The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1882-11-21 00:00:00

EXECUTION.

At eight o'clock on Monday morning William
Meager B ortlet', aged -170, hy occupation foreman of
granite quarie., w s hanged in the Cornwall County
Ga Ikelmin, for thi, murder of he illegitimate
Irinal. child. The fact. the ;rime must be still
within the recolle,tion o, t• c public. The prionn..r,
who had wile a, d eight ch•dio en was uniluly familiar
with a widow named Whe,ry, whole she was attending
to his wife during Mite-n. A female child was b no,
and when it waY 16 day. old pifioner managed to get
it into his poet...ion ,010 the pretence that he Sal
going to trice it to Ir •nd... ad c n 6 le it to nmeone
who wonlil look alter it. The child when once delivered
to him was never seen ago' . until the body way fund
in a mine shalt close to th,. g, wite works w th which
the culprit wan coon' at d. The boy wee thee to
decom ,owed that identdicetinn won h.ye been be.
ponible but for the clothing woich was found utmost it,
and to which Mr.. Woeri y the time of the
trial. Mrs. Wherry Wa, n X Bartlett'. neice, but her
uncle had married a enter ,if Beitlett'e wife. From
the time that 11 orillett was tir.t bought to Rocklin
most persistent effort, were untie to get • reprieve for
him. Magistrate. inn ~f tine only and of the Xmas
petitioned the Home Secret try. end, ari no news was
received until Sun lay, it yr.. believed with success. Sir
Wm. liareourt, however, s ow no ground for interfering
with the capital Ben' enle, which was carried out at eight
o'clock, as before stated. liarwood, the executioner,
arrived at Bodmin on Saturday evening from Exeter,
where he had been engaged in private business with the
governor of Exeter liani. II Sunday liarwood
remained in Bwitnin Gaol. The condemned m ci had
been in totai ignorance of the effortrn made on his
behalf, and never from the Jim,. of hi. condemnation
had any hopes .1 a rep hove, lie wad viaitel by some
membersof his family n iatooodav, and wn thoroughly
resigued to his fate. He did not claw well o•oo Someday
night, acid ninon Monday at tire o'clock. He was at
once visited by the chaplain of the Moon, the Rev.
%V. C. Everest, and the governor. Major Lane. Just
before eight o'clock ‘larseood • Oland the condemned
man in his cell, and at ..nce I,r oceedel too pinion him.
The governor, chaplain, and one or two minor offciala
were present at the time. Birtlett submitted to the
actions of the hangman without the ',lightest resi-t-
-• sacs ; he freely referred to his conviction, and laid he
was justly puni-hed for his crime. lie also said he
hoped too meet there all i another world. l'he bell ni
the Oman chapel began to ring at about ten minutes
Ito eight, and the prucoseioo, way at once formed. The
scaffold at Boduilo is the rams fr. that 110,1 when
public execatione took pion., and wins situated lo the
south block of the buildong, facing to the morth.weet„
The convict bad n•,t t ,denro I any nein in proceeding
toward,. the piece of ex. c clot.. aud he walked et, eight
to the scaffold. The ar crnion consisted of Muwool,
the chaplain. the go, er..or, Mites ward..., and the
Under•Aeriff. The members of the Poen who were
in attendance were excluded I,y the order of the
Under-Sheriff, alth ugh he clerk w s permitted to
enter the ;wino. The evenly t ook place pr-ci.ely
at eight o'clock. and wittoin a miunt from that time
the black flag was hoisted a tun flagetaff in the main
I part of the geol. Bar-let', it wall privately stated,
I died without a struggle. The inquest on the body
was held at nine o'cloca before Mr. E. G. Hanley,
county coroner. 'rho jury returned a verdict that
cleansed dOed of otrangul xion after being duly
I executed in Her hisjesty'e priion at I3odmin.