The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-07-18 00:00:00

WEYMOUTH. c
NLVICniAL SCHOOLS. —Seri:QOM were preached at
St. Mares Church, on Sunday, by the Rev. T. A.
Greavis. '
1
Aiiejlosit.—On Monday, Henry Stevens, an
errand -boy, employed at Mears. Smith and Son's, I
biiiift4at tbe railway station, was in the act of
g miTp-behind a wagon, when one of his feet got
entangled in the spokes of a wheel, and thelimb was
bruised very severely.
4.
prrTys.ssioNs, Monday.--Before the or
and G. Welsford, Esq.—James Howard, a di te
character, was charged with ill-treatins is .
About five o'clock on Saturday morn apg ef t
pulled his wire out of bed by the hair cif er 54d.
She ran down stairs, he followed and tlu4rlt ' e
at her which penetrated one of her I rilioner
was committed for two months' hard labour.

W INTER BOURNE KINGSTON.
On Wednesday last, one of the most successful
. . . _ -

against
_ _

I further

... 259

... 17a

86k.
fabiottabl

lit iitt—trtigenct.

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4
TVA Unit, DR PRITCRARD.—SENTENes
OF DEANEI.
One of the most extraordinary CAW that has engos
the attention of a criminal c 'art in modern times has
been insesqated in the High Ju4iciary Conn ot
Scotland during the past week. A medical pmeti.
firmer ef-Ot.mgow, named Pritchard, was charged with
havit g murriored hi. Wife, Mot. Pritchard, and his wife's
mothers, Mrs. Teytor, iii his own houee, in Glasgow. the
murdet of Mrs. Taylor, aecording to the indictment,
having been perpetrated between the 10th and 25th day
last, and the murder of Mot. Pritcha,d
between the 22nd day of December, 1864. and the 18th
day ,of March, in the present yeer. The poisonous
.....syregiad by the prosecution, were Unshed
Antony and aconite, and a great number of with
cofesionel and non-profeesional, were examined for
the purpose of proving the guilt of the accused The
evidence for the prosecution, the taking of which emu-
`
hit .nosixt three dayr of mr -extraordinary
; and, although mrcumetantial, bore in !rimy
respects with fear ful directneels against the accused. Thi,
poisoning of Mrs. Pritchard commenced, AA hne been
stated,Deessaberof I.et -may the eyniptbms being
sickness, with Revere retching and cramp in the hands. These symptoms were manifested after attetain theala.
and the presumption that they were produced by poison
Was strengthened by the fact that while the lady wee
on a visit to her parents In Edinburgh they entirely
disappeared, and that they reappeared aa won as she
returned to her own house in Gliegow. As time went
on the lady got worse, and her mother was met for to
nurse her during her inners. It seems, however, that
Dr. Pritchard did not want • nurse, but a victim. Seoul
after her arrival at the house of her eon-in-law Mrs.
Taylor fell ill, and so rapid was the progress of her
(Inman that in about fifteen days she was a melee. The
accursed insinuated to the medical man, Dr. Patterson,
.who was brought in to see Mrs. Taylor lust before she
expired, the* she was addicted to drinkiog, an insinua-
tion which was clearly disproved by competent witnesses,
and that alit, had taken a " good swig" of Sattley's
Sedative Solution, which she wee in the habit of using
as a means of procuring sleep. Dr. Patterson thought
the death of the old lady suspicious, and refused to give
a eertificate of the muse of her death; otherwise he
kept his suspicions to himself. Meantime Mrs. Taylor
got worse, her complaint being • mystery to herself, AI
mine days she was quite well, and the only thing she
complained of was the Meknes, retching, and tendency
to cramp. In less than a month after the death of her
mother Mrs. Pritchard died, and her remains were
taken to Edinburgh by her husband, for interment.
During his absence rumours began to float about
respecting the death of the two ladies, and the police
became acquainted with certain facts which led to the
apprehension of the husband on his return from the
funeral of hie wife. Subsequently the bodies of the
Iwo ladies were exhumed. A rostmortem examination
was made, and the chemical analysis to which portions
of the remains were subjected revealed the (set-that
poison had been introduced into their systems in suffi-
oiently large quantities to produee fatal results. The
question involved in the tri‘l which terminated bit
Friday was, who was the administrator of that poison.
The jury, in about an hour, returned an unanimous
verdict of Guilty on both charges. The Lord Juetice
Clerk then tentenoed the primmer to be executed at
Glasgow on the 28th inst., and in passing sentence said
that the verdict of the jary proceeded upon evidence
which could leave no reasonable doubt in the minds of
those by whom it was considered. The prisoner, who
had maintained great composure throughout the fire
days of the trial, seemed greatly affected when the
verdict was pronounced, and leant slightly on the
Policeman sitting beside him; but while the sentence
was-being—recorded he aompletely regained his com-
posure, and after sentence was passed upon him he
bowed to the judge and also to the jury before leaving
the dock.
Tee CONFESSION.—" I, Edward William Pritchard,
RED., M.R.C.S.E., and LAS., ton, hereby make in
writing, in the presenoe of the Rev. R. S. Oldham
M. A., the following confession, for transmission by hies;
to the proper authorities:—
"It was when my wife WAS at Kilmum, in the
summer of 1863, that I first became intimate with the
girl Mary lii'Leod, sleeping with her in my house, 72,
Royal-crescent, This continned at intervals up to the
time of our removal tol3l,Sauchiehall-street She became
pregnant in May fast, and with her own consent I pro-
duced a miscarriage. I have reason to believe that Mn'.
Pritchard was quite aware et this, and rather sought
to coves soy wickedness and folly. My motherin-lew,
Mrs. Taylor, came last February to our house, and
caught Mary M'Leod and myself in the consulting-room;
and the day before her death, having apparently watched
us, she said to me in the same room, 'You have looked
her into a cupboard,' which was true, but nothing more
passed. I declare Mrs. Taylor to here died in the
manner I have before stated, and now I believe her
death to have been caused by an overdose of Battley's
solution of opium. The aconite found in that bottle
was pet in by me after her death, and designedly left
there in order to prove death by misadventure, in ease
any inquiry should take place. Mrs. Pritchard was
much better immediately after her mother's death, but
subsequently became exhausted from want of sleep. I
accounted for this by the shock produced by her mother's
death, and hardly knowing how to aot,at her own request
I gave her chloroform. It was about midnight:
M'Lend was in the room, and in an evil moment--
being, besides, somewhat excited by whisky—l yielded
to the temptation to give her sufficient to cause deathn
which did.
"I therefore declare before God, as a dying man, and
in the presence of my spiritual Melrose, that I am
innocent of the crime of murder, so far as Mrs. Taylor
is concerned, but acknowledge myself guilty of the
adultery with Mary At'Leod and the murder of my
wife.

11, IP IN

"I feel now as though I had been living in e sien,
of madness since my connection with Mary
and I declare my solemn repentance of my crime,
earnestly praying that I may obtain Divine forgiveness
before I suffer the penalty of the law.
"EDWARD WILLIAM PRITCHARD.
" John Stirling, Gr.' witness.
"IS. Oldham, witness.