The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-05-15 00:00:00

heffield, and LinColn, 24291

Ditto New 6 per c

Pref., 7-16 9-16 p. Midland
ritieh, 8 1146 8.13 16. North
South Eastern and Dover,
3Vireastle, and
_Berwick, 191
Midland, 28 281. Leeds

Staffordshire, 6

the imm

brilliantly

heavily

to the " new" co

, the appn

his wife!

tvery available

(pence of the sniallness of the court in which the prisoner
was to be tried, as early as seven o'clock in the morning the
various approadhes to the court, and the whole of the Old
Bailey, were closely packed with thousincli, who were
anxious either to obtain admission for themselves, or desirou.4
of seeing the approach of the judges and other officials
connected with the case. The intense interest excited by
the extraordinary nature of the charges against the prisoner
was not confined to the humbler classes; on the contrary,
ense body of spectators this morning assembled in
the Old Bailey consisted alike of professiOnal gentlemen,
tradesmen, and members of the various grades of society,
regate gross receipts I from the highest to the lowest:

The morning opened beautifully fine, the sun shining
; but, about eight o'clock, a change took place,
and from that hour to nearly noon, the rain descended very
In addition to the alterations mad special arrange'

elite which had been made in the interior of the old court

separate entrances for the judges, the nobility, the general
public, and the witnesses, had also been provided. The
judges, nobility, magistrates, barristers, &c., were, of course,
admitted through the court yard at the'north end of the Old
Bailey, the general public by one of the centre doors leading
whilst the south door entrance was

specially reserved for the exclusive admission of witnesses.
The scene presented in the Old Bailey as the various par-

ties arrived at the court, partook more of the character of a
civic procession doing honour to some distinguished man;
or of the arrivals at a carnival, than of what it really was,

ach of a succession of individuals from

amongst the different ranks of society, who were about to be
the spectators of the trial of an educated man, charged with
the cool and insidious double murder of his friend, and—

oat in the court was occupied long before
the hour for the commencement of the trial arrived ; and
hundreds,_who considered themselves fortunate as being the
,holders of tickets, were met at the door, on their arrival, by
the ominous announcement, in large characters, The court
is full," and were consequently unable to obtain admission.
The police were inexorable in strictly refusing admission to
all who had no tickets, irrespective of persons, profession,
or position ; and not the least ludicrous of the scenes about
the approaches to the court, was the appearance of some
half dozen robed barristers, %he, with umbrella in hand.
peremptorily demanded admission as gentlemen of the long
robe, but not presenting tickets, the " horse hair" had no

talismanic effect on the officers; and, at length, after running
from door to door, much to the amusement of the bystanders,
and to their own mortification and disappointment, Messrs.
Bridles; in order to avoid the jeers of the multitude,
precipitately rushed into a coffee shop opposite !

Amongst the earliest arrivals at the court was the Prince

Edward of Saxe Weimar, who came about a quarter past
eight o'clock, in a splendid equipage, in company with Lord
William Lennox. They were followed in succession by
the Earl of Denbigh, the Earl of Derby, Marquis of An-
glesea, Lord George Lennox, Earl Grey, Lord A2fred
Lennox, and several other noblemen and gentlemen. The
most intense interest was manifested by the populace when
any of the parties connected with the case, as witnesses or
otherwise, made their appearance at the door of the court.
Thus; when Mr- George Palmer, solicitor, brother of the
prisoner, drove up to the entrance in company with Mr.
John Smith, of Birmingham, the prisoner's solicitor, the
parties were recognised, and there was a tremendous rush
to have a view of them, especially the former. Mr. George
Palmer, on entering the court along with Mr. Smith,
carried a very large bag, filled with an immense
number of documents. Amongst the other witnesses who
attracted much attention as they drove up to -the door
of the court were the medical men, more pat:-
ticularly Drs. Monckton and Bamford, of Rugeley, and
Dr. Knight, of Stafford. Mr. George Bate; whose name
has been so prominently before the public, as Palmer's
occasional groom, was also the object of especial' curiosity
on the part, of the public. Mr. Baron Alderson and Mr.
Justice Cresswell arrived about half-past nine, immediately
followed by the Lord Mayor and the Recorder, in the state
carriage of the former, and succeeded by several,of the
aldermen. Lord Campbell arrived at ten minutes to ten
o'clock. Precisely at ten o'clock their lordships entered
the court (which was then densely crowded), when an
unusually impressive silence prevailed am ,ng the spectators.
Oa the bench, also, were the illustrious and distinguished
noblemen before named, and in addition to the Lord fayor,
the ,sheriffs, and the Recorder, we also noticed the following
aldermen : Sir R. Carden, Sir W. Magnay, Sir F. G. Moon,
Sidney, and Lawrence.

The crowd outside the court remained during the
the whole of the day, anxiously listening to any details
of what was going forward inside, and " enterprising"
tradesmen were not slow in endeavouring to make capital of
the trial which will, perhaps, for some days, be the subject
of conversation in every class of society.

THE TRIAL

A few seconls after ten o'clock the prisoner was brought

-0--
into court and placed in the dock. The personal appear-
ance of Palmer has been repeatedly before described in
the public press, and his portraits in the illUstrated
papers have made his features familiar to all who take an
interest in the strange circumstances of the crimes with
which he stands charged. His features and head are of a
very ordinary common-place character, and on being
placed at the bar he exhibited no emotion whatever, and
looked round the court quietly, and with little apparent
interest in the occasion which brought that crowded
assembly together, or sense of the dangerous position in
which he stood. He was plaqtly dressed in a black frock
coat and black silk neckerchief. lie appeared in good
health and very stout, and no signs of care or anxiety
were visible on his face.

The brother of the prisoner stood near the dock.
The Attorney-General, Mr. James, Q.C., Mr. Weisby,
Mr. Bodkin, and Mr. Hnddieston, appeared for the
prosecution.

The prisoner was defended by Mr. Serjeant Shee, Mr.
Greave, Q.C., Mr. Gray, and Mr. Kennealy.
On being arraigned by the clerk of the arraignments,
for the wilful murder of John Parsons Cook, of Rugeley,
in November last, the prisoner pleaded "not guilty," in a
low but distinct voice.
When twelve jurymen had been called,
Mr. Sergeant Shee, on behalf of the prisoner, expressed
a hope that no gentleman would act on the jury who was
connected with either of the three insurance companies
involved in this trial, namely—the Prince of Wales, the
Solicitors, and General and Midland.

Mr. Mason, a juryman, said he felt so strong a pre-
judice in the case that he did not feel competent to act,
and he begged to be excused.

Lord CainpbPll said he had heard enough.
man must be discharged.

The jury-

The following gentlemen were then sworn of

THE JURY,

Thomas Knight, Richard Tumbril, William Newman,
George Miller, William Mayor, George Okshaw, Charles
Bates, William Ecclesston, Samuel Mullen, John Over,
William Nash, William Fletcher, and George Miller.
The jurors were, it appears, all taken from the panels of
the counties of Surrey, Essex, and Middlesex.

The Attorney-General, in opening the case, said that
the duty which devolved upon the jury was one of a most
important character, the issue being the life or death of
the prisoner at the bar. It was a case of the most painful
interest, and one which, from the publicity it had gained
through the press, he did not think there was any man
who had not come to some conclusion upon the facts
which had thus been made known. lie begged most
earnestly that the jury would dismiss from their minds
all that they had heard from that semen, and be en-
tirely guided by the evidence which would be laid
before them. The prisoner was by profession a surgeon,
and had carried on business at Rugeley, in Staffordshire,
but becoming engaged in turf pursuits, of which he was a
victim, he, about three years ago, gave up that business
to an assistant, Mr. Burby, who now carried on the busi-
ness as chemist ; but the name of Palmer, was, he believed,
kept up. The deceased was of a respectable family, and
had been articled to a solicitor, but coming into the pos-
session of property had taken up the pursuits of the turf,
and became acquainted, by those pursuits, with the
man now charged with having caused his death. There
could be no doubt from the evidence that
had to be laid before the jury, and which they must
hear to understand the case in all its bearings, that at the
time of Palmer's acquaintance with Cook he was a an
with ruin and disgrace staring him in the face, and it
would be the better course for him, the Attorney-general,
to take the events of the case chronologically. The jury
would have to consider the motives, sad if they found
the prisoner's were strong, there would be more proba-
bility of his guilt. In 1853 the prisoner was in difficulties,
which in 1854 became greater; and it now became his duty
to lay before them evidence of acts, upon the part of the
prisoner of forgery, but he did not wish them to infer
from that that the prisoner must be guilty of the parti-
cular offence which they sought to bring home to him]

1.11P00L,, THUBSDAY, MAY 1 1.814

In 1854 Palmer raised money upon a )3111 purporting to
be the acceptance of his mother (a lady cf property)
for £2,000. That bill was forged, and that was the Pest
of those transactions which eventually involved him in
such peril, that he had had recourse to the pacts
which subsequently followed. Upon the 29th offSeptem-
her, 1853, his wife, upon whose life he had a policy for
£13,000, which atnount he received, and paid with that
money a part of his liabilities—a"B,ooo—to a bill discounter
named Pratt, whose name was mixed up in these matters,
and X 5,0,0 to another person at Birmingham ; and this
left him further liabilities due, and amongst them the bill
of .e 2.000 of his mother, in 154. Prisoner insured the
life of his brother. Walter Palmer, for £13,000, which
was placed in the hands of Pratt, and from time
to time bills were discounted to him, and renewed at a
most ruinous discount. Out of this, prisoner had bought
two race horses, Nettle and Chicken. In Nov. last
prisoner owed about £11,500, and then his pressure
became the more pressing. and unless he could meet those
payments, and also the bills purporting to be his mother's,
the forgeries would b 3 discovered. The prisoner's brother
died. The first transaction with deceased, was a bill of
£2OO. which Palmer got discounted and failed to meet,
and Cook paid it. Palmer represented Cook as a man of
respectability, and Pratt not being inclined to lend any
more money, Cook assigned to Pratt two horses, Pole-
star and Cornelius, and a bill for three month, upon
which £5OO was advanced to Cook. This was paid in a
cheque for £375, and a wine warrant for £65, and the
other was charged for discount and other expenses.
Palmer got the cheque and wine warrant, which should
have reached Cook, and forged the name of Cook upon the
back of the cheque, it being drawn by Mr. Pratt upon his
bankers in London. Prisoner never intended the pro-
ceeds of this cheque should find its way into the hands of
Cook, and Cook never got the money ; and about the time
Cook came to his end, his bill would be due in ten days,
and that when it became due to Palmer he had no money
to meet it. The learned counsel then went on to state
that the insurance upon the life of his brother not
having been paid, Palmer, who had raised money upon
the policy, in order to raise farther sums, induced Cook
to represent Bates, who was a helper in Palmer's stables
at Rugeley, as a man of substance and resneet^'•
and thereby to get Bates to it--
Palmer proposed this, to which Bates o
Palmer pressed him, and Cook
stating that he would be all rt-
attested it, Palmer beina

re his life for X 2,509.
teal, but

also pi

aaraed as sur

,O.ed

)n, and t

'as sent to the Solicitor's

sent a propo

assistant as referee. This policy
office and refused, and they then
similar character to the Midland for .e 16,000,
also rejected. This failing, and it being fina
that the policy upon the brother's life would
the prisoner was reduced to the most desp
The learned Attorney-General then read a
letters, written by Pratt to Palmer, to show th
was under the utmost pressure to meet his
and also the bills bearing his mother's
He had the postmaster of itugeley most completely under
his control, and the letters to his mother were intercepted,
which accounted for these acceptances being unknown to
her, and enabled him to keep them from her. The learned
Attorney-General then read a letter, dated 10th of Oct.,
relative to those insurance applications, and the enquiries
making by the office, and which stated that the accep-
tances then becoming due, " must be met," which was
underlined in the letter in question. On the Bth of
November two writs were issued—one against Palmer,
and another against his mother ; but before doing so,
Palmer continued to send to Pratt, and to pay his £2OO,
£250, and 4'300, from which two months discount was
deducted, leaving a balance of about .4700 on the
£1,500 bill. On the 13th of November a letter passed
between them, referring to the Prince of Wales's Office
and the insurance of Palmer's brother's life, and in which
Pratt asked him to make up the balance on the bills. At
that time Pratt held bills amounting to 4'12,500, of which
but .4'loo or 4'Boo had been paid off. These bills had the
forged accptances of his mother, and he was, of course,
pecuniarily and criminally responsible for them. At the
Shrewsbury races Mr. Cook's mare, Pole Star, ran for the
handicap, and there was every reason to believe she would
win, and Palmer betted heavily. The result was, that
Cook was entitled to the stakes, which, after certain
deductions, amounted to £3Bl 19s. His (Cook's) winning
altogether, including the stakes, was 4'2,050, and he had in
his pockets between 4'700 and £BOO in notes. He would
receive the stakes through Messrs. Weatherby, the agents,
and he would draw on them an acceptance; and, on the en-
suing Monday, he would have received his bets at Tatter-
sall's, amounting to .£1.,060, but within a week after he
died, at the age of 28 years. Cook was slightly disposed
to pulmonary complaints, and he had been in the habit of
consulting Dr. Savage, of London, who saw him in May,
1855. At that time Cook was anxious about his throat,
and he had some eruption about his mouth. He had been
taking:mercury, by mistake, for his 'complaint. Dr. Savage
prescribed for him, and it had the effect of benefitting him.
He continued after that to see Dr. Savage, and did so about
a fortnight before his death, and Dr. Savage would say
that at that time the deceased had nothing the matter
with his general health. Dr. Savage took an interest
in him, and, at the request of his friends, wished him
to leave the turf, and advised him to go abroad. His
friends also wished him to leave the turf, for there was
reason to believe that then Palmer premeditated his
death. At the Shrewsbury races Mr. Cook was naturally
excited, and partook of some wine with Palmer and others,
but he was generally an abstemious man. He went to bed
perfectly well that night, and on the following morning he
went on the course. On that day, 14th Nov., a remark-
able incident happened. A friend of deceased, Mr.
!Terries, occupied a room in the hotel near him, and Mr.
Fisher,
.deceased's agent. Fisher in the course of' the

'hom Palm.

into the st

A man na.
came up am:

riot be

circus
differe

am and hirn-
fter P

signaturc

and enter
Brassin

evening went into the room of the hotel at Shrewsbury,
where Palmer and Cook were drinking. Fisher was asked
to partake of some refreshment, and Cook said to Palmer
" You'll have something more." Palmer replied, " Not
unless you finish your glass." Cook said, " that's easily
done," and took up the glass and tossed it off, leaving a
tea-spoonful in the glass. Immediately after drinking he
said, " Good God, there is something in it." Palmer
said, " nonsense," and tasted it, and then asked Fisher,
and also a Mr. Reed, who had come in, to do so ; but
they said it was impossible, as there was none left in
the glass. Cook, however, left the room, and was
very ill. He continued ill, and a medical man was sent
for, and attended to him. He got better, and gave
Fisher his money, amounting to between .4700 and £BOO
in notes. Cook on Thursday morning was better, had
his money from Fisher, and went on the course. Pal-
mer had no money that day, having to borrow 4'25.
His horse, Chicken, ran there, and lost, and Palmer,.
consequently, lost some heavy bets. On Thursday
night Palmer and Cook returned to the Raven, at Huge.
ley. The previous night a woman called at the hotel at
Shrewsbury, to • see Palmer. 'She was a remarkable

of Pa

woman, having connection with the turf. She went i.
and in the lobby upstairs she saw Palmer looking at a
glass he had in his hand, and which he was holding up to
the gas, and he afterwards went back
Cook drank the brandy and water, of
plained. The learned Attorney-General the,.
to say that from that time up to Cook's death Palmer
constantly,with him, and gave him things, to take.
learned gentleman then proceeded to state the death of
Cook, the post morteni examination, and the poison found in
the body, and in doing so said that strychnine was a most
subtle poison, the most minute quantity being fatal to human
life—from half a grain to three-quarters of a grain_
destroying life, and it had this peculiar effect, that it
acted immediately on the nervous muscles of the human
body. It affected voluntarily the muscles of the • body,
leaving unimpaired consciousness, whilst at the same
time it produced intense excitement of the muscular
system. The learned counsel proceeded to point out
the effect of strychnine on the system, producing warms,
but of a different character to that tetanus produced
from other causes. He should be able to lay before
them abundance of evidence on this point, and that the'
symptoms and appearances that were produced by strych-
nine have distinctive characteristics from any other
poison. After referring to the prisoner being a medical
man, and having a knowledge of poison, he referred to
•Palmer and the deceased being at Rugeley, Cook's dining
with Palmer, his return to his inn sober, and his retiring
to bed with nothing the matter with him to Al appear-
ances. On the following day and Sunday Palmer was
with Cook. On the Saturday morning Palmer was
with him early, and in the morning asked for some
coffee, and gave it to Cook. From that time Cook dis-
played similar symptoms to those at Shrewsbury.
Palmer sent him from his house toast and water and
soup, but there might be nothing in that. Palmer's
servant, however, put the soup on the fire to warm;
but while she left the room Palmer poured it- into the
basin and desired the servant to take it to Cook at the
Talbot. She did so. It was given to him, and he ate
a spoonful, but it produced sickness, and he refused to
take more. Palmer afterwards came in and asked if
Cook had eaten the soup. He was told no, on which he
said he must, and it was given to him, and produced
great suffering. Before Palmer came to the inn the
soup had been taken down to the hotel kitchen, and
one of the servants, thinking it looked like good soup,
ate a spoonful, which caused vomiting, and she had to go
to bed, and in the course of the afternoon she vomited at
least twenty times. In the afternoon a medical man was
called in :and Palmer represented to him, as he had to
others on other occasions, that Cook was suffering from
bilious diarrhoea, and that he had drank freely the pre-
Violas night, having dined with him. The medical man
found none of those symptoms in his patient, and on his
asking him if he had taken an excess Of champagne the
previous day, Cook said he had not, but had taken only
two glasses. The medical man saw him again that day,
and he was still ill. He had coffee and arrowroot and
barley water in the course of the day, and when
the' deceased took anything when Palmer was present
he vomited after it. That might not be a singular
coincidence, but so it was. At the close of Saturday,
deceased suffered from vomiting. He had taken
medicine prescribed by the medical man, and on the
Sunlavimornirig he saw deceased again, who was still
suffering from sickness, but no fever, and the skin was
moist, and the secretions were natural. The vomitings
were not at all like those of a person suffering from bile.
The medical man then changed the medicine, and from
that time the deceased improved, and on Monday Palmer
was absent from Rugeley, having gone to London.
Deceased was so much better that he got up compara-
tively well, and was visited by his trainer and two
jockeys. He continued well during that day, but Palmer
returned again on Monday evening to .Rugeley. In
following up Palmer's motions he must refer to
Herring's meeting Palmer this day at a house in Beaufort-
buildings, where a female resided whom Palmer visited.
On his first seeing Palmer, he asked " how Cook was."
Pahnerrepliedhe was well enough ; his doctor at Rugelev hal
given him a dose of calomel, and as it was wet he could not
come out. He had came to settle his account. Palmer was
a defaulter, and could not show at Tattersall's ; and Herring,
knowing Fisher was Cook's agent, was surprised he should
have to settle Cook's accounts. Palmer produced a paper

purpovieg to be the account. Herring wished to take it,
but Palm r refused to give it up, and at his desire Herring
made out the list, and said it amounted to £1,020, and after
some further conversation Herring made up the account
to a certain amouht, after deducting £0 for himself, and
other matters, Palmer saying the balance was the same
as that which Cook had made it. Out of the proceeds
of Cook's debts Palmer paid two debts of his own.
That was the way the money was disposed of received
by Palmer at 'Fat'ersall's on Monday. Palmer also sent
letters to the different persons owing Cook money, request •
ting to have the amount sent to himself, saying that it was
all the same whether he or Cook received the amount. He
should also prove that Cook's letters were intercepted by
Cheshire, the postinester. Palmer received several sums of
money due to Cook, which he disposed of, so as to stop for
a moment the pressure that was being made upon him. On
Palmer's return to Itugeley, he went to a surgeon's at
Rugeley, and asked the man to give labn some strychnine.
Newton gave him the strychnine, attaching no importance
to the fact, as he (Palmer) was a medical man. Same pills
were also sent by Cook's medical attendant, Mr. Bam-
ford, and they were placed in the usual place where
Mr. Cook's medicine was found. It would be for the
jury to say whether Cook took those pills or some other
concoction by Palmer. On the next morning, after the
pills had been taken, the servants were alarmed by
hearing loud screaming proceeding from Cook's room.
Cook was beating the bed, an .l calling out for Christ to
save his soul. Palmer was sent for, and on his arr val
Cook told him he would die. Palmer said, " No, my
boy. you Won't." Some time after, medicine was adminis-
tered, and Cook became more composed, but certain
symptoms showed, which the medical witness would prove
were the effects produced by strychnine. On Tuesday,
the 20th, Cook died, and on that morning a circumstance
occurred to which he directed particular attention. Palmer
went to Mr. Hawkie's who was not in the habit of provid-
ing him with anything in consequence of some difference.
He purchased some prussic acid, which wee served to him
by the assistant. While in the -' en came in

;hop, a

know, named Newton, and Palmer took him

into souse triflinz con
u. a friend of

Newton's, the

:I entered into eonvereation with Newton, and
r that time prisoner left and returned iuto the shop,
The

of strychnine and some opium.

entering the shop after the

ention of Newton, and
hop and

and was to,

and sl

A couversa-