Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-15 00:00:00

WORKHOUSE COMMITTEE,

This committee met yesterday, at three o'clock, in the
Board-room of the Liverpool Workhouse, Brownlow-hill,
in the capacity of a sub-committee, to inquire into the
charges against Miss Gillow, one of the lady visitors, for
tampering with the faith of the girls in the Workhouse.
Mr. Churchwarden Cropper occupied the chair. The
other gentlemen present were—Messrs. Denton, Peck,
Williams, Byford, Smith, Melly, Gair, Owen, Bairstow
Critchley, and the Rev. Rector Campbell.
The Chairman said, that he had, up to that time,
received no communication either from Mr. or Miss
Gillow. The letter, which Mr. Whitty had alluded to
as being forwarded to him on the previous day, had not
arrived; he would, therefore, be exceedingly glad to stop
the inquiry in the absence any letter, but he supposed
it must go on. He asked if Mr. Whitty had any instruc-
tion from Miss Gillow, or was it to be understood
that he appeared there as a member of the board simply.

Mr. Whitty said, he had received no instructions
whatever from Miss Gillow, either to deny the charge or
give any explanation, but he denied the charges in his
own person, from the particulars he received from Miss
Gillow.

The Rev. Rector Campbell said, he thought they should
not go on with the investigation. Miss Gillow was not
there to defend herself, and sent nobody there to defend
her, and she therefore allowed judgment to go by de-
fault.

In the, course of a protracted discussion as to whether
the inquiry should be opened, Mr. Whitty announced
that he had just received a leter from Mr. Gillow, from
which he read the following extract :

" My sister had intended forwarding her resignation
to- the Rev. 'Mr. Nugent, but, upon a re-perusal of the
NORTHERN DAILY TIMES, she resolved to withhold it for
the present, and she says she is not conscious of having
done anything worthy of the scorns and insinuations
brought against her, and she challenges the most rigorous
investigation, and feels that, under present circumstances,
she would be wanting in self-respect were she to shrink
from it."

The discussion continued, as to whether the enquiry
should be opened, and Mr. Whitty charged the committee
with bad faith.

Mr. Byford replied, that he did not think there was
much good faith; it was too Jesuitical altogether to
come before a committee like that ; and Mr. Byford
subsequently rose and left the room, in indignation.
Ultimately, it was decided that the evidence should be
heard.
Miss Kenn'an was called in, and she related the
circumstances of the case, so far as she was acquainted
with it, the • particulars of which have already been
published.

The girl, Catherine Foley, was then called in, .and
repeated what she had already stated in her written
statement. She stated further, that when she told Miss
Gillow she was a Protestant. Miss Gillow said that " she

did not want her, to turn, unless she was one" (a Roman
Catholic), and then told.her to be off out of the room.
Miss Gillow asked her if she was. interested in any way
in being a Protestant, and she replied, "No." She told
Mrs. Baker, the nurse in the infant school, what had
taken place after she' came out of the room, and
she told a girl, named Donnelly, on the same day,
and she also told a Miss Black, 'on the Saturday morn-
ing, and afterwards Miss Boman. At the time of the
interview, Margaret Shelly, Catherine McNally, Mary
Power, and. Eliza Quin were present ; the latter girl was
since taken out of the house by her mother.
On cross-examination by Mr. Whitty, she said nobody
told her to tell this affair, she was sure. She was not
always% Protestant ; she was a Catholic about a mouth,
in Kirkdale. She did not wish to be a-Catholic then.
She remembered being before the Industrial Schools
Committee, and she expressed a wish then to be a
Catholic, because her brother wanted her to be one.
Mr. Doyle instructed her that month. Her sister Ellen
was a Protestant, and never went to chapel. She had
another sister, named Mary, in the house. At the Indus-
trial Schools the Rev. Mr. Holme asked her sister what
she was to be, and she said a Protestant.
Mr. Baker was next examined, and she stated that she
saw Foley coming out of the room on the day stated,
and she told her what Miss Gillow had been saying to
her. She did not tell her everything. She mentioned
the words " damned to all eternity."

Catherine M'Nally, a little girl.' of about nine or ten
years of age, was next brought in. She was in some
little confusion, but corroborated some of the statements
made by Foley, and said she heard Miss Gillow say to
Catherine Foley that "her soul would be damned to all
eternity" for changing her religion. The witness further
stated that Foley told her to be a good girl and tell the
truth.

Catherine Shelly was also examined and corroborated
the evidence so far as her deafness had enabled her to
hear, but she heard the objectionable words stated.
Mary Power also corroborated the statements, as did
also Margaret Campbell, as to what had been told her.
Jane Smith, another witness, said that Miss Gillow
made use of the same words to her on one occasion.
Mr. Whitty thought these witnesses were proving too
much. They all " tallied."

The Chairinan thought there was no occasion for such
remarks on the part of Mr. Whitty;
Mr. Whitty : "Damned to all eternity" must be a
stock phrase of Miss Gillow's, for she seems to use it to
them all.

Margaret Magennis, another witness, who had changed
her religion, said that Miss Gillow had also applied the
same words to her, for changing her religion.

It was elicited that this girl had read the proceedings
of the committee from the newspapers, in the school.
Mr. Whitty and Mr. Bairstow stated that was very im-
proper to allow newspapers to be read in the establishment,
and under such circumstances it was a perfect folly to
hold an investigation of that sort; and that they should
stop the papers from getting into the house.
The Governor, Mr. Carr, was then called in, and he
related what he know of the matter, and said that he had
nothing to alter from his previous statement, which was
published. In reply to a member of the committee, lie
stated that he was perfectly confident, and could take
his oath, if nececessary, that Miss Gillow admitted every-
thing which he told her she was charged of, with the
exception of the objectionable expression.

Mr. Melly called attention to the statement made by
Mr. Whitty, that if she had seen the statements she
would have denied the charge, while she admitted them
to the Governor.

After some further remarks, Mr. Seyer moved—" That
after a long and impartial examination of the girl
Catherine Foley, and of several other inmates of the
Workhonse, this committee find that the material and
objectionable portion of Catherine Foley's statement is
confirmed and corroborated. Under these circumstances,
no course is open to them but to request Miss Gillow to
discontinue her visits to the Liverpool Workhouse."
Mr. Williams seconded the motion.

Mr. Whitty then made some observations as to the
character of the girl Foley, and after some remarks
from Mr. Bairstow and Mr. Melly, as to the
propriety of the course which the committee had
pursued; and the character of the evidence, the motion
was put and carried unanimously.
Mr. Whitty, not being a member of the committee,
was not, of course, allowed to vote either way.

The Committee then rose, at seven o'clock