1900 -
An invalided soldier in court.
....Stockbroker's clerk, Lancer, enteric patient, electrical engineer, opium eater—all those roles have been played by Albert Walter Counter, and all in four years. At the Guildhall, London, on Monday he appeared in still another part—that of a prisoner in the dock on a charge of forging a cheque on the London and Westminster Bank. It was said that he committed the crime in 1896, when he was a clerk in the employment of Messrs. Cousins and Co., stockbrokers. He was said to have forged the name of the firm to the cheque, which was presented and cashed.
....He was to have been arrested on a warrant, but he vanished, and has only recently been heard of at a nursing home, invalided from service at the front. Immediately after the warrant had been issued he enlisted in the 12th Lancers, and was in the service until 1898, when he deserted. Apparently to escape the consequences he went to South Africa, and got work as an electrical engineer. So he continued until the war broke out. Then his military enthusiasm re-awoke, and be enlisted again.
....He was badly wounded at Elands Laagte, but he recovered sufficiently to go back to active service, and he was in the action at Spion Kop, though he had had an attack of enteric fever meanwhile. He was again wounded at Spion Kop, and was sent home as an invalid to the nursing home at Warwick. In view of his career, and of the fact that his health would probably prevent his surviving a term of imprisonment, no evidence was offered against him. He was, however, held in custody on the charge of desertion.
The Tamworth Herald, Saturday 29th September 1900
He was born in London, 1872, and died in Surrey, in 1945, aged 72.[/i]
....Albert Walter Counter, 28, formerly a clerk in the service of a firm of stockbrokers, who was brought up last week on a charge of having in 1896 forced one of the firm's cheques for £370, again appeared yesterday at the Guildhall Police Court to answer a charge of deserting from the 12th Lancers. It will be remembered that the reason the prosecution withdrew the charge of forgery was that Counter had served at the front, and been several times wounded. Sergeant-Major Robinson, of the 12th Lancers, now attended, and said that his instructions were to ask that Counter be discharged. Sir John Knill acquiesced.
The Morning Post, Tuesday 2nd October 1900
Was this the same man?
....Albert William Counter, 36, an engineer, and well connected, was brought up in custody at Westminster Police-court on remand charged with obtaining food and lodging by false pretences.
....When the prisoner was first charged last week he was in a state of collapse through self-injected cocaine. The police surgeon testified also that he was under the effect of the drug, and a quantity of cocaine was found on him, with two hypodermic syringes. The charge was that he had represented himself to a Brompton boarding-house keeper as in the employ of the Chelsea Electric Supply Company, which statement and others were untrue.
....Detective-sergeant Squires said that there were other complaints of Counter having imposed on lodging-house keepers elsewhere. He had been addicted to the drug habit for years, and his family had tried their best to help him. For the past year Counter had held a motor driver’s licence, and been employed as a chauffeur.
....The magistrate (Mr. Francis) expressed surprise, and hoped that the authorities would prevent the renewal of the licence. The chief clerk, however, said that in the present state of the law it was not clear how the licence could be refused. The defendant himself said that since he had been in custody he had recovered, and he would promise never to take drugs again, nor would he, if the magistrate would release him, renew his motor Iicence. His family would assist him to leave the country, and as he was an electrician and engineer he could get work abroad.
....Mr. Francis agreed to sanction the discharge on an undertaking from a member of Counter's family to send him away.
Nottingham Evening Post, Monday 14th September 1908
He turned up in court again in 1909 . . .
....Pleading guilty at Marlborough Street to obtaining £55 worth of dressing-cases. &c., from a West End firm, and defrauding a. widow, Albert Walter Counter, alias "Captain Loder," said to the Magistrate— "Though I was a stranger, the Bond Street firm positively threw valuable goods at me. It is such opportunities that enabled me to do so many wicked things."
....It was stated that accused, in the name of "Captain Loder," of Eaton Square, ordered the dressing-cases, and took them away in a cab, selling or pledging them later.
....Mrs Lawrence, the widow, said that Counter told her he was "Captain Loder." a wealthy bachelor staying at the Grand Hotel, but he wished to make a home for himself. On May 24 he called upon her, and said—"Dress yourself nicely, put on all your jewellery, and meet me at the top of the street." Then he borrowed her wedding ring to get her size for a dress ring, and went out. She afterwards missed 7s 6d from another room.
....The Magistrate passed sentence of twelve months.
Dundee Evening Telegraph, Tuesday 3rd August 1909
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1903 -
London, September 24.......
....Admiral Lambton, who commanded the Naval Brigade at Ladysmith during the Boer war, claims an unreserved apology from General Sir Archibald Hunter, who complained that the naval gunnery at Ladysmith left everything to be desired, and also said that school girls could make equal practice.
....Admiral Lambton, on the other hand, declared that the practice was extremely brilliant, and said that Sir Archibald Hunter was as a numbskull in such matters.
The Norseman Times [Western Australia], Friday 25th September 1903
