The Express.
London, England, 1847-12-20 00:00:00

THE FATAL RIOT AT THE STOCKPORT

ELECTION. •
The inquest on James Brown, or Bowie, the man
killed in a collision between the partisans of Major Men-
land and Mr. Kershaw, during Wednesday night last, was
held on Saturday afternoon, at the Curt-house, Stockport,
before Mr. Hudson, coroner for the borough. A man named
John Hurst was in custody o.uring the investigation. Mr.
Vaughan, attorney, was for the prisoner, and Mr. Richard
Cubbett, attorney, Manchester, representea the friends of the
deceased and the Mainland party.
Mr. John Reiner, surgeon, said he had made spool mortsee
examination of the deceased. This gentleman described
the wounds, and said that the immediate cause
of death has been the effusion of blood at the
base of the brain, surrounding the upper portion of the
spinal marrow, which would be instantaneous.
Mr. W. H. Mellott, surgeon, said he assisted Mr. John
Reyner to make the post mortens examination, and agreed
with him as to the cause of death.
Betty Brown, wife of the deceased, raid they lived in
Health-street, Fanwood, and her husband was a labourer
in the crept y of the surveyors of highways for Stockport.
His age was 57. She saw him last alive on Wednesday
night, between eight and nine o'clock, in the Blue Pig, at
l'ortwood.
I. Wilkinson, Barlow-street, assietant mechanic to Mr.
J. Marsden, said, on Wednesday, about 8 o'clock, he left
home to walk about the streets, and went to Major Man-
land's committee-room, where they staid outside • groat
while, when there was a whole lot of men came out, and we
were all sent up the new road (Wellington-road). Do not
know who it was sent us ; it was a tall man ; could not say
whether he was a townsman. They all went in a procession
through several /Meets. When they left the major's corn.
mittee-room it was said they were going up to the Lyceum.
When see got to the Manchester Arms, near the Lyceum,
witne.s left them, and they went up to the Lyceum, march-
i• g three abreast, to the number of about 200. He did not
know any of the 200; they had no particular dress, but
many of them wore crow-nest hats. When he left them he
w. at to the other cod of the street. He was frightened of
inaii.g up with them, because he expected there would be •
row. He had not heard any one Pay there would be a row,
bat knew very well there would be, because they were
going up that street. Who nho gut to the other end of the
street both parties were fightio.g. The first thing he observed
was that both parties wire breaking windows, both the win-
dows of the Lyceum andof the major's committee-rooms.
He stood watching them. The fight lasted above
half-an-hour ' • but he left them before it was
over. Both parties fought with sticks called picking
pegs (pep used by weavers). He saw nothing else patticulat.
except the man kilted. The deceased came from
among the crowd, when he saw witness, towards
the entry where witness was standing. He had no-
thing in his band. Ile was running, as if to get
,way. He ran to the side of witness, and five persona fed-
i...red him, one of whom laid hold of him and the others
heat his head, with a picking peg. The deceased fell to the
ground ; three of the five men then ran away, and the other
two laid on to deceased. Only one hit him on the head
till the three had rue, and then the two others hit him on
the head while he was on the ground. The two men then
' ran away tojola the fight which was still g +lag on. Witness
then went up to the deceased. took him up by the coat collar.
Witness said he was dead. Two other men came up, iV at.
Bailey, • person in the court, was one of the two and they
carried him away. Witness then left ; the fight was still
going on. He knew one of the five men who ran out of the
crowd to beat deceased : the prisoner was that man. He
sew the prisoner, John Hurst, hit deceased on the head with
a picking peg. It was not him who hit him when he fell
down; but lie was one of the three who ran back into the
crowd. He hit the deceased on the head. He knew one of
the other men who hit the deceased on the head with a
picking; peg. That man was one of the two who remained,
and was the man who hit him when he fell. Witness had
men the prisoner before, the tame evening, at the
Red Bull, in Millgate, where they were breaking
the windows. He saw the other man there also.
It was said a man named Barlow had 5... e ordering of the
piquetting party. He was not piquetting in all the streeta, but
anywhere that he thought proper to go. Meant by piquet-
ting, watching about the streets. He did not know what he
was watching for. None of the 200 he was with were armed
with picking-pegs. The 200 people who had left Maraland's
ornninittee-room with him were at the Lyceum, in Welling-
ton street, when the fight took place. They were fighting
among the others. There were above 500 people in Web
lington-street when the fight was going on. Kershaw'' party
was the most numerous ; there was, perhaps, about 300 of
them. and about 200 of the other. They were not ranged on
either side, but were one amongst another. He knew one
party from the other by the "word" they had. The (pass)
word of the one was " blue," the other party's words were
"X. Y." Thus if one called out " X." and the other " Y,"
he judged from these cries which party they belonged to.
He heard nothing called out by the mew who attacked the
deceased. He heard the deceased call out ; he said he was
for "blue." He was coming towards witness at the
time ho said that, and the five men were following him at
the time. The principal part of the fighting was opposite
the Lyceum, and not opposite the entry where Major Mars-
tantl's committa-room was. by Drr. Tagyglasu . The On.
ceased fell flat on the flags of the footpath where he died.
There was great confusion and noise m the street at the
time, and the windows of the Lyceum were broken. Had
never seen James Hewn that night (the deceased), and did
not know that he had been with the major's party.
Frances Ilibbert stated thst deceased was coming up the
street, and the crowd came out of the Lyceum and
said " X." Deceased called out " blue," and then a
man came out of the Lyceum with a picking peg, and struck
him on the head, and if witness had not stood out of the
way, she would have had the blow he got. The man again
hit the deceased, who held his bands np, and said : " Have
mercy upon me !" then five or six others rushed out and
" lathered" him till he got to an entry beyond where witness
stood, where he fell down, and two or three laid on him
whilst down, She said to another young woman : "
die ; help him into our house." Two men cams and carried
him into witness's house, and he died in about five minutes.
The man who gave deceased the first blow is the prisoner.
She saw him hit the man after he was down, and then he
ran into the Lyceum.—By Vaughan : She had heard the
last witness say the prisoner did not strike the first blow:
that was not the truth.
William Kitchener sew a man run from the crowd with
three or four men following and beating him. He was
knocked down, when some of them left him, and returned to
the crowd : two others remained beating bin), and afterwards
they went towards the Lyceum.
W. Bailey assisted to carry deceased into a house,
and remained with the body. He belonged to neither
party. About four o'clock in the morning the prisoner
Hurst came in, and appeared quite shocked when he saw
him, and said " What a pity !" but he did not knew him.
J. Lyon, W. Wood, and Esther Mather, were examined,
but their evidence was not important.
The Coroner here adjourned the proceedings till Wednes-
day, and the prisoner was remanded.

IRELAND.
Demur, Disc. 18.
We had a short pease from murder. One week past,
and we were all gratulation at the prospect of order
and the restoration of better feelings to the wicked
men who are platting scourges for their own backs.
Again the old violence breaks upon us in all its force.
The country papers bring intelligence of three brutal
murders, one in Limerick and two in Longford, with
as attempt to assassinate in the neighbouring county
of Leitrim. The Longford murders are of peculiar
atrocity, the victims being two old and infirm pen-
sioners. The motive for this brutality can be traced
no deeper than the harking of poor Wilkinson's
cur dog. These and similar acts of barbarism
must compel the executive to suppression
by all means within its power. Already the
special commission for the south, to which I have
I recently alluded, is talked of as an immediate cer-
tainty. The judges named are the Chief Baron and
Judge Ball, while the prosecution for the crown, will,
it is said, be conducted by the new attorney and soli-
citor-general. The Nenagh Guardian suggests that
the north and eolith ridings should exchange pri-
soners, but the change of venue would be unnecessary,
as Tipperary, jurors, south or north, will readily con-
vict on sufficient evidence.
Lord Farnham includes the Rev. Mr. Hughes, of
Claremorris, Mayo, among the instigators to crime
" down west." The accusation is based on a speech
delivered at a meeting to petition for tenant-right,
and reported in the Consereatire Journal. The rev.
gentleman, in a long letter to his lordship, and pub-
lished
in the Fiveman, denies the language alto- I
gethcr, and vouches to warranty, the chairman of
the meeting, Mr. John Denis Browne, and many
others whose names are attached, to a formal denial.
The case of the Rev. Mr. Hughes is a strong one.
In other quarters, we find the catholic clergy exerting
their influence to keep down crime. In the King's
county, where the infection has not widely spread,
the Rev. Mr. Healy, of Boveen, denounced from the
altar some ruffians who had robbed a soldier of his'
gun, and called upon all well-disposed persons to
cooperate with the police in eradicating such public
disturbers. Other clergymen in the same county
are pursuing the same patriotic course. At Banna-
gher, on Sunday last, the Rev. Mr. Smith tore down
a notice calling on the peasantry to march en name
on the poor-house. Ile warned them emphatically
against such follies.
The Earl of Clarendon will hold his first levee,
since his arrival in Ireland, early in the ensuing
month.

STATE OF THE COUNTRY.
The country papers to•day bring accounts of two mur-
ders and two attempts at murder, one of which is likely to
terminate fatally. On Thursday night, the house of a far-
mer, named Murphy, twelve Jades from Limerick, was en-
tered by an armed party, who allot kluiphy and robbed the
house of a nun of 301. The object of She party would seem

to have been plunder, es the unhappy Murphy was a man in
comfortable circumstances. He probably offered resistance
—and hence his fats. Murphy was • man of large stature
and great physical power. He has ail surviving bro-
thers, who from their great strength and stature are -ailed in
badinage the" preemie" (little boys). The other murder
occurred in Longford. About six miles north of the town of
that name lies Sallinalee, where dwelt two pensioners, Sa-
muel Wilkinson and William Carson. Both were sitting
together by the fire. Twelve men came to the house
armed. Five remained outside, seven entered, of whom
two immediately presented and fired. Wilkinson and Car-
son fell, and the party departed, believing doubtless they
hod despatched both. Unfortunately, so far at Wilkinson
was concerned, they judged truly. He died at
ten o'clock that night, several balls or sings having entered
his breast. Carson was wounded severely in the hack of the
neck, but not dangerously. The Longford paper, in noticing
this murder, does not suggest any motive fur it whatever. In
the same county, and, indeed, in the same vicinage, on
Wednesday night, a murderous attack was made on a man
named William Sheerin. The Longford Journal suggests it
was because at his trade of a miller be has been more prosper-
ous than others. The following details of the attack this
journal graphically gives : " Shecrin was sitting at the fire
about half-past seven o'clock, at the other side of which was
a small wall, as customary in country houses, to screen it
from the wind of the door •' in this wall was a
small square bole, and the first intimation of an
attack was seeing the muzzle of a gun presented
through this hole, and within • few feet of his
head. On seeing this Skeerin stretched over to get his gun,
which was standing the other tide of the firtplace, when the
fellow immediately Reed, shattering Sheerin's arm, shoulder,
and head, from the effects of which he now lies badly, but,
we hope, not mortally wounded. At the time the fellow
presented the gun at Shemin another ruffian went to an
end window (where he could command a view of every per-
son in the house), and presented a gun through it, declaring
he would blow the brume out of any person in it that stirred.
Having, as they thought, finished Sheerin, who is a anent
inoffensive and proper man, they went off quietly, without
any effort being made to apprehend them, although there
were three men and a servant boy in the house at the time."
An attack, doubtless intended to he fatal, though happily
not so, was made on Tuesday night on two men named
Maguire and Minogue, employed in a mill a mile or two
from Nenagh. Three men aimed attacked Maguire in the
presence of Minogue, beating him severely with sticks. He
defended himself as well as he could, but was at length
knocked down. He is severely—one of his legs being frac-
tured—but not fatally injured. On going away and passing
Minogue, who was terroustricken, they called to the latter
to "turn his head aside." With this he compiled,
when one of the scoundrels as he pa red discharged
a pistol at him, wounding him in the head and neck.