The Sun.
London, England, 1830-08-21 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

Yesterday afternoon an inquest was held before
Mr. STIRLING, Coroner, on view of the body of a
nude infant, aged fourteen days, which was suspected
to have come unfairly by its death, and in the
course of the inquiry a hideous scene of depravity
was disclosed.

. _
It appeared by a mass of evidence, that a young
creature, named Anne Gardner, only sixteen years
of age, the daughter of poor but very industrious
and honest parents, lived servant in the family of
butcher in Middle.row, St. Giles's, and that while
there she yielded to the wishes of a young Jew
salesman in Monmouth-street, named Abraham
Symmons, and becanie pregnant. She left the ser-
vice when far advanced in pregnancy, and was
placed by Syminons in an infamous brothel in White
Lion-street, Seven-dials, kept_ by an old woman,
known as' " Mother Collerton." Here she was soon
initiated by the already polluted inmates, who were
women of the very lowest grade, in tbe worst mys-
teries of the prostitute's life, and pursued that
dreadful culling until within a few days of her de.;,
livery. She was delivered of a male child waist
Monday fortnight, and from the. moment of its
birth 'it woman of the town, named Betsey Ayres,
who lived in the same house, undertook the care of
it, and prevailed upon the wretched mother " to
dry up her milk" as soon as possible, and the usual
means were taken to effect that object, in order
that she might go again on the town. The woman
Ayres pretended to feed the child " with tops anl
bottoms," and other kinds of food usually given to
children, but it pined and dwindled away (to use
the words of the witness), end became very fret-
ful, upon which Ayres procured medieine, but of
what kind could not be proved, and administered
to it to keep it quiet. 1 his medicine was admi-
nistered very - often to the child, but it grew
worse, and died in convulsions on Monday fortnight,
The father of Anne Gardner, on learning these!
facto, caused inquiry to be made, and it was ascer-
tained that the child was no sooner dead than Betsy
Ayres, at the suggestion of Symmons the tether,
went to the shop of an undertaker in Compton.
street, named Young, sad asked for a box for a still-
born child. Ayres carried the child in her apron,
and Mrs. Young, the undertaker's wife, furnished a
Ayres then
h and ildt°n° Itikktithie
box, in which .Ayres deposited the body, and tMrs.
iyioox,:negwriziilneidnitdow then
btohdey, to the
rise of Mr. Young's name, it was interred without
complaint of Gardner (the
was disinterred, and an inquest
farther inqUiry, Upon the
girl's father), the body
ordered to take place.
Mr. Burgess, the parish surgeon, was examined,
but he said he could nut state positively the cause of
the child's 'death from any thing which he found
upon the stomach.
Betsy Ayres was called in and examined, and ad.
duelytterds. herselfyoofig,th, throughout 6ut e
enw thats,teas: heoed: tookah
nerd
ec the
mitred the truth of all that had b
e (Von tery. She said, however, with the moat perfect
beat care she could of
the child.
undertaker's•

minttion, stated, that site asked no other questions
of Ayres when-she came with the body of the child
than ' if the good lady (meaning the mother) had
met with any acciilent
The. CORONER addressed the witness, and cau-
tioned her to be much more circumspect is future.
If the body of a child could be got rid of thus
easily, it would be absolutely holding out an encou-
ragement to unnatural parents to murder their off-
spring.
The Jury, after a very lengthened inquiry, returned
a verdict " That the death of the deceased child was
accelerated by the want of proper attention and nou-
rishment, and that the neglect was to be attributed
to the witness Betsy Ayres."