The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-08-25 00:00:00

A MOTHER STARVING HER CHILDREg

On Friday, Mr. Carter, coroner for Surrey, held al
inquest at the Duke of Suffolk, Walworth, on the bodY clo;
an infant, named Elizabeth Ann Howell, who died fr,3l,
starvation, in consequence of its mother's neglect. .1'
Thomas Cooke, the coroner's officer, deposed that ,
Wednesday last he proceeded to No. 11, Thomas-streew
Leek's-fields, and on entering the front room below 4,,e9
found four children and a woman lying on the bare boar'of
asleep. He was unable to awaken the woman. Tw°o
the children were sitting on a board supported by Wen,
of wood, another walking about the room, and the folio;
lying by the side of the female. On further examinati°l4
he saw the dead body of a fifth child lying on some co
straw enclosed in a piece of old sacking, which ,01
intended for a bed. There were no bed clothes, and
the room contained was an old chair. The body was e, he
about the feet, and in a very emaciated condition.
urela
room was in an extremely filthy state, from the ace ao
tion of dirt, but the body of the infant was clean,
then searched the room, but found no food, ;oelf
exception of some stale sop, which smelt most offens,• 0
On the top of a cupboard were some bottles, and one rho
labelled " Lotion, Poison." Witness took charge el toa
with
body of the deceased, and removed it from the house. no
the mantel-piece was a brown jug, which contained s°`,4
kind of sediment. After removing the body, he returilit
to the house, and the mother of the deceased had tabbe
disappeared, but soon afterwards she came back. ,'"„ex
said she had last seen the deceased alive about two 0.3,1'0
in the morning, and also that it died at that hour. fncl
also remarked that she was quite sober at the time, ',7,0
asked for the bottle marked poison, as she wanted to treo
it, being determined to destroy herself. He (witness) the
took took her into custody, to prevent her from putting ere
threat into execution. Two of the surviving children woe
in a most emaciated condition. Mr. E. D. Howell,
..80
goon, deposed that the body of deceased was totally ,;00
from disease, and that the child had died from starvali
alone. The deceased had not been suddenly deprive .o,
food, but it must have been deprived of proper nourlo,
men':, for some time. Martha Percy, a married Nv°,1,1,1,00,
said she was the sister of the mother of the chino,
She (the mother) was parted from her husband in etto
sequence of her intemperate habits. The father of co
children allowed 14s per week for their maintenallo
which sum witness had paid her sister two liee of
running, but she spent the money in drink instead lad
buying food. On Saturday night last she was reeclindajt
toxicated and witness only gave a shilling, but on erf
morning she sent her Ils. more. Mr. Cooke, the omeof
here brought in another child, a girl about seven year,.4,
age. It presented a most dreadful appearance, the eat
tures being sharpened by want, the bones of the %pa
almost protruding through the skin, and the arMs,,in.
legs showing the formation of the bones through the 01.0
Cooke stated that there was another child even in a W°oo
condition than the one before the jury. This beiegerik
whole of the evidence the court was cleared of strangver
and, on their being re-admitted, the jury returned for
diet of " Manslaughter against Elizabeth Ann Holwe' Der
feloniously killing and slaying Elizabeth Ann Holwed, tO
daughter." The witnesses were then bound ever
prosecute.