The Express.
London, England, 1867-07-22 00:00:00

PRIGHTPUL MURDER.

FROME, SUNDAY.
Yesterday morning, between five and six o'clock,
a messenger reached, the Jerome police station to ask for
assistance to put out a fire in the village of Woolverton,
five miles distant on the Bath-road. Superintendent
Deggan and some members of the Volunteer Fire Brigade
started ns quickly as possible, but before reaching Wool.
verton they were informed the engines were not required
as the fire had been got under. Superintendent Deegan,
however, proceeded, and found that • most horrible
tragedy had taken place. The premises on which the
fire bad broken out were a malthouse occupied by Mr.
E. F. Moger. It was • thatched building, and
adjoined, at right angles, the dwelling-house of Mr.
George Britten, who owned the property. The door of
the malthouse was only about five yards from the door of
the dwelling-house, and was in fact within the front gar-
den. Mr. Britten went to live in this house about three
months ago, his family consisting of his wife and one son,
nine years of age. They kept no servant, although they
were persons of independent means, and Mrs. Britten's in-
dustrious habits were well known to the neighbours. Mrs.
Britten was last seen alive on Thursday. On Friday the
husband said she had gone from home. On Saturday her
bodzeworuburnt
fond frightfully in Mr. Moger's insidious
e.
& are the main facts. To fully understand the
atrocity of the case some explanation is needed. The door
of the inalthouse opens on what is called the "couch,"
or the place where the barley is spread after being wetted.
Near to this is the kiln. and in • corner by the kiln was a
quantity of coke, but no fire bad been lit since May. On
Friday afternoon Mr. Moger and Mr. D'Arey, an
Excise officer, visited the malthouse, and all was then
right, and it was especially noticed that a long board used
when malting was been done lay by the aide of the
"couch " wall. On Saturday morning, between four
and tire o'clock, a young man named Rogers was
going to his work, when he noticed smoke issuing
from the malthouse, and knowing that no fire
should be there he called his father, and an alarm was at
once raised. Amongst the first to offer assistance was Mr.
Britten, and he insisted that the attempt to extinguish
the fire should be made from the side furthest from his
house, and therefore furthest from the malthouse door.
H Mr. oldway, • farmer, however, broke open the door,
and saw at • glance that the fire was in the " couch." A
few buckets of water were sufficient to put out the flames,
and when entrance was obtained the dead body of a
woman was found lying on a long board on the " couch."
All her clothes had been burnt, the limbs were charred—
scarce anything of humanity remained except the hair, which
was but slightly burnt. Two prominent front teeth were
also noticeable. The question went round as to who the
poor woman could be. Some one suggested that she was •
tramp, it being known that the malthouse was formerly
sometimes frequented by tramps. Mr. Holdway and
others, however, discovered some resemblance to Mrs.
Britten, who had the peculiarity of possessing two
rather prominent front teeth. Mr. Britten averted that
it was not the body of his wife. When Superintendent
Deegan arrive
the body were found remnants of a " fall,"
sad of a bonnet, • pair of cotton and • pair of flannel
stockings partially burnt, and also • man's trousers.
There were embers of faggots of which there were none on
the premises, and of coke, of which, at 4 o'clock,
none was within several yards of the "couch." Besides, the
long board which in the afternoon lay at the side of the
couch was now over it, and the body lay upon it. Then
Mlle an examination of the body, and it was found that
there were two or more wounds in the head. Superinten-
dent Deggan, to whom Mr. Holdway hail communicated 1 I
his suspicions, asked Mr. Britten if it was the body of his
wife. At first be replied it was not, but after repeated
questioning he said, " I'm afraid it is." Further ques-
tioned, be said his wife bad left him in bed on Friday
morning without saying a word to him, but he knew that
she was going to see her friends. Mr. Deggan then charged
bun with the wilful murder of his wife, and took him into
custody. A post-mortem examination of the body was
made yesterday afternoon by Messrs. Parsons, and it was
fully ascertained that the woman had been killed previous
to the burning.

The grand international chess match, which has
been for seine time playing in the salon of the Internn-
tional Club at the Universal Exhibition, is just brought to
a close. The Emperor's prize has been won by H. KoHoch,
of Hungary ; the second prize by H. Winnaver, • Pole ;
the thirdby M. Steinitz, an Austrian ; and the fourth by
E. Neumann, of Prussia. The grand prize consist, of •
magnificent Sevres vase of the value of from 4,000 fr. to
:;,009fr., the other three prizes were given in money.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
sat on Saturday at the Council Chamber, Whitehall, to
deliver judgments on Admiralty appeals. The lords pre-
sent were Lord Homily, Sir Jame* W. Colvile, Sir Edw.
l'eughan Williams, and Sir It. T. Kinderaley. Their lord-
1114s then adjourned till the 26th November.
ROYAL RORTICULTVRAL SOCIETY. —We are re-
quested to state that • 00OvellitiOne will be held in the
conservatory this evening, from 9 till 12, by !his Grace the
Doke of Buccleuch, president, in honour of his Imperial
Neiesty the Sultan. Fellows' tickets will admit, as to the
ordinary convereazionea, without special invitation. The
annual conversazione of the society will take place on Wed.
oesday, as already announced.
TES ROYAL AORICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW.—
The falling off in the receipts at Bury St. Edmunds Show,
,n compared with Plymouth, was no lens thnn 2,0949.
6d.—a result attributable to the sparse population of
the district, and the comparative dulness of the times.
ihout 4 p.m. on Friday a dull drizzling rain set in, and
there was a general move from the show-yard, although •
few new corners still made their roe. On Friday
afternoon an accident occurred in e implement depart-
ment of the Show. One of the men employed by Messrs.
Amin and Barford, named William Holmes, was attend-
ing the grist mills at work, when the strap fell off from the
puller of the driving spindle and became twisted. The
Poor man, in trying to release the strap without stopping
the working of the mills, had the forefinger of his right
!mild drawn between the strap and the pulley of the driv-
ing spindle, the finger and tendons being horribly drawn
Ott from the second joint. The unfortunate sufferer was
at once removed to the local hospital ; it is hoped that am-
PIUS.* of the arm may be avoided. The total number
nf visitors paying for admission to the Bury Show was
TI
as compared with lifl,oll at Plymouth. However, as
,11" President (Mr. IL S. Thompson) remarked at the mem-
r'ern' meeting on Friday, the society does not meet in diffe-
rent parts of the country to make money ; all it cares for,
so far as the receipts are concerned, is to take enough to
enable it to offer substantial prizes, and to make the future
meetings efficient. The dismantling of the show-yard was
Nemeneed on Saturday.