One of the most curious crimes in the history of Bourne was the theft of a large quantity of high quality books from business premises in North Street almost 200 years ago. 

Shortly before Christmas 1821, thieves broke into the offices occupied by William Worth for his practice as an attorney at law or solicitor. Their haul included a collection of 100 volumes mostly dealing with legal practice although many others also came from his private library. 

There was no police force or detectives in those days and the apprehension of criminals was left to parish constables who were reluctant to leave their own district or to members of the public who were encouraged by the prospect of a reward. Worth consequently inserted a public notice in the local newspaper offering ten guineas for information leading to the capture of those responsible although when reporting the theft on December 14th the newspaper speculated that “it is supposed that they proceeded to London with their booty". 

He therefore widened his appeal by adding to his notice: "All booksellers, pawnbrokers and others are requested, in case of the said books, or any of them, shall be offered for sale or otherwise, to give these details to Mr Worth or his London solicitor by whom the reward will be paid on conviction of any one or more of the offenders." 

Books in those days were costly to produce and as a result, copies were extremely valuable, particularly as many of these were handsomely bound in leather and embossed with gilt lettering and several had Worth’s name or initials engraved on the front. They dealt with a variety of topics mainly relating to legal procedures which were invaluable in the running of his law practice including wills, the payment of bills, patents, court procedures, mortgages, auctions, annuities, bankruptcy, and conveyancing, together with a quantity of other books from his personal library on subjects such as poetry, quotations, local history, geography, travel and theology. 

Few people could read at that time and as these volumes were what was known as learned tomes and dealt mainly with the law, the re-sale value was restricted and as the theft had been publicised their provenance would have been known. Despite these restrictions, good quality books were in great demand whatever their subject, often bought by the yard to fill the shelves of libraries at the big houses that were springing up across the land and so there would be no shortage of wealthy buyers. 

But the haul was a heavy one and so there was the question of transport because a wagon or carriage would have been needed to move them once they had been stolen while the cost of getting them to London by stagecoach or carrier’s cart would have been prohibitive and liable to the speedy exposure of the stolen goods and ultimately the apprehension of the thieves. The reasons behind the theft, therefore, remained a mystery and a topic of gossip in the streets and public houses in Bourne for many weeks. 

What we do know is that William Worth was always short of money and was beset by many personal problems at this time. He was born at Horbling in 1789 and had begun his legal career as an articled clerk with a local firm of solicitors where his father worked and when he died in 1812, he succeeded him as a junior partner to Benjamin Smith. The relationship with his senior colleague became strained because of his conduct and in 1813 he became extremely drunk while attending Folkingham fair when he lost all of his money and somehow ended up in Edinburgh from where he was rescued by his brother Henry who brought him back to be reinstated with the firm. 

But his drinking continued and in 1817 the partnership was eventually dissolved although Worth remained with the firm as a clerk until he finally left the following year and moved to Bourne with his wife, a local girl, Ann Quincey, who he had married in 1816, and set up home in a grand three storey property which he built in North Street in 1821 on the site of the old Waggon and Horses public house, now known as Wake House (pictured above).  

The couple had five children, William (1819), Harriet (1821), Sarah (1824) and Charles (1824) who died in infancy followed by another son, Charles Frederick, who was born on 13th October 1825 when the couple followed the practice that was usual at the time of giving him the same name and he was destined to become the Charles Worth of international fashion. 

William Worth is mentioned as the legal adviser in many of the land and property transactions taking place in Bourne at that time but his extravagant lifestyle continued and despite matrimony, he did not mend his ways. As the drinking, gambling and bad investments continued, the debts piled up and his extravagance and wayward conduct eventually drove him into bankruptcy and he finally deserted his wife and children in 1836 after his affairs collapsed, leaving them homeless and destitute. In desperation, Mrs Worth sought help from wealthy relatives living at Billingborough who employed her as a housekeeper. 

Worth left the town and went to live in London for a spell but his impoverishment had cost him Wake House which he had been forced to sell. Ironically, his son Charles Worth, who had been born there, had left to start work in London and then Paris where he forged an illustrious career as founder of haute couture and a happy family life. When he died in 1895, he had become one of the richest men in France, awarded the country's highest accolade, the Legion of Honour, and the president of the republic was among the 2,000 people who attended his funeral.  

William Worth came back to Lincolnshire and lived for a while at Horbling where he again practised as a solicitor but he eventually retired and moved to Billingborough where he died on 12th November 1878, aged 89, and is buried in the churchyard at Horbling. He was never reconciled with his wife, Ann, who died in London from sub-acute gastritis on 3rd September 1852, aged 59, and is buried in Highgate cemetery. 

There is no record of his books ever being recovered and so the mystery of what happened to them remains a matter of conjecture as it was in Bourne two centuries ago but perhaps they still exist, gathering dust in the library of one of our country’s big houses, the owner oblivious of their origins and even still unopened after being stolen almost two centuries ago.