The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-11 00:00:00

THE CHARGE AGAINST A SHEFFIELD

NURSE.

At the Sheffield Police-court, on Saturday in last
week, before the borough magistrates, Mary Anne
Wilmot, professional nurse, from the Sheffield Nurses'
Home, was charged, on remand, with having ad-
ministered, or caused to be administered, to Mrs.
Eliza Booth, wife of Mr. W. H. Booth, surgeon, of
Sheffield, a quantity of morphia, with intent to kill
her.

Mr. Lawrence Gane, barrister, prosecuted; and Mr.
J. E. Barker, barrister, defended.—We take the fol-
lowing report of the ease from The Times :

The case excited great interest, not only because of
the prisoner's confidential position, but because of the
singular circumstances that led to her arrest. On the
Bth of October Mr. Booth's son, aged 23, died, and it
was suspected that he had been poisoned. On the 16th
of October his sister, Miss Lucy Booth, died, it was
thought at first from a shock from grief, but gra-
dually the impression prevailed that she had been
poisoned, too, especially as the symptoms she ex-
hibited bore out that assumption. Soon after the
girl's death, Mrs. Booth, the mother, became seriously
ill, and showed marked symptoms of narcotic
poisoning. Suspicion was aroused, the bodies of the
son and daughter were exhumed, a post-mortem exa-
mination was made on November 1, and later the
contents of the stomachs were analyzed by Professor
Tidy and Mr. Bell, of London. The inquest was held
at the Sheffield Town-hall on Wednesday (Ist), when
the analysts presented their report, and expressed the
opinion that neither young Mr. Booth nor Miss Booth
had died from the effects of poison. The evidence
showed, however, that in the case of Miss Booth there
was a most remarkable rigidity in the limbs for 14
days after death, and it was admitted that this rigidity
might have been caused by strichnia, although there
was not suffioient evidence to show that such had been
the case. It was proved that Miss Booth died in
convulsions, and the symptoms of her illness were like
those of poisoning by strichnia. As the analysis did
not reveal the presence of any poison it was not pos-
sible to carry the investigation further, and the - jury
returned a verdict that Mr. Booth, jun., and his sister
had died without marks of violence, but that there was
not sufficient evidence to show the cause of death. Not
only during the illness of lir. W. H. Booth, but also
during that of his sister, the prisoner, Mary Anne
Wilmot, who had been engaged as a nurse from the Shef-
field Nurses' Home, lived at their house, and waited
upon them. She also acted as nurse to Mrs. Booth during
her illness, and at the conclusion of the inquest was
given into custody, on a warrant charged with at-
tempting to poison Mrs. Booth. The case came on at
eleven o'clock, the sitting magistrates being Mr. T.
W. Rodgers, Mr. F. Bardwell, and Alderman
Hallam. The court was crowded, and the anxiety to
see the prisoner was great. She is a superior-looking
young woman, and has been one of the most trusted
nurses in the home. She was attired in mourning,
and her face revealed considerable traces of care and
suspense.

Mrs. Eliza Booth, wife of Mr. William Booth, sun
geon, Sheffield, was the first witness called. She said,
—My daughter died on Saturday, October 16, and the
same evening I felt very depressed and unwell. Dr.
Pye Smith saw me on the Monday morning and pre-
scribed for me. The medicine was given to me first by
Miss Harrison and afterwards by the prisoner. About
eleven o'clock I was taken with convulsions and was
unable to move. The next day I was quiet, but very
weak. On Wednesday the prisoner brought me for
my dinner boiled mutton, but there was so much
of it and it was so fat that I could not touch it. I
spoke to the prisoner about it, but she turned her back
and made no reply. The same night she brought me
boiled milk for supper, and afterwards whisky and
water. I noticed that it looked very thick and muddy,
and I thought the water had been taken out of the
boillr. It had a very disagreeable taste, and I only
drank a tablespoonfulof it. I was very sick after it.
On the Thursday morning I became insensible, and I
remember nothing more until the middle of the night.
In reply to Mr. Barker, the witness said :—The pri-
soner came to me from the Nurses' Home. She
attended both my son and daughter, and we were
perfectly satisfied with her conduct in every way.
She was extremely kind and attentive, and we placed
every confidence in her. It was at the request of Dr.
Booth and myself that she remained after the death
of my son and.daughter to attend to me. After their
deaths I was exceedingly distressed and upset, and
twice I took a sleeping draught—bromide of potas-
sium. I complained of its being disagreeable and
not of the same taste as usual. The same draught
was prescribed for me three years ago by Dr.
Banham. On the Monday morning, when I was
taken so seriously ill, I felt a twitching all over, as
if I must jump out of bed. I could not keep still. I
complained to the prisoner, and ask her to give me
a little brandy and to open the window, and she did
so. I grew no better, and the prisoner asked that
Mr. Thorpe and Mr. Booth might be sent for. Mr.
Thomas also saw me. At that time the prisoner felt
very anxious about the condition I was in. When I
complained of the appearance And taste of the whisky
and water the prisoner took it away downstairs, but I
am not sure whether she brought any back in sub-
stitution for it. If she did I did not take it: On the
Tuesday Dr. Pye-Smith ordered me an effervescing
, medicine, and the directions were that I was not to
take it until the following morning. I have no recol-
lection of the prisoner bringing the medicine into the
room or of her filling up a bottle with anything. I
do not remember that on the Thursday when I lost
consciousness I asked any one whether morphia had
been given to use. I never took morphia but once
before to my knowledge, and then I felt no ill effects
after taking it.

Martha hardwick, housekeeper to Dr. Pye-Smith,
was called and stated: I went to Mr. Booth's about
ten o'clock on Sunday morning, the 17th of October,
with a message from Dr. Pye-Smith. While I was in
the kitchen the prisoner came there from the direction
of the surgery with a glass-stoppered bottle and a
medicine glass. 'The bottle contpined clear white
liquid like water, and the prisoner poured a little
twice into the glass. While talking with the nurse
I noticed that the bottle had on it a label written
in back-hand, but I could not see what the label was.
By Mr. Barker: The bottle the prisoner had would
hold about a pint, and the glass was an ordinary
medicine glass. The second time she poured from
the bottle into the glass she poured some of it back
again, as though she had got too much. She poured
into the glass more than one teaspoonful, but not so
much as two.
Mrs, Lucy Roberts, widow, of Hadfield, near Man-
chester, was called, to say that, although stopping
with Mrs. Booth, she gave her no medicine or food
during her illness.
Emily Parker, housemaid to Mr. Booth, said :
Between 'three and four o'clock on Tuesday afternoon,
October 19, tha prisoner came into the kitchen with a
small case containing two small bottles. She said to
me, "You have to take this case to Mr. Goucher's
and get it filled with orpii." She gave me some silver
to pay for it, but I do not know how much. I said
"Does Mrs. Booth say I am to go?" and she replied
"Yes, Mrs. Booth wants to put the case away." I
took the case to Mr. Goucher, chemist, and told him
to fill the empty bottle with " orpii." He "filled the
bottle and gave me the case back, and I returned it to

the prisoner, who took it upstairs. Inside the case was
"Mr. W. H. Booth, surgeon, Sheffield." About ten
o'clock on the morning of the 21st the prisoner again
came to me in the kitchen, and said, "You have
to go to Mr. Goucher's for 12 grains of morphia and
twopennyworth of powdered charcoal." I said, "Who
is it for?" She replied, " Mls. Booth wants it for
Dr. Pye-Smith to mix in her medicine." I went as
directed, gave it to the prisoner, and she went upstairs
with it in her hand. At five o'clock in the afternoon
she came and asked me to go with her to help to raise
Mrs. Booth in bed. As we were going she said, Mrs.
Booth is very ill, lam sure she will die." No doctor
had been sent for at that time. The day after Miss
Booth's funeral I saw the prisoner bringing a box
from the lumber-room. I asked her what she was
going to do with it, and she replied, "I am going to
put some of Miss Booth's clothes in it." The day after
I saw the box in the room in which the prisoner had
been sleeping, and I saw it again last Tuesday night.
There was then a label on it with some initials, and
"Wilmot, Sheffield."
Cross-examined by Mr. Barker, witness said it was
on the Thursday that the nurse said, "Mrs. Booth is
very ill, and I am sure she will die." Then the witness
added, Florence Gell Horton, the cook, who has left,
prepared all the food for Mrs. Booth, and took it up-
stairs. The prisoner brought the case into the kitchen,
on the day Miss Booth was buried. The cook was in the
kitchen, butwhether she heard what took place I cannot
say. I had been to Mr. Goucher's for soda-water before,
but not for drugs. When I returned from the
chemist's I gave the case into the prisoner's hand. I
did not give her any change, because I had paid for
the bottle out of my own money, the prisoner saying,
"I have no change; will you lend me dome?" The
prisoner has since paid me the money back.
The learned counsel then asked that a part of the
examination in chief should be read, in which she said,
"The prisoner gave me some money. Ido not know
what she gave me. It was silver, and in one piece."
The witness was then asked which of her statements
was true. Did the prisoner give her the money, or did
she lend it to the prisoner? The witness said the
prisoner borrowed the money of her, and that her
previous statement was false. She had only just re-
naembered having lent the prisoner the money. She
had mentioned to Dr. Pye-Smith and the cook that
the prisoner had sent her with the case to the
druggist's, but he had not mentioned it to Mr. Booth.
The prisoner gave her the money with which to fetch
the morphia. After Miss Booth's death Mrs. Booth
gave the prisoner some of Miss Booth's clothes, but
she did not know whether they were put into the
trunk. The nurse went to Miss Booth's funeral.

At the conclusion of the examination of this witness
the case was adjourned.
Mr Barker applied that the prisoner might be ad-
mitted to bail.

The Bench, after some consideration, said they
would allow the prisoner bail on two sureties
of £5OO each, but they could take no bail except from
gentlemen of unexceptionable position. It was a very
serious charge, and it was very unusual to take bail in
such a case.

At the Sheffield Town Hall on Tuesday, before
Messrs. Rodgers and Bardwell, Mary Anne Wilmot
was again brought up on remand. The proceedings
excited the greatest interest, and the Court was
crowded.

Upon re-examination, Emily Parker stated most
emphatically that when she was sent by the nurse
for the opium she paid for it with money out of
her own pocket, the prisoner repaying her after-
wards. When she went for the morphia the nurse
supplied her with the money.
Harriet Wheatcroft Harrison said she lived at Mr.
Booth's during Mrs. Booth's illness. On the 17th of
October she gave Mrs. Booth some medicine, but only
once, at mid-day. On the 21st she saw Mrs. Booth
perfectly unconscious in the bedroom. The nurse
was in the bedroom, and she-said to her, "Mrs.
Booth seems very ill." The prisoner replied, "Yes,
she is." The witness wished to send for Dr. Thorpe,
but the nurse said, "Mrs. Booth does not like Dr.
Thorpe."
Cross-examined by Mr. Barker: Miss Harrison
said Mrs. Booth seemed to be scarcely breathing at
all, and lay propped up rather high in bed. Dr. Py e•
Smith and Dr. Booth were sent for. The witness had
not heard of any bottles being removed from the
nurse's room.

Re-examined by Mr. Gane, the witness said it was
just before she went into the bedroom that the nurse
said Mrs. Booth was so ill, and that the prisoner had
not mentioned the fact until then.

Levi Tom Goucher, druggist, Glossop-road, Sheffield,
said he remembered Emily Parker, Mr. Booth's house-
maid, coming to his shop on the 19th of October. The
girl brought a case with her. It was a dark case about
4in. long, containing two glass bottles. The girl asked
that one bottle should be filled with tincture of opium,
and he filled the bottle. The housemaid went to his
shop again on the 21st, bringing a scrap of paper which
contained the words, "Morph acet grains 8." He sent
the paper back with the price on it, after supplying
the morphia. It was in one packet, which he labelled
"poison." The girl paid for the morphia as well
as the tincture of opium. When the housemaid
came it was after Miss Booth's death and when
Mrs. Booth was ill. He had only made up two
previous prescriptions for Dr. Booth, and had had no
previous opportunity of seeing his handwriting. He
would not supply a deadly poison to anyone without a
note, and believed that the note was in Dr. Booth's
handwriting. The character of the prescription indi-
cated, he thought, some knowledge of Latin. The
eight grains were written with the medical symbols.
He returned the scrap of paper to the girl separately.
She also asked for two-pennyworth of slippery elm
bark, which was also on the order. The bark was
sometimes used as a poultice. The girl said she
wanted the articles for Dr. Booth. He supplied half
an ounce of bark.

Mr. W. H. Booth, surgeon, and husband of Mrs.
Booth. was then examined. He said he had two
surgeries, one at Gell-street and another in St.
James's-street. He had a cupboard containing
drawers in the Gall-street library. The cupboard
contained various medicines, and in one of the drawers
was a small case, containing two glass stoppered
bottles. He had not used that case for nine years.
The last time that he saw the case was about 12 or 14
weeks ago. The bottles usually contained tincture of
opium and compound spirits of ammonia. The last
time he saw the bottles they were empty, and had
been for years. He had occasion to look for the case,
but it was not in its usual place. He had not seen
the case since. He had in the surgery a preparation
of strychnine. The surgery had three doors, and one
of the doors communicated with the library. Another
door communicated with the passage leading to the
front door. The third door opened into the entrance-
hall. The strychnine was in a 20z.-bottle like an eau
de Cologne bottle. It contained "liquor strychnine,"
or solution of strychnine. He saw the bottle in the
early part of October, when he had it filled up to the
stopper. He had never used any of the strychnine.

_ The witness at this point became greatly affected,
and, pointing to the prisoner, said, "It rather cuts
me."

Mr. Barker protested against Mr. Booth's gesture,
and witness was asked to become seated. He did so,
but said, "I would do nothing wrong • I have had
great trouble to put up with. If you knew as much
as I do."

—Continuing his evidence, Mr. Booth said when he
next saw the bottle between two and three drachms
of strychnine had been taken out. He remembered
Mrs. Booth being ill on the 17th and 18th, and took a
prescription to Mr. Goucher prepared by Dr. Pye-
,Smith. On the 21st Mrs. Booth was ill in bed.
Later in the day, when at the St. James-street
surgery, he was summoned home by the gardener.
On getting home he saw Dr. Pye-Smith, who made
a statement to him, and asked him for a stomach-
pump.
Cross-examined by Mr. Barker, the witness said the
stomach-pump had not been used for years, except on
this occasion. He had made one prescription for his
wife, and believed she took one 15-grain dose of
bromide of potassium, prepared by himself. Mrs.
Booth might possibly have had two doses of bromide
of potassium. He made up one bottle of medicine
upon Dr. Pye-Smith's prescription, which was dated
20th of October. One of the ingredients was tincture
of digitalis. On the 21st of October he did not see the
prisoner until about a quarter-past eight o'clock in the
morning. He did not tell her to take any coffee and
bread and butter to' Mrs. Booth. The cupboard
in which the case with the stoppered bottles was
kept was not locked, He kept morphia in
Gell-street, but not under lock and key. It was in a
stoppered bottle on a shelf. He had been in the habit
of keeping strychnine in Gell-street, At the end of
September his stock of strychnine became exhausted.
He could not say who the person was to whom he
prescribed strychnia last ; he did not in September
prescribe strychnia to any one in Gell-street, but it
had become exhausted from occasional use through the
past 18 months. He did not keep a reoord of his
prescriptions, nor had he between September and his
wife's illness taken any strychnia out of the bottle in
Gell-street. The prisoner was dismissed from his
house on the night of the 21st, but he did not assist in
searching her boxes. Dr. Pye-Smith, he believed,
took part in the search.

Re-examined by Mr. Gane, the witness said he did
not see Mrs. Booth on the 20th, but knew she was
very sick. He was not present when she took the
whiskey and water. On the morning of the 21st she
was not actually vomiting, but had nausea. He did
not see Mrs. Booth actually vomiting at all. The
medicine he threw away was that prepared by himself
upon Dr. Pye-Smith's prescription, and there was
nothing in that prescription that would produce vomit-
ing. Digitalis depressed and stimulated the heart's
action; it lessened the rapidity of the pulse and in-
creased the firmness. He did not prescribe any
medicine containing strychnia for Mrs. Booth ; in fact,
he did not think he had ever prescriEed for Mrs.
Booth in his life. She was always attended by other
doctors. He never gave any one authority to us t 3 the
strychnine at Gell-street, and his daughter had only
had one dose, about thirteen months ago.
The Court adjourned at two o'clock for luncheon.
Dr. R. J. Smith was the first witness after the
adjournment, and he said he had attended Mrs.
Booth professionally since the 16th of October, when
Miss Booth died. On the evening of that day Mrs.
Booth complained of palpitation, dryness at the
mouth, and cramp coming on in the left leg, or rather
the thigh. He advised her to go to bed, but did not
prescribe for her that night. On the 17th he saw
Mrs. Booth in bed; she had a feeble pulse, and occa-
sionally the hands twitched. The tongue was furred,
not dry. Mrs. Booth said in the prisoner's pre-
sence that she had taken a dose of bromide of
potassium and an aperient pill. Bromide of potas-
sium would induce sleep. The fingers were slightly
drawn up. At the time he did not prescribe
for her, but at the morning visit the prisoner
told him that Mrs. Booth's face sometimes be-
came blue. Bromide of potassium would not produce
that appearance, but any medicine that produced
slight convulsions would have that effect. At half-
past four o'clock the same afternoon he saw Mrs.
Booth again, and she said, "Don't prescribe opium or
morphia for me again," adding that it ha,d not agreed
with her. The prisoner was present at the time. She
said a former medical attendant, many years ago, had
prescribed either opium or morphia for her. He
asked Mrs. Booth whether any other medicine disagreed
with her. She said she did not know. He theA pre.

scribed for her, but the medicine did not contain mor-
phia, opium, or strychnine. On the 18th, in the fore-
noon, he visited Mrs. Booth again, and Dr. Thomas
and Dr. Thorpe were in the house. The prisoner was
in Mrs. Booth's bedroom, and told the witness that
Mrs. Booth had been excited by the visit of a lady.
Mrs. Booth was in an excited state at the time, and
told the witness she left as though she were in con-
vulsions. Subsequently, the witness and the other
two medical men had a consultation about Mrs.
Booth. After the consultation the witness saw his
patient again, and prescribed an effervescing mixture,
it was to be given if sickness or thirst supervened,
otherwise the former medicine was to be continued.
On the 21st he found Mrs. Booth much altered. She
was talkative, her speech was thick, and the pupils
of her eyes were unusually small. Mrs. Booth said,
"I shall not take any more of that medicine. It
does not agree with me. I think there is morphia
in it, is there not ?" He said, "No, I have
prescribed none; but it does look as though
you had had some." Mrs. Booth said, "I flushed up
directly I took it, and ever since I have felt as though
I were drunk. I have never been in that con-
dition, but I think it must be something like
this. I showed the nurse the medicine." He asked
Mrs. Booth how she knew it tasted like morphia. She
said because she had taken morphia once many years
ago. The nurse showed him the medicine bottle, and
he noticed that only about one dose had gone. He
asked what time she had given the dose, and she said
about eleven o'clock. He asked her where she had
got the medicine from, and she said Mr. Booth. had
given it to her. Mrs. Booth said her husband must
have made it up himself. He called the nurse out of
the room and asked her particularly about the medi-
cine. She said Mr. Booth had given her the bottle
half full, and told her to fill it with water. He then
went down to Mr. Booth's surgery in St. James's-
street, and had some conversation with him, not in
the prisoner's presence.
It was impossible to conclude Dr. Pye-Smith's evi-
dence at that sitting, but Mr. Goucher, the chemist,
was recalled, and allowed to qualify his previous evi-
dence by the statement that the slippery elm bark was
purchased a few days after the morphia by Parker,
the housemaid. When the girl came for the tincture
of opium she gave him a bottle labelled with the
words, "Tincture of Opium," and said, "I want you
to fill it."

The Court rose at 4.15, and the case was adjourned
until Monday next, Mr. Gane saying that he hoped
to finish the case for the prosecution on that day.