The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-05-01 00:00:00

THE ADLINGTON MURDER, IN 1848.

Rather more than twenty-one years ago an outrage
was committed on the road between Addington and
Macclesfield, the particulars of which it may not be
uninteresting to recall, in connection with the notice
of an interesting presentation which was made at
Macclesfield, on Saturday last.
On the 11th of February, 1848, a Mr. Ernill, pro-
vision dealer, of Macclesfield, left Addington at four
o'clock in the afternoon, for the purpose of proceeding
on foot by the high road to Macclesfield. When about
200 yards from the town end of Addington, and
whilst passing through a thickly-wooded planta-
tion, called Wych Wood, he was attacked by two
men named William Bates and John Mendesley,
both of whom were armed with pistols. They
demanded "his money or his life," but he refused
to yield to their demand. He was knocked down
three times in succession, but he rallied each time, and
kept his assailants at bay. Ernill was becoming ex-
hausted, when assistance arrived and the robbers fled.
They were pursued about three miles, many labouring
men joining in the pursuit, amongst others being two
brothers—the one named Thomas Wyatt and the other
William Wyatt. These two brothers happened to be
in advance of the pursuing party when the runaways
were brought to a stand, and the latter then fired a
shot each, mortally wounding William Wyatt, and
slightly injuring Thomas. William Wyatt died on the
following day, leaving a widow by whom he had two
children, and leaving also five by a previous wife.
The conduct of the Wyatts attracted the attention
of benevolent persons in Manchester and elsewhere,
and a fund of £1,700 was raised, £5OO of which was
given to Thomas Wyatt, £2OO was distributed among
other parties who took part in the chase, and the re-
maining £l,OOO was placed in the hands of three
trustees (Mr. Jer4miah (arnett, the Rev. J. Sumner,
and the Rev. W. Pearson), for the benefit of the
children of William Wyatt, some of whom have since
been assisted from time to time. The youngest child,
which was born only a few days before the father's
death, became of age about two months ago, and the
balance of the fund was distributed at Macclesfield, on
Saturday. After payment of all expenses the amount
I realised by investment was £1,032. Of this amount
£5O was given to the widow (who is now the wife ot a
labouring man named Casey), the trustees being
limited to that sum by deed, but it has been increased
to £lOO by contributions from her two sons out of their
respective shares. Each child has received about £l4O.
The murderer Bates was hanged at Chester. Maudes-
ley was also sentenced to death, but the sentence was
commuted in his case to transportation for life.

A NARROW ESCAPE.
In the Court for the Consideration of Crown Cases
Reserved the case of "The Queen v. Henry Jenkins,"
has been heard and decided.
The prisoner was convicted before Mr. Justice
Bylee, at the last assizes at Bristol, of the murder of
Fanny Reeves, and the decision illustrates the extreme
care with which the rights of accused persons are
guarded in this country.
According to the evidence, between eight and nine
in•the evening of the 16th of October the screams of a
woman were heard in the River Avon. She was res.
cued in an exhaustedcondition, and, it being discovered
who she was, she was taken to her mother's house in a
state of insensibility. She was very ill, and on the
evening of the following day, at her request, a person
named Axell came and prayed with her. About ten
o'clock that evening the clerk to the magistrates came.
The deceased was breathing with considerable iliffi.
culty. In answer to questions he put to her she said
she felt she was in a dangerous state, and thought she
was likely to die from the shortness of her breath, and
she had no hope of her recovery. The woman then,
having been sworn, made a statement to the following
effect :
I am a single woman, and have two children. Jenkins
Is the father of the eldest ; he has been paying me 25. a
week under a magistrate's order for the support of that
child ; but lie now owes me £1 75. Last night, about half-
past six, I met him by appointment on the New-cut. I
asked him if lie was going to give me some money to buy a
pair of boots for myself. Ile said he had not any. I told
him I must sue him. Ile asked me to walk with him to the
flat Wells, and said he could get some there. I accom-
panied him, and he went into a house while I waited.
Ile came out and said he could not get any money,
and he asked me to w, lk with him up Cumberland-
road, we went along the road together until we
got near Bedminster-bi 'age. We stood on the New'
cut, near his residence, and we had a few angry words.
After we had stood there al out ten minutes he said, "Here's
a rat climbing up the bask." Ile advanced to the edge of the
bank, and I went, too, and looked, but could not see any
rat. Directly he got on the edge of the bank he pushed me
with both bands on the back, and at the same time he said,
Take that, you— " Ile pushed me direct into the river.
I screamed out, and managed by catching hold of the bank to
keep myself up till I was taken out the river. Alter this I
became insensible and did not recover till I found myself in
this house. Since then I have felt great pain in my chest,
bosom, and back. From the shortness of my breath, I feel
that I am likely to die, and I have made the above statement
with the fear of death before me, and with no hope (the
words " at present" were here interlined) of my recovery.
Jenkins was under the influence of liquor at the time, but
was not tipsy. I know of no motive for his pushing me into
the water, except it was that I had asked him for money.
After this statement had been read, Mr. Collins for
the prisoner, called the learned Judge's attention to the
fact that the words "at present" were interlined in the
statement.
Upon this the magistrate's clerk was recalled, and he
said that, after taking down the statement, he pro-
cee led to read it over to the deceased, and when he
came to the words, "no hope of my recovery," she
stopped him and said "at present," and he therefore
interlined those words. The deceased died about
eleven o'clock next morning.
There was no other evidence sufficient to convict the

prisoner.
Mr. Collins submitted that, upon looking at the
statement, there did not appear to have been such an
impression of impending death on the mind of the de-
ceased as to render this declaration admissible. The
learned Judge, however, reserved that question for the
opinion of this Court.
The prisoner was convicted of the murder, and sen-
tence of death was passed upon him, but execution was
stayed until the opinion of this Court Lad been ob-
tained as to the admissibility of the statement of the
deceased as a dying declaration.
Mr. Collins (with him Mr. Norris), for the prisoner,
argued that the general principle upon which this species
of evidence was admitted that it was a declaration
made when a person was in txtremis—when the mind
was possessed with the most fearful considerations to
streakprtohseecturitritl.
kußiAto,r)eptrhoevdeecttrtattonuw,agasmaadirsunibclee;
the fear of impending death, and under the Mu ression
of almost immediate dissolution—that he was about to
die immediately. It was not enough that the deceased
should have thought she might not eventually recover ; all
hope must be excluded. According to the evidence of
the mother of the deceased, she told her she (lid not
think she should ever get over it.
Mr. Saunders (with him Mr. Bailey), for the prose-
cution, contended that the words used by the deceased
proved that she had no hope at that time of recovery.
The Court having retired for a short time, the Chief
Baron said they were all of opinion that the conviction
must be quashed. The question, and the only ques-
tion was whether the declaration of this dying woman
was admissible in evidence, because it was clear that
if the case was examined there WM no evidence what-
ever to justify the verdict. It depended entirely upon
what passed between the magistrates' clerk and the
dying woman just before and at the time she made the
statement, and it appeared that I-he was asked if she
felt she was in a dangerous state, and if she was likely
to die; and she said, "I think so." There WM nothing
conclusive in that fact, but the clerk went on to ask
her why, and she replied, From the shortness of
my breath ;" and he then asked her. "Is it with the
fear of deathbefore you that you make this statement "

and he added, "lave you any present hope of your re-
covery ? " She said" Note," ana he then proceeded to re- 1
dlice her statement to writing: "I feel that I am likely to
die, and I make the above statement with the fear of death
before me and with no hope of my recovery." If she
had subscribed that declaration it would be a very dif-
ferent matter, but it appeared that after reading over
those words the learned counsel for the prisoner bad
very properly and promptly pointed out that the .yords
" at present' were introduced by way o: interlinea-
tion. The clerk was recalled, and he stated that after
he had read over the deposition to her, having asked
her to correct anything that might be wrong, she intro-
duced the words "at present," and he then interlined
those words. Now, the question was upon those facts,
and upon this declaration as it stood the Court were
called upon to decide whither this declaration was ad-
missible. He was of opinion that the fair result of all
the decisions was that this was not an unqualified be-
lief that she had no hone of her recovery.
Mr. Justice Byles said that he entertained from the
first a strong doubt whether the declaration was ad-
missible, but he had thought it his duty to reserve the
question for the opinion of this Court. Ile agreed that
the declaration ought not to have been admitted.
Conviction quashed.

The prisoner, in accordance with an order from the
Home Office, was liberated on Monday.