Hi Julia... >From "Concise English Dictionary" Arthur L. Hayward and John J. Sparkes... 1962 Spence... a Buttery, a Larder Buttery... A room in which liquor and provisions are kept... Larder... A room in which meat and other provisions are kept. Pantry under the stairs... Maybe... Cupboard of sorts... Hilton Doidge New Zealand ----- Original Message ----- From: <jwmos99@msn.com> To: <cornish-gen@rootsweb.com>; <cornish@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 1:50 PM Subject: [CORNISH-GEN] weekly news, 4 July 1851, Qtr Sessions, part 3 > > Does anyone know what a "Spence under the stairs" might have been? > > > West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser > > QUARTER SESSIONS, 4 JULY 1851 - part 3 > > WEDNESDAY, JULY 2 > > JOHN GIDLEY, 34, was charged with stealing on the 1st of May, at Truro, a > pick, the property of SAMUEL DATE. Mr. J. B. COLLINS conducted the > prosecution; Mr. STOKES the defence. > > The prosecutor, who works on the roads as a labourer for the Truro Union, > stated that on the 15th of March, he delivered his pick to DREW, a smith > at Truro, for the purpose of being altered, and left it in his possession. > About the 14th of May, Drew informed him that he had lost his pick about > the beginning of that month. The prosecutor, on the 24th of May, obtained > a warrant from the Mayor of Truro, and went to Gidley's house with a > constable, WARD, who found the pick in a Spence, under the stairs.