abstract
| - Archer-Shee became a cadet at Osborne Naval College on the Isle of Wight in January 1908. The college, which was part of the estate of the late Queen Victoria, educated and trained 14 to 16 year olds in their first two years in the Royal Navy. Further studies then continued at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in Devon. It eventually closed in April 1921. The theft occurred on 7 October 1908, shortly after the start of the autumn term, when a cadet called Terence Back received a postal order from a relative for five shillings. On the same afternoon, Archer-Shee had been given permission to go to a post office outside the college grounds to buy a postal order and a stamp because he wanted to buy a model train costing fifteen shillings and sixpence (15s 6d). On returning to the college, he discovered that Back had reported that his postal order had been stolen. Miss Tucker, the elderly clerk at Osborne Post Office, was contacted. She produced Back's cashed postal order and stated that only two cadets had visited her that afternoon. However she claimed the same cadet who had bought a postal order for 15s 6d was also the one who cashed the 5s order.
|