The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-12 00:00:00

EIGHT PERSONS BURNT TO DEATH.

On Wednesday last, a frightful calamity occurred, by
which a whole family were swept away, in the quiet
little village of Llanfihangel Tal-y-llyn, situate near
Llangorse Lake, and distant five miles from Brecon.
The scene of the disaster was the well-known public-
house called the Royal Oak, kept by Mr. John Morgan,
whose family consisted of his wife, his mother-in-law, a
servant-maid, and seven children, two of whom, sons,
happened to be from home at the time. Mr. Mor-
gan himself was the only individual out of nine who
escaped to tell the sad tale. He says that on
Tuesday night last, his family retired to rest
as happy and comfortable as they possibly could
be. He read a chapter in the Bible, after he
went up stairs, and then went to bed himself. He was
awakened by his wife, who slept in another bed in
the same room, between two and three o'clock on
Wednesday morning, who told him that the house was
on fire, and asked where the child was. He immediately
got up, and, at his wife's desire, got through the
window to endeavour to open tho door, but before
he could do so, or alarm the neighbours, the house
was one mass of flames. He ran wildly rom house to
house to get assistance ; but it was too late ; the flames
had done their work. The neighbours broke open the
shop door ; but before they could gain an entrance to
save any of the property, they were driven back by
the fire, and compelled to become inactive spectators
of the fearful devastation. As soon as the fire per-
mitted, a search was made for the missing bodies, 7 of
which were, after great difficulty, got out, but presented
a most horrid spectacle • a mutilated and charred mass,
not to be identified as the remains of human bodies. One
body, that of an infant, could not be found. The 7 other
bodies were got out, but no one could be distinguished
from another. From the position in which they were
found, it is thought they must have been suffocated in bed,
and, when the floor gave way, have fallen through with
the beds. There were two benefit clubs held at the
house, and in the boxes was about 601., besides books,
securities, &c., all of which have been destroyed, the
only remains being some of the coins, which are so
injured by the fire as to be useless ; the greater portion,
it is thought, was melted by the intense heat. How the
fire occurred remains a mystery. Mr. Morgan's loss is
indeed great, for he was not insured ; and all his furni-
ture, shop goods, and clothes, except the shirt he had on,
were destroyed. He also received serious bodily injury
by getting out through the window; one hand and both
arms were severely cut, and his feet lacerated by running
about barefooted.
The names of the unfortunate sufferers are, Margaret
Griffiths, widow, Ann Morgan, wife of John Morgan,
and five children, named Martha, Margaret, Ann, David,
and
Pritchard, seph
the servant-maid., ail under th age of 16, and Margaret
e
At the coroner's inquest, a verdict of "Accidental
death" was returned.

DESERTION FROM THE MILITIA. Yesterday three
young men, named James Bridger, James Whiting, and
Joseph
Colonel er the oldest scarcely of age, were brought
beforeoldest scarcely
Carr, Messrs. Borrer
William Partridge, and Forster Smith, the sitting magi:-
trates at the Brighton bench, on a charge of deserting
from the Royal Sussex Militia, by enlisting into the 43d
Regiment of infantry. The prisoners were natives of
Brighton, and were enrolled in the militia in October and
November last. Mr. Borrer said this was a crime that
must be put a stop to, and where the characters were
bad the magistrates had resolved to treat such cases with
the utmost severity. The crime was very prevalent all
through the kingdom. To a certain extent Bridges and
Whiting stood before the public as men of bad character,
and the bench were unanimous in awarding them the
longest imprisonment which the Mutiny Act permitted ;
they were therefore committed for six months. The
third man, Jasper, was not known to the police ; this
must be taken as a negatively good character, and he
would be committed for four months. And the prisoners
would remember that at the end of their terms of impri-
sonment they would still belong to the 43d Regiment, if
that regiment chose to claim them.
CHILD MURDER.—An inquest was held by Mr. Bruges
Fry, coroner for North Somerset, at the Bladud Arms,
Lower Swainswick, near Bath, on the body of a female
child, which was discovered in a water closet at Swains-
wick-house, Upper Swainswick, which has been for the
last three months in the occupation of the Rev. W.
Jenyns, and which for the two preceding years had been
in the care of a person named Daniel Garraway and his
family. Garraway, who was examined, stated that he
did not know how the body of the child came into the
place where it was found. Anybody might have thrown
tihme
abtoeds o
f body into
o thehou closetso.
The without
closet
wasthe
ina g
knowledgeardsol fs the
r-
rounded by a wall six feet high. None of his family, or
anyone residinga
ito pt that
suspect
ehousec
a child had h
with him, had beeeenn
ol
l. so.
C. as to lead him
A. Harries, surgeon, made, at the request of
the jury, an internal examination of the body, which
was a very decomposed state, and deposed that he
was ins satisfied from the appearance of the heart and lungs
that the child had been born alive. He could not say
how old it was, but it was a female of full size. He
could not say whether or not there was any mark of
violence on the body, owing to the advanced state of
decomposition. The jury returned a verdict of " Wilful
murder by some person or persons unknown." The
subject will be investigated, we understand, by the ma.
giatrates.