Enquiries established that the person in Rotherham who was trading in such pornographic literature was a man called Benjamin Smith, who also gave himself the alias of Martin Stanley. The address from which he traded was a lodging house situated in Oil Mill Fold on Westgate, which was also known as Alma Place. Naturally the attention of the local constabulary, was brought to the advertisement by the Chief Constable of the West Riding Constabulary named Captain McNeil, who instigated immediate proceedings. The case was given to one of Rotherham’s best officers, Inspector William Horne of the Rotherham Police force. He was tasked with trapping the person concerned.

He started by writing a letter addressed to Mr Stanley, Oil Mill Fold, Rotherham requesting a list of some of these photographs and postcards, using the pseudonym Thomas Rodgers. As instructed, he enclosed three postage stamps as payment for the list. Inspector Horne arranged for the letter to be posted from Braithwell near Doncaster, which was a little village situated about a mile from Maltby and three miles from Conisborough. A list of available photographs and postcards were duly sent and on Christmas Day 1871 the Inspector wrote to the address in Rotherham signing himself again as Thomas Rogers. In it he requested two more of the photographs, enclosing four shillings worth of stamps as payment.

He received these purchases three days later on 28 December 1871. On the 5 January 1872 that same officer again requested a postcard, for which he enclosed another four shillings worth of stamps. Now that Inspector Horne had lulled his prey into a false sense of security, he closed the trap. On 12 January 1872 he once again requested some more photographs and postcards and on the following day kept a close watch on the suspected lodging house on Oil Mill Fold. The Inspector watched surreptitiously from a distance as the local postman delivered the letter into the suspect’s house. He then, in the company of two other constables, hammered on the door of the lodging house demanding entrance to the property. Smith was the only male in the house and he was searched by one of the constables, and a number of letters and money orders were found in his pockets.

These were addressed to both names which the prisoner had been known by. Inspector Horne closely examined these letters, and quickly identified the one he had sent on the previous day. He could distinguish this by some distinct puncture marks which he had made on some of the stamps included in the letter. Also inside Smith’s pockets were several other obscene photographs similar to those the Inspector had received. After finding this evidence, the man was arrested and taken to the police cells. Benjamin Smith was brought before the magistrates at the Rotherham Borough Police Court on Monday 15 January 1872 where he was described as being ‘a respectably dressed man’.

The Sheffield Independent dated Tuesday 16 January 1872 listed the charge as being:

‘That he, on the 27^th day of December, and on diverse other days, did sell, utter and publish to one William Horne (Inspector of Police) diverse lewd and obscene pictures, tending to scandalise and debase human nature.’

Mr Whitfield prosecuted the case, although he immediately admitted that he would not be going into any detail that day, as he hoped simply to have the prisoner remanded. He then called his first witness, Inspector Horne who outlined his postal transactions with the prisoner. He told the court that the photographs and postcards he received were some ‘of the most filthy and abominable character ever to be sold and distributed.’ As if to illustrate this, some of them were inspected by members of the bench, who showed deep repugnance at what they saw. Mr Whitfield then asked the bench for a remand, in order for police enquiries to be continued. The prisoners defence solicitor, Mr Fernell of Sheffield immediately asked for bail. He stated that due to the severity of the case he was in a position to bring a substantial sureties for his client.

However Mr Superintendent Gillett asked that bail be refused, claiming that it would defeat the ends of justice, to which the magistrates agreed. Smith was therefore remanded in custody until the following Thursday. Consequently on Thursday 18 January 1872 the prisoner was once again brought into court and Mr Whitfield prosecuted. Inspector Horne once more described his dealings with Smith and stated that as he was searching the house for more of the obscene material, the prisoner told him that there was no more to be found. Mr Fernell, hoping to redeem his client in the eyes of the bench, asked the officer if Smith had freely offered up a name and address of the other person involved in the scheme. Inspector Horne agreed that he had and said that the prisoner had given a name and address of someone who lived on Attercliffe Common, Sheffield.

Smith said the name of the person at the property was a man called William Gillam, although he also used an alias of Mr. A Perry. The next witness was the Rotherham postman John White. He gave evidence of being in the habit of delivering a lot of letters addressed to both W. Stanley and B. Smith to the house on Oil Mill Fold. He told the court that several times he had handed the letters to the prisoner himself, and sometimes handed the letters over to the landlady Mrs Ann Gorrill. Mr Whitfield then told the court that one of the letters which had been found in the possession of the prisoner, was from a man called Arthur Whitehouse who lived at West Hallam near Derby. Then called the elderly witness to gave his evidence.

He said that he lived at West Hallam and that he was a farmer there, before reluctantly admitting that he had sent off for some postcards from the prisoner at the house in Rotherham. He said that he too had enclosing stamps in payment. Mr Whitfield asked him what he thought about his actions now that he had time to reflect, and the farmer hung his head, as he told the bench:

‘I am thoroughly ashamed, and my friends are ashamed for me, that I was ever tempted to enter upon this correspondence. I feel thoroughly degraded and thoroughly ashamed of myself.’

Mr Whitfield then requested a further remand for the prisoner which was granted, although bail was once again denied.

On Thursday 25 January 1872 Benjamin Smith was brought back before the bench. Inspector Horne told the court that he now had in his possession another 65 letters which had been sent to the prisoners address. However when he told the court that he had taken the liberty of opening the letters, he was immediately challenged by the prisoners defence solicitor, Mr Fernell. He asked him on what authority he had opened letters which were not addressed to himself. In reply Mr Whitfield coolly informed him that he had contacted the proper authority, which had been given by the Postmaster General and Her Majesty’s Secretary of State.

The next witness was the landlady of the house, Ann Gorrill, who stated that the prisoner had lodged with her for four years. She told the court that during that time the prisoner had always acted ‘like a man’ and she had never seen an indecent picture or postcard, nor had the prisoner ever used any indecent language towards her. Mrs Gorrill said that the prisoner had one child aged three, who lived with him and she took care of during his absences. A Money Order clerk from Sheffield Post office then gave evidence that the prisoner had cashed money orders ‘scores of times’ in the name of M. Stanley and B Smith. Two Sheffield officers Detective Moody and Inspector Toulson stated that they had raided the house on Attercliffe Common on 13 January 1872. There they had found seven obscene prints and a number of price lists. However they stated that the man, William Gillam had since absconded and had not been found.

After hearing all the evidence, the prisoner was found guilty and ordered to take his trial at the next Sheffield Sessions. However, when Mr Fernell applied for bail on this occasion it was granted, but only in the most substantial sum of £200 in the prisoners own recognisances, and two others of £100 each. One of the bench Mr Chambers warned the prisoner that if he carried on his filthy trade whilst out on bail, it would go much harder for him when he appeared at the Sessions. The Sheffield Independent dated Saturday 2 March 1872 condemned the ‘passion for nastiness which was fed by indecent pictures’ which was current in society of the time. The report stated that such pictures:

‘Are so mean and despicable that it can only be fostered by persons whose tastes are naturally base and course. Unhappily the filthy trade of manufacturing these obscene prints and photographs are carried on very prosperously, and often with a certain degree of immunity, for it is not always easy to get at the principals.’

The report went on to state that from the evidence which the police had gathered, that ‘one such vendor of trash, Benjamin Smith’ must have carried on his vile business for a considerable time judging from the large numbers of letters that he had received at the address at Rotherham, before he had been caught.

Benjamin Smith was brought before the Hon. F S Wortley’s at the Sheffield Christmas Sessions at the Town Hall, Sheffield on Friday 1 March 1872. There were four charges against the prisoner which were outlined by the prosecution, Mr Tennant. They were 1/ The prisoner did procure obscene photographs for the purpose of selling them. 2/ That he did lawfully and maliciously sell an indecent print to Arthur Whitehouse of West Hallam, near Derby. 3/ That he did preserve such indecent photographs, and did notify to the public that they were so preserved and kept. 4/ That he did sell, utter and publish divers lewd and obscene pictures to Inspector Horne.

Mr Tennant opened the case by stating that the publisher of the publication Day and Night had been subpoenaed and brought from London to give evidence. He was the next witness and he gave his name as Robert Ashton and told the court he carried on business from the Strand in London. He said that his was a weekly newspaper which carried advertisements. However when asked to produce some of the letters he had received authorising the advert from Rotherham, he claimed he had not had time to collect them before heading for Sheffield. He was severely reprimanded by the Chair for this neglect. However he told the court that he could identify the prisoner standing in the dock as the person who had inserted the advertisements. He said that he had been to his office to complain that some of his adverts had not appeared as ordered, and he gave his name as Smith and his address at Rotherham.

Evidence was then given by a new witness called Thomas Hunsworth of Newton-le-Willows. He stated that he too had bought some of the obscene photographs and postcards. Then it was time for Mr Blackburn the defence, to make a case for his client. He claimed that up to these proceedings, Benjamin Smith had led a most respectable life and that he intended to disprove the case against him. He claimed that there was only any real evidence on the third charge to put before the jury and therefore the rest of the allegations against him had not been proved to his complete satisfaction. The Chair summed up the case for the grand jury and told them that they must put behind them their natural repugnance to such activities in which the prisoner had been involved.

He told them that they must therefore be convinced that the prisoner was the person who had engaged in this ‘nasty and beastly business’ before they came to a verdict. The jury took just a short time to deliberate, before the foreman of the jury stated that they had found Benjamin Smith guilty. The Chair told the prisoner:

‘You have been found guilty of a very infamous and disgusting offence, which the law required should be severely punished There is no doubt that you have been engaged largely in the traffic, and there was no limit to the evil likely to be produced by it. The Court therefore feels it to be our bounden duty to pass a very severe sentence upon you.’

He stated that the whole bench were disgusted that such a trade could be carried on under the noses of the legal authorities, and that they were unanimous that the prisoner Benjamin Smith should serve a sentence of 18 months imprisonment with hard labour. One local newspaper gave his opinion that the sentence had not gone far enough. He stated that ‘it was almost a matter of regret that it was not in the power of the Court to inflict upon Smith the further punishment of the ‘cat o’ nine tails.’ The reporter claimed that such ‘a panderer to this filthy vice, ought to be made to feel that he pursues his vocation at great risk.’