The Roupell case (1862) was a notorious English legal dispute that centred on legal documents alleged to have been
forged
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...
by
William Roupell
William Roupell (7 April 1831 – 25 March 1909) was Liberal Party Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for Lambeth from 1857 until his resignation on 4 February 1862. A forger and a fraudster, he was ruined in the Roupell case.
Early lif ...
and excited great public interest.
Background
William Roupell was the
illegitimate
Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...
son of Richard Palmer Roupell who possessed extensive properties in London and the
Home Counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often inc ...
. By 1853, William, who spent unwisely seeking to establish himself in fashionable society, was already in debt and launched a sequence of deceptions and forgeries, dishonestly to obtain much of his father's property. In particular, he forged a
deed
In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring ...
conveying Norbiton Estate to himself and then sold it to Mr Waite. Further, he destroyed his father's
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
, which had left much of his property to William's brother Richard, and forged a will leaving it to William's mother, with himself as
executor
An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used.
Overview
An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...
.
[Harris (2001) ''pp''36-40] His father died in 1856 and in 1857 William was elected
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
.
[Harris (2001) ''p.''41]
By 1862, William was no longer able to service the
mortgages
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...
that he had taken out on the misappropriated property and on 30 March destroyed some of his papers and fled to Spain. In August, his brother Richard visited him in Spain and William returned to England. He was recognised and arrested for
fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
and forgery.
[Harris (2001) ''pp''61-62]
''Roupell (Richard) v. Waite''
Richard sued Waite for possession of Norbiton Estate, contending that he would have inherited it under his father's valid, but destroyed, will. The trial began at
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
on 18 August 1862.
[Harris (2001) ''p.''63]
Shee opened Richard's case by presenting the background of the Roupell family property, William's financial difficulties and the alleged facts of the frauds and forgeries. Shee argued that the will must be a forgery as, purporting to be witnessed by William, William could not have been present to witness its execution on the said date. Shee called William who admitted the frauds and forgeries and his own
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
in the grant of
probate
Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...
of his father's estate. It was to have been Waite's defence that William was colluding with his brother Richard, possibly in return for some compensation, but the defence was never heard as the case settled, dividing the value of the estate between Waite and Richard Roupell.
[Harris (2001) ''pp''64-76]
''R v. Roupell (William)''
On 24 September 1862, William appeared at the
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
and pleaded guilty to the forgery. The judge, Mr Justice Byles, emphasising the seriousness of the offences, sentenced William to
penal servitude for life.
[Harris (2001) ''pp''81-85]
''Roupell (Richard) v. Hays''
In 1863, Richard again attempted to regain property in Great Warley, Essex by proving that mortgages on the property were invalid, having been obtained through forgery. William, still in custody but not in prison dress, again gave evidence of his own wrongdoing and various witnesses attested to Richard Palmer's careful business habits and his handwriting and signature.
Forensic document examiner Charles Chabot gave
expert evidence
An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge a ...
that the signature was not Richard Palmer's.
The judge,
Mr Baron Channell, warned the jury as to the unreliability of William's testimony and put to them four questions:
#Was the deed of gift in question signed by Richard Palmer in the presence of two witnesses?
#If not, did Richard Palmer, sign and seal the deed, despite the absence of witnesses?
#Was the will bequeathing property to Richard Palmer's wife genuine?
#If not, was Richard the rightful heir?
The
jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
[Civil trials in the UK took place with a jury as finders of fact until the 1930s.] retired, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' observing that they jury had a pile of shorthand notes about a foot in height that would overwhelm them and that the jury would probably be confused anyway. The jury returned after three hours, finding that the deed had not been signed in the presence of witnesses but unable to agree whether Richard Palmer had signed the deed at all. Further, the jury agreed that the will was a forgery but were unable to agree on the proof of Richard's rightful inheritance. Even after several hours' further deliberation, the jury were unable to agree.
[Harris (2001) ''pp''87-100]
Though a retrial was mooted, the issue ultimately settled out of court. William was released on
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
in September 1876. Richard spent the rest of his life attempting, largely unsuccessfully, to recover some of his lost fortune
[Harris (2001) ''p.''101]
Cultural references
*
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
satirised William's downfall as that of "Roupilius" in ''The Roundabout Papers''.
[Harris (2001) ''p.''86]
Notes
Bibliography
*{{ cite book , title=The Roupells of Lambeth , author=Harris, J. , year=2001 , location=London , publisher=The Streatham Society , isbn=1-873520-37-9
1862 in case law
Document forgery
1862 in London
Politics of the London Borough of Lambeth