The Sun.
London, England, 1825-08-08 00:00:00

INQUEST ON THE BODY OF THOMAS AND.

SUNDERLAND, AUG. 4.
A Coroners' Inqufst was held to-day on the body of Wil-
liam Aird, a sailor, wh ) was killed by a gun-shot wound on'
Wednesday laSt at Sunderland, at the north side of the river
Wear. This inquiry also involved the manner in which Wal-
lace and Dove came by their deaths, as nearly the same' evi-
dence.applied to all. •
John Coxen examined—l am a surgeon, and was sent for on
the 3d of August to attend the deceased ; I found a gun-shot-
wound in his bead ; the, ball entered the back part of the head,
and came out in the front; he was alive, but died in a short
time.after ; I have no doubt that his death was caused by this
Wound.

Wm. Young, of Sunderland, seaman.—,On the. evening of
the 3d of August, I was standing on a block of wood on the
'beach, when.l saw. Mr. Hutchinson, a ship-builder, on board
the ship Mary, he presented a pistol at the people who were on
shore. IdO not belong to.zthe Union Society. 1 saw the pistol
go off, but I cannot Say that it took effect or not. There were
soldiers on board the -Mary ; they fired, and I reckoned seven
shots. I yaw Richard Wallace fall, and a . sailor. Wallace
only lived an hour atfter the shot. He belonged to one, of the
Associations, but I can't say to which. There was a disturbance
on the river. I saw four boats, the crews of which were endea-
vouring to take the men out of the-ships; they boarded the
ships for that purpose.. I did not • know the name of Mr.. Hu-
tchinson until after•the shots werefired. .
Mr. Davison, one of the Magistrates, who was with the sol-
diers
.when they fired, now entered the room, and said, that as
the body.of the Magistrates had determined to send him off to
the Secretary of State, he was , anxious to be examined, if his
evidence was thought necessary.
• • The CORONER said he would then examine him, and. the
examination proceeded. Perhaps, said Mr. Davison, it may
be proper for me to state.upon what authority -I acted.
The CORONER—IF there be any one present who can give
any evidence of the authority of Mr. Davison, it would, perhaps,
be Satisfactory to hear him.
Mr. Davison—l wish to sliew, as far as my opinion' goes,
that a riot did exist. • .

1 Mr. Davidson examined—.l received a communication on the
evening of the .?.d of August, that the assistance of a Magis-
I Irate was rendered necessary, in consequence,of a riot which
had taken place. ,I did not attend officially to that message.--:
In a quarter of an hour after my acting in this manner, Mr.
Kitson, an attorney, came to me, and requested me to go down
;Immediately, as a considerable alarm 'had taken place. I has-
tened down to the Exchange, .and found that i detachment of
the 3d Light Dragoons, with several gentlemen, merchants,
and ship-owners, .were waiting for a Magistrate. I asked
several gentlemen if they would 'state to me, upon oath,
that a riot existed ? 'They answered Le the affirmative, and
I put the oath to them. I asked them if a large assembly
of people were acting in a riotous and tumultuous man-
ner ? Their • answer was, that an alarming riot had oc-
curred, and that murder was supposed to have been corn.
mitted.' I left the room in which I met them, and went to
the Officer commanding the detachment, and told him that
as as Magistrate I was ready to discharge my duty. The
party, consisting of about twenty-four men, went along with
me through the:High-street, and other gentlemen were with us.
We were met by several Persons, who cried out that murder
had been committed, and it was supposed that a person of the
name of Hubbard had been murdered. We then left the
Iligh-street, and proceeded into the Low-street, and along to
the Fish-market. I then observed that a considerable. riot
existed, which induced me to read the Riot Act. The procla-
mation was made in a low voice before the Act was read. I
only read such parts of it as were necessary. I desired the
people to disperse, which they were not inclined to do. It was
impossible to tell how many people were assembled ; there
were at least 1,000 persons present. I requested the Officer to
disperse the crowd. The soldiers drew their sabres, at the sight
of which the people on the south side of the river dispersed.
During that time Mr. Robinson, a magistrate, had arrived.
We then proceeded along the quay, eastward, near .100 yards,
and where it was supposed that the riot continued to exist.
During that period Mr. 11. appeared, and said he had, been ill-
treated, and had his stave taken from him by one of the rioters
in a fall. About this time two persons were apprehended, and 1
it was said that the people on board the ship Mary had been very
ill used. I was requested to go with the military in the boats,
and on going into the mid-channel, I discovered that the ships
in the harbour had their rigging and yards thronged with
people, who assailed us with stones. When we got more to the
north side of the river, I perceived several boats filled with sea-
men, and attempted to board the loaded vessels as they came
down. We assisted a vessel to sea, and in doing so a,quantity
of stones were thrown at us, and I ilk every, one of us were hit.
The shore was crowded to a great extent. All the people on
board our boat were wounded. I was hit on the back part of
the head. The noise was so great, and the stones flying so fast,
that I requested the Commanding Officer to have his men ready.
`We proceeded further down the river, till we, got opposite the
Cohbie slip on the south side: the showers of stones were
so large and so frquent that I resolved upon consulting the
Commanding Officer upon the expediency Of firing. The Com-
manding Officer (Mr. Phillips) thought it advisable to fire high,
with a view not.to hurt any of, the people on shore, and I be-
lieve that the first the did no injury. It had however the effect
of irritating.. the people more, and the stones came, if pos-
sible, in still greater quantities than before. Mr. Phillips then
said, it Was probable that firing high would do as much mis-
chief as firing low, inasmuch as the hill, which was high on the,
north side, was crowded with people who came out of curiosity,
and who took no part in the riot. After a few shots were fired,
I can't say what number of persons• dispersed, but we pro-
ceeded to sea with the vessel. During the firing I remarked
that the seamen separated, and when I returned to the harbour
all was quiet on the river. In our way back we were not in-
terrupted, and the vessels went to sea.
" A Juror—Was the Riot Act read on the North Shore when
the slaughter Was committed ?
Mr. Davison—No, if it was read it could not be heard in

consequence of the noise and tun nit which prevailed ; that is
my opinion. _

A juror—Do you think that the Riot Act was known to be
read by the people on the south side of the river
111 r. Davison—l read the Riot Act very loudly, and re-
peatedly called silence.
A Juror—The people on both sides of the river could not
hear the Riot Act read ?

A Juror—lt might have'been read from a boat. •
A Juror—Ouit it not to have been read at both sides of the
river ?

The CORONER could give no specific answer.
The Witness examined by Mr. DAVISON, jun.--The crowd
on both sides of 'the river and on the water I consider to have
been equally engaged in the riot. I know nothing of Aird or
the other men who were shot. I thought the riot at both sides
the river was the same. I could only read the Riot Act where
I did. with a view to our personal safety. Had I proceeded
otherwise I consider I should have bcen-inurdered.

Mr. Laws was of opinion that the -use of Military -was neces-
sary to disperse the crowd; and felt
.convinced that if the sol-
i fliers had not been placed on the-ship where he was, they would
have all been murdered.. The witness, in continuation, said,
that he did not think the pistol of Mr. Hutchinson would have
carried a ball to the shore, much legs have killed a, person
standing at such a distance.
Several witnesses corroborated Mr. ,Laws, as to the part taken
by Williams, and in opposition to his evidence.
Richard Thompson saw John Down. fall; he was one of the
per Sons killed by the tiring;. he saw no stones thrown. ,
It was here asked if Mr. Hutchinson might not beexamin-
ed ?—The Coroner agreed to do so;. but a Mr. Palmer was
called, who swore that he was on board the ship Mary from
the time of her getting under weigh, and that no shot was fired
by him or Mr. Hutchinson, or any other person during that
day. Mr. Hutchinson had a pair of unlcisded pistols which he
presented, when presently the boats sheered ofF.
; Watford, the constable, swore that he was on board the
Mary, and that no gun was fired from her while he was on
board of her.

Other witnesses were called, and the Coroner summed up the
evidence, when the Jury found a verdict of " JustifiLtble
chic" on the part of the military.
Another inquest was held on the south side of the river, upon
the body of Creighton, who happened to be taken to that side
after he was shot. Nearly the same evidence was adduced, and
the Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental Death."

•PRICE OF STOCKS THIS
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Ditto Red.
4 per Cent. New ... 103 i 104
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DAY AT ONE O'CGOCS•
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