The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-16 00:00:00

VroVinuai.

AN UNUSUAL NUMBER OF MURDERS are reported
this week. At Bradford a horrible case of love, re-
venge, murder, and suicide is told. On Monday an
assistant bailiff, one Charlton, fell in love with a
widow, a Mrs. Holroyd, residing at Liozet green.
Jealous of his rival, a man named Normanton, who
on that evening met Charlton and Mrs. Ho!royd
walking home from a temperance meeting and
stopped to talk to Mrs. Holroyd, Charlton accom-
panied her home, murdered her in her sitting-
room, then rushed home, took a farewell of his
children, and drowned himself in a mill pond. The
Coroner's jury returned a verdict of" Felo de se." Thu
body of Charlton was the same night interred with-
out funeral rites.—At Canterbury, on Thursday,
another horrible case of revenge and murder
occurred. One Stephen Fox, a planemaker, engaged
to be married to a handsome girl, the daughter ol a
bricklayer, was dismissed by his mistress upon her
discovering him to be the father of an illegitimate
child. He immediately took steps to revenge him-
self. He appears to have purchased, or to have
possessed, a brace of pistols, and in the presence of
an acquaintance deliberately to load them on Wed-
nesday night, swearing that he would shoot Miss
Hadley. He was seen from time to time that night
loitering about the house. Information was given to
the police ; but they only told bim to " move off."
The girl appeared frightened, and slept not at her
mother's house, but with the wife of a gardener, ono
Gurney. At five in the morning Gurney got Ul•,
reconnoitred the neighbourhood, and could seenothing
of Fox. We quote the witness's words at the inqueA
held the same morning :
About seven o'clock I accompanied the deceased towards
Vauxhall, where she was going to work. Just as we reached
the last gate of the cavalry barracks, Fox rushed out front
a lane close by, and presented two pistols, one at me, and
the other at the deceased, at the same time saying, " If you,
Gurney, come one step further, I will blow your brains
out." I stood still, but the deceased crossed towards the
hedge, and got by him. He was in the centre of the road.
He ran across the road after her, and fired both pistols at
her. Having done it he tried to run away, but I followed
him, took the pistols from him, and then, with assistance,
took him to the station-house at once, 1 saw the deemed

MAY 16, 1857.

fall. I saw the man take her away. While going to the
station•house, Fox said, " I am only sorry I had not more
of these things, or a revolver, and you would not have got
away, as I did not mean to be taken."
Mr. Andrews, surgeon, deposed that he found the
deceased in a dying state, occasioned by a pistol-
shot wound, the ball of which had passed through
the upper part of the thigh, making its exit at the
back part of the thigh. The wound was caused by a
bullet, according to the best of his judgment. She
died in a few minutes after she was wounded, upstairs
on the bed, from the hemorrhage. There was a
flight wound on the fingers of the left hand. When
the coroner had summed up, the jury, after a few
moments' consideration, returned a verdict of
" Wilful murder " against Stephen Fox. The pri-
soner was examined before the magistrates the same
afternoon. The evidence was similar to that given
at the inquest. When it was concluded the prisoner
was asked what he had to say in answer to the charge.
He replied :

Of course the reason why I did it was because she de.
ceived me. I had promised her marriage, and she con•
seated. I went to her house on Monday evening, but she
was not at home. I left about nine o'clock. I went again
on Tuesday at six o'clock, and she was not at home then.
I went there again, and stopped till a quarter past ten,
when she returned home. I went into the front room and
asked her the reason of this unpleasantness. She said it
was my own fault. I said, "Be it so." I said, " Give me
a decided answer, yes or no, and I will leave you for ever."
She said, " No, Stephen, I will meet you tomorrow
(Wednesday) evening precisely at eight o'clock." She did
not meet me, however. This morning at seven I saw her
again. She said, " Stephen, forgive me." I said, " No, I
can't.' I had kept company with her two years, and we
never had a miss•word till last Tuesday evening.

The prisoner was fully committed for trial.—The
third murder was committed at Wokingham. A
man named John Blackwell, a shoemaker living in
the town, had recently exhibited violent religious
delusions, and the parish officers had determined to
remove him to a lunatic asylum. On Wednesday
night a man named Rance was appointed to sleep
with him to prevent mischief. Rance agreed with
two men occupying cottages on either side of Black-
well's that if he required assistance in the night he
should knock loudly on the walls. Soon after mid-
night one of the neighbours was awoke by a loud
noise. He went to Blackwell's cottage, and saw
Blackwell standing over Rance, who was lying on
the floor quite dead. Being frightened, he went
into his own cottage, and shut the door, at which
the maniac presently knocked, saying, " I have
killed the devil, and I am the king of kings."
Blackwell then went away, and was not found till
Thursday morning, when he was seen kneeling in
the street and praying in an incoherent manner.
From the appearance of Rance's body, it seemed as
if he had been first knocked down, and then bad re-
ceived several severe cuts in the throat and hand.
The maniac's own account of the matter before the
magistrates was as follows:
That man offered to be my protector, and wished me to
sleep on. When I had a certain evidence in my mind
that eternity was coming, I couldn't sleep. I got out of
bed, but he pulled me back. He said," You feel warm ; "
and I said, " I don't feel everlastingly warm." I had a
presentiment that he was a devil, and I. determined to kill
him. I struck him a blow, which almost levelled him, but
the second did quite. I then got a knife, just as he
managed to get the door open, and stuck him in the neck.
The knife didn't cut, but I managed to hag and jag away
till I had done the job.
The prisoner was removed to the county gaol.