The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-19 00:00:00

THE POISONINGS AT CLAVERING.

ADJOURNED iNtIUE.,T.—The adjourned inquest
into the deaths of Joseph and James Che,hain, the children
alleged to have becu poisoned by their mother, was resumed
yesterday morning at half-past ten o'clock, before C. C.
Lewis, Lsq., the coroner, at the Fox and Hount:s Inn. The
jury-room was tilled with respectahie inhabitants, and the
house was surrounded during the day by a large number of
people.—Mr. Hawker, solicitor, watched the proceedings on
the part of Sarah Cheaham.
Philip Chesham, the eldest child of Sarah Cheaham,
deposed that lie remembered the deaths of his brothers
Joseph and Janes ; that he got home about seven o'clock on
the Saturday night before Joseph died ; went to bed about
an hour arta he got home, and slept in the same room with
his brothers ; had some supper before he went to bed. Ile
bad a dog which died shortly before the death of his elder
brother ; he never gave it a " mesa," or any part of a mess
for supper the night before he died.—Coroner: hied you
any conversation about that time with a person named Bar-
ker, about our mother carrying poison about with her 'r—
Witness : I never had. Father and mother were out the
whole of the day on which the elder child died. He bad
never seen acy arsenic in his father's house, and never knew
him ti have any-for the purpose of destroying rats. He bad
never known his mother to have had any, although he had
heard his father say something about " poisoning stuff " fur
the rats, as they had a large quantity about the house; that
was previous to his brother's decease. Was a little ill before
his brother's death, and took /some powders his mother
gave him. Had not taken any gruel or " mess" that morn-
ing. Had had, with his younger brother, some conversation
on this matter, but he did not say he (witness) bad managed
the business very well during the inquiry.
Mrs. Ann Deardes was r. called ; she had omitted to state
that one day as she was passing Cheaham" house, the
accused woman accosted hi r, and said, "I count I shall soon
hang upon Chelmsford gallows, and be buried beneath it."
That was aft.sr the death of the children. Since that event
Chesham had appeared wild and comical. Her eyes always
appeared as though they were starting out of her head, and
she was constantly crying about her boys.
Charles Cole, a labourer, was called, and manifested great
reluctance to being sworn, repeatedly declaring that he
" Know'd nothing about it." Having at length been pre-
vailed upon, he deposed in answer to the coroner, that he
had had some conversation with John Chesham, the second
boy of the accused woman, but what passed on that occasion
" had quite slipped out of his memory."
James Low, a ratcatcher, repeated his testimony that the
woman Chesham hid asked him for some arsenic, but
whether that was before er alter the death of the children
he could net recollect, although he thought it was before.
He did not give her any, because he thought he should not
get paid for it.
The Rev. G. J. Brooke, vicar of Clavering, deposed that
he knew both the boys. Recollected heating of the death of
Joseph and James, when he called at Chesham's house. Oa
that occasion he saw the mother and her daughter. She
told him, in reply to his questions, that one of the children,
if not both, had died from violent intlammatior, of the lungs.
She complained of Mr. Thomas Newport's treatment of the
elder boy, who had been severely beano by him. Perfectly
recollected the boys being buried nt one coffin, his (the rev.
gentleman's) permission havi-.4 been obtained. He per-
formed the service, to the beet of his belief, on Seturilay,
January 25, 1845. Is.ie saw the coffin and the children
also when they wer•J exhumed, and knew they were taken
from the 'game reeve in which they were placed. When he
called at Cheitsain's house he recollected seeing one of the
surviving be.ys sitting in the chimney-corner very ill.
A jnro*: asked the surgeon who had attended the boys,
whether he had ever given the accused woman reason to he-
lms:, that the boys had died from inflammation of the lungs?
—The surgeon replied that he had not.
Susan dreen stated that on the Thursday night previous
to the last sitting of the jury, she heard the boy John Cheat-
hem talk to Cole about the evidence he was to give et the
inquest. The boy replied," Oh, I know what to say, for my
mister has told me." Cole works at Mr. Thomas Newport's.
(sensation.) The boy John Cheaham was confronted with

___'',!^Jo who did not attend any school at all, W 111.1: an, -
of those who did, were receiving anything but a minutes, from a want of water. Meanwhile the flames made open a uoor ior grcal• CALTII. V 4 4W•kj • a• • •••-v - _--