The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-17 00:00:00

Child Murder in Lambeth.

Mr W. Carter, the coroner for East Surrey, reopened at
10 o'clock this morning a long inquiry, at the Spread Eagle
tavern, Stangate, Lambeth, on the body of a male child
found with its throat cut in Cardigan-street two days
previously. The investigation created considerable into-
rest, and the jury consisted of the most influential and re-
spectable inhabitants of the district. Mr Inspector Byron,
of the L division, attended to watch the case on behalf of
the Commissioners of Police. The mangled remains having
been viewed by the coroner and jury, the following evidence
was adduced :
William Wicking, a potter, of No. 6, Cardigan-street,
Princes-road, said that on Wednesday night, about eleven
o'clock, whilst returning home from his employment, he
found a parcel near a garden gate in Cardigan-street.
A lad named Thomas Coombes was in his company at the
time. The parcel appeared to him to be a bundle of clothes
in a black wrapper. He lit a lucifer match, and by the
light he saw wet blood on the bundle. He went and fetched
a policeman, whom he had just passed in Devonshire-street.
The officer accompanied him to the spot, and having turned
his lamp on, discovered a male child in the parcel. In going
down the etreet he met no one going away from the spot.
Police-constable Samuel Wyman, 194 L, said that last
Wednesday night he was on duty at the corner of Kenning-
ten-lane, when the last witness came to him, and from
what he said he accompanied him to Cardigan-street,
where he saw a bundle tied up in a kind of black handker-
chief. Having turned his light on he discovered the feet
of a child. He took the parcel to the Kennington-lane
police-station, when the body was examined, and its throat
was found to be cut. He took the child to Mr Wakeham,
the divisional surgeon, and from there to Mr Adamson, the
summoning cfficer, who took charge of it. Witness had
been in Cardigan-street 10 minutes before, and if the parcel
had been tbere then he must have seen it as he pascal along
the middle of the road. lie had not been able to obtain
any clue of the parents of the child.
Mr Adamson, the officer of the court, said on Wednesday
evening he received the body of the deceased from the last
witness. It was wrapped in part of a skirt of a black silk
dress. There was nothing remarkable about it, only it
was stained with blood.
Mr 'Walter Monday, of No. 3, More-place, Kennington,
said he was district parish surgeon, and he saw the deceased
on Thursday last in the deadhouse of Lambeth Churchyard.
He found it was of the male sex, and had been born within
two days. He noticed an injury on the neck. It was a
large incised wound, extending from the left side of the
neck to the right. The wound was about five inches long,
and en inch and a half deep. All the vessels on the right
side were cut through, and the spinal column was divided.
On Friday, by order of the coroner, he made a post mortem
examination of the body, and found that it was fully deve -
loped, and the lungs very nearly filled up the cavity of the
chest. They were fully inflated with air, but pale. The
heart was of the average six; and quite healthy. There
was, however, a total absence of blood in the heart and

ventricle.
The Coroner—Did you test the lungs ?
Witness—l did, and found that they crepitated, and upon
cutting them into small pieces I found that they were fatty,
charged with air, and floated in water.
The Coroner—Showing what?
Witness—That the child had been born alive, far the
lungs and heart floated buoyantly in water.
The Coroner—Did you examine the head of the child ?
Witness—l did, but externally I found no injury. Upon
opening it I found a wound on the right parietal bone.
The Coroner—How, in your opinion, was that caused ?
Witness—l should most decidedly say that that injury
was caused from a blow, as there was an effusion of blood
under the scalp.
The Coroner—ln what state did you find the membranes
of the brain ?
Witness—They were congested under where the injury I
have alluded to was.
The Coroner—How do you account for the pale state of
the lungs and heart ?
Witness—From the loss of blood which had been caused
from the injury in the throat, and that had caused a com-
plete drainage of blood from the whole of the body.
The Coroner—From the examination you have made are
you in a position to state whether the child was born alive
or not ?

Witness—l am quite satisfied that the child was born
alive.

The Coroner—Then what was, in your opinion, looking
at the examination you have made upon opening the body,
the cause of death
Witness—That the child died from the effects of the
wound in the throat, and the loss of blood in consequence
of such injury, as the instrument had actually severed the
spinal marrow.

Mr Adamson, the head beadle of Lambeth, informed the
Coroner that he had a suspicion that if the case was ad-
journed he might be able to produce additional evidence to fix
the crime upon a certain person, and at the adjournment
to-day the first witness examined was
Mr Inspector Byron, of the L Division, said that from
certain information he received, to the effect that a young
woman in the service of Mrs Stokes bad been suspected of
being mac*, and a decided alteration had been observed in
her bodily appearance, he at once proceeded to Mrs
Stokes, at No 3, Cardigan-terrace, Kennington-lane, and
there saw the young female, who denied having given
birth to a child, and she added that on the night the body
was found she went out and fetched the beer for supper,
and that she had been running about the whole of that
evening, Her statement was confirmed by her mistress,
and the girl left the room. A piece of a black silk under
garment was then shown him, and which fornaed a portion
of the dress from which the piece was torn from, and in
which the body was wrapped. He made known his suspi-
cions, but she denied having been confined. He then told
her that it was necessary that she should undergo a surgi-
cal examination. This she at first objected to, but upon
threatening to take her iato custody upon suspicion, she at
last consented, and was examined by Dr Wakeham, the
divisional surgeon of the police, and from what he told him
he took her into custody. The next day she sent
for him, and, after being cautioned, she said,
"That is my child," meaning the one the police found
last Wednesday night. She said, "My name is
Elisabeth Strangeway, and will be 16 years of age next
December. I had it, and was bad all day on Wednesday.
Jest before I was took so bad, I said to myself I would go
up to my mistress and tell her that I was so bad. I was
took so bad that I put my hand on the shelf and my foot on
the fender, and there I remained until the child was born,
when I removed and sat in a chair for twenty minutes, and
then I got up and found the baby with its little head on
the fender in the back kitohen of my mistress's house. The
head and neck fell upon the sharp edge of the rim of the
centre of it. And then I did not know what to do, and I
picked up a piece of silk and wrapped the baby in it. I
did not know what to do with it, but I went out and took it
into Cardigan-street and laid it there." After reading
her statement over to her she signed it by making her
mark, As she subsequently complained of being unwell
she was removed to the infirmary of the poor-house, and it
is Mr Bullen's opinion she may be removed in a week.
Barbara Ann Stokes, of No. 3, Cardigan-place, said
that she was a widow, and lived independent. Last Wed-
nesday she had a girl named Strangeway in her service,
She came into her service on the 27th of last May. She
gave her on one occasion an old silk dress to make a petti-
coat of, as she was in a very distressed condition. From
certain appearances on the floor she was induced to speak
to her about it, when she said, in the first instance, that the
marks en the floor had been caused by some lights she had
procured for the cat, She afterwards said the marks sere
caused by her being unwell.
The Coroner inquired of Inspector Byron whether he had
searched the girl's boxes, and whether he had found any
clothing for the child, to which he said he had searched the
boxes, but there were no signs of clothing in the box, He
also produced the kitchen fender spoken of by the girl.
Mr Wakeham, of West-square, surgeon, said that on
Saturday last Inspector Byron came to his surgery, accom-
panied by a female, He examined her, and was quite
satisfied that she had recently been confined of a child. He
told her that she had been confined, but she made no ob-
servation about it.
Dr Monday, upon being recalled, and having examined
the fender, said that it could not have caused the injuries he
had before spoken. It was impossible, if the child had fallen
in the manner she had stated it, to have received such in-
juries as he had described, The injuries unquestionably
must have been inflicted by some manual power.
The learned coroner summed up and read over the whole
of the voluminous evidence, remarking, as he proceeded,
upon the most important portions, referring to the injuries
found upon the child, and, in answer to questions, Dr
Monday said the injury to the head might have been caused
by a fall on the fender, but the fender could net have
inflicted the injury found upon the throat.
The jury, after consulting, returned a verdict of Wilful
Murder against Elizabeth Strangeway, and the coroner
made out his warrant for her committal to Newgate.
The proceedings, which were of a painful character, then
terminated.

LITTLE LONDON.--For a moment there shone a

faint gleam of prosperity on Winchilsea, when
Queen Elisabeth paid a visit to the place, in order to satisfy
her own royal eyes as to whether it would be possible to
deepen the channel of the tidal estuary, and so to save the
fleeting commerce of the town, in pursuance of a request of
its inhabitants. The maiden queen came, saw, and admired,
and pleased with the goodly situation, the ancient buildings,
and the civic dignity of the town, she christened it, hall in
jest and half in earnest, " Little London." But she did
nothing further to save it. Since that day the sea has re-
ceded full another mile, and the town has dwindled down
into a mere rural village. It was not well suited for the
manufacturer, even when the weald of Sussex abounded
in wood, and all attempts to introduce local manufactures
of salt, charcoal, cambrics, lawns, and crape, and also I
smelting and tan works, have either been failures, or ut
the best have met with only a partial success,—Once a