Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in the presence of a queen? Well, The Crown vs. William Simpson is a court case involving Queen Victoria herself. The criminal was charged with having stolen a gold watch out of the prosecutor’s waistcoat. Queen Victoria wrote about what he did, how he did it, and what he got for it.
The document starts off with a very descriptive explanation on exactly how and where the watch was stolen from. It says things like “it was in the pocket of his waistcoat”, “passed through the button hole”. William, already a prisoner at this time, “took the watch out of the prosecutors pocket and forcibly drew the chain out of the button hole”. Then the article describes further the button hole, chain, and how the prisoner had attempted to steal the gold watch. William seems to be very skilled in stealing things, and is very good. As you can tell, this crime was described in a lot of detail. The writer must have wanted to give us every detail on how this happened. People in the Victorian Era must have been interested in these cases, or it could have been normal to record crimes and events like these. All in all, this case was extremely detailed for those who read it.
Normally, a queen probably wouldn’t be the one worrying about the criminals and writing their case, right? However, Queen Victoria wrote this court case. The title, The Crown vs. William Simpson, makes it seem like this guy is attacking her crown. She seems to be personally involved with his crime as well. He might have committed a terrible crime before, or could have tried to attack the monarchy. Another reason for Victoria writing this case could be that in England society, it could have been common for the ruler to write some of the court cases. In this one, however, it seems that Victoria was personally attacked. (It is a bit weird, though, because the criminal stole a prosecutor’s watch. I wonder what he had to do with the crown?).
Queen Victoria’s court case involving William Simpson and herself is a very detailed case. She gives information on exactly where the gold watch was when he stole it from the prosecutor, and how he stole it as well. Victoria communicated the theme well, by giving that detailed description. She leaves us without any questions on how the crime was committed.
By: The Britalit Group
Works Cited
National Archives. “The Crown vs William Simpson.” The National Archives, The National Archives, 12 Mar. 2014, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/victorian-lives/crown-vs-william-simpson/.