The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-22 00:00:00

ROBBERY OF A YORKSHIRE PAR-

SONAGE.

At the Sheffield Town-hall on Thursday the ma-
gistrates were occupied several hours in investigating
the circumstances under which a very daring rob-
bery was committed at Wadsley Parsonage, 3 miles
from Sheffield. On Sunday evening, the 2d inst.(as
already reported in The Sun), the residence of the
Rev. Mr. Morton, incumbent of Wadsley, was
broken open while the family were at church, and
jewelry and money to the value of LlBO were stolen.
The police apprehended four men on suspicion of
committing the robbery, and on Thursday, after
they had been several times remanded, the case was
finally concluded. The prisoners were W. Glossop
and W, Fearnley, cf Sheffield, and W. Hall and
Joel Baxter, of Wadsley. The evidence against
them was entirely circumstantial, but it was suffi-
cient to attach strong suspicion to them. When
Baxter was apprehended he was not informed of
the charge against him, but he told the inspector
who arrested him that he supposed he would get off
with four years, and that the police could not hang
him for it. The prisoner Hall was apprehended at
the Hillsbre' Inn, near the scene of the robbery, and
he declared that he was never out of his house on
the Sunday evening. The sexton of Mr. Morton's
church, however, and another witness, proved that
they saw Hall and Baxter loitering about the church,
which is close to the parsonage, about 1 o'clock on
Sunday. Another witness, who resides atWadsley,
saw the two prisoners near the parsonage just as the
evening service was commencing, and at 8 o'clock
he met them coming along the road from Wadsley
to Sheffield. Hall had at the time a parcel appa-
rently concealed under his coat. The other prisoners
were not seen near the parsonage, but the foot-
marks which were traced by the police showed that
the robbers had divided on leaving the house, and
had gone different ways. A very curious circum-
stance was given as tending to criminate Glossop.
About 7 o'clock on the morning after the robbery
he was seen in a garden at Neepsend, near Wads-
ley, crouching down and searching in the hedge
bottom. A man who was working in the adjoin-
ing garden asked him what he was doing, and the
prisoner rose and displayed a handful of gold, and
said " See, it has been growing here all night."
This avowal was heard by another witness, and,
coupled with the fact that £4O in gold and silver
formed part of the plunder, had a suspicious ap-
pearance. The same morning another witness,
himself unobserved, saw Glossop on the road be-
tween Wadsley and Sheffield, and watched him
counting a quantity of gold and silver, and putting
itinto:different pockets. It was also proved that
the prisoner Hall had said, when asked to bet
on a match which was played on the Monday,
that he had got some of the parson's sovereigns,
and that when he was placed in the cell he de-
scribed minutely to another inmate the value and
description of the property stolen. He also said
that the booty was under the sod, where nobody
would find it. The evidence against Fearnley was
not important. Hall appears to have been very
communicative, for a witness named Riley detailed
the following conversation with him :—" I was in
custody at Rotherham on Tuesday, the 11th inst.,
for a breach of the peace. Hall was placed in the
same cell. I asked what he was in for. He said
for 'touching' at Wadsley, I asked, Have yen
made a good ' collar' then ?' He says, ' Ay,
middling.' I asked him what they had taken, and
he said, About 200 quids' (pounds) worth.' I
said, ' Well, they'll catch you.' He replied that
they could not hurt them until they found the stuff.
I said, They will find it.' He replied, 'Nay, lad,
they can't find that ; t'money's reight ; it's planted.'
I asked him what was taken. He replied, About
£56 in gold, £2 10s. in silver, and about £l5O in
plate,' adding, It did not matter, he could stand
it." In a conversation about Glossop, who was
also at Rotherham, Hall said he (Glossop) was a
" rum devil ;" he had just come out of - " stir"
(prison). Ho asked if all had been caught, and he
said, " No, some had nipped' (absconded) ; they
were fools for nipping; they should have stood
their ground like them." For the defence it was
insinuated that the witnesses had come forward to
give this evidence of conversations with the prison-
ers after they had seen announcement of a reward.
The bench discharged Fearnley, and committed
Hall, Baxter, and Glossop for trial at the York
Assizes. The court was crowded during the pro-
ceedings, which occupied five hours.

The Italian Freemasons have just introduced an
important innovation into the statutes of the society. There
are now sister masons, venerables, and great mistresses.
The Correspondence, of Rome, describes the ceremony of
imstallatio with much miAuteziebs.