notes relative to the pedigree of the Leete family—Mr. Leete's book had been printed two years before—the documents were handed to me for the purpose of going through them, throwing out what was of no interest, and preserving what Mr. Leete thought of interest—I took them to the Museum and examined the records referred to in the letters—I inspected the Harleian MS. 6,164 and 6,148—I immediately detected that alterations had been made in the MSS.—I called the attention of the authorities of the Museum to them—I have studied both ancient and modern handwriting—I have compared the handwriting of the defendant's letters with that in these MSS., and I say they are identical; without a doubt the handwriting is the same.
Cross-examined. There is general similarity throughout, but particularly in the capital L, which is like a small h—I carefully compared the writing before I gave information to the authorities of my suspicions.
WILLIAM ESSINGTON HUGHES . I am a member of the publishing firm of Mitchell and Hughes, of 140, Wardour Street; in 1883 we published a work for the defendant on the genealogy of the family of Glanville—I am well acquainted with his handwriting—I have seen the letters of 16th
August and other letters to Mr. Leete; they are in the prisoner's handwriting; I have sixty of them at the office now—I was in constant communication with him by letter—turning to the Harleian MS. 6,1481 see writing of the prisoner on the right-hand side; there is no disguise about it—one piece is a little more obscure, as to the major portion I entertain no doubt—on folio 64 of 6,164 there are five generations, beginning with John Avenel and connecting it with William Lewitt—I should say that is in the same handwriting as the prisoner's.
Cross-examined. I do not observe any peculiarities in the handwriting; the affinity of the two handwritings makes me say it is yours.
FRANCIS BRIDGES BICKLEY . I am an assistant in charge of the MS. department at the British Museum, in the students' room—on 19th May last year Mr. Anderson called my attention to what he alleged to be alterations in the two Harley MS. 6,128 and 6,124—I examined them carefully, and came to the conclusion that they are spurious additions to the original MS.—Mr. Anderson also submitted to me the pedigree copied from the MS., and various papers—I came to the conclusion that the entries in the MS. were all in the same handwriting as that on the papers he submitted to me.
Cross-examined. The capital L resembles a small h; that is a very apparent peculiarity, also the way in which you make the J, leaving out the loop, both in the papers and in the MS., and at the end of the letter C there is a curious curve, both in your letters and in the MS.—seat L 9 is marked on the ticket; that seat would be near the door.
RICHARD ROBINSON . I am an attendant at the British Museum—in 1883 it was my duty to collect the tickets of the readers in a basket, and obtain for them the MS. they required—a book is kept, known as the issue and return MS. book, in which is entered the particular MS. given out to the reader, the name of the reader, with the initials of the giver out—when the reader has finished with the MS. another attendant puts his initials, for the purpose of showing he has received it—turning to that book, I find that on the 25th of May, 1883, Glanville Richards was handed by another attendant the Harleian MS. 6,148—on the 28th May he had the same MS. out again, and on the same day he had 6,164; on 30th May he again had 6,164; on 18th June he had 6,164 and 5,937; on 12th July he had 6,148, 6,164 and 5,937; on 18th June he had 6,148, and on 15th August he had all three.
ISAAC HERBERT JEYES . I am an assistant in the MS. department at the British Museum—on 16th August, 1883, it was my duty, in connection with Mr. Jeffery, to examine the MSS. Nos. 6,148, 6,164, and 5,967 of the Harleian collection—we had to examine all the MSS. given out the day before—I did not discover at that time any of these alterations that had been made in them; from the character of the examination I should hardly be likely to do so.
Cross-examined. Two examiners are appointed—we are scarcely expected to go through them carefully; we have to see that the binding is not broken, or any tears made,
JAMES AUGUSTUS BURT . I live at 16, Charles Street, Clarendon Square—I am an expert in handwriting—I have nothing to do with the Museum—I have had twenty-five years' experience inspecting MSS. at the Museum—I have seen the letters purporting to be signed by the defendant and the extracts from the MS.—the additions to the MS, 6,148 are in the
same handwriting as the letters, undisguised—in 6,164 there is a very slight attempt at disguise; in the spurious pages there is also a slight attempt at disguise, but in my opinion they are all in the same handwriting.
Cross-examined. I spent some hours over it—there is a peculiarity in the capital L, it is like an h; also in the figure nine, and in the junction of the v and e in Avenel, and there are many others—I have, of course, seen similarities in handwriting, but not such as to mistake one for another; on close examination you see the difference.
JOHN TUNBRIDGE (Police Inspector). At five o'clock, on 6th February, I attended at the Plymouth Police-station, where I found the prisoner detained; I held a warrant which I read to him; it charged him with having committed damage at the British Museum in 1883—he made no reply to the charge; I brought him to London; he was taken before the Magistrate, and has been in custody ever since.
MR. SCOTT (Re-called). I have caused an examination to be made for the purpose of seeing how many times these MSS. have been had out since 1883; they are very numerous, I cannot say for what purpose.
The prisoner in his defence stated that he made his investigations purely out of friendship to Mr. Leete, and not for the sake of gain; he denied that he vet in needy circumstances, that he was studying for the church, that the money he received he considered was merely for his expenses, and he denied that in what he did he was influenced by any malicious intention.
GUILTY .— Two Months, Without Hard Labour.
On 2 June 1894 in St Matthias Parish Church, Plymouth, DEV, ENG, he was a witness to the marriage of Josiah William Parker (56 widower, wine merchant, residence Liskeard) to Mary Ann Bennett (57, widow, residence 4 Evelyn Place, Plymouth). The father's of the bride and groom were both deceased, named Josiah Parker and Robert Lindley.