The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-08 00:00:00

T#E BOLTON STREET MURDER.

THE DEATH OF THE SECOND CHILD.

In our impression of yesterday we gave the brief
o.etails of this most appalling Murder, perhaps one of
the most heartrending that it has been our painful duty
to record. W then announced that one of the children,
Joseph, aged four years, was dead, having expired almost
immediately after the.wound hal been inflicted upon him
by his father. Since then, the second child, Thomas
Gibbon, Only eighteen months, has also fallen a victim,
having, as will be seen by the subj iined report from
Inspector Kelshaw, dated April the 7,11, and addressed to
the coroner, expired in the infirmary, while the state of
Mrs. Gibbons lifer from satisfactory
Sir,—Perhaps you are not aware that the second child,
Thomas Gibbons, eighteen months old, died last night
in the infirmary, the second in that lamentable case—
Bolton street. Mrs. Gibbons in a very precariols state,
and no hopes are entertained of her recovery. . The
female child is as well as can possibly be expected,
INSPECTOR KELqH ASV.

As may naturally.bc expected, this horrible aff.tir has
heen the all engrossiog topic of conversation amongst the
inhabitants of the town. and yesterday much excitement
was manifested in the `iioinity of ' the G.:roller's
court, Lord, street, it being underetood that

THE IN4TJEST ON THE BODIES OF THE TWO CHILDREN

wes•to be held at the hour of e'even o'closlc. Shortly
after that hOur, P. F. Currie, Esq., the boroush coroner,
emptee"led' a highly respectable' jury, and ueon their
beiess sworn, be said : Gentlemen, there are five cases
you will have to inquire' into to-day; three of them are
of an ordinary character, if they may be called ordinary,.
where life has been sacrificed, but there are two ca.ses
that yoa will have to inquire into which are of the most
horrible description that ever came under my knowledge,
useless we include that awful murder of Mrs. Henrichs-on
and her two children, by Gleeson WilSon. It will be for '
You to enquire how these tw: children came by their
"death, and by whem the wounds were inflicted. It may
be set up before you that the father,, if you should say
that it was him who did the act, was Of unssund mind at
the time, bat I tell yatt that you hats nothing whatever
to do with the state of the poor man's mind—that is a
subject for a higher tribunal. It will be for you to say,
did he or did he not commit the act; -and if he did so, it
will' be for you to say, was he justified in doing it.
The coroner and. the jury - then proceeded to Belton
street to view the bodies of the first child, and also to the
Infirmary to view the body of the second child.
The: pry consited of ' the' following gentlemen :
Messrs. David Paton, Adol. Swiayherger, Charl,s Enalish,
John Jones, Henry Blenitinsop,' Janacs Items, Thomas
Fisher, Edward Fjord, Joseph Spencer, William Crane,
George Collins, Richard Seed, John Crane, and William
Staniland. The jury having viewed the bodes, the
following evidence was given : -John Gibb Ons, a child
eleven years of age, said, my father's name is John
Gibbons ; my mother's name is Margaret, and the little
boy.who died yesterday was Joseph ; he was the eldes` ;
Ithe youngest, Thomas, was eigh.een months old ; we live
in Tarletoa COurt, Bolton street ; I was in the bed with
t my mother and the children, before this took place; we
'were all, sia of us, in the same bed ; we all went to bed
together on Sunday night. It was ebout half past eight
' o'clock when my father got up; he put on his trowsers,
and went out of the room ; my mother got up soon
afterwards ; bef re my mother was dressed, Muggy
( Vlargaret) come into the. room ; .we ail began playing;.
my father hal kissed .• my mother before he vseat
down is ha, calve in.o, the room again, and he then
'put his left arm round her breast,. and I saw
him do something to her throat. I did not then see anything
in his hand. My mother then rushed to the door, and
_slipped dawn on her hack, and all the breakfast things fell
' from her hind ; my mother said " Oh t" I did not leave the
room directly, but i stopped a minute; lily sister was up, and
standing on the litior ; my'fa.:her seized hold of her, and held
her down on the,ellair ; ' there was a pillow on the chair ; he
held her by the chin ; she tried to keep her chin down, but he
forced it up; she called out " murder," and I saw that he,•had
a razor in his band, and he was trying to cut her throat ; I saw
some bloodf and then I ran dawn stairs into the street; I did
not see anything else; I saw my father iu the court yesterday ;
I have since seen the bodies of my two little brothers. The
i Coroner : Now, have you observed lately that your father is
out of his Mini? Boy : Yes, sir, and lie is out of his mind ;
he used to say that we should be put into a cage and
prosecuted ; my father put his arms around my mother's neck
and- kissed her before he put something' to her neck. [This
' witness was a most intelligent lad, and gave his evidence in a
I eseioryieptroce,h‘eirs we:ry,;ithwutasfrwomiththtieiffleocurointyerthcaltmiolissins
gtatt
be heard by the reporters, but the above is the substance
eo mheanvte c ohui rd
- . _......
hOuse; I and the little girl, Margaret, slept in the upper'
room ; I got up about' half past seven o'clock on yestcrdsy
morning; when I passed the bedroom door k was shut; I
went into the kitchen, I got a fire on and put the kettle on ;
' when I pissed through* the bedroom they were all in bed
toother, the, accused, his wife, and'the children ; about half an
hour after 1 heard my mistress come to the head of the stairs ;
my master was with her, lie came 'after tier;, ho said to her,
"don't go out to-day, Margaret ;" I heard him kiss her, and
she then ran out into the street immediately after ; I think she
fell down on the stairs ; I diii not see any blood on her throat,
but I saw ber 'hold her ." market pocket" up to her neck ; I
followed her out, and 'saw the blood dropping from her upon
the pavement ; she ran out of the court: into the street; I
called out murder, anti so did my mistress, anti the people all
came Fithcring around us ; I afterwards werrt into, the house,
fiat net upstairs ; I aid not know then what had taken place
upstairs ; t'l hove since seen the body of the child, Joseph,
whose thro it was cut; my. master was a butcher, and hod a
stand in St. John's market; he and his wife lived happily
together, and loved each other dearly. A Juror • Have you
observed . that your master was out of his mied ?
Witness: Yes; I have for the last four or five months; he
was very melancholy, and Was afraid of going out ; I never
saw him drunk in my Me, bet he was a'very'qniet and well
behaved man; he used to run upstairs when he heard eknock
At the door. Police .coestable 565, Edward Thistleton,..
stated : 'About half paid eight o'clock on yesterday morning, I
was an duty in - Lime'street, !when I saw a woman.stapding,
a;ainst Mr. Thomsen's public house ; she coiled out, " Officer,
be quick ; there is a man through the passage who has cut his
wife's throat;" I immediately went into the. yard in Bolton
street, and went upstairs;; I -met the accused, John: Gibbons ;
he had only his waistcoat and trousers on ; I asked him Where
his wife was-; he replied; ',' I do not know'; she has gone Cut ;"
I saw there was some bloc I on the bed clothes, and I , went
along side of-thesbed ; I saw two children bleeding from: their
throats; I asked him who had done it ; he made answer,
" I have done it ;'"
.another young man said he would
help me, when the accused said, "I ;will .make no re-
sistance
;" he then said• the two children Were better' off
as they were, than being brcught up amongst proititutes or
begging from , door to, door ; I asked him what he had done it
with ; be said he hod done it with a razor ; I asked him where
;
it was lie reelle,dl " under the bed, and fans not sorry for it,
•
as they (th; children) aro much better off, as they aic i than
otherwise. The young man found ,the razor under the bed, and
gave it into my hands; the ehildeen had their throats cut and
were ~bleedina., but were, both alive. [ the razor was here
produced, and was.of the common descriplon.l A doctor was
sent for, but, before he arrived the child Joseph was dead. 1
told bin], the accused, that he must go to
.Britiewell, and he
said; "'Very well: but let me kiss any son Patrickfirst ;" the
other child was sent to the Infirmary, as well se the mother.
Bya Juror: flow did ho appear in his mind? Witness': He
did not appaar.depressed.. but treated the matter with' indiiTer-
see°. ,There was a person said, as we were taking him to the
Brideweil, " That he had better :nit his own throat," 'and he I
replied, "That he would have done so if he hal hal time."
Police Officer '297, Edward Geo'sge, • having been sworn,
, said : The children were both in bed with their throats cut; I
laid them on their hacks, and went for a d: c or ; before I-got
back • Joseph was dead, ; I took the other (Aromas) to the
infirmary; I have 's+ ea the bhdy at the infirmary since.
Edward Higgins, a labourer, stated that ho, by the
direction of the police officer, rooked, under- the bed.
and there found a razor covered with blood. Mr: Thomas
Bickerton, mirgeon : Yesterday inorniorf I was Called' to'
trio. house of the accused in Bolton 'street ;' Wheri I got there
one of the children was dead, the other was livifig ;.'eaeli‘ of
their throats were cut ; I sewed to? the throat of the child
that was living's and sent it on to the infirmary; the child had
a cut four inches in extent, and divided everything down to
the -gullet, which was, however, not cut ; the child was 'a
remarkably fine child. Mr. Edw. Morris : The child, Thomas,
was le'cught, to the infirmary yesterday with Mrs. Gibbons
and the little girl ; the throat of the deceased, as we'll' as
Mrs. Gibbon, was cut ; the child died the same evenina;
there was an inc'sed wound two inches and a quarter in length,
opening into the windpipe in two places, and into the cavity
which contains the right lung,' from 'the effsets of which the
child died. This concluded the case. . The Coroner then
briefly summed up thd.evidetice; and the jury, after a very
brief consultation,, returned a verdict—" That John Gibbons
had been guilty of the wilful,murder of his two children, Joseph
and Thomai Gibbons." A warrant was issued for the committal
of the accused. Before separating the jury expressed a w's::
that the praiseworthy conduct of, the pollee officers should be
represeued to the witc!r committee.. - et-,

LATEST PAIIIICULABB.
We learn from u:ldoubted autlitori!-y • that John Gibbons,
the perpetrator :of this horrid tragedy, is, and has been for
sometime past, in a very low and melancholy state of mind,
but bas'al ways shown the. greaest t:Ef,c'ion and kindneql
for his wife wA children, up to the very moment of com-
mitting the awful act, for which a coroner's jury have found
him guilty of, the wilfid murder of his children, His wife,
Margaret Gibbous, still remains in a very precarious state
at the infirmary, and up to a late hour Yesterday evening,