The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-10 00:00:00

A Theatrical Scandal,

Yesterday, at the Bow-street Police-court, Mr Henry
Bateman, of the Garrick Club, an. eared before Mr Flowers
to answer a summons charging him with having assaulted
Mrs Augusta Bristow, box book-keeper of the Theatre
Royal Adelpbi, by striking and kicking her, in the Strand,
on the night of Monday, the Ist inst.
Mr G. Lewis, sen., of Ely-place, appeared for the com-
plainant; and Mr Sleigh, instructed by Messrs Webster and
Robinson, solicitors, attended for the defendant.
Mr Lewis was about to open the case for the complainant,
when

Mr Sleigh rose to make a suggestion before the matter
proceeded further.
Blr Lewis said he would not allow himself to be inter-
rupted. Ho was quite aware of the suggestion which his
friend was about to offer, but ho had been instructed by
his client to proceed with the case, and ho should do so
regardless of hte consequences.
Mr Sleigh—lt is only with tile view of avoiding pub-

licity.
Mr Lewis was aware of that, and within five minutes
overtures had been made to that effect, which the complain-
ant felt it her duty to disregard. The complainant and her
family had been for some time on terms of intimacy and
friendship with the defendant, who had visited her house,
and had become acquainted with Miss Turner, a daughter
of the complainant by a former husband, who occasionally
assisted her mother in the booking-office of the Adelphi
Theatre. A letter was received by the complainant, in-
forming her of an intimacy, of a kind he would not charac-
terize, which had sprung up between her daughter and the
defendant.
Augusta Bristow examined—l am the wife of George
Bristow, wine-broker, and reside at 20, Tavistock-street,
Covent-garden, I have been acquainted with the defendant,
Mr Bateman, ever since the engagement of his daughter to
play Leah at the Adelphi Theatre, which was probably a
year or more ago, I hold an appointment at the theatre,
in the booking-office, and my daughter Georgiana occa-
sionally assisted me there. lle saw us on business at the
theatre, and afterwards became a friend and a frequent
visitor to our house—taking meals with us, playing with
the children, &c. The defendant left England for a time
on his own family matters, and the friendship with us was
resumed on his return. On Monday evening, the Ist of
August, in consequence of a letter which I had received, I
went into the Strand between 10 and 11 o'clock to watch my
daughter. She did not see me, When she left the theatre,
where she was occupied till 11 o'clock, I saw her go the re-
verse way from her home. She hurried along the Strand,
and when near the corner of Bedford•street I saw Mr Bate-
man join her. They did not see me. They hurried on to
the cab-rank, and he spoke hastily to the cabman. The
steps of the cab were let down, and my daughter was handed
into the cab by the defendant. He was about to follow her
when I sprang to the spot and seized my girl by the arm,
and endeavoured to prevent his following her. He turned
round, and I said to him " You wretch I you have taken
my daughter." He instantly gave me a blow upon the
shoulder and kicked me in the leg, exclaiming "You d—d
woman.' I took my daughter out of the cab, and conducted
her to her home. I had given him no provocation beyond
the attempt to rescue my daughter. She absconded from
her home the next morning.

Cross-examined—When I used the expression " ab-
sconded," I meant that she ran away from her home. The
defendant's business took him to the theatre—at all events
he was there continually. I saw defendant the night after
the assault, and I asked him where my daughter was. I
am not certain that I said anything then about his having
assaulted me. In my anxiety about my daughter's flight
I may have forgotten it. Indeed, Ido not know all I said.
I certainly mentioned the assault to my daughter.
Mr Sleigh—ls your daughter here to-day ?
Complainant—l do not know. If she is, the more is the
disgrace to her. She never said to me, on getting hose,
that Mr Bateman did not assault me. I shook her violently,
no doubt, in consequence of my being aggravated by her
conduct,
Mr Sleigh—For the sake of your daughter's character,
you ought not to accuse her.
Mr Lewis—Her character I I fear it is gone.
Mr Sleigh—You are shamefully misinstructed.
Mr Lewis—l have her letters, If you%intend to call her
as your witness, I must request that she bo asked to leave
the court,

Mr Sleigh thought it ungracious to make such a request,
at this late hour, of a young lady against whom the most
scandalous imputations had been made.
Mr Lawis had no objection to her remaining if she was
not to be examined.
Miss Turner then retired from the court.

The witness was next asked "if the cabman was present,"
upon which an angry discussion took place as to the right
of the learned counsel to put the question, and Mr Lewis
advised his client not to answer it, considering it apparently
as an attempt to use the complainant's answer as evidence
of the identity of a hostile witness. The question was not
answered, and his worship remarked that it was " a great
fight about nothing "—the point being wholly immaterial.
Mr Lewis—That is my case.

Mr Sleigh said ho could not help expressing his great
astonishment that any woman, having a regard for the fair
fame of her child, should have allowed her to be stigma-
tised in open court by her own legal adviser. On the part
of the defendant, no less than on the part of the girl who had
been thus maligned, he was instructed to declare that there
was not a tittle of foundation for the stigma which had been
so cruelly cast upon Miss Turner by her own mother. As
for Mr Bateman his position must be put fairly before the
court and the public. Be is well known—perhaps so well
known as to have been selected, by reason of his prominence
in the dramatic world, for this odious charge; for it was im-
possible to divine the motives which has led to these pro-
ceedings. At all events, he had pledged himself that he
had not entertained any feeling but one of simple friend-
ship towards Miss Turner. Miss Turner had evinced a de-
sire to try her fortune upon the stage as an actress, and it
was only natural that she should seek the advice and aid of
one so experienced and so influential in the profession as Mr
Bateman, who was an elderly man, and one whom she could
consult with the strictest propriety about such matters.
Mr Lewis hoped his friend would prove in evidence the
assertions ho was now making. It was not in his experience
that young ladies sought advice about theatrical engage-
ments in street cabs at 11 o'clock at night.
Mr Sleigh protested against the interruption of his iiiend,
and observed, with reference to the alleged assault (to which
exclusively their attention ought to have been confined), he
should place Miss Turner herself in the box to swear that
nothing of the kind took place. He did not wish to impute
deliberate perjury to the mother, but she had been mistaken
on this point, and he should call the cabman to establish
the same fact. Ho sincerely trusted that, after the evidence

he should adduce, the complainant would leave the court

with the conviction that her daughter had not erred, and
was not going to err, and that she had wholly misappre-
hended the nature of her intimacy with the defendant.

James Puddicombe, cabdriver, of 71, Dudley-street, de-
posed that on the night in question defendant engaged his
cab and put a young lady into it, upon which another lady,
dressed in white came up and pulled her out again, and took
her away. He did not am the defendant strike the lady,
although he was close to the door all the timo. He did not
think an assault could have taken place without his seeing
it.

Cross-examined--If the lady's dress was not a White one,
I can swear it was not a dark ono. I was summoned to come
here to-day. Another cabman found me out. I don't know
his number. I have not had ss, for coming hero to-day. I
can't say I am to be rewarded, On being pressed, and
desired by the Court to tell the truth, the witness, after
much hesitation, said he had received a sovereign. He could
not say that he was to have £1 more. A gentleman gave
him the sovereign. The defendant engaged his cab for
Regent-street, but when the young lady was dragged cut
he saw uo more of tho gentleman, and never had his fare.
By Ir Sleigh-4 did not receive the sovereign as a

bribe. The gentleman said I was not to receive it in that
light. I said I meant to speak the truth, and I ills Add
have done it if it had been £5O.
By the Court-1 did not hear any loud or strong lan-
guage used against the gentleman. The prosecutris said
to the young lady " Come out; you shan't go," or sc ate-
thing to that effect. I did not hear the prosecutrix BAY
" You wretch," nor the gentleman say you d— woman
Georgiana Augusta Turner, aged 19 or 20, was neat
."
examined. The complainant, who was sitting in the body
of the court, seemed much afflicted on seeing her daughter,
and was led out in an apparently fainting condition by one
of the ushers. The remainder of the inquiry was conducted
in her absence.
Miss Turner's evidence was as follows :—I reside at 2S,
Silver-street, Regent-street, and the complainant is
1117
mother. I remember meeting Mr Bateman and accompany-
ing him to a cab ; when my mother followed us. e
dragged me out, and I returned home with her.
Mr Bateman did nut strike her, nor use any violence towards her
whatever. It could not have taken place without my Bee"
ing it. There is no ground for the imputation that there
has been, or is, any other than a friendly intimacy betivee
the defendant and myself.
Cross-examined—l had seen Mr Bateman on MondAY
evening before meeting him in the Strand, and I had ulYs'3lf
ni
made the appointment with him. 1 said I would see
hl
as soon as I could leave my duties at the theatre. I k.e°,l/2r
Mr Bateman is a married man, but I do not know his wi'e*
I went to him purely on business motives, I volute"! his
advice about a private matter. I had not packed uP all I°,l
things to leave home. I had only sorted my music. I lla'
not arranged with Mr Bateman where I was to go to. The
letter produced, written on the night I left home, is hs
I meant to go to Paisley, to fulfil an engagement at
theatre there, I was doing so against the advice a Mr
Bateman ; a friend of mine, Miss Laura Dailey, an act seas
r
took the lodgings in Silver-street, and we reside ther°
tea
,
e
together. Mr Bateman has visited me there, but he tell
been always accompanied by Mr. Mayhew. I cannot
you how often he has visited me. A great n 307 tilnei3"
They were all business visits, connected with the stage.
Mr Lewis—What do you mean by the expression in Y3lr
letter " I am not a prostitute ?"
Mr Sleigh objected, and the question was withdrawn.
Mr Lewis—Did you hear your mother call the defendant
a wretch P
Witness—Yes, and he replied, "Will you explain CAI
you mean ?" He did not call her "a d— wolnan*"
mother tried to strike Mr Bateman, but I prevented it.
close to
The cabman was standing near his horse, and not
the door ; tut there were two or three men nea.r, 11:10:
friendship between Mr Bateman and my family had
been ruptured through his attentions to me. I recei"d c'xi°
letter from Mr Bateman, and I showed it to Mr 13ristovo
professionalr soughtaiele
y t
without
eitha
edonvugitcategh
eoe
mf
oel'Snnl
srt
se
consent
ot ef
Heßateman By Mr Sleigh —I have been on the stage, and__,l
did not !leave
Paisley eg:o.ctoe
ly
d
my home by the advice of defendant. He has always mad.
parents. smw.
y
hayed as a true friend and a perfect gentleman to rae,
there has never been any improper intimacy between There
Mr Sleigh said this was his answer to the charge. I:ifillero
was another cabman present, but he declined to extiw--

hiw.
is Mr Flowers—ln a case of this kind, where the evid,rj„c°
conflicting, I cannot undertake to give thereforei6l
The evidence must be sifted by a jury. I shall de.
send it for trial, but, of course, I will take bail. Iline
fendant must enter into his own recogniaances in
provide two sureties of £25 each to answer the &erg" tl
the sessions.