The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-02 00:00:00

THE REGISTRATIONS.

LONDON.—(Before Mr. *Christie, yesterday.)—ln
die parish of St. Mary-the-Virgin, Aldermanbury, a case oc-
curred which strikingly illustrates the care that is neces-
sary on the part of parish officers in preparing their rates
and lists, end the very small degree of inadvertence which
may unwittingly disfranchise a voter. Mr. Oodfroy claimed
be to inserted on the register as the rated occupier of pre-
mises of sufficient value. Mr. Smith and Mr. Ledger sup-
ported the claim. It was a case of successive occupation,
the claimant having removed from one set of premises to
another without any interval. He had been duly rated for
both premises ; in the last rate which had been made prior
to his change of occupation, his name and the description
of the premises appeared on the rate-book in ink, but
pencil line hail been drawn across the name. This had
been done by the overseer or vestry clerk, after the remo-
val, as a private memorandum of his own, that Mr. God-
frey was not to be included in the next rate for those pre-
mises, and not in any way invalidating that rate which the
claimant had paid. It was proposed to call the officer to
prove this fact ; but the barrister held that he could
not receive parole evidence to contradict or ex-
plain what appeared on the face of the rate,
which he said must speak for itself. Mr. Smith said
it was an extremely hard case, and wished to take the
opinion of the Court of Common Picas on the point; but
Mr. M'Christie did not feel himself at liberty to grant a
case. Oa the preceding day the barrister gave his decision
on an important question which had been raised as to the
construction of the act of last session, 14 and 15 Viet., cap.
14, commonly known as the Compound Householders' Act.
Several claims were involved in this decision, including
those of James Pyßuch, the occupier of a warehouse in
Basinghall-street; Walter Kayson, office, Guildhall-
chambers; James Bairusfather Scott, office, Basinghall.
street; William King, warehouse, Sambrook-court; and
Clement Sharp, office, Basingliall-street ; who had claimed
to have their names inserted on the list of the parish of St.
Michael, Bassishaw. It appeared on the argument that
they had claimed to be rated on the 28th of September,
18.50; on the following day a rate was publlblied, from
which they were omitted ; but their names appeared on all
the subsequent rates. The overseer had omitted them from
the list by reason of their nut appearing on the September
rate. The first clause of the Compound Householders' Act
provides—" That, from and after the passing of this act, no
person so claiming to be rated shall be required to
make any further claim is regard to any future
rate upon the premises in respect whereof his
right to vote in any such election as aforesaid
shall arise, but shall be entitled to be registered as a voter,
provided be shall have occupied the premises in the man-
lier," &c. This act received the royal assent in July; end
the question now raised was, whether persons claiming to
be rated in September, 18-30, ten months before the passing
of the act, were entitled to be on the list. After referring
to the case of " Edmonds v. Lawley" (6 Meeson and Welsby,
28.5), and other cases, to show that acts of parliament
which, according to the ordinary construction, were pros-
pective, had been held to have a retrospective operation,
especially in cases where the disturbance of vested rights
was concerned, the learned gentleman said he must hold
that in this case the parties claiming to be rated had from
that date a vested right to be on the register, subject to
that right being disturbed by the overseers omitting to in-
sert their names. This they had done, by omitting the
claimants from the rate made on the ollowing day, the
20th of September. There was nothing in this act to admit
of a narrow or limited construction • its whole scope and
object was to remove restrictions an to facilitate the exer-
cise of the franchise. Looking at all the law and dicta on the
subject, and remembering that these registration acts were
to be construed in their largest sense, and never
strained against the franchise, and that wherever there
was a doubt, the decision was to be in favour of
the voter, he thought he should beat carry out
the intentions of parliament by holding that these
claimants, having already claimed to be rated as required
by law, now that this act had been passed, were to be con-
sidered as having been relieved from the necessity of
making any further claim, and from being any longer
subject to the loss of their franchise upon that point by the
omission of the overseers. Ile should therefore insert their

names upon the register. Mr. Brown, the conservative
agent, wished to have a case for the opinion of the court
above, observing that the point was an entirely new one,
and that the effect of the construction now given to the act
would be to flood the register with lodgers. It appearing
that no notice of opposition to the claims, as required by
the 39th section of the Registration Act, had been given
before the hearing of the claims, the Barrister said Mr.
Brown had no locus stendi, and he could not grant a case.
FINSBURY.—PRIVILECES OF TUE BBETIIREN OF
THE CUARTEIt-liOnill.—Yesterday morning, J. F. Mac-
queen, Esq., the barrister appointed to revise the lists of
voters fur the borough of Fiusbury, again sat in the 'Vice-
Chancellor of England's Court, Lincoln's-inn, for the pur-
pose of giving judgment on a subject that has created con-
siderable interest, and which, us it might affect many other
institutions throughout the kingdom, he had taken *time to
consider. On taking his seat the revising barrister delivered
the following judgment;—" By the 27th section of the act
passed to amend the representation of the people, the
right of voting for city and borough members is defined.
The section enacts that every male person, of lull
age and capacity, occupying as owner or tenant
any house, warehouse, counting-house, shop, or
other building, of the clear annual value of 10i., within
the limits of any parliamentary city or borough,
shall, if duly registered, enjoy the elective franchise. But
this enactment is accompanied by a proviso that no such
person shrill be so registered unless he have occupied such
premises for twelve calendar months next previous to the
last day of July; nor unless, where the premises are situ-
ated in a parish or township, rated for the reliefof the poor,
such person shall have been so rated in respect of such pre-
mises during such twelve calendar months, nor unless he
shall have paid on or before the 20th of Jul', all poor-ratee
and assessed taxes which shall have become payable from
him in respect of such premises previously to the Gth day
of April then next preceding; nor finally unless he shall
have resided for calendar months previous to the list
day of July within such city or borough, or within
seven statute miles thereof. I suppose it may be
judicially assumed that Mr. Banister is a nude
person, and that ho is of full age and com-
petent capacity. It is admitted that he occupies a
house or other building of more than the requisite annual
value within the borough of Finsbury. And tt is clear that
he does not occupy it as servant or bailiff to any one, but as
' owner or tenant of the premises, that is to say, in the
character prescribed by the statute. It will follow, then,
that if I now put Mr. Banister's name on the register, he
will become entitled to vote for the election of a member.
But I am interdicted from doing so, unless I find that the
requisites prescribed by the proviso of the 27th section are
satisfied. Now it appears in the first place that he has oc-
cupied the premises for twelve calendar months previous to
the last day of July, as required by that proviso. It appears,
in the second jilace, that the premises in respect of which
he claims registration are not ' situate in any parish or
township rated for the relief of the poor.' And conse-
quently he neither has been, nor could have been, so rated
in respect of such premises ; he is therefore within the
exception of the proviso. It appears, in the third place,
that no poor rates or assessed taxes had become payable from
him in respect of such premises, the fact being, as I under-
stand it, that this gentleman's chambers in the Charter-
house are, exempt from poor rates, because they are extra-
rochial, and from assessed taxes because they are either
below the standard of taxation, or arc saved from taxation
as ' being provided for the reception and relief of noor per-
sons ; ' so that in this respect no default is imputable to the
claimant. In the fourth and lost place, the statutory obliga-
tion of residence has been satisfied, Mr. Banister having for
years had no other home but the premises in question. All
the requirements therefore, of the 27th section, both in the
enacting part and in the proviso, seem to be fully met and
answered by the ease of the claimant, unless there be some-
thing in his *talus as one of the Brothers of the Charter-
house that must exclude him from the franchise. It is said
he lives on charity ; so likewise do the fellows of a college.
They live on charity, if by charity is meant the bounty of
their founders; but they are not on that account excluded
from civil rights, or deemed incapable of exercising the pri-
vileges of citizens. By the Deed of Foundation the Eighty
Brothers of the Charter-house are to be gentlemen by
descent, merchants ruined by the disasters of commerce, or
soldiers mutilated in the service of their country. From tho
moment of their appointment they are independent. They
cannot be displaed• or disturbed at the caprice of a gover-
nor. They seem to me to have a higher estate than is re-
quired for the purposes of this legislation. I am, therefore,
of opinion that Mr. Banister's claim is well founded ; and
I comply with it accordingly." The name of John George
Fraiue Banister was then inserted, and the revising barris-
ter having signed the lists, the business of the Finsbury
re titration was brought to a close. The result of this
i judgment will be next year to admit to the franchise 80
" poor brethren" of this establishment.
IlenvonnsnlnE.—The revision of the lists of the
Luton district took place on Saturday. Messrs. Day, Hunt,
and Bailey, attended for the Tories; Mr. Holland for the
liberals ; and Mr. Buntems on behalf of the Freehold Land
Society, the claims of some of the members being objected
to. On the name of Mr. James Taylor, of Birmingham,
being taken, Mr. Buntems took an objection to the notice,
the direction on the outside of the duplicate not being
exactly like that on the original. The Barrister thought
that the notice would do, as the insides of both notice and
duplicate were alike. Mr. Bontems cited the case of
" Birch and Edwards" to show that the direction on the
back of the duplicate must be the same as that upon the
notice. The Barrister, after looking at the case, decided
that the notice was bad, and the name was retained. The
claims of the Freehold Land Society were all sustained
except three. In these cases the barrister was not quite
satisfied with the evidence as to value.
itERTFORDSHIRE.—The revision of the lists of
voters for this county closed on Saturday at Stevenage. The
following is the result of the day's revision :—Liberal gain,
claims, 2.5 ' • objections, IS-43. Tory gain, claims, 13 ;
objections, 5-18. The result of the revision fur the whole
county is as follows:—Liberal gain, claims, 277 ; objections,
265-542. Tory gun, claims, 323; objections, 140-463.
Net liberal gain, 79.

FEMALE CONWCTS.—The Anna Maria, female con-
vict ship, in charge of Surgeon Superintendent M'Crea, at
present lying off the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, has taken
on board about 200 female couvicta, several of whom have
their eh 'droll with them, for conveyance to Hobart Town.
The majority of the convicts are of Irish extraction, and
mostly from Liverpool. There are two, however, on board,
each under sentence of 14 years' transportation, in conse-
quence of articles being loved in their possession which
they had received from their male ansociaUe of the Uckfield
gang. A boy, the offspring of one of these females, was
put
on board yesterday, to accompany hiss mother to Hobart
Town. The child was born in gaol.

THE MURDER AND SUICIDE. AT

CAMBERWELL.

The scene of the dreadful tragedy announced
the Express of yesterday evening continues to attract
numlscrs of persons, anxious to learn the particulars of the
mournful event. We proceed to give some additional de-
tails. The house where the catastrophe occurred is situated
at the corner of Queen's-place and George-street, Wynd-
ham-road; the locality being about a quarter of a mile
from the Walworth turnpike-gate, and rather remarkable
for the general poverty of its aspect. A visitor, in passing
through the street, can scarcely help observing how nume-
rous are the small shops in it, and amongst them those kept
by the humblest class of grocers are chiefly conspicuous.
The shop of the deceased Fawcett is one of the best in the i
street. The name of his predecessor i, still over the door,
and "Wyndham House" is painted on the house in large
characters. Immediately over the door are the words
" Benjamin Stockhant, licensed dealer in tea, coffee, to-
bacco, snuff," &c. There are six rooms in the house,
and the shop has a double frontage. At the back is the
wash-house, where, under the sink, the murderer was found
with his throat cut ; and further behind is a pretty garden,
well stocked for the period, and about 60 feet in length,
into which Fawcett was dragged by police-constable
Sherwin. . .

There is considerable conflict between the accounts in cir-
culation in reference to the money which Fawcett paid, or
undertook to pay, for the stock and good will. One state-
ment, for example, was to the effect that he had paid 701.
all that he possessed in the worlil—and that the discovery
that the business was far less than he had expected, led
him to commit murder and suicide. According to another
and more credible account, he hail engaged to take the
stock at a valuation of 351., and the good will at 151.,
and for the whole he had given a promissory note of 50/.,
which was payable, but not paid, on Monday at noon.
Whichever statement may approach nearest to the truth, it
appears evident so far that the prtrenzy wnich terminated so
sadly was directly connected with the entrance upon a new
undertaking.
During the whole of Saturday Fawcett was occupied in
taking stock, with the air and manner natural in any one so
situated. On Monday evening, the very night before the
murder, ho visited Mr. Conway, the landlord of the Prince
Albert Tavern, in George-street, and during this visit he
smoked a pipe and spoke cheerfully to the innkeeper of his
prospects. On this occasion, while speaking to Mr. Con-
way, he referred to some tea with which he hail sap-
plied him in the course of the day, saying, " 1 am
sorry I sent in your tea in such a way, but my ten
papers have not yet come in. It will he all right next
time, however ; and you'll find that I'll serve you better
than anybody else." The only repay which Mr. Conway
made to this apology was that " he didn't care about the
paper so long as the article was tea and he had the weight."
Fawcett added, that "as he was a stranger he was sure
the landlord would do his best for him." Mr. Conway
said he would, and thereupon introduced the deceased to
several of the most respectable neighbours. In addition to
the three children whose lives lie attempted to take, in
two cases with such Intel success, Fawcett had two grown-
up daughters. One of these, about 20 years of age, is ap-
prenticed to a respectable dressmaker in Queen-street, Ox-
ford-street ; the other, who is about 17, is stated to be in
service. Intelligence of what has occurred was c.a.
veyed to the eldest daughter yesterday evening by Mr.
Lewis, a baker, of Wyndham-road ; and it led to a
very which tends to surround the whole affair with a fear-
fully peculiar kind of interest. The informant said to the
daughter, " I um sorry to tell you that your father is
dead." Ou hearing this, the daughter exclaimed, in great
agony, "Oh, my God ! has he committed suicide—has he
committed suicide ?" Mr. Lewis then gradually revealed
to her the whole of the particulars ; and he thus elicited
from her the painful facts that he had on a former occasion
attempted suicide by drowning, and that both his father
and brother had actually committed suicide.
The police constable who first entered the premises found
on the person of the deceased a five-pound note, and in the
till about 2s, in coppers. This is all the money that was
found on the premises. Yesterday a careful examination
was made by the eldest daughter of the deceased's papers,
and amongst them were found all the documents relating to
the transfer of the business. The house remains, for the
present, in the charge of the police. Mrs. Fawcett is staying,
in a state of complete distraction, at the house of a neigh-
boar named " Lee," and here, also, is her child Mary Ann.
It was gratifying to learn, on inquiring at the house of Mr.
King, the surgeon who attends her, that this sole survivor
of those who were attacked, is likely to recover, at least
that the wound itself is not likely to have a fatal termination.