The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-29 00:00:00

Shocking Tragedy at Old Ford, near Bow,

ATROCIOUS ATTEMPT ,AT MURDER AND
SUICIDE THROUGH JEALOUSY.

Last night, shortly after 10 o'clock, the inhabitants of the
generally quiet district of Bo.w and Old Ford were thrown
into a state of much excitement by _a . very desperate
attempt to murder, end the suicide of the assassin, in the
public road.
The facts, as gathered on the spot and of those who
know the parties, are as follows :—A few minutes before
10 o'clock the passers-by in the Tredegar-road, leading
from the Old. Ford station of the Great Eastern Railway to
the Fairfield-road, had their'attention drawn to some ex-
cited conversation which was taking place between a
well-
dressed man, now ascertained to be Thomas Robinson, a
rigger, about 38 years of age, said to be living near the
Commercial-road, and a man and woman who were walk-
ing together along the road as if:from the railway station.
Robinson was hoard to claire the female, who wore a hat
and seemed well dressed, as his wife, and asked her to
return to him and his two children at their home. The
woman replied that she would not live with him any
more, that ho had threatened to murder her, and
and that she did not feel herself safe in_his company, adding
that he should not have the children now. He continued
to urge upon the woman to go home with him, and then
addressed the man with whom she was with, saying that
he knew where they were living—that he (the paramour)
had taken two rooms in the neighbourhood, one of which
was occupied by his mother, and the other by themselves,
and then asked him to give up his wife. The paramour re-
plied that he (Robinson) could have his wife if he liked,
but the woman still refused to go with him. This conver-
sation was going on while they were proceeding along the
road towards St. Stephen's Church, and their words be-
came more and more angry. On reaching a part of the
road, the' side of winch is rendered somewhat dark by
some lofty trees, the woman called out that her husband
(Robinson) had a pistol in his hand, and her companion
instantly closed in with him, with a view of getting the
weapon away from him. A man named CoV-in,' who was
passing at the time, assisted, and the pistol, which was
found to be loaded, after some struggling was taken from
him. This only served to excite the unfortunate creature
more, and he again asked his wife, as she has since been
ascertained to be, to return to his home. She as posi-
tively refused, and Robinson then put his hand into hie
coat-pocket and, pulling out a second pistol, presented it at
the head of the man who was with his wjfe and fired it.
The report was heard by the few people who were about at
that hour of the night, and two or three persons went to
the aid. 05 Um .vuntled man, -mina 1.4 atruks-51ca, Ise rho
bank by the road side, blood flowing copiously from his
face. And here happened a most miraculous escape of a
highly respectable young lady, living in the locality, who,
in company with a gentleman, happened to be passing
along the road at the moment. Hearing the report, the
gentleman left his charge to assist the wounded man, when
Robinson, who looked the very picture of horror, his eyes
staring out of his head, caught the young lady by the upper
part of her mantle or shawl, and most providentially looked
her in the face before he committed the deed which it would
seem to have been his intention to effect. Something was
seen in his hand which at first was thought to be a pistol,
but which, no doubt, was the open razor with which he
despatched his own life a few minutes afterwards. A mo-
mentary glance at the features of the young lady told the
unhappy wretch that he had made a mistake. His wife
had fled, and he had enough reason left him to know his
error. He suddenly loosened his hold of the young
lady, and darted some 50 yards or so along the road. When
he halted in the middle of the roadway, and standing up,
inflicted a frightful gash in his throat with the razor which
he held in his hand, completely dividing the whole of the
main arteries. The wretched creature made an effort to
crawl to a wall by the side of the road, and he had just
succeeded when the unhappy man expired. Mr. Cornelius
Garman, the divisional surgeon of Fairfield-road, Bow,
was soon in attendance, but the wound that Robinson had
inflicted upon himself completely defied all surgical skill.
Attention was then directed to the man who was shot, and
ou being removed to a neighbouring surgery it was found
that the contents of the pistol had penetrated his right eye,
and that side of the face was much scorched and bleeding.
Mr. Inspector Kerressey, of the Bow division of the I.
police, was promptly on the spot, and did everything that
was necessary for the care of the wounded man, who was
at once removed to the London Hospital, where he now re-
mains in a sad way, and at present it is difficult to state
what may be the result of his injury.
The name of the wounded man was ascertained to be
Charles Lewis, a Thames waterman, living at No. 7, Alpha-
place, Old Ford, North Bow, and. it was stated that the
wife of the man Robinson had been cohabiting with him for
the last two years or so, and that there have been issue. On
the police instituting inquiries, it appeared pretty clear that
the deceased man, providing himself with two loaded pistos
and a razor, co ntemplated the murder of his wife and
Lewis, and taking his own life. It seemed that in the
course of yesterday afternoon he called at the house in
Alpha-place, and asked to see his wife. He was told that
she was not in the way, although it was considered that
she was in the afternoon, for later in the afternoon she and
Lewis went out and took the North Woolwich train at
the new Old Ford Station in Coburn-road, of the Great
Eastern railway, and proceeded to the barge house at North
Woolwich whore they delayed until dusk. And it would
appear that Robinson had obtained some knowledge of their
having gone down the line from the Old Ford station, as
he was seen in the evening walking about the road
near the station evidently waiting for their return. Lewis
and her companions arrived at the Old Ford station a few
minutes before 10 o'clock, and, on reaching the road, en-
countered Robinson. The wife states that her husband
had asked her to return home with him, but she was afraid
to do so in consequence of his violent behaviour to her.
The body of the deceased man, whose appearance pre-
sented quite a sickening scene, was removed from out of
the roadway on a stretcher by the police from Bow station,
and placed in the dead-house of the district ; and Mr.
Philpot, the coroner's officer, has forwarded the necessary
information to Mr. Humphreys, the coroner, preparatory
to an inquest being held.