Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-06-03 00:00:00

THE BIRKENHEAD RIOTS.

Yesterday, before a full bench of magistrates, including
Sir E. Oust, Mr: Case, Mr. Bryans, &c., the five men arrested
on a charge of rioting, on Tuesday, surrendered. The Rev.
Mr. Fielding presided. The names of the prisoners are—
Patrick Farrol, James Maguire, Thomas Murphy, Laurence
Taggart, and Thomas Martin. Farrol is charged with
assaulting several of Mr. Laird's men, breaking windows,
and being
.concerned in a riot. Maguire and Murphy were
charged with attempting to rescue Farrol from the custody
of the police, and Taggart and Martin with engaging in a
regular riot and breach of the peace. William Strangway
was the first witness called. He said, about half-past ten
on Tuesday morning, I was on duty at the Police-office ;
large number of men came up Market-street, numbers of
them armed. The poll was then being taken on the subject
of the Burial Act. A. number of the crowd were armed
with bludgeons, staves, &c., &c., but no fire-arms. There

were spades, pikes, &c. They aypeared very much excited,
shouting and making a great noise. There were parties who
appeared to be ringleaders of the mob, but he could not say
who they were. They were met by the Rev. Mr. Chapman,
and they did not offer any violence then. A great
number of the sticks were taken from them. They then
dispersed. Witness was ordered down to Conway-street
with a force. In consequence of receiving a message he
went down to Mr. Laird's yard at half-past two. He did
not see any commotion between these hours, further than
a crowd, rather excited, round the Town-hall, all the day.
When he reached Mr. Laird's yard, Monk's Ferry, there was a
great crowd round there, they were not doing anything then,
they were merely talking loudly, and seemed excited. Saw
some broken windows. He then went into the office in
the yard, accompanied by some officers, and found the
prisoner Farrol there. He was given into custody by some
of Mr. Laird's men, on a charge of being riotous and breaking
the windows. Put him in charge of Evans, an offices,
handcuffed him and despatched him to the police-office ;
-witness accompanied him. There were five officers in all.
When they reached Market-street, near to the police-office,
they were surrounded by a great number of men, they took
hold of us in a very violent manner, and attempted to rescue
the prisoner. The mob numbered two thousand at the
least. Could not say exactly the number that we

mediately concerned in the attempted rescue, there were
certainly upwards of twenty. Several of them took hold
of witness and tried to rescue Farrel ; witness resisted.
There was a good deal of struggling. The other officers
aided witness. Succeeded in getting the man into the
police-office, and afterwards into bridewell. Did not see
any blows struck then. Witness then returned to the police-
office, and ordered to arrest James Maguire and Thomas
Mi.xply, for attempting to rescue Farrol. Witness saw
them attempting the rescue. They were arrested and taken
down to bridewell. Witness did not hear what was the object
of the crowd, from the cries; he had heard before the arrests.
Cross-examined by Mr. Bretherton : This was on the
second day of the polling, there was much excitement on
the first day. No opposition was offered on the second day
to any one voting. The voting on the second day was even
more orderly than on the first day. Heard a band of music, it
was on an omnibus. Saw some placards on it, did not
know that the band was about the town playing party tunes
for the purpose of beating up voters, for one particular
party. The prisoner Farrol was in charge of him, and
when they attempted to rescue him„ there was no blows
struck. Officer 7 was with witness. [Mr. Bretherton here
requested that the magistrates would order him out of
Court, which was done.] By Sir E. Cast: The men in the
morning saw a number of bludgeons in the hands of the
mob, but he saw no violence. The mob at Laird's yard
did not have any bludgeons there. By Mr. Bretherton :
There was no violence shown to witness at Laird's yard,
nor did I see any arms or bludgeons in the crowd which
attempted the rescue. George Bridge was the next called,
be is an iron plate maker, and lives at 242, Park-road.
The witness said he could not conscientiously give evidence,
as it might be prejudicial to a party not in custody. How-
ever, the magistrates ordered him to be sworn. In his
evidence he stated that he was employed at Mr. Laird's
yard. On Tuesday afternoon, about seven minutes to two
o'clock, he was standing outside the yard. The first thing
which drew his attention to the crowd, was a woman
breaking two or three panes of the time-keeper's office. He
bad gone to Laird's yard from the Town-hall. He went
along with the crowd. Witness was only at the Town-
ball through curiosity. The crowd from the Town-hall,
on their way to Laird's yard, were very noisy. They had
sticks. They had a leader.. He walked before them and
appeared to direct them. The first act of violence he saw
was a woman smashing in some panes, of glass belonging to
the time-keeper's office, and one of the men finishing the
damage by breaking all the glass. Next thing he noticed was
a man with a " billy-cock" hat. He believes he is a
broker, but does not know his name. He broke another
window with a stone. Did not see him do it more than
once, but he did it most deliberately. Saw thousands of
stones thrown. There were no calls, cries, or shouts. All
the front windows were broken. One young man he took
particular notice of; that was Farrol. He was the most
disorderly in the lot. When the crowd came to the yard,

. ,
the gates were closed, but a few minutes after, the stoning
began, the gates were thrown open from the inside. The
stoning continued with spirit.—'Saw one of the crowd run
against B door in the works, put his foot against it, and
forced it in —breaking it from it hinges. Don't know that
man. Saw Farrol throw stones at the windows before and
after the yard gates were opened. Afterwards saw some of
Laird's men and the prisoner Farrol in a scuffle. Farrol
was down, and the men on the top of him. They tried to
drag Farrol into the yard.. A policeman then came up, and
he was taken into the office. Farrol was bleeding at the
time. The gates were shut soon after, The disturbance
came to an • end as soon as Farrol was taken into custody.
of the crowd remained. Witness went up to -the
__-station to charge Ferrol for stone-throwing. Cross-
eiamined by Mr. Bretherton : Saw a number of sticks. Did
not see them use the sticks. Saw a woman, and also a man
who is nick-named the "baker." These two persons did
no more damage than the other portions of the crowd.
James Cross : Saw a crowd coming up from. llamilton-
street towards Grange-lane. This was about two o'clock.
The crowd were shouting and making a great noise. They
turned down Market-street, and proceeded to Laird's yard.
Witness thought there would be a row, and he followed
them. They made a great noise, shouting, swearing, &c.,
saying they would kill every one who ha voted for Mr.
Laird. The principal part of the crowd were navvies. At
the Town-hall, in the morning, they had little bits of
papers, which appeared to be voting papers. When a ear
drew up, and the voters were for Craven, they cheered
"like murder "—only as Irishmen can cheer. This was at
nine in the morning. He then went to his work, and
returned at twelve o'clock. The crowd were talking al)ott;-,
the poll, saying that Mr.. Craven had won, and that was all
they wanted. Witness stayed till two o'clock, when a great
crowd proceeded to Laird's yard, and he ollowed them.
The crowd consisted of Irish men and women. Some of
them had sticks. They were shouting, that they would
thrash those who had voted for Mr. Laird, and they had
not done right to those who had not voted for Mr. Craven.
At the first they challenged Mr. Laird's men to come out
and fight them. The men did not come out, and stone-

tlarowing began. The first stone cast was by a woman.
Ferrol was in front. He was throwing stones at the windows
and over thn wall. They all ran away when the cry of police
was made. Saw the door broke down by a man not in the
court, but Farrol was there.. The man fell down a passage,
and Farrol picked him up and pulled him out. , Saw Farrol
brought into the yard by the police. Stopped in the yard
for about half-an-hour. When he came up to the bride-
well he found the mob attempting to rescue Farrol from
the bridewell. The Rev. Mr. Chapman was endeavouring
to take their sticks from them. Cross-examined by Mr.
Bretherton : Saw Mr. Laird's gates shut, and open after-
wards. Saw some of Mr. Laird's men come out; they did
not attack the crowd. Saw some pieces of wood thrown
out of the yard. The gates were thrown open. He got
into Laird's yard, find saw a number of pikes in the hands
of the men. Is a glazir by trade. Does not
damage done to the Om
for Mr. Laird. Ins Pee
said, about two o'cloe'
motion he received,

know the

but would be
.happy to put it in
s then called. He

Ganning

1, from infc

1, with a

went to Mr

holy of men—

—twenty, or perhaps more
melt of the entrance of. the yard, h
retreating into Ivy-street
he saw that the windows

When he got in

broken. His .
was drawn to the entrance, where t saw ffl a scue
on. Ferrol was down, and the men
"He's one of
them, take him." He was taken ipnotioicstaliide,gateman's offic,
and left him in the custody of
told the men not to touch him. He police-officer
remained
n sent him
there for twenty or thirty minutes. WiyPtiresis.ntehr
to bridewell, and remained at Laird's
ir,
en became very excited, and procured anumber
'ions, but they quietly' gave them up to tlllic
7
,
o of
Inspector
-rot was marched down by
When he reached
~as a- • great dal of. stone
street into the yard. Saw a number of
g him into the yard, and, with the
of-tne police, he was got in.• Farrol was
e until the streets became pretty clear, when he
was sent to bridewell. Farrol was handcuffed, and five or
six of the officers followed him. When they started, he saw
the prisoner Maguire exciting the crowd to a disturbance.
Maguire was quited, and the prisoner was taken up towards
the bridewell. Maguire and Murphy stopped the officer on

along with
,other men

the road, and endeavoured to rescue Farrol. With much
difficulty, Fallon was taken into the office, and Maguire and
Murphy were afterwards taken. Farrol was quiet until
Martin and Maguire attempted to rescue. Several others
attempted to rescue Farrol, but he (witness) did not know
them. Cross-examined by Mr. Bretherton : No one
struck him. George Carter was in the police-office, near
three o'clock. He heard a great noise, and he ran to the door.
Farrol was in charge of the police, and Murphy was attempt-
ing to rescue him, pulling him by the legs. Witness
got hold of Murphy and managed to take him into bride-
well. Maguire attempted to rescue Murphy from him, and
officer Smith arrested Maguire. Taggart attempted to
rescue another man, who was not now in custody, and he
was taken into bridewell. Mr. Bretherton wished to know
if the bench considered further evidence necessary. They
admitted the facts, and what was the use of heaping evidence
upon evidence ; the same facts would just come out. As
Mr. Bretherton had wished Evans to leave the court while
the other witnesses were being examined, they decided that
he should be called. Joseph Evans said, he was at Laird's
yard, on Tuesday evening. The prisoner Farrel was put
into his charge. He kept the prisoner for about twenty
minutes or half-an-hour. He was ordered to bring him up
to the police-office. As the police and the prisoner were
turning the corner of the Town-hail, a crowd rushed upon
them and attempted to rescue them. He identified Martin
and Maguire, both of whom caught hold of witness
and tried to take away the prisoner. Farrell was very
quiet. Witness was struck on the mouth by somebody, but he
could not say whether Martin or Maguire struck him.
After putting Farrel into bridewell, he came out and arrested
Martin. He did not resist. Cross-examination by Mr.
Bretherton : Did not officially report being struck. His
mouth was bleeding. Did not strike Martin in the bride- I
well. Did not go down. Nor against the wall. Was in
Grange-lane that morning. Saw a number come out of the
Catholic chapel. Did not call them all a bloody set of Papists.
Horsley, bridewell-keeper, said that, on Evans coming into
the bridewell, he noticed that his mouth was bleeding.
No violence was shown to Martin, nor was he struck.
Mr. Bretherton then addressed the magistrates on behalf of
the prisoners. He deeply regretted the occasion as much as
the magistrates could, and he did not pretend to say or ask
for one moment to go in defiance of the law. A breach of
the law had undoubtedly been shown, but the very. breach
which was now before them showed the power and efficiency
of the law. He must say that the conduct of the police on
the occasion was most kind and forbearing, and he contended
that the moral force and respect with which the present
Birkenhead police are looked upon would have been enough
to have prevented the rioting. He passed on to the fact of
one of the magistrates accepting bail, and vindicated that
action. The learned gentleman proceeded to say that he
was the last man to shrink from danger, although he was
one that had the greatest amount of odium thrown upon
him for the holding and carrying out his own opinion. The
rioting would have been prevented had not a number of
curs slunk off in the hour of trial; curs who *Cut into the
back slums and concocted some weak contributions to the
newspapers, vilifying and slandering every one who were
opposed to them. Mr. Bretherton continued at much length,
and left the prisoners in the hands of the bench, reminding
them that the first prerogative of justice was mercy.
The magistrates having considered for upwards of half an
hour, the Rev. Mr. Fielding delivered their decision. He
said, they had given the case their careful consideration,
and they were gratified to see that Mr. Bretherton admitted
the charges, which, against the four prisoners Maguire,
Murphy,. Taggart, and Martin, was not of a very formid-
able nature. An assault was made upon one of the officers,
but as it was not traced to any of them, and the bench had
decided that. justice would be dispensed by calling upon
these four prisoneis to enter into security to keep the peace
for two months, themselves in.£lo each, and two sureties
of L 5 each. With respect to Farrol, the 'case was very

different; his conduct was much more henious than that of
the others, and they had determined to send it to a higher
tribunal. They therefore committed Ferrol for trial at the
assizes, accepting sureties for his appearance —his own
recognizance in £4O, and one security in £4O.

LIVERPOOL COUNTY COURT—Yesterday.

BEFORE J. K. BLAIR, ESQ

ACTION AGAINST THE REV. HUGH APNEILR BY THE LATE
SCHOOLMASTER OF ST. PAUL'S.—GILPIN V. 1114. NEILE. —This
was an action brought by Richard Gilpin, whose name
was brought prominently before the public last year in con-
nection. with the enquiry into the conduct of the Rev. Mr.
Gent. The action was brought against the Rev. Hugh
M'Neile, incumbent of St. Paul's, Prince's-park, to recover
£3O, which the plaintiff claimed as the balance of salary due
from the Ist July, 1856, to the Ist July, 1858, being eight
times the sum of £3 15s, alleged to have been stopped from
him during that period, without his acquiescence. Mr. Grocott
appeared For the plaintiff, and Mr. Field (of thefirm of Carson,
Ellis, and Field) appeared for the defence. The evidence of the
plaintiff was to the effect that, in consequence of communi,
cations which he received from Captain Dyer, he became
schoolmaster of St. Panl's, Priuce's-park schools, at a salary
of £9O a year. He stated that he was .to have a free
house as soon as it should be ready. On the Ist of
January, 1858, he entered upon his duties, and was paid
regularly his salary of. £22 lOs per quarter, until the
holiday's of July, 1856. He had previously entered into
possession of a house, in connection with the schools,
and the Rev. Mr. Gent told ' him the committee had
determined to reduce his salary to £75 per year, in
consideration of his having the house. The plaintiff
remonstrated against this, and said, that it was con-
trary to his engagement, and he. would not agree to
it. He then went to Dr. M'Neile, and spoke to him upon
the subject, asking him if his engagement- was to be broken
through. Dr. M'Neile said it was altogether without his
knowledge, but advised him to see or to acquiesc in the
arrangement, and that at, the end of the year he .(Dr.
M'Neile) would make it all right for him, which could- be
easily done with Mr. Webster, the treasurer. In conse-
quence of this assurance the plaintiff deposed that he did
send in his bill for the reduced salary, and accepted it. In
October 1857, plaintiff wrote to Dr. M'Neile applying for
the amount deducted, and reminding hiM of his promise:
In February 1858, plaintiff was dismissed from the schools.
The committee consented to pay him the salary for the
current quarter, another quarter's salary in lieu of
notice, and £4 as a quarter's rent of a house. He
also demanded £3O as the amount of salary deducted from
him, but this the committee would not pay, nor *Mild Dr.
M'Neile, and under these circumstances the present action
was brought. On cross-examination the plaintiff said he
refused to go out of the house unless the committee ,paid a
quarter's rent of another house, and they finally consented to
do so. Dr. M'Neile was called as a witness for the plaintiff,
and was examined by Mr. Grocott as follows : —Who had
the appointment of the schoolmaster of St. Paul's Church ?
The managing committee, consisting of the trustees of the
church, the churchwardens, the incumbent, and the curate.
You were the incumbent ? Yes. Did you request Captain
Dyer to look out for a schoolmaster for you ? . lie
recommended Mr. Gilpin, and I requested him to
write accordingly. bid you tell Captain Dyer
the terms upon which he was to be engaged ? Yes.
What were they ? £9O per annum and a house to live
in ? No ; £9O per annum. You are quite sure you did
not instruct Captain Dyer to say .that the remuneration
would be £9O a-year, and a house to live in ? lam quite
sure I gave no such instructions; I cannot be sure what
Captain -Dyer may have given, in his zeal for Mr. Gilpin;
but I gave no instructions of the kind—l could not, Was
the. Rev. Mr. Gent also instructed by you to look out for a
schoolmaster ? Ido not remember, but. I think it is very
likely—we were in s-arch of a schoolmaster at the time.,
Did you give any instructions to Mr. Gent to say that the
remuneration should be £9O a-year, and apartments ?
Certainly not. Do you recollect an interview with Mr.
Gilpin upon the reduction of his salary in July, 1856 ? I
recollect Mr. Gilpin speaking to me upon the subject, and
wishing to have the undiminished salary without any reduc-
tiOn on account of house.rent. Did you say to him, Never
mind, will make it all right ?"
No. I 1 to acquiesce

on ace

evidence was substantially the same as that of Dr. IWNeile.
llis Honour said the evidence was very clear that this
person was.engaged for £9O a year, without a house.
_lt

was perfectly clear that there was no such arrangement with
Dr. Al‘Neile as that relied upon.. .A verdict was accordingly
entered for the defence. .
A JultY CASE.—THE CORPORATION r. ROBERT ROBERTS.
--This was an action brim& to recover the sum of £6
sltirse.ol.ld. as a portion of the cost of pavingßack Blenheim-
Mr. Raffles, instructed by Mr. M'aowan, deputy--
town-clerk, appeared for the plaintiffs', and Mr. Deighton,
instructed by Messrs. Neil and Martin, for the defendant.
The action was brought under several sections of the sani-
tary act of 1846, Which empowered the corporation to adopt
and pave highways. In 1865, the street in question W4O

seem to acydesce in it; we %,
lver asked him, nor no one else, to set:—
a what was .not correct. I said, in reply to his request,
that the salary should remain at £9O, without any reduction
-ant of house rent ; that I would 'bring the matter
before the conimittee, and if theV acquiesced, I should be'
very glad it should be so, but that I had no power to de it The Jubilee, "from' China, which was stranded at Berke
myself. The funds were collected by subscription, has been safely towed to Gravesend.
and I was only one of the managing committee. The Royal Arthur put back to Algoa Bay on the.
The letters produced contain assurances from Capt. March, having been ashore at Cape Recife.
Dyer, which, I. gave no warrant for, and all I can The Industry, Gillan, from Demerara to Liverpool; put
say is that
_I have not the slightest recollection of ever into Barbadoes, leaky, 'and would have to' discharge.
seeing them. This closed the plaintiff's case. Mr. Webster, The Palestine, Stevens, from Kooria Mooria, has put
treasurer of the church,_was examined for the defence. Ms into Cape Town (C. G. II.), to 'stop a leak; she is bound

,• _
for Queenstown.
A bale of cotton, apparently not lOng in the water, was
passed on the 24th Mac, in lat 48 N, lon 9 by the
..) _
Rydal, arrived here. _ _

The BrOseis' from Bombay to London, Was abandoned
on the 15th March, in a sinking state, off the Kowie
river, having met with heavy weather in the Mozambique
Channel, and became leaky; crew and a small part of the
ivory saved.

To SHIPPERS AND Exroirrius.—A most profitable
article of export, to warm climates especially, are the Self-
cleansing Charcoal Filters, patented by Messrs. Saunders
and Co., of 16, Parker-street, Liverpool—in fact they are
invaluable wherever there is bad water. S. and Q. allow
a liberal discoant on export and wholes* onion.