The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-26 00:00:00

On Saturday morning a most cold-blooded murder was
perpetrated in a cottage on Chadwefl-heath, midway be-
tween Ilford and Romford, near the main London-road.

The unfortunate victim was a woman named Amelia Blunt,

verging upon 40 years of age. She had been married many
years, and had two grown-up daughters, and up to two or
three years since resided somewhere in the north of London.
Her husband died about two years ago, and sho then came

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;o live in the neighbourhood of Chadwell-heath. Sho there

became acquainted with Francis Wane, a labouror, and they
seem to have lived together as man and wife. Wane is
described to have been of idle and dissolute habits, and their
home was maintained by the industry of the woman, who
went out washing. About three months since she left him
and engaged herself as a kind of housekeeper to an old man
named James Warren, nearly 80 years of age, and his son
John, who was about her own age, both occupying a

cottage an the edge of Chadwell-heath. It seemed that the
two were so comfortably cared for that the son John made
her a proposal of marriage, which was accepted. The bands
were read yesterday week at Dagenham Church for the first
time, and she was preparing her wedding dress and making
other arrangements for the marriage, which was fixed to
take place in the early part of next week.
Wane frequently requested Mrs Blunt to return to him,
and on learning that she was about to be married to John
Warren he was heard to say that it should not take place,
and that ho would " do" for her. Unfortunately. however,
these were only deemed to be idle threats, and no notice
was taken of them. On Saturday morning he was in'a
publichouse near the heath, drinking, and in an excited
state. While he was in the place the woman Blunt, who
had been out marketing, met a woman coming out of the
house. In the course of conversation Mrs Blunt made some
allusion to her forthcoming marriage, which, no doubt, was
overheard by Wane, She then proceeded on her way to the
cottage, and, having prepared the dinner, she went to wash
in a kind of little washhouse or lean to, and James Warren,
as was his usual custom, took a short walk for half a pint
of beer. This was shortly after 10 o'clock. The old man, on
his way, called at the house of a grandson, and among
other matters spoke of his son's intended marriage, and
how comfortable they would be. He returned to the cottage
and called " Milly," the name by which they called the
deceased. Not receiving any answer, he went into the
washhouse, and there saw her apparently leaning over the
copper, as if she had been taking some clothes out of the
boiler. He again called her, and at the same time put his
arm partly round her waist to raise her. In consequence Of
his feebleness, however, he was unable to bear the weight
of the unfortunate woman, and stumbled and partly fell
with her. He then found that she was covered with blood
flowing from frightful gashes inflicted in the throat end
side of the neck. Ho went out of the cottage as quickly
as he could and alarmed the neighbours. His grandson
James Warren, who occupies a cottage near the heath, with
several others at once rushed into the place, and they
found that the woman was quite dead. Messengers were
instantly despatched for medical men and the police. Mr
Bowers and other surgeons residing in the district were soon
in attendance. The deceased had received three fearful
wounds in the throat and right side of the neck, which ex-
tended to the vertebras and divided the main arteries. Her
hair was disordered and hanging over her face, as if she had
struggled with her murderer, and a portion of the mortar of
the copper had. been torn away by deceased in her endea-
vours to get away from her assassin,
On the arrival of the police a brief inquiry was sufficient
to give a clue to the supposed murderer. As the old man
left to get the beer, Wane was seen by some children going
in the direction of the cottage. Consequently suspicion at
once rested on him. Wane has peculiar, short, 'almost club
feet. This pecularity of footmark at once enabled the police
to track the course he had pursued in taking his flight. Po-
lice constable Dunmow, K 371, and another officer, with
James Warren, the grandson, went in pursuit. After a
long chase he was soon crossing a hedge into a plantation
about a mile from [tomford. Dunmow at once ran after
him. Wane had lain down on the grass. Ho was asked if
he had been at Chadwell-heath that morning. He said he
had not, and the officer then said he should take him into
custody on suspicion of murdering his old sweetheart, Mrs
Blunt. It was found that Wane had been in the pond, no
doubt for the purpose of washing the blood off his trousers,
for ho was wet up to above the waist. Portions of the upper
part of his dress were spotted with blood, and a piece of his
waistcoat had been torn off. He had no cap, and the knife
or weapon with which the deed was committed oould not be
found. The supposed murderer was then secured and re-
moved to Ilford gaol, where the charge of murder was duly
entered against him.
Mr Sergeant Howie and Mr Inspector Bryce, of the Il-
ford district of the K division of police, soon arrived and
joined in the examination, to secure the conviction of the
guilty party. On examining the garden at the rear of
old Mr Warren's house the short footmarks were clearly
detected, showing hew the murderer had got into the wash.
house. It is thought that Mrs Blunt was in the act
of taking some clothes out of the copper when the
villain came hehind her and inflicted the wounds on her
throat. Dunmow, the officer, continued his search in the
ploughed field above referred to, and in a line with the foot-
marks, not more than 30 yards from the cottage, ho found
a pig-knife, which had evidently been used in the commis-
sion of the crime. The blade and handle were bloody, and
it is stated that it formerly belonged to some member of
Wane's family, and that Wane himself had been in the
habit of using it in trimming greens. A most material
piece of information, however, was elicited in the course of
yesterday. Between 9 and 10 o'clock on Saturday a man
named Hunter saw Wane go to a field, and put the knife
in his jacket, Wane remarking, "You'll hear of something
presently." In the course of the search for the knife, the
pond before alluded to was dragged, and the missing cap,
with a brick in it, belonging to Wane was brought up. It
is supposed that he used the cap in wiping the blood off
his trousers, and then threw it into the water.
The prisoner will be examined before the local magis-
trates. The usual notice has been sent to Mr C. C. Lewis,
he coroner for Essex, preparatory to an inquest being held.

Disgusting and Horrible Brutality to a

Sailor Boy.

On Saturday evening, at 5 o'clock, Mr John Squarey and
Mr George Watson, the chief and second mates of the ship

Crouch Brothers, from Demerara, were brought up on war-
rants before Mr Partridge, at the Thames Police-court,
charged with committing a series of brutal assaults, mingled
with tyranny and most disgusting behaviour towards a sailor
boy named John Carter, oa a voyage from Gravesend to
Demerara and back.

Mr Chas. Young conducted the prosecution for th® crew
of the ship ; Mr Joseph Smith defended the prisoners.

It appeared from the opening statement of the solicitor
for the prosecution and the voluminous evidence given that
on the 12th May last the ship sailed from Gravesend. There
was one man short. The complainant, a delicate lad of 17,
who had never been to sea before, whose right hand was
crippled, and who was quite unfitted for the sea service, was
hastily shipped in the dark as an ordinary seaman and taken
to sea with only the clothes he stood upright in and a second
pair of trousers. He neglected himself and became very
dirty. On the Ist June there were vermin about his person,
and the chief mate gave orders to the second mate to cut
all tho hair off his head, and ordered a boy to put him in a
tub of water in which soft soap and soda were mixed. He
was stripped and immersed in the tub, and one of the ap-
prentice boys was directed to scrub him with a piece of can-
vas, and this was done so roughly that his skin was stripped
from many parts of his body. Mr Squarey superintended
this torturing ablution, and repeatedly struck the com-
plainant across the naked back with a rope. On the same
day the chief mate flogged the lad again when he had his

clothes on. On the 2d June Carter was aghin stripped by
the chief mate's orders. There were some lice on the
lad's person, awl the chief mate compelled him to put
them in his mouth and swallow them. Several times the
lad was ordered to go aloft to the royal yard while

the wind was blowing strong, and his life was put in
imminent danger. On the 4th of June the chief mato cut
the lad's ear open, and it was sore for seven weeks after-
wards. The chief mate waa also frequently hitting and
kicking him. All these facts and others were confirmed
by Richard Lamming, who kept a log of the cruelties prac-
tised on the lad, and by John Macdonald, seamen. The
ease against the second mate was much worse; ho beat the
lad on the 2d of June with a piece of wire rope, and made
him swallow the insects he took from his person. The
scars caused by the blows did not heal for three weeks. On
another day, and without the slightest semblance of provo-
cation, he called the Ltd a fearful name, and kicked him
from the poop to the deck, a fall of 8 feet. On another ee.
cation he gave him a black eye by a severe blow with a rope.
He kept the boy for the whole of one day without food, and
made him scrape up :grease on his knees. He struck the
lad on the head with a basket and cut it. There was a
bump on his head for some time afterwards.
Richard Lamming was allowed to refer to his written
log, and said the second mate was always knocking Carter
about the face and ribs whenever he came near him, made
him swallow lice, beat him with a strand of rope in three
places, and called him foul names. On the 6th of Juno
Carter was coiling up a rope on the poop, and the second
mato went behind him and kicked him from the poop to
the main deck, a height of eight feet, and said, " You son
of a --, I'll skin you alive before I get to Demerara."
That night the boy was sent on the bowsprit on the looks
out, although it was stormy, and the sea washing over
everything. On the same night the second mate sent him
up aloft to the yardarm for a gasket. The boy slipped,
but caught himself up by a foot rope, or he would
have been thrown on to the deck and killed. It was
was not a place for a boy litre him to go aloft, The second
mate sent him up again and said " You --, I'll keep
you there for a mouth until you stow that sail." Being a
cripple with ono hand he could not stow the sail, and ho
kept him there three hours and then sent a man up to
stow the sail. On the 16th of June the second mate lit
his pipe at the binnacle lamp, capsized the lamp and broke
it, and spilled tho oil on deck. 'rho second mato blamed
the boy for the accident, and told the captain the lad did
it. The second mate sent Carter aloft with the grease pot
and kept him there all day without anything to eat. He
saw Mr Watson strike the boy on the head with a bucket.
On the 17th of June the second mato ordered the lad to let