The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-07 00:00:00

Suicide in Pentonville Prison.

An inquiry of a melancholy character was insti-
tuted by Dr. Lankester on Tuesday at the Penton-
ville Model Prison, relative to the death of a pri-
soner, Valentine Bambrick, aged 28 years, who was
found dead and hanging in his cell on Friday even-
ing last. Last week a similar inquest was held.
Mr. Charles L. Bradley, medical efficer of the
prison, said ho had been told that he (prisoner)
fretted, as he was being unjustly punished for a
crime of which he was not guilty. His mind was
no doubt impaired,and he had suffered from delirium
tremens. A letter was written on a slate by deceased,
which might be worth the attention of the jury.
On the production of the slate the Coroner read
the following letter:—
_ _

" My dear, dear Friends and Family,—Becoming
quite tired of my truly miserable existence, I am
about to rush into the presence of my Maker tin-
e tlled and unasked. To you I appeal forgiveness
and pardon for all the unhappiness I have ever
caused you. I dare not ask for mercy of God. I am
doing that which admits of no pardon, but if He
will hear my prayer, I pray to Him to grant you
consolation in your hour of affliction, for I know
that, notwithstanding all my faults, that love which
you always manifested towards me is ❑ot withheld
yet, and therefore the news of my unfortunate fate
will make time sorrowful. Pray for your unfortu-
nate son. " VAL. BAMBRICK."

" P.S.—Before I die, I protest solemnly my entire
innocence of the charge for which I was punished,
all but the assault, and that was done under the
circumstances before mentioned to you in my letter.
" God bless you all. Love to all my relations.
Pity even while you condemn " Poon VAL."
John Potter, a p- Boner, said he was in the next
cell to the deceased. He did not know until that
afternoon that he was dead, when the deputy-
governor sent for him and told him. He only knew
deceased by his number, C 21. Deceased had spoken

to him twice. The first time he said, " I have sent
out a special letter, and I expect to be discharged.'
The second time he said he was an innocent man.

The Coroner—Have you any complaint to make
of the diet you have given to you ?
Prisoner—No, sir ; I have meat every day.

A juror—When the deputy-governor called you
down, did ho instruct you as to what you were to
to say here ?
Prisoner—No, sir.
The foreman, referring to the statement made
by the prisoner they had just examined, wished to
know whether that special letter had been for-
warded to the friends.

Ciptai❑ Craig (the governor, who had been sent
for) informed the jury that on February 26 the pri-
soner applied to him for permi.sion to write a spe-
cial letter, and as he was a well behaved man he
granted the application. Prisoners were only allowed
to write a letter on their entry, and then on every
three months. The deceased was not entitled to
write until this month. That special letter was for-
warded to his family directly. A petition followed,
and there was no doubt that if a certain woman had
been found the deceased would have obtained his
release. Tne deceased came from Winchester Gaol;
the governor there, feeling highly interested in the
prisoner, endeavoured to get a commutation of his
sentence. He considered he was perfectly inno-
cent, as did also he (Captain Craig). The de-
ceased was charged with stealing a Victoria Cross
and several medals from a soldier who had
created a disturbance in a brothel at Aldershot
with a prostitute. The woman screamed ' Murder,'
and the deceased (who was also a soldier) went to
protect her. He thrashed the other soldier, during
which his medals fell off. Deceased picked them up
and put them on the mantel-shelf. They were,
however, lost, and the deceased was accused of the
robbery. The deceased also had a Victoria Cross
and medals, and a pension of £lO a year for life;
the latter was, however, forfeited by the conviction.
While the deceased was in that prison an order from
the Secretary of State arrived, directing that the
Victoria Cross which bad been obtained by the de-
ceased should be also forfeited, and this also affected
the deceased.
A juror wished to know if a copy of the letter on
the slate would be forwarded to the friends.
Captain Craig replied that no transcript would be

made, but the original became their property, and
would be forwarded to them with the decision of the
coroner's jury. The body could either be buried by
them or otherwise. After some remarks on the
very melancholy character of the else,
The jury returned a verdict of ' Suicide, while
labouring under unsound mind.'
Naval and Military Intelligence,

THE NAVY.
The Duke of Somerset will hold levees for the reception
of officers of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines on the fol-
lowing Thursdays, at half-past 2 o'clock—April 21 and 28

and May 5, at the Admiralty, Whitehall.
The Geyser, 6, paddle sloop, Commander Thrupp, arrived
at Portsmouth yesterday from Sheerness and landed a crank
shaft from the Chesapeake frigate for the use of the Urgent,
screw, troopship, Capt. Henderson, now fitting out at Ports-
mouth for foreign troop service, the crank shaft Gf the
Urgent having been discovered to possess a flaw which
would render it unsafe for lengthened service. The repairs
and outfit of the Urgent are being rapidly effected under
the superintendence of Capt. Henderson, while at the same
time all thet is being ')w done in the way of fitting will
not undergo a fresh series of alterations and arrangements
on commission, as they are being ‘ffected under the supe-
rintendence of the officer who will command the ship. The
ordinary course followed with ships fitted out for classes
in the steam reserve and subseluent commission is for

the officers .of the dock) and and steam reserve
to have the work done according to their ideas.

A short time afterwards the ship is commissioned, when
the captain appointed to command her generally alters
everything on board, although she has been so carefully
and expensively fitted by the steam reserve and dockyard
officers. This of course doubles the expense of outfit. By
the appointment, therefore, of a captain by the Admiralty
to superintend the fitting of his own ship, as in the case of
Capt. Henderson and the Urgent, the Admiralty have done
wisely. In the French Imperial Marine the matter is much
more simply mana2,-ed. If a captain is appointed to a French
man of war with her outfit and fittings completed, or in
part completed, he must return all such fittings in the state
he received them, and must not alter a rope-yarn or the
colour of his paint without special leave from the proper
authorities.

Yesterday Vice-Admiral the Han, Sir F. W. Grey,
K C. 8., one of the Lords of the Admiralty, visited Chat-
ham Dockyard, accompanied by Rear-Admiral K. S.
Robinson, the Controller of the Navy, and was occupied
some hours in the inspection of the principal vessels build-
ing and fitting at that establishment, and in the transaction
of other official business. In the early part of the day he
went over the Bombay, 67, 400 horse power, in No. 3 dock,
where she has been lying several months for the purpose of
undergoing the necessary alterations and fitments to adapt
her for a flagship. She is now completed, and to-day will
be floated out of dock fully rigged and equipped, with most
of her officers and a considerable number of her crew on
board. Passing along the slips on which are lying a squa-
dron of wooden vessels of various sizes and in different
stages of progress, Admiral •it F. W. Grey visited the shed
under which the Lord Warden, ironclad, is building, which,
with the exception of the Bellerophon, is the only new
vessel on which there is a single hand now employed at
Chatham Dockyard. Notwithstanding the brief period
which has elapsed since the keel of the Lord Warden
was laid down, the vessel is now well in frame, although
the number of hands employed on her is necessarily
limited in consequence of n early every workman being
required to complete the fitting of the Achilles. In the
afternoon, accompanied by Rear-Admiral Robinson, Capt.
Stewart, C. 8., Mr. Thornton, master-shipwright, and the
other officials, he embarked on board the City of Rochester
and steamed out to the Achilles, which is being fitted for
sea. During the interval which has elapsed since the vessel
was visited by any of the members of the Admiralty consi-
derable progress has been made in getting her ready for
sea, although there is much to be effected before she can
take her departure from the harbour. The whole of her
machinery and engines have been fitted, and she is getting
well forward with her rigging, most of her lower rigging
being now set up in its place. Alter spending same time
in the inspection of the iron frigate Admiral Grey returned
to the dockyard, and, having transacted official business
with Captain Superintendent Stewart, retarned to the
Admiralty,

The America target ship, at Portsmouth, wi'l be placed
under fire again to-morrow, to test a 41-inch plate from
Messrs. Beale, of Parkgate, Yorkshire for the Pallas, and a
41-inch plate from Petin, Gaudet, and Co., of France.
The Royal Sovereign turret ship at Portsmouth has a large
number of hands employed upon her completing her outfit,
but her decks aro in an indescribable state of confusion,
owing, apparently, to the peculiar nature of the greater
portion of the work, the necessity for leaving as much room
as possible about the decks, and the indecision of the
authorities as to many matters connected with her equip-
ment which ought to have been settled long since.
The Adventure, screw troopship, Capt. Waddilove, sailed
from Spithea t yesterday atternoon for a cruise in the
Channel. If the ship continue, as at present, free from
j sickness of any kind she will most probably not return to
Spithead, but proceed to Dever and embark troops there for
China,and call in afterwards at Plymouth on her way down
Channel for the military and naval detachments conveyed
to that port from Portsmouth by the screw troopship Hi-
malaya.
The Victoria, screw three-decker, of 1,000 horse-power,
fitting out at Portsmouth, is ordered to be ready for com-
mission by the end of May next. She has her spars all
aloft, and the riggers are now engaged in fitting the ratlines
on her lower and topmast rigging in readiness for a final
blacking down. A good deal of the filling-in round the
upper part of her stern, externally, is being replaced with
new work, the old having been found quite rotten, although
the Victoria is a new ship.
The Pekin gunboat, Commander Burgoyne, from Shang-
hai, having discharged her guns and ammunition at Wool-
wich Arsenal, was yesterday towed into basin in the dock-
yard to strip and return stores.
Capt. W. Crispin has been appointed one of the Queen's
naval aides-de-camp, vice Capt. Forbes, promoted to the
rank of rear-admiral.
The following appointments were made yesterday at the
Admiralty :—Staff Commander Max, B. Usborne to the
Fisgard, for surveying service— Lieut. Caesar H. Hawkins
to the Research—Geo.Robinson, master, to the Duncan, for
surveying service—L, J. Monteith, surgeon, to the Cum-
berland—John J. Willeocks, assistant-paymaster, to the
Adventurer; George T. Blundell, engineer, to the Sut-
lej ; David Robb, engineer, to the Stork; George Hole,
Charles Heyward, and Robert M. Bryant, master's as-
sistants, to the Bombay; Philip B. Aitkius, Thomas
S. Hoghton, Francis N. N. Harvey, Marcus L. Bridger,
Henry P. T. Skinner, Robert C. Gorst, James C.C. Dennis,
Edmund 3, Poe, Charles V. Strange, Richard G. Day, and
Charles E, Morison, midshipmen, to the Bombay—Baldwin
W. Walker, midshipman, to the Orlando—Thos. E. Suli-
van, midshipman, to the Hector—Francis R. B. Kemp,
midshipman, to the Edgar—Thos. H. S. Robertson, Digby
J. 11. Hamilton, Douglas E. D. Curry, and Charles A.
Stephenson, naval cadets, to the Bombay—H. J, Wode-
house and Wm. G. Eden, naval cadets, to the Revenge—
Francis C. B. B. Simpson, naval cadet, to the Liffey—H.
F. Haszard, naval cadet, to the Duncan—Wm. N. Atkin-
son, naval cadet, to the Hector—Alfred R. Sims, naval cadet,
to the Edgar—and Henry P, Routh, nominated to a naval
cadetship.
=The sergeants of the 10th depot battalion at the camp at
Colchester have presented a handsome tea and coffee service
to Sergeant-Major Donolau as a mark of respect on his re-
, tirement from the service.