The Express.
London, England, 1856-12-06 00:00:00

DOUBLE MURDER IN YORKSHIRE.

—.—
ROTHERHAM, FRIDAY Nicur.

Another of those terrible crimes which, unhappily,
have lately become common, was this morning dia.
snored to have been committed at the village of
Bolton-upon-Dearoe, 'butt eight miles north of
Rotherham. The victims an Luke White, aged GI,
sad Elisabeth, his wife, aged 60. The aged couple
resided alone, Whit* acting as postmester of the place, sod
carrying on the business of a druggist and grocer. The house
is in the Tillage street, and consists of a shop with a parlay
behind, and also a kitchen on the ground floor. The coo-
sezion between the shop and the house is by an inner door
in the right-hand corner of the atop into a passage; that
passage runs sing the back of the shop, and then along the
aide of the parlour to the kitchen. Along ono aide at the
sad of the shop is the counter, with an opening in it at
the angle opposite the door into the passege ; the kitchen
is the room in which White and his wife ordinarily
Used. White has for some years been a local preacher
among the Wesloyans, and of late has been in the habit of
sitting up reading till eleven or twelve o'clock at night. He
usually closed the shutters and his 'hap at dusk, leaving the
door unfastened till about ten. During the evening a lamp
burnt upon the counter, and when any customer came in h.
would go from the kitchen into the shop, carrying a candle.
He was lest seen alive a little before ten o'clock on Thurs.
day night by a girl named Swallow, who called to purchase
some candles. Oa Friday morning the shop was not opened
as until, end a woman named Dawning, who wanted to
purchase some articles, tried the door, and found it nese.
need. On walking into the shop she was horrified to find
White lying dead in a pool of blood at the opening of the
counter, which communicates with the inner door. •

candlestick Mood upon the counter, with the candle burnt
down to the socket. The *ld man's epecteclas lay among
the blood on the flier; the oil lamp on the counter bad
burnt out. Mn. Downing raised an alarm, and Mr. John
Davy and others cams is. It was found that White had
been struck about the head and face by some heavy instru-
ment, which had *dieted tome severe outs. He appeared
to have been struck down just as be reached the counter
cad set down limped*. Passing into the bean, the body
of Hrs. White was fond in the passage just outside the
kitchen door. She lay with her bead towards the shop,
and

a candle and candlestick lay separated, u if they had
fallen from her beads. Her death had also been caused by
frightful wounds on the head and face, which had bled
profusely.

On ezamining the shop a cupboard was found to bare
been broken open, but whether anything had been taken
from it was not apparent. White was in the habit of keep-
lag his money in a canvas bag in his shop desk, which was
found unlocked and the bag empty. There were no marks
of violence about it. Oa ezamiciag the pockets of the old
man, a sovereign in a leathern purse wu found in his right-
band trousers pocket, and 16s. 2d. in the lathand pocket.
There were no appearances in the upper rooms of the hoses
of the drawers, &c., haying been ked, but all were
found unlocked. White's brother is not aware whether
there was any considerable sum of money in the house.
The unstable, whose name happens to be the same se that
of the deceased, though no relation, states that be called
upon the old man during Thursday evening, and found him
sitting on the sofa, with a rag about his shoulders, reading
the Bible ;be complained of the cold. When the murders
were discovered the Bible was found open on the table and
the rug thrown back on the sofa, as if the old man bad arisen
from the position in which the tastable saw him to go into
the shop The surmise is that, on hearing some person *rites
the shop, the old man went there and was struck down by
the assassin as soon as he had placed the candle on the

.-- ---___ .-
counter. His wife, alarmed by the noise, was no doubt
going with another candle to the shop, when the murderer
met ►er In the pang., and killed her with the same weapon
which bad destroyed her bushing. No instrument likely
to have been used by the murderer has been found shoat
the premien.

The aunty colour, Mr. Badger, will communes an
[egotist to-morrow.
Within three or four miles of the some of this tragedy a

cattle-dealer, named Whitaker, woo a few weeks agio
way-
laid, murdered, and robbed of shout 2001., sad as yet no
du Ma been obtained to the perp,trator of the outrage.

(From the Leeds Mercury of this day )

•
Stmpioion points to two men who were seen to enter
the village late in the evening of Tnuredey, and the plies
are actively engaged in the andearmir ti trace the parties.
The shop was not closed until eleyea o'clock. The deceased
was considered eccentric in his manner of hominess, but was
a most striving and industrious man, and was esteemed by
all who knew him. There ran be no doubt that the object

wu money, and in all probability they hate have soecceded
In seesring some.