The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-12 00:00:00

THE EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF THE

REV. MR. HATCH.

This extraordinary case, now brought into a court of
justice for the prosecution of one of the children, upon
whom Mr. Hatch was convicted of having committed an
indebent assault, has occupied the Central Criminal
Court a great part of the present week.
On Wednesday morning, Mary Eugenie Plummer, a
little girl, eleven years of age, surrendered to take her
trial upon a charge'of wilful and corrupt perjury, upon
a prosecution institUted.by the Rev. Mr. Hatch.
Mr. Edwin James, .Q.C., was, specially retained with
Mr. Gordon Allen, and Mr. Gifiard conducted the pro-
secution. Serjeant Shee was retained specially with
Mr. Cooper for the defence.
The defendant was brought into court by her father,
and she was allowed to be seated at the counsel's table
during the trial. \
Mr. James, in opening the case, said it was one that
'would require the most serious attention of the jury.
The prosecution was instituted by the Rev. Thomas
Hatch upon evidence given against him by the little girl
now before the jury, and upon which he 'was convicted
of an indecent assault and sentenced to four years'
imprisonnient, which he was now undergoing in the
gaol of Newgate. Mr. Hatch protested his innocence
of the crime of which he had been convicted, but as
there was no appeal in criminal cases there Was no other
course left open to Lim but to show that the evidence
that was given against him was false, and thus relieve
himself from the dreadful position in which he had been
placed. He said that he should not only call Mr. Hatch
himself, but also his wife, a most virtuous and highly-
respectable lady, who would positiveYY-contradiet the
evidence of the defendant, and who, he might also state,
if her evidence were believed, was actually au accom-
plice in the crime that was committed. The learned
counsel then proceeded to state the facts of the case,
which are of ttourse not of a nature to be given fully,
and he said that in addition to the extreme improbability
that such an offence should be committed under the cir-
cumstances in which it was alleged to have taken place,
he should call witnesses who would positively disprove
the evidence that was so given, so far as it was possible
to do so by human testimony, and in the result the jury
would come to the conclusion that the whole story was
a fiction, the result of a prurient and depraved intagifia-
tion, and that they would have tin altetnatii'e, holbei'Tek
painftil it might be, hut to efinvict the defendant of the
offence note imputed to her.
The former indictment against Mr. Hatch, and the
certificate of the conviction were put in, and read by the
officer of the court.
The evidence given by the little girl vies probed by
Mr. narhard, the shorthand writer of the court. " She
charged the defendant with five distinct acts of assault, the
_ _

rst. being alleged to have been committed on the same

day the defendant and hcrsister were taken to Mr. Hatch's
school. Some of the indecent acts deposed to were
represented to have taken place in Mr. Hatch's bed; in
the presence of the wife of Mfr. liqthh;

The Itev. Mr. Hateh as tlifiii I;;OUght from the gaol
to giVe his tiidkitice. lie stated that he was 42 years
old, Mid *As niarried in 1845, but had no family. He
said that he was appointed chaplain of the Wandsworth
House of Correction in 1851, and held that office at the
time he was con.Vieted of indecently assaulting the pi-e
sent defendant. In 1856 he said he adopted a little girl
named Lucy Iterritt, and brought het up as hit own
daughter, and she passed by the name of Lticy ffarriet
Mich, and she, *as no* abon el,ght fdaia oid. TIC
stated that lil. tWe ider I Bea tie advertised for young lady
saliolith,-dithhe parents of the defendant answered the
advertisement, and Mr. and Mrs. Ph7mmer came to his
house on the 11th of August, and brought with them
their eldest daughter Eugenie, the present defendant, and
an arrangement was made that she and her younger sis-
ter should both be received as boarders, Mrs. Plummer
wished that her children should be, petted, add that they
shonld..be allowed to go into the be,ct cif hint and ills wife
in the Tuorthig, aad that alio had dorio so at a former
school. Witness Consented to this, and also to ruttiest
that the bejrooni doors of khe clitidtea stiodld lie leFt
open,
,as she wi3ped iige 131614 of He said
that gr. i'litfitner went away about seven
'a;6)i,l lb the evening, and seeing that the little girl was'
low spirited, he took her and the other little girl (Lucy)
into the garden for a walk, but ho swore most positively
and solemnly that ho never committed any act of indecency
towards the defendant, and that the statements she made
to that effect were utterly false. •

Mrs. Essie Hatch said-,—l am the wife of the Rev.
Mr. Hatch,:the prosecutor of this indictment. I ani
35 years of age. I *as infirried to Hirt!' tit Aydri4 in
184 e, and trn ttlibi there about a year afterwards, and
tha iVeiti to ‘l/2raltori-on-Thrinies, of which parish my
husband's faihei Was vicar. I remember Mrs. Plummer
coming to our house op the 11th of August, with her
husband and Eugenie Plummer, the defendant. rThe
witness then iaveir detail of *hat occurred, subsequent
to the departnie of Mr. and Mrs. Plummer, on the 11th
of August, to the same effect as Tier husband.] When
the cab had started I went into the drawing-room and
stood at the window. My,mother' i the go.Vernecii; attd
the two Freed ladies were LAO lrere. I never lost
sight et my husband or the two children, Eugenie and
Lucy, until they came into the house. . They were not
in the garden more than two or three minutes—a very
short time.. My mother called out to Mr. Hatch that
the tea was waiting, and he, and the two, children`
came in immediately. If any proceeding such .as that
spoken to by the child Eugenio had taken, place, i nittst
have seen-iti it could riot I"Oi,ri hAriPeried Without irly
doing so.. , I feirlehibee my husband being up stairs with
the two children on the 18th of August A gentleman
named Coglan went up to fetch them, and they came down
almost immediately. [The witness then contradicted the
evidence of the defendant in some other particulars.. It
was impossible for my hitsliz,ind it?) 1'46 gone id Atigeille's
bedroom every eibiring during the fortnight she was at
otit house without my noticing his absence. It was at
the request of Mrs. Plummer that Eugenie was permitted
to come into our bed to be "petted," but it was greatly
against the wish of my husband. She was never allowed
to come actually inside the bed; hiit, (i 411; tinctei the
counterpane.. Et4::,'Y used to come into the bed also, and
M. titan used to make them say the first and last letter
of any article in the room 'that he Mentioned.' She
never exhibited the slightest symptoni of fear or
distress upon any occasion when,she was taken into.the
bed.. I remember Mrs. Plummer coming to the hotise
on the 25th of August, AM. 0: had plenty of, oppor-
tunities on that day of being Alone 'With 110 dairFhter.
Upon this day Mrs. Pititpnici wild tfiii. Eilgerna was
betrothed to their Oiiiniedical niaii, and the child s.aidi
"tei, add *hen I am seventeen I intend to marry him.'.'
Stephanie, the younger child, was left with us on this
night, and -when Mrs. Plummer left. she did so on the
most friendly terms. ': It is impossible for Mr. Hatell to
have committed any act of indecency in our bedroom
with the child without my seeing it. MiS, tiltiiii*Or
came,again Mc ditik 20th, aria said that she thought the
thiluderstorm of the previous night was •a judgment
upon her for separating 'herself from her children, and
she had resolved to take them away. ,Before glie Went
away she kissed me,, and (*Ara th be lrcry triendiy.
During the i'rhfcle time Eugenie Plummer was in our
haise. f never saw the slightest act of impropriety on
the part of my
_husband towards her. My husband
-handed me the letter he received from the Bishop, but I
did not:read it, and I was not aware of the particulars
of the riharge against him until he surrendertd himself.
On the 28th of October t wrote i 4 lef,,tei Wit 110tteen
referred to to lit's. Ilhiiitiitiei. trty iiiistutiti Ai(i. not
ibii bitit i was going to write, to her, and he did not
know the terms' of it. I remember Mr. Pratt, the
solicitor, coming to visit me at Wandsworth. He said
that he wished to speak to me alone.; and, after some
conversation, it was arranged that my husband should
surrender at Ridler's Hotel, Holborn; ' ~
.
Oross-eittteifited---:4he litild girl Lucy.' had been a
ni'eli4:et• of Or tamily,two or three years at the time the
Plummers came. We were very fond of that child, and
were very kind to it. Eugenie Plummer was treated
equally kindly, arid nothing was denied to her that was
reasonable for a child. I did certainly "stOti her beer."
(A laugh.) Her rilOthei7 unshed her Id licii heti; but
I corisideied It ids not iiYiiii.dr 14 6i. I generally
used to -et ini Tryst and dress Lucy, and during this
time my husband remained in bed, ' and the' child
Eugenie with. him, but I do not think she was ever
there longer than three or four minutes. I never saw my
husband kiss Eugenie while, she was in bed With him
My attention was not called in the art4litii§tiiiices iiiitil
nearly then iiinntitt afterskiarcis, and yet I can remember
that bring the fortnight Eugenie Plummer was in our
house my husband did not leave the room any evening
for so long a period as ten minutes. lam mire he was
never absent more than two or three minutes. I will
swear that he was ileyei ahseiif, fist' ?.,6 164 a 'period as.
ten niiiideOr. t Beheie that I enjoyed my husband's
entire confidence, and he never kept anything. secret
from me, and always consulted me in everything affect-
ing his interest, except in reference to this transaction.
When my husband received the 13fshop's letter, he
appeared very much distressed, and was about to put it
into his; pocket, but I insisted upon seeing it, and he
gave it to me. I only . glanced it over, but I saw that
it referred to some charge of indecent assault upon the
Plummers by my husband.
Mrs. Hatch gave her evidence with very great calm-
ness and self-pOssession, although she was 'evidently
deeply affected at the unhappy position of herself and
her husband. ,At the close of her examination the case
was adjourned, the father of the defendant 'renewing
the recognisance he had entered into in the sum of £5OO
for her appearance. on the following morning.
The proceedings were resumed on Thursday morning,
when Lucy Harriet Hatch, the adopted child of Mr.
Hatch, was examined. She is, a remarkably interesting,
pretty child, and gave her, evidence in a very clear and
straightforward manner. She said—l am eight years
old. I remember going to live with Mr. and Mrs.
Hatch, and I used to call them mamma and papa. I
remember Eugenie Plummer coming to Mr. 4atch's
with 'her father and mother. I first saw them in the
drawing7room. Mr. and Mrs. Plummer left about seven
o'clOCk in the evening. They did not take her before