The Express.
London, England, 1849-09-24 00:00:00

SUSPECTED POISONING OF A FAMILY AT

CHELTENHAM.

The ailionrsed unload on Elizabeth Oregoty wee
reamed as Friday, when, previously to the introduc-
tioa of the parties suspected, the Coroner awned
that, seeerding to the *vide's* then addicted, there
appeared to be a total 111:411110111 of motive co the
part of the lodger (Barnett) te injure this family, with whets
he had lived for sow tlai en goad Ones; but it had been
ramrod that he night have had a motive eljakst one indi•
vidital,
The court having been duly [crated, Botannel Bartlett
and Deborah Berson, the former also a lodger la the louse,
and his wife the *sok at Monson Villa, were brow ht up in
custody ; sad, as beteg asked whether they had 'any goes.
does to put, they both replied la the negative. Tee female
stating " No, I have not; I don't know anything about ft "
At the Ortninatioo of the previous inquiry, ponioss of the
LW of which the apple-dumplings were made, of the paste
when they were made sad dressed, and partaken of by the
family, and of the intestines of the deceased were forwarded
ander seal, and with the usual precaution', Mr. Hera-
path, the analytical &tenth; of Bristol, for the purpose of
applylag she necessary tests, with the view of ascritaining
whether poison was detestable in either.
Mr. Herapath sow stated the result of his experiments to
be that he had foiled uremia in quantities suildent to
destroy human life In the dour, in the paste, and is the in-
terims of the domed.
_

James Heylock deposed that be we. a labourer generally
employed at hedging and ditching. He worked for Mr.
Humph* of Puckhua. He was brother I. Mrs. Gregory,
and frequently went to see her. He had frequently met
Emanuel Benoit them. He used to work at the same
farm with him about two years ago. He we. a shepherd.
We have had a word or two : he did not leave because of
any quarrel with sae. He quarrelled with me. He
bad no reason to think Barnett hid any spite against
bin. Alter eating of these dumplings on Friday lost, I
woo taken ill as wklt as the rest. I ate a piece about the
eize of the top of my anger and swallo wed it. I had some bread
and cheese and cucumber before the dumpliep. About 20
minutes after I had eaten the dumpling I was ill. I felt II
pain in my chest. Something caught held of my tongue. I
was afterwards sick ; the bay was complaining of a nasty
taste in the dumplings, and I cut a piece off one of the
four which were in the dish. The sickness endured about
an hour. I took some of the mixture which was sent. I
don't know that Emanuel Barnett or his wife had ever quar-
relied with any of Mr.. Gregory's family. I have dined
with Bernett at that house before. We have all sat down
together. We have had dumplings. I don't know who
supplied the filar and apples on these occasions. On this oc
casion Barnett brought down the flour and apples. I had
nothing to do with provi 'Jag the fl .ur or the apples. 1
dare say I should have partaken of the dumplings tt I had
cot heard of their nasty taste. The lad when be tasted the
dumpling said something was in the crust which tasted hot
like
By By • yuror—l saw Barnett partake of some of the dual.
phog. He ate twice as much as I did. I saw hint spit out
the last minthful. I did net tee him spit out any but the
last. He was afterwards *Lk.
By the Coroner.—l bed not my pocket picked two years
iwo. I lost a watch but found it span. I never accused
Bement of taking it. I lost a watch the night before in the

ro
to
he to
ared i tinefrief.
Mr. Gregory, surgeon, said he saw the man showing the
different persons
pen:ras binthogehtt to the sotcp3et in
of them wanted
consequence
nit' man having dislocated the ball of the great toe.
By the Ceroner.—l have not been quite well since.
Caroline Gredery, a sister u: the deceased, de pored to vari-
ous threats used by Burnett against her uncle '• Keylock,"
and that while her sister was lying in a dangerous state, but
not dead, Mrs. B iroett came to sweep up his MOM, which was
unusual. At the beginning of the winter before last her brother
hurt his leg. 14r. Barnett brought something down stairs
to put upon his leg, He sail it was p.ison that he cured the
.hup with. It cured my brother's leg. About two
years ago he was sent to: to cure some sheep. She
heard him say he could not get it in Cheltenham,
he must send to Cirencester. The little bey ate of
the bulled meat. It was a pie that had been made at Mon-
son villa, a part of which was warmed up; the little boy wee
about to take some of the dumpling, but my mother seeing
the others so ill, threw the plate aw..y from him ; Mr. Barnett
never offered to remove it ; she has noticed that Mr. Barnett
was very fond of sugar, but on this occasion he to.•ls a very
small portion with the dumpling, so little that she should nut
imagine that he intended to eat much dumpling; she saw him
take a piece out of his mouth and throw it under the grate;
on the former oc.asion Barnett brought down the flout in a
basin; this was the first time that he brought it down in a
handkerchief ; from the appearance of the handkerchief she
should not think it had ever be h tied up in an ordinary way,
or that sod had been carried about in i•; when Barnett
brought down the B .ter in his handkerchief it was not tied up,
but be held it by the lour corners.; Barnett's wife came down
to their house between 9 and 10 o'clock and swept out his
room ; of er the ca ked dumplings were thrown away, Bar
uett came into the room where my mother and I were ; he
hut his sleeves tuck. d up ; he said, " 01, Mrs. Gregory, let
me put away those two raw dumplings." I said, " No,
mother, let them bide." My mother gave him the
dumplings. Ile took them out. I afterwards saw him
pumping for some minas. s. The pump is in the back
kitchen. It is against a wall, on the other side of which is
*e privy. There is • drain for the waste water 1. ailing
from the pump through the wall into the privy, so that by
pumping forcibly you drive the waste water through the
privy into the common s:wer. This has a tendency. to • ash
away anythirg in the privy. Between 9 and 10 is clock on
Tuesday en -ening last hire. Barnett was at our house. She
said to my mother, " I have heard it reported at Monson
Villa that I was jealous of my husband, and that I had
mixed the paean for him." She said, " if they won't let us
be peaceable in Vida world, the hoped they would meet in
the next. There was some sugar left after dinuer, which we
had for tea. Atter the dumplings were cooked I remarked
that the flour did not appear to b $ well mixed with the suet
—that there was something mut. ual about them. It was
not a light looking paste. It was more as if you had mixed
whltesiog with it.
Div.& Gee gory, the mother of the deceased, deposed tc
her remembrance of D. borah Birnett calling at her house
Aunt nine o'clock on the evening that this occurrence took
place. Sae was in her husband's room. She was sweeping
it with en ordiorry broom. Der hus'.and was there, sittirg,
to the best of her recollection, on the side of the bed. SLe
said it was very dusty and dirty. She said she would pay a
person to have it cleaned nut, and asked me to And a person
tor her. The wimess went off as (prickly as posatble on ac-
count of her children. It was not usual for Mrs. Barue't to
come to sweep the rooms. The last time she we. there, to
her knowledge, was at the termination of the holidays at
Manson Villa. She was only there a few minutes. She
heard Mrs. Barnett say, when they first came that her bus.
bawd woukt in his passion have doubled Ketoek up. She
sever heard Barnett say so She told Mrs. Arnett that it
she sp. ke agaisat her brother she spoke against her. She
might hove said the same to Mr. Barnett. She beard Di.
Brookes say they were extreme cues of cholera.
Dr. Brookes—l said it was like cholera ; the appearances
from anecic and cholera are very much the same, except in
one or two particulars.
Witness—l am not positive whether you said " extreme
eases of cholera " or " like cholera ;" it was something to
that effect.
The Coroner said the cote would not be complete until
they got some evidence to connect the parties with the pur-
chase of poison, and although the police had inquired at
various towns in reference to ti at point without success, still
as Cirencester had been mentioned it would be necessary to
institute inquiries there also.
After some further evidence as to the medical treatment
of the deeths.d, in which it was denied that they were
treated for cholera, the inquest was adjourned until Wed-
nesday next ; and the inquest on the brother of the deceased,
who died on the Sunday attar the death of his Maur, was ad-
journed to Thursday.

CASUALTIES ON BOARD THE SAPPHO.—By the West
India Mail steamer we learn that the Sappho, Com. Michell,
arrived at Vera from Camseachy, 15:h August, and sail d
thence again 16th. She has neither a lieutenant nor mat, ;
one of the former having died, the other being at sick
quarters; master very ill on board, and the captain havii g
a broken arm.

MONUMENT TO THE LATE BIsHOP.—We an-
noune, d last week that the mayor end some members of the
town council bed set on toot a subscription for a monument
in honour of our lamented diocesan. We are glad to see
that the names of a good many of our leading men, titles
and whip, churchmen and dimenten, are already added to
the list ; but we cannot foveae the expression of a wish that
some more fitting mode could be devised of commemorating
the virtues of the deceased, than a monument of brass or of
marble. A Model Lodging-house—an appropriate building
for !Lisa Stanley's Home—or something which should awe-
, taste the memory of the deceased with the benevolence which
he exercised while living, would, we think, be more in as
°ordinal with the character of Bishop Bewley, and more
congenial to the feelingh of a large proportion et the mourn-
ing public.—Norfolk New.
CHURCH RATES AT BURSLEM.—A general vestry
meeting of the inhabitants of this parish was held on Thern
day morning last, when it was proposed that the gfV. H.
I W. G. Armstrong should take the chair ; an amendment,
, was submitted and carried that Mr. Kennedy, •
" dissenter, should preside, who took his seat ac.ordingly. A
rate of fourpence in the pound having been proposed " for
the neeessary expenses of the churches of the perish for the
eAsuirg year," an amendment was moved that the meeting
be adjourned until that day twelve month,. After a stormy
discussion the amendment was carried, end recorded in the
book, and signed by the chairman. Tne senior churchwar-
den then read the judgment of Lord Chief Justice Denman
in the celebrated " Braintree " case. He said that as the
majority had refused to lay a rate, he wee of opinion that the
minority might remain, and levy the rate proposed. He then
read a form, prepared by h:m to meet the ease, and said that
he should ask the gentlemen in favour of the rate to sign
this form; and the rate b. iag leid, he ahould take the opi-
nion of counsel on the queatiun ; and if that opinion was, as
he believed it world be, that the rats was legal, he would
not shrink from his duty as a cburthwardfn in putting it in
force. A vote of thanks to the Chairman was passed unani-
mously. The Chairman, in returning thanks, observed that
he was not unprepared for the result of the meeting. The
law was unfortunately, he believed, against them. It was,
however, a complete farce to call together the parishioners
to decide as to the laying of a rate, and the majority having
decided against it, to confer a power upon a email minority
to do that which the majority had just decided ought not to
be done. It was turning the pyra uid on its apex. The
meeting then separated, after a disease:Am of two hour.,
leaving the minority to lay the rate, n .t, however, before a
parishioner had rimmed his eetermination not to pay it, and
invited his fellow-townsmen, who were of the same opinion,
to meet, and consult with him on the subject.