The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-12 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT—DERBY, Dec. 11.

George Victor Townley was indicted for thl murder of
Miss Goodwin.

Mr. Boden, Q.C. (specially retained), and Mr. Bristowe
appeared for the prosecution; and Mr. Macaulay, Q.C.,
and Mr. Sergeant O'Brien (both of whom were specially re-
tained), with Mr. Stephen, defended the prisoner.
The court was densely crowded with people anxious to
hem this remarkable trial.

The prisoner, who was described as a man of very quiet
and refined manners, a good linguist, and an accomplished
musician, and who was apparently about 25 years of age,
on being arraigned pleaded not guilty in a low but firm
voice.
Mr. Boden, in opening the case for the prosecution, after
adverting to the painful interest it had excited in the county,
and asking the jury to dismiss from their minds the rumours
which were floating about, and to attend to the evidence
only, stated that the prisoner was a member of a respectable
family living at Hendham-vale, a mile or two from Man-
chester. His father was a commission agent at Manchester,
but the prisoner had no employment, unless it was that he
acted as a clerk in his father's office. Miss Elizabeth Good-
win, with whose death he was charged, was the daughter of
Mr. Henry Goodwin, and granddaughter of Captain Good-
win, who had long lived in the county and acted as a ma-
gistrate there. Mrs. Henry Goodwin lived at Chester, and
up to the last three or four years Miss Goodwin had lived
with her mother, but about that time she left Chester and
went to reside at Wigwell- grange, or hall, with her grand- 1
the andclua a M.iss Good-
win
h eof acquaintance formed father, who is an old man upwards of 80 years of ag
Goodwin was nearly 23 years of age, Captain Goe. odwiiiisns's
eldest
a o him had
physiciani
at
Manchester,
‘ovir a
visitw sonil
the Townleys. That acquaintance led to the forming of a
strong attachment between the prisoner and the deceased,
b
and ultimately, about four years aci.o • they became engaged.
Owing to Townley's want of means to support a wife the
engagement was not approved by the
lady's
friends, and for
some short time it was broken
off. It had been renewed,
however, shortly afterwards, and contin to exist to within
a short time of her death. Mica
Goodwinued
written to the prisoner on the 14th August appears
topberaerasktove
off
ffhathe
engagement. Her letters, however, had, with one excep-
tion, been given up by Townley to her friends, who de-
stroyed them. On the 15th '
of August Townley wrote to
Miss Goodwin as follows :

" Hendham- vale, Sunday.
"My dearest Bessie,—Dearest:you will always be to me ;
to say that I am not terribly cut up would be a lie, but, at
any rate, you know I am not the man to stand in your way.
I answer nothing to your last letter, except that I wish to
hear from your own lips what your wishes are, and I will
accede to them. You know me too well to suppose that I
should give way to any unnecessary nonsense or sentimen-
talism. I have had a singular run of good and bad luck
lately ; it suffices to say that I have an offer to leave Eng-
land. Before Igo I wish to see you once again, and for the
last time, though God knows what misery it gives me to
say so. You will admit that my desire to see you is but
natural. Say in your next where you will meet me. I
will come by the first or second train from Derby on Tues-
day or Wednesday morning, whichiiver suits you of course,
without any one knowing, The sooner it is all settled the
better for both parties.
.._.

"Eve;, dearest Bessie, your affectionate

" GEORGE.
" P.S.—I arrived too late from Bolton to answer yester.
day. Will you write by return ?"
On the Monday he wrote again :
" Ilendham-vale, Monday,
"Dearest Bessie,----It is doubtful whether you will get
the letter I wrote you yesterday till to-morrow. I posted it
myself last night at 11 o'clock at the general office (I could
not before), and being Sunday, could not make out about
the mails, so I put it into the extra stamp box for the chance
of its going,
"This is simply to say that in my haste I mentioned
Tuesday or Wednesday, forgetting that I should have to
leave here to-day in order to see you to-morrow—that is, if
I see you in the m aming, as on the last occasion ; but if it
suits you better ',could arrive by the same train that Kate
and I came by, and you could meet me the same evening, I
returning the following morning. I suppose it would not
be possible the name night. I think if we say Thursday
evening or Friday morning it will be best, as then there will
be plenty of time for you to say which you prefer, so at any
rate in your next say at what time and whereabouts I can
Fee you. I suppose anywhere between your house and
\Vhatstandwell would do. lam ill and thoroughly upset,
and Ido not wonder you are. We shall both be happiar
and better in mind, as well as body, after this last inter-
view. Address, care of W. Arrowsmith, Gilnow•
Bolton, where I am going back to-morrow. Of course, if I
hear to-morrow, and you fix time and place of meeting, I
shall be at your appointment, cozite qui coitte.' Always
your affectionate, G.V.T.
" Train.—l can arrive at Whatstandwell-bridge at 4•2
afternoon, or at 9340r11 37 in the morning, whichever
you like,"
- •

On the following Wednesday, the 19th, the prisoner
wrote again as follows :
" Gilnow-mills, Bolton, Wednesday.
"My dear Bessie,—l will only say here that I will arrive
by the train you mention (1137 a.m., Friday morning), and
that I hope, dear liessie,you willnot bother yourself unneces-
sarily about all this as tar as lam concerned. For my own
peace of mind I wish to see you, which I hope you won't
think selfish. I.)u reste, I only repeat what I have already
said —I have but to hear from you what your wishes are, and
they shall be complied with,and that I have sufficient savoir

vivre not to make a bother about what cannot be helped
You can write to the Midland Hotel, Derby, where I shal
stay to-morrow night, or leave a note at the inn at What-
standwell-bridge for me. Don't let me be the cause of ,any
row between you and your G. P. If you like to call at the
inn I will not stir out till you come; but I leave all this to
your judgment.
" Ever affectionately, " G. V. T.
" Miss Bessie Goodwin, Wigwell-grange, Wirks-
worth, Derbyshire,"
On the same day Miss Goodwin wrote a letter to the
prisoner, which had been preserved, and was as follows :
"My dear George—l write this in the greatest haste to
tell you not to come on (any) account. I leave here to-day,
and can't tell when I shall or can be back again. Ido not
wish to see you, if it can possibly be lavoided, and indeed
there will be no chance now, so we had better end this state
of suspense at once, and say ' Good-bye' without seeing
each other. I feel sure I could not stand the meeting. If
you write once more within the next three days I can get
it, but not later than that time without its being seen, for
my letters are strictly watched, and opened,
" Yours truly, " BESSIE,
" Wednesday, " Immediate.
" G. V. Townley, Esq., Hendlam-vale,
Smedley, near Manchester."
This letter reached Hendlam-vale on the Thursday morn-
ing, and Townley's mother, perceiving from whom it came,
opened it, and immediately telegraphed to the prisoner,
who was then staying at Mr. Arrowsmith's, at Bolton :
" Letter front B, [Bessie]—Come at once. Will meet you
at the station. Wit! wait. Immediate."
Immediately on getting this telegram the prisoner seems to
have left Bolton and gone to Hendham-vale. From there
he went on the same day to the Midland Hotel, at Derby,
where he slept. On the following morning, Friday, Aug. 21,
he left Derby, and went to Whatstandwell, the nearest sta-
tion to Wigwell-hall, which is about a mile and a half dis-
tant, He reached this place about half-past 11, and went to
the Bull's Head Inn, which is close to the station. The
learned counsel then detailed the facts of the case as they
appear in the evidence of the witnesses below, He added
that it was clear that Miss Goodwin met her death at the
hands of the prisoner, and it seemed to be equally clear that
if the prisoner was responsible for his acts, the offence
amounted to murder. He was not in a position to antici •
pate the defence that would be set up on the prisoner's be-
half; but if that defence was that the prisoner was not re-
sponsible, the jury must be satisfied that he was labouring
from such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as
not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing;
or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing
what was wrong.
After proving the-facts already stated, Mr. Boden called
Ann Burley, who said—l keep the Bull's Head Inn, at
Whatstandwell-hridge which is about three miles from Wig-
well-grange. The prisoner came to my house on the morn-
ing of Aug., about half-past 11, and asked if thew was a
note for Mr. Townley. On hearing that there was not, he
asked for a glass of brandy and water. After walking about
some little time he came back and asked if he could have a
bed, as he said he might probably want one that night, and
having had another glass of brandy and a pill, which he
(took from his carpet bag, he left the house in the direction of
witarell•grange.
It
aPPeared from the evidence of the next witness that the
rpue4°,l4Z, after leaving the Bull's Head Inn, must have gone
%iv:Tell-grange, which is about half way between the
The lact and Wirksworth, to the last named place.
wkkawoJlerbert Harris—l keep the grammar school at
well-grange
!hich is about a mile and a half from Wig-
August, at 11.28 prisoner came to my house on the 21st of
a friend of miastst 1, and said, "I have called on you as
engagement hetwervin. I suppose you know there is an
an engagement, but tt" hadd " I understood there was
14: it been broken off." He said,
want break off the engagement, and
She has written to
knavittit_t? know how matters stand." I
saiei declinestnoysiehei
umge
at wigwell. I said who
vtiswill find it out somehow
cannot satisfy you." Re
B":l4a,oioinlfidence, and, therefore, I
iirthee ogyman who had
He then asked
ciot,4 b. en told that there
but I declined to give his name:.
lire had been one there,
boreeonthsefary.'iing
was an en inis there three N.,
ga,enacnt between Miss
was stay eebs
win and the clergy-
man who Goodwin was r a month ago.
He then asked if Miss
thought any coercion had been used sew
but no coercion had towards ara
herett, and if I
said
she was at Wigwel), " S beenm her.
lei tow d
s
her that I was aware of. He said
ooner or later I mas
ar
see her, I have written to roles° her from the euga t
_
but I must hear from herself that shegivesoitt up. Sue
is
0f
lam n
age and must please herself. I know lagood
told raateh,
then
and have no wish to stand in her way."
2tau
h•
must leave him as it was my school-hour (2 o'clock), but
if he would call at half-past 4 I would see him
old
I tagain. /le
him h
then left and came again at half-past 4. is
best course was to write a note to Miss Goodwin, and
Isaid
if
sendl
it by poet, requesting her to see him in the morning.
e
said he had already written and without effect.
you were to call at the house perhaps Miss Goodwin would
see you. He said he would do so, and get it all his mind.
He lett, saying he would call again, but did not do so. His
manner was that of an ordinary Dian, perfectly calm and
collected. There was nothing to attract my attention.
Cross-examined—I had only seen the prisoner once before.
That was at Mr. Goodwin's. I was told of the engagement
with the clergyman by Miss Goodwin herself the Wednes-
day before her death.
Elizabeth Margiirot Po
well-hall. The • Yser—l am the housemaid at Wig-
-11. prisoner came to the •
hall on Friday even-