The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-11-27 00:00:00

THE WfifTECHAPEL TRAGEDY.

The trial of the brothers Henry and Thomas Wain-
wright—the elder, Henry, described in the calendar as
a brush manufacturer, thirty-seven years of age, and the
younger described as an ironmonger, aged thirty years,
commenced in the Oid Court, at the Old Bailey, before
Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, on Monday morning.
Henry Wainwright was charged with the wilful murder
of Harriet Louisa Lane, and in a second indictment with
the murder of "a woman unknown; and the charge
against Thomas was that he "did aid and abet, and
counsel and procore the said Henry Wainwright to do
and commit the said felony, and that he did also, well
knowing the said felony to have been committed,
feloniously receive, harboar, and maintain the said
Henry Wainwright."
Although the court did not open until ten o'clock,
there Were many applications at the doors for admis-
sion between eight and nine o'clock, and when at last
entrance was obtained the court was speedily filled
with ladies and
_gentlemen anxious to watch the pro-

gress of the trial:
It was not until five minutes past eleven o'clock that
the Lord ()hid Justice entered the Old Court, and
took his seat upon the bench, at the right hand of the
Lord May-or, who, as president of the Court, sat at
the principal.desk immediately beneath the sword of
justice, which hangs suspended from the wall.
As soon as the Lord Chief Justice had taken his
seat the prisoners were placed in the dock. Upon the
prisoners making their appearance all eyes were
naturally turned towards them, they, nevertheless,
maintained apparently perfect composure, although
their bearing was in every way respectful, and that of
men feeling the awful position in which they stood.
Both men looked well, but they seemed to have no
desire to communicate with each other, and remained
as far apart as the width of the dock would allow,
although Henry, at the commencement of the proceed-
ings, was in frequent communication with his attorney.
As soon as the jurors had been called over and had
answered to their names, and just before they were
sworn, one of them—a Mr. William Henry Collins—
addressed the Lord Chief Justice, and requested to be
excused from service, giving as his reason that although
he was unacquainted with the prisoners, both he and
his father were intimately acquainted with their
mother, and under the circumstances it would be
a very painful matter to him to sit upon the
jury. The Lord Chief Justice declared at once
that this was a reasonable application, and Mr.
Collins was allcwed to leave the box. Twelve jurors
were then sworn without challenge, and, all customary
preliminaries having been accomplished, the Attorhey-
General proceeded to open the case. (Almost as soon
as the learned gentleman had commenced his speeoh
the Lord Chief Justice gave directions that the pri-
soners should be provided with seats, and chairs were
accordingly placed for them in the dock.) The learned
gentleman's address was a careful resume of all the
facts arising out of the case, and it took 2i hours in
delivery, the Attorney-General being considerably
assisted in bringing all the circumstances clearly home
to the minds of the jury by a model of the warehouse
where the body of the unfortunate woman was buried.
The Attorney-General then stated the case to the jury, of
which the following is an outline :—He remarked that it
would be competent Co them to find Henry Wainwright
guilty of murder and Thomas guilty of being an accessory
before the fact or after the fact. After stating the facts re-
garding the relations of the prisoner Henry with Harriet
Lane, otherwise Mrs. King, counsel remarked that while
Mrs. King was living at Sidney-square a man called upon
her, who gave the name of Edward Frieake. On September
5, 1874, Mrs. King received a letter bearing the London
postmark which was in the following terms :—"Dear pet,—
E. F. is coming down at seven to-night, and will give you a
call with a messa,,,,e, &c., from me.- Yours, P. K." This man
was not Edward Frieake, an auctioneer, who had been a
friend of the prisoner Henry, and the, prosecution alleged
that he was the prisoner Themes. That Mrs. King thought he
was the auctioneer was shown by her writing a letter to him
at his:office in Coleman-street. Because of a disturbance in the
street early in September, in which Mrs. King, the prisoner
Henry, and another man was concerned, Mrs. Foster gave
her tenant notice to leave, which notice would expire on
September 9. There was therefore at this time an obliga-
tion impending upon Henry Wainwright to provide other
accommodation for Mrs. King and her children. Ile there-
fore had a motive for getting rid of her, and the theory of
the prosecution was that at that time he had formed a plan
and was making his preparations to get rid of her, and in-
tended, when she had disappeared, to lay her disappearance
at the door of Edward Frieake. Mrs. King induced Mrs.
Foster to let her remain two days longer, that was
to the 11th of September and with' money sup-
plied to her by the prisoner Henry she paid most
of her debts and took • her things out of pawn.
On September 10 the prisoner bought a hnnaredweight of
chloride of lime, and had it taken the next day to No. 216.
On September 11 Mrs. King kissed her children and said
goodbye, and that she was going to No. 216. That same
afternoon three workmen at the nt xt door in Whitechapel-
road, between five and seven o'clo,k, heard three shots fired
in rapid sm.cession. One of those shots' according to the
prosecution, murdered Harriet King. tier body was stripped,
buried in a grave previously'prepared under the floor of the
cellar, and covered with a layer of chloride of lime, either
with the idea that it would destroy the body, or that it
would prevent the exhalations from it being perceived. The
clothes were burned. Miss Wilmore, a friend of the deceased,
had been left .in charge of the children, and when Mrs.
King did not return she waited until luesday, and then
went to the prisoner Henry to inquire what had become of
her. He said she had gone to Brighton. When nothing
was heard of her; Miss Wilmore communicated with the
deceased's sister, Mrs. Taylor, and they went together to see
Henry Wainwright, who said he could not tell them where
Mrs. King was; that she left his house with Frieake, who
had come into a large fortune, and when the money was
spent they would probably come back again. A few days
later Miss Wilmore received a letter signed " E. Frieke," and
dated " Charing-cross Hotel," In which it was stated that the
writer was going to marry Mrs. King, and that they were
just starting for Dover. That letter was in the writing of
the prisoner Thomas. Miss Wilmore and Mrs. Taylor went
down to Henry the day the former received the letter, and
he said he had. received one to the same effect. On October
17 Miss Wilmore received a telegram from "Edward Frieke,
the Pier, Dover," stating, "We are just off for Paris." The
telegraph clerks at Dover and London would state that on
that afternoon three messages were sent by a man in the
name of Edward Frieke, to Miss Wilmore, to Henry Wain-
wright, and to the house of Thonias Wainwright; the copies
of the telegrams had been destroyed. Mrs. Taylor received
the next day a letter signed " P. King," which stated that he
had "news of them." All these statements, corroborating
one another as they did, somewhat satisfied the de-
ceased's female friends. Her father, however, was not
satisfied, and made further inquiries in January,
1875, through a man named Belem, who called on the auc•