The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-05 00:00:00

" Never mind me, attend to my mother." Witness
began rubbing her hands, which were cold, and
Mrs. Pritchard told her to rub them both together.
She then became more composed, and said, " I knew
nothing of this until the boys came in to dress."
There had been no boys in the room. Her youngest
child came in, and the prisoner followed, when wit-
ness left, and prepared for supper the chicken left
at dinner. Subsequently the prisoner came out of
the consulting-room and asked if witness had taken
Mrs. Pritchard's supper. Witness had it in her
hand ; the prisoner said he would take it, and he
did so. That was between 10 and 11 o'clock. Wit-
ness heard nothing more until about half-past one
o'clock next morning, when Mary M'Leod awoke
her and told her to make a mustard poultice. Mary
took it up. Soon afterwards the bell rang, and
witness went up. The prisoner and Mrs. Pritchard
were in bed, and Mary M'Leod was also in the
room. Witness felt Mrs. Pritchard and found she
was cold and dead. The prisoner told her to lift
up the dress and apply the poultice which was lying
near her. Witness refused to do so, saying it was
no use to do it to a dead person. The prisoner said,
"Is she dead, Patterson ?" Witness said, " You
ought to know best, doctor." He said she had only
fainted, and he told Mary M'Leod to fetch some
hot water. Witness said that would be of no use
to a dead body. The prisoner said, " Come back,
come back to your dear Edward." He also said
" What a brute, what a heathen ! So gentle, so
mild," and he told witness to fetch a rifle and shoot
him. Mr. King had a rifle in the house. Witness
said, " Doctor don't use such expressions. If God
were to shut your mouth and mine I don't know
how we should be prepared to stand before a
righteous God." He said, " True Patterson, you
are the wisest and kindest woman I ever saw."
Witness asked him to leave the room that she might
dress the body, and he did so. During the night
before Mrs. Pritchard's death the• prisoner came
downstairs for some coal, and he then said Dr.
Pattersonhad told him that Mrs. Pritchard had taken
too much wine. When witness went downstairs to
tell the prisoner that she had dressed the body he
told her that she had written letters to his mother
and to a friend of Mrs. Pritchard's, and went out
to post them. On his return he called witness up
stairs and said (speaking as witness understood to
his wife), " She walked down the street with
me, and talked with me about the boys ; and
she kissed me on the cheek when she went
away." Subsequently the prisoner * asked wit-
ness for his wife's ring, which she gave him.
Witness took the sheets, pillow cases, and bolsters
from Mrs. Pritchard's bed, and her clothes, and put
them in the dirty clothes press. There were yellow
stains upon the bed clothes. They were subsequently
given to the police. On Saturday, the Ist of April,
witness found a paper bag in the kitchen press
which contained tapioca. It had not been meddled
with while witness was in the house. The door of
the consulting-room was never locked. One of
the presses of that room witness never saw open.
The other was opened sometimes, and from it the
prisoner used to give witness the eggs. While
witness was in the house Mrs. Pritchard was
never lower than the drawing-room floor. When
the bottle from Mrs. Taylor's pocket was given
to the prisoner, in addition to the remark al-
ready stated, the prisoner said, raising his eyes to
heaven, " If she had told me, and I had known what
she was taking, instead of sending a girl like that
for it." Ile referred to Mary.
Cross-examined—After she had taken the cheese
witness did not tell the prisoner that she had been
ill. Witness asked the prisoner the morning after
making the egg flip how Mrs. Pritchard was, and he
said she had been very ill through the night. Wit-
ness replied that she had also been vomiting during
the night.
Re-examined—When witness told the prisoner of
her sickness he said it would be a bad job if she was
laid up also. He did not give her anything. Wit-
ness saw nothing of the egg flip after it was taken
to Mrs. Pritchard's room, nor did she see the glass
to know it again.
By the Court—When looking through the win-
dow of the consulting-room, the press that witness
never saw opened was on the left. The bottle from
Mrs. Taylor's pocket was taken by the prisoner on
the evening of her death. Witness did not see it
again until the Monday when the body was taken
to Edinburgh. It was then under the drawers in
the bedroom, where witness had first placed it.
There was still some liquid in it. Witness next
saw it in the hands of the police, after the prisoner's
apprehension. The bottle produced was of the
same size to general appearance.
This concluded the evidence of Mary Paterson, who then
retired at half-past twelve, having been examined two
hours and a quarter. At this stage also one of the jury-
men became sick, probably owing to the groat heat of the
court, and had to be assisted out of court. After an ab-
sence of ten minutes he was able to return to take his place
with the other jurymen.
Mary M'Leod was recalled and examined by the Soli-
citor-General—Were you in Dr. Pritchard's house after his
wife's body was taken to Edinburgh ?—Yes.
On the Tuesday the police were in the house ?—Yes.
You saw Superintendent M'Call there ?—Yes. I gave a
bottle to him. That is the bottle which is now shown me,
at least it is very like it. The label is something like the
label. There was a dark coloured liquid in the bottle.
That is also like the bottle I saw after Mrs. Taylor's body
was dressed. I found it in a drawer in a chest of drawers
which was in the room where Mrs. Taylor died, and also
where Mrs. Pritchard died. Tho chest of drawers had,
however, been shifted when Superintendent M'Call came
to the house. I gave the bottle to him. There was no
other bottle in the house like it that I know.
By the Lord Justice-Clerk-LHow came you to look for
the bottle ? Did anybody ask for it ?—Yes. Superinten-
dent M'Call did.
By the Solicitor-General—What bottle did he ask for ?
—He asked for the bottle which had been found in Mrs.
Taylor's pocket.
Jessie Bryden, or Nabb, examined by Mr. Crichton—
You go out as washerwoman sometimes?—Yes.
You were sometimes employed in the family of Dr.
Pritchard ?—Yes.
I remember the night Mrs. Taylor died. It was between
twelve and one o'clock in the morning. I was present to
assist in dressing the body of Mrs. Taylor. Mary Pater-
son assisted me. I found a bottle in the pocket of Mrs.
Taylor. The bottle now shown me is the bottle. I read
the label, and it is the same which 1 now see. There was
a brownish coloured liquid in the bottle, rather thick. The
bottle was throe parts full. The liquid did not come up to
the label. Dr. Pritchard took it down stairs with him.
Mary Paterson put it in the drawers, or rather under the
drawers. I saw the doctor after that. He came into the
room, and was told that it had been found in the pocket of
the deceased Mrs. Taylor. He asked Mary Paterson to give
it to him, and she did so. Ho then said, " Good hea-
vens! has she taken all that since Monday ?" He
said she ought not to have sent a girl like that to
buy it for her, but that she ought to have asked him.
He added that she had been in the habit of taking
it for years. He also said that Mrs. Taylor had been in-
dulging in liquor for a few days, and had taken an overdose
of this opium stuff. Ho told us we were to say nothing
about it, for it might lead to a little trouble. This he said
the night after her death.
Did he speak to you again about this bottle ?—Yes ; next
morning in the consulting-room. No one was there but
myself. He said he had no doubt it was poison, and she
had taken too much of it. He did not say anything more
than that.

Were you frequently in the prisoner's consulting-room ?
—Not lately—that is not shortly before Mr. Pritchard's
death—but I used to be there pretty frequently before the
last six months. I went into the consulting-room when I
wanted a book out of the library. There were a few modi-

Do you remember seeing Mrs. Pritchard one day in
January when you were at the house ?—Yes, sir ; but
I :cannot remember the exact day. I had been carry-
ing up coals to the bed-room. Before I went into
the room I heard Mrs. Pritchard retching very much
indeed. I waited a little, and she rang the bell.
When she rang the bell I went in. I found her lean-
ing over the basin stand. This was about seven o'clock
in the evening. She asked me to give her a drink of
cold water. She had been down stairs in the drawingroom
to tea a little before that, and it was shortly after tea that
I found her so sick. Sho also asked on that occasion in
the beds oom that I would put her to bed, and bring her a
bottle of water for her feet. I assisted her into bed. Sho
said she did not know when her sickness would cease.
That was all she said.

eines kept in the consulting-room—some tinctures, and so
forth. They were kept in the cupboard on the right hand
side as you enter, on the side of the window and not in the
cupboard opposite the fireplace.
Were any of those tinctures or other medicines kept else-
where than in the cupboard ?—No ; not that I know of.
Was the doctor in the habit of making up medicines to
his patients ?—Not to my knowledge. lam not able to say
that it was not the prisoner's practice to make up medicines
for his patients. I never saw him making experiments
with chemicals in the consulting-room or elsewhere.
[Witness was here shown Nos. 19, 20, and 82 of produc-
tions, comprising two medical diaries and "Blackwood's"
shilling scribbling diary.] These are all in the handwrit-
ing of the prisoner.
By Mr. Clark—l remember Mrs. Pritchard going to

Do you remember seeing Mrs. Taylor the week before
she died? She did not get the whole of the hot water
first ?—No. I saw Mrs. Taylor the week before she diod.

Edinburgh last year. I remained in the house at Glasgow
when she was absent at Edinburgh. I was ill during the
time she was absent ; that was in November. I had sick-

It was on the Wednesday night. She said something to /loss and cramp, but I cannot remember of much else. 1
me about Mrs. Pritchard's illness then. She said she could took ill at dinner-time. When I was ill I vomited. On
not understand Mrs. Pritchard's illness. She was very these occasions when I was taken ill I could hardly sit up.
ill that day. She had been sick and vomiting, she said, It was in the November that I was first taken ill. The
but said nothing about cramp. I was washing in Dr next time that I took ill was in February. I was ill about
Pritchard's houso after Mrs. Taylor's death on the 9th of a fortnight or so. I was not away from table the whole
March. I was in Mrs. Pritchard's bedroom that night. time ; only about three or four days.
Some soiled bedclothes were taken off the bed by me. The Lord Justice-Clerk—l was ill for about a fortnight.
They appeared as if they had been soiled by vomited mat- after being taken ill at dinner-time.
ter. She said to me that she had been sick, but was not By Mr. Clark—l was ill again every morning after
aware of it till the morning. breakfast. I was ill about two hours. It was about half-
The Lord Justice Clerk—She vomited in her sleep, an-hour after breakfast. The illness lasted about a week
then ?—Yes. in the beginning of February, and I was ill again towards
Mr. Crichton-.-Mrs. Pritchard very seldom spoke to the ;the end of that month. The tea was poured out at table,

about her sickness. I saw her seldom. She spoke to mo
about her state of health in Edinburgh.
She said that when she was in Edinburgh she was very
well, and that she felt much better. I pointed out to Dr.
Penny the liquid in the bottle when I saw it in court.
Cross-examined by Mr. Clark—You have told us about
tho conversation between Dr. Pritchard when Mrs. Pater-
son and you were dressing Mrs. Pritchard's body—you have
told us all that passed. What I want to know is whether
Mary Paterson was present during the whole time of the
conversation ?—Yes. Nobody else was present ?—Mary
M'Leod was not there.
The Lord Justice Clerk—When you showed Dr. Penny
what was in the bottle, was there anything in the bottle
then P—No.
Thomas Alexander Connell, student, examined by the
Solicitor-General—l am a student of medicine, and
boarded with the prisoner from November, 1863, till a re-
cent date—the death of Mrs. Pritchard. I was in Dr.
Pritchard's house when his wife wont to Edinburgh in
November. I spent the Christmas and New Year's holi-
days with my father. When I returned I found that Mrs.
Pritchard had come back from Edinburgh. I was aware
she had been ailing before she went to Edinburgh. On
my return—the beginning of January—l observed she
became unwell again, although she did not complain of
anything particular at the time. I remember of her com-
plaining in the doctor's presence of being unwell. I
should say that would be about the third week of
January. We were all in the dining-room at the time.
It was in the evening, after tea. She said she felt un-
well, and would go to bed. She did not mention how
she felt unwell. It appeared to mo to be a sudden
attack of illness. She left the room at the time.
After that I don't remember her coming down to
her breakfast or other meals. I did not see her again til
after her mother's death, and when I was in the way of
seeing her, I don't remember of hearing her complaining
of sickness. This was the only occasion that I remember
she complained of illness in my presence. It was soon
after her mother's death that I saw her again—a week
thereafter. After the occasion when the first complaint of
illness was made in my presence, a week after Mrs. Taylor's
death, I generally asked the doctor every morning how
she was. At first he sometimes said she was better and
sometimes he said worse. He did not tell me at that time
what was the matter with her. Afterwards ho told me he
thought it was gastric typhoid.
The Lord Justice-Clerk—When did ho say that P—lt
would be after her mother's death.
By the Solicitor-General—Before that he did not give
any name to her illness at all. He mentioned ono of the
symptoms as sickness, which he said came on whenever
she had eaten anything.
Did he mention this more than once ?—I think more
than once.
Have you any doubt of his telling you frequently ?—I
have no doubt.
Did he mention any other symptom of her illness ?
Cramp.
Did he tell you when and where she was attacked gene-
rally with cramp P—No.
Did he toll you it was in the night or during the day ?
—I hoard so from Mrs. Taylor.
The Lord Justice-Clerk—l thought you heard about the
cramp from the prisoner ?—No, it was from Mrs. Taylor.
By the Solicitor-General—The only symptom of illness
that the doctor mentioned was sickness.
Will you tell us as distinctly as you can what Mrs
Taylor said to you about Mrs. Pritchard's illness ?—She
said she was sick every time she tasted food, and that she
had the cramp in her arms and hands. She said the cramp
generally came on at night.
Did Mrs. Taylor ever speak to you about being sick
herself ?—Once she did. Sho said she was sick after par-
taking of some tapioca that had been prepared for Mrs,
Pritchard.
Tell us what she said about that P—She said it had been
prepared for Mrs. Pritchard, and that it had been taken up
to her room. Mrs. Pritchard refused to take it, and Mrs.
Taylor took it herself. About an hour and a half after she
took it she was seized with sickness and vomiting.
Did she tell you how long the sickness and vomiting
continued ?—About an hour I think she said.
Did she say anything else ?—She said she was glad Mrs.
Pritchard had not taken it, as it might have proved fatal
in her delicate state. She said she would send the tapioca
back. That was all she said. I believe she said some-
thing to the effect that her attack was something like what
Mrs. Pritchard had. This was shortly after she came to
Glasgow. lam aware Mrs. Taylor died at an early hour
on the Saturday morning. I had seen her on the Fri-
day. There did not appear to be anything particular the
matter with her on the Friday. She seemed to be a strong,
healthy old lady. I noticed no difference upon her on the
Friday. She left the dining-room as usual after tea upon
this Friday evening. I next hoard of her about half-past
9, when Dr. Pritchard came to me in the dining-room and
told me that she had been taken suddenly ill, and he desired
me to go for Dr. Paterson. I asked what ho thought was
the matter with her, and he said he thought it was apo-
plexy. I went for Dr. Paterson, and he came about 10
o'clock. I was not present when he came, but I saw Dr.
Pritchard shortly after he left. I asked him if Mrs.
Taylor was any better, and he said she was not.
I asked him if it was apoplexy, and he said it was.
The next time I heard of Mrs. Taylor was next morn-
ing, when the doctor came into my bed-room very
early, and awoke me by saying that Mrs. Taylor was dead.
He said something I did not catch, as I was not awake ;
but he said she had died about half-past twelve, He said
she had died very calmly. In the morning he said ho was
unconscious when she died.
Did he say anything about her having returned to con-
sciousness before she died ?—Yes ; he said that she had
recovered consciousness a minute or two before she died.
I left the house and went to my father's the next day.
When I returned in about a week, on Monday the 6th of
March, I saw Mrs. Pritchard. I asked her how she felt,
and she said she was pretty well. The doctor was pre-
sent at the time. She seemed as if she was getting better.
I thought she was looking better, or convalescent, at least.
Had she the appearance of ono who had undergone severe
suffering ?—Yes ; I would have judged from her face that
she had undergone considerable pain.
Did you see any more of her before her death?—Yes ; I
saw her about a week before she died. She was in the same
place. She then seemed much about the same. Sho did not
tell me anything of herself. The doctor was not present on
this latter occasion, but she sent me for him. She did net
tell me why she wanted him. I did not see any more of
her, but I asked the doctor about her after this. I did not
ask him for her specially on any particular day, but I was
in the habit of inquiring how she was every morning
generally. The doctor said she was getting better, or
coming round.
The Lord Justice-Clerk—How long did he give you this
' answer to your questions as to Mrs. Pritchard's health ?
He did so until the day of her death. He complained of
being worn out with watching her. He said he was very
much worse by sitting up at nights with her. He said this
in course of the week in which her death occurred. He did
not say anything more about her that I recollect at that
time, but on the night on which she died I remarked that
he must be much worn out by being up at night so
often watching. Ho replied that he was, but she had often,
he said, done the same thing for him when he was ill. I
understood him, :in saying this, to express how little
he grudged the fatigue. I was told on the morning
after Mrs. Pritchard's death that Dr. Paterson had
been called the previous evening. On the Saturday night
before her death the prisoner gave me a doctor's prescrip-
tion in his own 'handwriting, and asked me to go and get
the medicines marked on it "For Mrs. Pritchard." He told
me to go to the Glasgow Medical Hall, or the Apothe-
caries' Hall, I think in Elmbank-street, off Sauchiehall-
street. I took the line to the shop and got the medicines
made up. I got two vials filled with some liquid prepara-
tion. I gave this to the prisoner. I did not road the pre-
scription. This was about nine o'clock in the even-
ing. I am shown a prescription in Dr. Pritchard's
handwriting, but not having looked at the one ho
gave me on the occasion I speak of I cannot identify it. I
brought back the prescription with me along with the vials
which I got. lam shown these (labelled No. 19). The
vial I now see is about the size of the one I got for the
prescription, and what it contains is of the same colour as
the stuff I got from the apothecary's shop. I was told of
Mrs. Pritchard's death the following morning by Mary
M'Leod.