The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-08-02 00:00:00

THE INQUEST.

The inquest was held at noon upon the body by
Mr. G. H. Hull, one of her Majesty's coroners for the
county of Surrey, in the Board Room of the Gaol.
The jury who were empannelled viewed the body of the
convict. It was in a shell under the fatal beam upon
which the Prisoner had been executed. The gallows,
which was in a shed in a court-yard, was a cross beam
over a spring floor, and the floor, upon the touch of a
switch, opened, so as to give the body a fall of eight
feet. The prisoner had walked to the place of
execution in a resigned manner, and with perfect
composure. The body was unquestionably that of
the prisoner, who was tried as Catherine Webster.
A prison dress was upon it, even to the stockings and
shoes, and a crucifix was placed, with a few flowers,
upon her breast. It was apparent that the woman
had died a violent death. Outside the shed was a
grass plot, where a grave had been dug. After being
viewed by the jury the coffin was to be filled with
quick lime.

_
Captain Colville, the governor of the gaol, was
the first witness called. He deposed :—" The body-
which the jury have seen is that of Catherine Web-
ster, whom I received into my custody the Bth of
7uly, 1879. bhe was about 30 years of age. The war-
rant upon which I received her was from the
Central Criminal Court. She was convicted of
the murder of Mrs. Julia Martha Thomas, and was
sentenced to be executed in this prison. That sentence
was carried out at nine o'clock this morning, in the
presence of Mr. C. J. Abbott, the Under Sheriff, the
Rev. Mr. M'Ennery, the chaplain, other officers, and
myself."
The Coroner asked if the woman had made any
confession of the crime of which she was convicted.

Captain Colville relied: "She did, sir. It was
intimated to me by the Rev. Mr. M'Ennery, on his
leaving the prison at ten minutes to ten o'clock last
night, that the prisoner said to him, 'I alone
committed the murder of Mrs. Thomas. I was
slightly excited by having taken some drink,
and when my mistress came home I was aggra-
vated by her manner. I pushed her downstairs
and then strangled her.' I followed this confession up,
sir, this morning by speaking to her about statements
which you, sir, perhaps have seen published of late as
coming from her in this gaol, in which the names of
certain men are given as being concerned in the murder
pf Mrs. Thomas. I asked her if I might say from
her that those statements were not true. She replied
that the statements were not true—that the man
whom she had last charged with the crime had had
nothing to do with it—that she alone did it. She was
remarkably submissive and docile hare. Great atten-
tion was paid to her by a Sister of Mercy, who has
been made an additional assistant in the prison for the
purpose of waiting upon the Prisoner. The Pri-
soner has been visited by the Rev. Dr. Withers,
the coadjutor (Roman Catholic) bishop, who was
formerly chaplain of Woking when the Prisoner was
under sentence for previous convictions, and she
was very grateful for this. She expressed herself as
pleased when she first came, at being sent to thiE
prison instead of to any other, as she had formerly
been kindly treated here, when before here under a
sentence of felony. Before her death she expressed
herself extremely grateful for the kindness and
attention she received from the matron, other officers,
and myself. She was keenly sensible that she was
kindly treated."
Dr. Hugh B. Wynber2 the surgeon of the gaol, de-
posed that he had examined the body of the convict
and could attest that she was dead, the cause of death
being dislocation of the neck.
The Coroner remarked that the Act required the
Jury to be satisfied that the body seen was the body
of the person sentenced to be executed,

Dr. Wynter replied that he knew the prisoner
when she was in the gaol before, and could say that
the body seen was that of the prisoner Catherine
Webster.
The Coroner said this would be sufficient evidence.
The Jury returned as their verdict " That
Catherine Webster, who was sentenced to death, was
in due form executed, and that the said jurors had
neen the body of the Prisoner after execution."