The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-06-07 00:00:00

THE LATE MURDER AT WINTOA:

[Additional , from the Masehertew Casette.]
At two o'clock inparti thcule afternoonars of Tuesday, Mr. Lavender lee
off in the coach to Appleby, accompanied by R. J. J. !Coneys,
Esq., of Davy Ilulme Hall, Mr. Foulkes, the attorney ale the
township in which the murder was commkted, John Cheadle, the
constable of that township, and Mr. his. Blasts, the landlord of
the Jolly Carter, the public-house where the hoteid deed wee pee.
petrated. On their arrival at Appleby, at twelve o'clock oa the
following day (Wednesday), they found flit Philip Musgrave, ev.
Atkinson, Esq., and other Magistrates, is waiting for them et
the King's Head Inn, who received them with all the routes
which is peculiar to real gentlemen, and invited them to partake
oyf
the refreshments which had been prepared for them. They tem
proceeded to the Court-house, and it was arranged that the :Msyt •
crates should take their seats, and the prisoners their station 11l the
bar, before the introduction of Mr. Blare. Now we should net
omit to notice, that on the prisoner's first examinatirm before Sir
Philip and his brother Magistrates, Alexander Al'Kean roundly
asserted that he was not " the man ;" that he was above ao
eeaie
of age ; that his name was Matthew Kirk, and that bis fne*
traveller would answer to his name when called upon, elided
M`Kean said his name was James Keerson, and be was tepees,
of the charge of murder.
Their deportment was comparatively firm and composed, eat
during the preceding day and night they had been appa,e„„le
cheerful. AD. Blears was called into the room, and the toonuit
they east their eyes upon him their firmness and composure entirely
forsook them ; both appeared dismayed; Michael trembled exees,
sively, and with difficulty supported himself, arid Alexander stood
as if petrified. Neither spoke a word. Poor Blears was visibly
agitated, and on being asked if he knew them, he shook his head
and said, " Most certainly I do ; they are the men who sat in the
bar with me on the night of the murder; " and, pointing tossed,
Michael, said, that gentleman has got his whiskers shaved!,
The necessary depositions being taken, the Coroner's 'anent
was endorsed by the Magistrates, previously to its being pat into
execution in that county (Westmorland), and the prisoners were
delivered into the charge of John Cheadle, the constable of the
township of liarton-upon-Irwell, and, being placed in a cluiee,
they set out with their conductors on their road to Lancsetee,
IVhen they had proceeded some distance they were asked it they
wanted anything to eat, when they expressed a great desire to have
somethirg. Accordingly, when they arrived at Kirby Stephen, a
shilling's worth of bread and meat was placed before them, which
they ate with an appetite approaching to voraciousness, declaring
they had eaten nothing that day but a penny loaf. They afterwards
drank a pint of ale each, which appeared to have a considerable
share in rendering them more cheerful and composed. They re.
quested Mr. Lavender to send their clothes to Lancaster ; to deliver
their books to Mr. Hancock (the young surgeon, we presume, who
lodged with them), who we their bondsman to the amount date
or 1001., and to give Alexander's goods to their mother. In their
route through Kirby Stephen, Sedburgh, and Kirby Loasdale,
the expression of popular indignation wu very strong; ;if
people exclaiming, " the murdering thieves, there they are!"
At Lancaster, however, the ebullition of public indignation
was violent in the extreme. Long before the arrival of the
coach, the roads through which it had to pant down to the
Market-place, and along to the Castle, were lined with the
indignant multitude, and when :t made its appearance, the au
was filled with hooting and hissing, and maledictions agaitat
the --- murderers," as they were termed. The coach
stopped at bliss Nunne's, in the illy re
and there the pri,
soners alighted, and walked thence to the Castle, aceompanied by
J
Mr. I,avetider, the constable of Barton, R. J. J. Norreys,
Mr. Foulkes, and Mr. Blears. The populace now began to be
quite outrageous ; the hooting and hissing became louder sod
louder, and at length they closed in upon the prisoners, and would
have torn them to pieces, but for the interference of their conductors,
The coolness and intrepidity displayed on this occasion by Mr,
Lavender and 11r. Norreys were admirable. At one morneet
they feared that all their endeavours would be unavailing to
preserve the wretched men from the indignant fury of the people.
31r. Norreys went in front, and manfully cleared the way with hit
stick, whilst the trembling culprits clung to Mr. Laveodw like
children, for succour and protection..--" iVhat would you have
exclaimed Mr. lavender to the crowd ; " are not the men herein
safe custody, and will not justice have its mum with them?
Would you commit a deed for which these unhappy men must ray
likely pay the forfeit of their lives?"
This appeal bad its effect with those who heard it, but ahem,
who did not, still pressed forward so much, that Mr. Lavender wee
obliged to use the only means in his power to repel their encroach.
mends, and he therefore laid about him lustily with his stick, and
in the heat of this somewhat solid argument, lie unfortunately
broke the head of the poor constable of Barton, who had beta
forced amongst the crowd. At length, by dint of great exer-
tions, the prisoners were safely lodged in the Castle, and sp.
peered literally thankful, inasmuch as they had narrowly escaped
a worse death than hanging, They, however, were dreadfully
dejected, and hung down their heads in the deepest despondency,
whilst their pale and haggard looks told a horrible tale of what
was pawing within, On reaching their apartment, they imme.
diately asked for Bibles, as if the very sight of the precious vc.
lume could relieve the dreadful anguish they endured. When
the officer came to knock off their chains, soon after their arrival,
which took place at half.past ten o'clock, they were bob inten ly
poring over the Scriptures, apparently unconscious of what was
passing around them. Some one asked " which is Alexander ?"
when Alexander, looking up, meekly replied, "I am he." Both
of them preserved the strictest silence; in fact, they appeared as if
they fancied the very sound of their voices would call down curses
upon them. The clothes they were taken in, and which they then
wore, as far as could bejudged, were those in which they committed
the bloody deed ; but they had esidently been welshed.
'Wheu they were first taken, they were in the most distressed
state imaginable; the soles of their shoes were completely worn off,
and their feet were covered with blisters--they were nearly famish.
log, and they had not a penny in their pockets.
They told Mr. lAventler they were Scatchmen, and not Irish,
nor of Irish parents. They said their father, who had been dead
16 years, was a Galloway man, and that their mother was born in
Dumfries—that they had two brothers, William and John, older
than themselves, and also a sister—that William lived in the town
of Urr, eight or nine miles from Dualities, and John in Stafford-
shire. They said, too, that they left Manchester on Thursday
night; so that immediately after the commission of the murder
they must have set off to :Manchester, and secreted themselves in
' the house of Elizabeth hl`Connell, in Collier-street, Salford—e
woman with whom Michael used to live, and by whom she had re-
cently a child. The abode of this woman, which was anxiously
sought for by the police-officers, was discovered through the unre-
mitting exertions of Mr. Foulkes and Mr. Noreen and on Mon-
' day last she was taken to the New Bailey, and now remains there
in the hospital ; but she will be liberated when she desires it.
It appears that they made their escape from !Manchester to a
piece between Colne and Settle, over the Fells, to Briefness, and
thence to Kirby-Stephen. They must have been in some place of
concealment, on the first part of their journey, during the day, and
then, like wolves, prowled forth in the night. IV hen they were
taken co Appleby gaol, they were kept in separate cells, until
Tuesday, and soon after they got together they quarrelled and
fought—but what was the ground of their dispute we are otily left
to guess. After they had seen 31r. Blears they maintained a strict
silence, and said nothing as to their guilt or innocence.
We understand that PCVeral young women have fallen victims
to the seducing arts of Alexander, and that he was shortly to bare
been married to Mies Hancock, the sister of the young surgeon of
that name who lodged in his house.

The Whitcharen Paper gives a few further particulars
respecting the elopement of Miss lv—y-11, of the isle of Man,
with Lieutenant and Adjutant Ed grants, of the 80th POOL The
lady's papa, it seems. was very hostile to the union, and had spared
no pains to prevent the elopement, yet, notwithstanding his yips
lance, the son of Mars out-manceuvred him, and having obtsined
the attire of a Manx peasant, he completely metamorphosed his in-
tended bride, at a cottage near the shore, and succeeded in getting
her safe on board an open boat, in which, after encountering a
stormy breeze, they landed at Flesaick, near Wnitehaven, very
much fatigued with the passage. After they bad partaken of some
refreshment, at Mr. Cragg's, at Tarnflat, they were conveyed to the
Black Lion Inn, at Whitehaven, where they dined, and suitable
apparel for the lady having been procured, they Immediately set
off for Annan.

BIRTHS.
In Upper Orosvennr-street, on the ith Inst. the ladyof the Rev. Horace
G. Chulmondeley. of a daturhter.
In Welbeek-street, on the 2d Inst. the lady of Slr Thom E. Croft.
Bart. of a daughter.
In Wimpole.street, on the 6th Inst. the lady of the Ilononrible John
Thornton Leslie Melville, of a son.
On the Ist Inst. at hte Lordship% house In Pall-mall, the Countess of
Mount-Charles, of a daughter.