The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-04 00:00:00

SUSPECTED POISOND-TG OF A FAMILY AT
BANBURY. ,

On Friday, the town of Banbury was excited by the rumcur
that an extraordinary case of poisoning had occurred in the
family of a working Finter, named Samuel Lancaster, living
at Newland. About two o'clock in the afternoon of that day,
the elan, wife, and six children had risen from dinner
apparently in good health. At half-past two or three, one of
the six children was dead, and the five others wady so. It
appears the father is a printer, working at the Guardian
office, in constant employment, and earning good wages. The
wife, a comparatively young and able bodied woman, mother of
seven children, to which another will soon be added, is described
as being fearfully negligent of her home and leaving the
children unwashed and undressed by the day together, shutting
them up (as it appeared at the coroner's inquest) in a
room up stairs for hours together, without food or clothing,
while she attended to herself in other things besides the
positive necessaries of life. On the morning above stated
(it being a bitter cold and frosty one) the children were seen
by the neighbours in the yard or near the house, with no other
covering on them than some thin, dirty rags, scarcely sufficient
to cover their nakedness, and nearly perished with cold, To.
wards noon the mother sent the two elder children to a neigh-
bouring tripe shop for some cow heel broth, in which she
placed a swede turnip, some carrots and onions, and stewed
them together for dinner. At dinner time the father reached
home from his work, and had his dinner, but whether he or
his wife partook;of the broth, has not been satisfactorily made
out. Facts show that the children, being in such a wretched
condition, eat voraciously of it, with the result stated above,
while the father, mother, and infant escaped altogether. The
children, shortly after dinner, went into the yard to the water
closet, and within a few minutes one was dead, and it required
the united exertions of three or four medical men, and as many
neighbours for hours, to save the lives of the others. At
present they are slowly recovering, and may be said to be eut
of danger. The scene of wretchedness when the children were
suffering is said to be beyond description; not a single article
of use, not a cup, saucer, or even a spoon was to be found in
the house. The inquest held on the body of the child was
adjourned on Monday evening at ten o'clock till Tuesday week;
the stomach and its contents have, in the meantime, been
forwarded to Dr. Taylor, in London, for analysis, which may,
or may not, throw some light on this mysterious matter.

DESPERATE ASSAULT AND HIGHWAY
ROBBERY.

On Sunday night, information was received of a most atrocious
attack, by four highwaymen, on the person of Mr. Dymock,
surgeon, of Kingswood, Gloucestershire, and his wife, who
were so severely injured that their lives are considered in great
danger. It appears that on Sunday night, about seven o'clock,
Mr. and Mrs. Dymock were passing a place called Gammony
Hill, about three miles from Bath, when four men suddenly
rushed upon them, and one seizing the horse's head, the other
three commenced a most violent attack on Mr. and Mrs.
Dymock, beating them brutally with bludgeons loaded with
lead. They then dragged them out of the gig, and, notwith-

standing their prayers for mercy, continued their acts of violence,
apparently with the intent to take their lives, two of the ruffians
occupying themselves plundering the vehicle and persons of
their victims, from whom they took a large sum of money,
two gold watches and appendages, and a quantity of jewellery
and valuables, altogether worth £lOO. Alarmed by the sound
of an approaching vehicle, they decamped, and got clear away,
notwithstanding an instant pursuit by Superintendent Morgan
and a number of the monnted constabulary.