The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-30 00:00:00

TRIAL, AND CONVIrITIONI FOR STEALING

A CIIII D.

On Thersday, at the se:sions now being held at the
New Bale , S ,lfo-d, Ann. u'holland, a weaver, aged
16, was eh trged .with yet init. a little ffirl, aged five years,
also nem d Ann Mulholland, the dauehter of the prisoyer's
uncle. Wt. Eli tgin prowc rte, ; the prisoaer was not de-
F,,nried W. believe it is fl Pee rears since a similar trial
took p 1 ice in the C tort. Mr Riggin said, the case was
f e-innately an iintvaal one ; the eh •rge was that of steal.
my a child Th • indierme t was ender the 9th Geo. IV.
c. 31, F. 21. which enacted ilia- I• any person who shall
by force or frail iteliie
decoy. entice, or take away an
child. under 10 v-a y
with intent to deprive the
p rents of the nos-,-t4m of it..h til be guilty of felony."
rtiP facts of the eve would show that the prisoner intended
to deprive the 'tare-•ta of .I,9gesQiort of their child for
ome consi•lerahle period The prisoner's name was Ann
Multi dlani. the chi al's na-ne Ann Mu,holland, and
the m ithet's !tam • &en NI Oh .11411. In February
la t, the Dare is or !ha eh Il lived in Wigan, and
fr a few diva he p lived with them, On
a certain day in th it m mill. the priaener stated that she
had got som. work at a h tog-. ante-Iced to take the child
with her, stating thatt she wo I hick with it in a few
hnurs:
were vent out age- h and did not return, The
plio
and i were made a various
oThe informel
e,aitiri hpaet of the child. The
town, but no new'
.en attain until the 21st et May, when
spl;eisztiegrtawkaesnnoin,,,
etas' n t Rechdale. From a state-
ment she ma le. it Win • 'n di c •ve-ell that the child was
in the Che,terfl-ld wO-k',ouse. a ,rest disteeoe from the
place whenen it was taken: The pisoner told the officer
th,it the paresis ha I -e1 her out with the child begging,
boy that statement ho (the leaned ceiretel b lieverl to be
en•irely untrue Th • p•ivire ra' o stated that a woman
whom she mer on the void put tee child in the work:
house It was thus kept from the anxious parents
for tour mon,hs. If 'h •ve faeta were prneed, he
submitted that the in -y wool c imp to the coe'_:lusicia that
th • prisoner was euiltr of 0-,8 of the worst of crimes.
Viiehael Mulhollaod. he Feb.,. was then a died : he deposed
that he trios a tin-plate worker, a. p.esent living at B lion,
htt in P•bruary 'al lived at Wigan. The prisoner was
his brother's ,laoghtor, whose f.ther and mother were in
America. In Febrn try last, the prisoner lived with them
five or six diva Witn• sa he trd the prisoner ask his wife
to let 111,1 child go with her to a house. and sa .v them leave
topether ; the prisoner said she wined be back in two or
three hours. Witness inforreq,l Ye police, maie every
i'qu'ry, and went to live far a short time in several towns,
in the h of soein4. the ptiso ler an I his child. He
received a letter front the pr sorter at Rochd
immediat ly went there ; bat fiading she halale, and
not the
oh-a
chill with h ,r, ha gave her into costody. The child was
hined from Clusterfill workh.oze a week since. An n
ainlo"ltan the mother of the chill, sai,l th tt one Tuesday.
in Fehniary, the prisoner asked her to let her take the
chill to the In 'use of a womt.n whom sbe said sbe was
going to assist. Witness told the prisoner that the child
would only la.n lei h r in her work, hot she replied that it
would sit quietly by the fire, an -1 she w mid soon return.
Witness never saw the 6;11 again until that day in court.
When the child, a little chehbv girl, first saw its mother,
it smiled and exelaime4, "Aye ! Mammy!" The mother
concludld her evilencc by rena-khz, " I hive been very
lonesome, and very nine, knocked up, ever since the chili
Was taken away." Illtworth, pllice.officer. in
the Rochdole fore,!. st it. d that he appreh.mded the prisoner
there on the 7r.la of May. and charged her with stealing
the chill. 01 asking her wh-re it was, she stated that
her uncle (the prosecutor) had sent her nut with it begging;
that she went to several towes, and met a strange woman
on the road, who gtt the child irro the vio2kbouse at
Cnestetflel4, giving it the name of Ann Riley, It was
fetched to Rochdale on the 19 h ins-, The child, which
was too small t► he seen in the witless box, wee lifted
anon the f on' of it, for the purp e=e of identification,
The learned couesal lofted, "It that your child?"
the parents answered siinul-aneously, and with Evident
emolen, "I is," When a k d what she had to say. the
oriso,er urged that she was sent oet with he child to beg;
The father ani m d.heri^di;na-ttlyd-nied this. and said
they owl no ne d t) do :;tich a thing being ab'e to main-
t ‘in their chit-lren by their labour The learned Chairman,
in slimming un the evidence to the jary, said that fortu-
nately the • ffence
was a very unnsui o, and recapitu-
hated the statute tinder which the chargene was laid. If they
were satisfied th ,t. the child had been taken away by fraud,
with intent to deprive the paren•s 0" it, they would find
their verdict accordingly. After delibsra'ing about five
minutes, the j Iry rptorne I a verdict of goal. She was
sentence! to be imprisoned in that gaol, with had labour,
for nine mon ha, one month to be solitary e ,nfineraent.
Up to this point she aopearei to think little of her
position, hit on hearing her sentence, commenced scream-
ing loudly.