The National Register.
London, England, 1819-10-31 00:00:00

MUROF.R OF HIS WIFE

J-gin 114'wesbq was indieted•or the wilful murder of Ann
}leitnesby, his woe, on the 28th of September, in the parish
of St. John, Hackney, by strik ng her with an axe upon
. the
head. of which wound she died. 'lhe unfortunate p:isoner
%rat a mild looking decently dressed young man, and be-
haved himselt at the bar with great composure. He shook
hands with some friends whom he recognised in front of the
dock.
Mr. WA troan opened the pleadings.
Mr..ALLar ftated the case for the prosecution, and ele•
tailed the nature of the evidence he had to adduce against
the unfortunate prisoner, exactly as it was given in the
tulluwing •yilence:—
Thitl„ret witness was Esther Surrey, who gave her evi•
deuce as follows:-1 am a single woman now residing at
. the workhouse at ilomerton. In September list I lodged
ill the same house with the prisoner it was his wife s fa-
ther's house. In the latter end of that month. I ne!itve the
,2gth, ins Tuesday. prisoner and his wife went out together
*bout three o'clock so the day. rrhe pri.iiner here ex-
Please you, my Lord, that's false.") I did not
see them again until they returned about halt-past six o'clock
its the evening; hut I do not know whether they came in
both together or not. I first saw them at the stile talking
. before the door with another man, where they stayed about
a quarter of an hour before they entered the house; but the
man did not come in; his name was John Lawrence, and

the prisoner was very jealous of him, for he afters:, arils said
11,c had caught him *Lit evening with his wile; he said this
when lie came in doors, and when lie had sow,: word, with

the deceased, whom he called a w , and charged with
being with this man; she ;tiied he was a liar. then
asked her to go to bed ; she said 0 Yes." They both went
into the bed room nice her, as I thought to go to red
-They then both undronsed and went to bed. At th.s time
the acceastd's little brother and sister were in the house in
lied ; their father, who was a watchman, was out. I was
. i t the act ut going to bed with the children, who slept in
the adjoining room. Prisoner sob's atter came out from his
wife v room into ours, and sat I,intwlf down on the
sr.diere the children were. He said to me, Are you going
to bed r ,My reply was. ° l believe I shall." ide then
went back to los wife's room, and in a minute or two re
turned, '4,4 sat again upon our bed undies ed, when I asked
• him whether he wished to sleep with the children. His wife,
who Wa4 in the neat room, and who could overhear him,

to his wite's room, and then I heard a blow, as I thought,
then Said, get up " He went back a second time
from the sound, as if from his fig. I immediately got up and
went to the door, and the little boy in the bed I had ju-t
tootled roared out 'tMurder !" When I got to the door
the prisoner came out from Ins wife's room, bearing an axe
in his hand, and said, if the boy re:Evil out Murder again
.'le would murder hint ; he hen retraned into his bedroom,
still carrying the sac while he was there at that time I
liecrd the deceased cry out very faintly, Lord have mercy
upon nose-' I thiak she said this about three times. The
piisasier then came out into the room, and said he had dune
for :rr, and should be hung. He then asked the little boy
k..11C deceased's brother) for his father's money. and the boy
bud !IC did not know where it was. he prisoner then tout
,) chisel, opened the father's box, and took away the money;
aster that, he asked me for the pen and ink, with which lie
w rote two notes, the paper of which he tore out of the baker's
book. When he did this, he brought the.ani, and held it up
to me, and said, that if we ever spoke a word.:* should be
dead. He then said he must go away, and that he would go
by the back door and listen, adding, if.he heard us speak a
ord, he would come back and do for us. I gave an alarm
as soon as I could at Alt. Coition's, over the way, the
Ciooked Billet. Is was a moon-shining Eight.
Croiscexamincd by Mr CI!RWOOD.-1 am no relation to-
the deceased, hut was a mere lodger in the Noose. They
went out together on the ISth of September; whether they
continued together or not I don't know, but the that I saw
of them after was to the evening. when I saw alerts talking
with another man, near a spot where there was a cow-
house. I dal judge from the tone that an angry conversa-
tion was passing between tir m. and I overheard prisoner
taxing his wile with having caught her in a certain situation
sv:th the man (Lawrence) in that cow-house. His words
were—. I hate caught you in the fact.' This was outside
the door; and the conversation wag confirmed angrily after
t :icy entered the house, into which he shoved her so an
angry Manner. Atter she had guile into the 'room, he came
oust of it two or three times, and he seemed to be very up-
easy. I ovetheal d her say,to the prisoner that she was car •
tied into the cow-house ny. Lawrence; the pi isoner replied,
it she would swear a rape against the man be would take
m uptu Worship street; she ropiied she would not do it
I uid me hear hex say she loved his little finger better than
her husband's whole body, nor that she would get up and go
co Lawrence.

Re-examincd.—The woman did say ss Len he accused her
of twin a w—, that ,he was a liar.
Thomas Soles, a boy ..bout twelve years of age, the hex-
t'.:er of the deceased, corrubor.sied si,c last witness's testi:
stony.

Robert Prescott. a constable, recollected the alarm of
murder on the night in question; he repaired with Mr.
Wiliam a neighbour, to the house where found near
the door indoe two puddles of blood, and on turning hi* e‘ e
tie SAM the deceased lying on her back in the bed. quite
dead; on the eght side ..f the bed there was a great deal of
btuud quite congealed. He then produced a I. rge ate,
which he found in the children a hed-rooni ; it w..s full of
wood on the track part when he found it. which was thick
;sod beasy r there was nu blood on thashaip edge of the
11141.

Lb. boy Soles proved this to be his father's are- wh'cli
was in the cup oaid under tha s,aurs.
The Prisoner, when called upon fur his defence, spoke as
follows, in a eery emulous tone:
"On the !Woodsy, the dty before. I saw my wife, who
went out loget el pail of wEeriand was put a lung time, on
her return her fur be,i,g out, knowing she hat:linen
doing wrung; tie todowing day she said she was going out,
" suspecting•her to be going to act improperly, I followed
her to the cew•huuse, near which I saw lice with this John
Lawrence; and on her return, when I accused her of it, she
lads' You may be d—'d, and she would do as she liked