The Sun.
London, England, 1822-03-22 00:00:00

MURDER OF MRS. DONATTY.

Bow-STREET.—Yesterday, soon after one o'clock, Mr.
Mricsiatraa, the alagistrate, resumed his examination of Ro-
bert Rigby, Ann his wife, *Mary Wood (her sister), and
Samuel Askew. Mr. Taylor, the vestry-clerk of the parish in
which the house of the deceased is situate, attended, as did the
Gentlemen of the Committee who have so laudably exerted
themselves to discover the perpetrators of this horrid murder.
It appeared from their statement that the house had not been
generally searched, but merely the two parlours and the back
room on the first floor ; and the violence that had been used
upon the occasion was done with similar instruments to those
found in the apartment of Rigby, such as pincers (one end
of which had been evidently recently broken), a turnscrew,
and an awl.
Robert Rigby and Samuel Askew were brought to the office
from Covent-garden watchhouse, handcuffed together. Mr.
MIYSI'LL humanely observed, that he did not think that
necessary, as he presumed every man innocent till he was
found guilty. Jones the gaoler said, it was only done as a
matter of security, they being under suspicion.of a vary heinous
offence. They were then rcicased from the handcuffs.
One of the Gentlemen of the Committee showed the finger
of Mrs. Donatty, which was preserved in spirits. Ile did not
tell the prisoners what it was that was in the spirits ; after they
had looked at it for some time, they declared that they could
not tell what it was. He then told them what it was, and
watched their countenances very closely, to . see what effect it
had on them ; but no material change was observed. The
Gentlemen of the Committee were of opinion, from the very
particular circumstances that they have ascertained respecting
the conduct and manners of the deceased, that the murderer
expected to find 5001. in the house: The deceased had a very
great propensity to talking ; she told the whole of her affairs to
any body. It was generally known in the neighbourhood,
that she had sold the collection of Morland's paintings for 1,0001.
which was paid bT bills ; the last were paid very lately, and
she was in- possession of 5001. within a few days of her murder,
which she did not conceal from any person. She was, at
length, persuaded to invest it in the Long Annuities, the
broker's receipt for which was found in the house.
A memorandum was found among a number of pawnbrokers'
duplicates, in Rigby's apartments, with " Mr. Evans, John-
street, Bedford-row." This being the neighbourhood where
the murder was committed, it was suspected to be the place of
appointment to meet on the night of the murder; it was written
in a good hand and correctly spelt. Rigby having said he had
written it, he was desired to write the same words without see-
ing the original, which he accordingly did. Mr. 31inshull ex-
amined it, and declared it not dissimilar, although not the same
hand. Rigby accounted for the possession of the original, by
saving, it was given to his sister, when confined in Tothill-
fiadsridewell upon an execution from the Court of Requests
for a debt for rent, to go to Mr. Evans to get his two children
into a school by a lady of Alberniarle-street, which he objected
to on account of the distance. When his sister was examined,l
she explained the lady to be Mrs. Fry, who had paid the debt
she was confined for.
Two females who lived near the deceased attended. One'
of them was intimately acquainted with the deceased. She
stated, that on the night of the murder she saw a man' loiter-
ing about the house of the deceased for two hours in the course
of that evening. She described him as a tall, thin, gentle-
manly looking man. He had no resemblance of either of the
prisoners. Ile had something in his hand in a case. This,
there is every reason to believe, contained the deadly weapon
which was found in the house.
The other female stated, that she saw a man at the door of
Mrs. Donatty about nine o'clock on the night of the murder ;
his back was towards her; she therefore did not discern his
face. He was very stout with wide shoulders ; he was such a
remarkable figure, that she had no doubt but that she should
know him again.
A gentleman suggested, that as there was very little doubt
but that the sack which had been left in Mrs. Donatty's house
by the murderers had been used as a seed-sack ; he recommend-
ed that inquiries should be made at all the seed shops in Lon-
don, where no doubt it might be traced to whom it belonged ;
and offered to give a list of the seed shops. He said the
Messrs. Heskeths, in the Borough, to whom Rigby said he
was related, are very respectable men.
Richard Waller, groom to J. R. Whitmore, of Furnival's
Lim, Esq. was then examined.—On Saturday night, the 9th
instant, between 10 and 11 o'clock, he was at the door of Mrs.
Donatty's house with the mob. After the murder was made
known, a gentleman came to him to the door, and wished some
one to go with him the backway in Millman-place ; went into
Great James-street, and saw five men running quite fast, as if
from Millman-place, which is at the back of Mrs. Donatty's
house. They pursued them, and overtook the man they saw
first, and got hold of his arm ; he struggled, and got away ;
the other four ran after him into Bedford-row ; the said man
was a tall man, had on a brown or snuff-coloured coat; very
much resembles Rigby in point of size : amongst the other four
men was a short man with a green coat, a short slouched hat ;
he appeared to be a younger man than Askew, but about his
height, with a large nose ; resembles Askew in the face. He
very closely examined both the prisoners with their hats on and
off, slouched and not so; behind as well as before.
A pawnbroker produced all the articles pledged since the
night of the murder, for which duplicates were found on the
prisoners' premises, but no suspicion attached to any of them.
The waistcoat, which had spots of blood on it, belonging to
Askew was again produced, but the officer could not say it
was concealed; he accounted for the blood from the bleeding
of his ear in consequence of a cut.
On searching the premises of Rigby, there was found in a
tea-pot a small skeleton or picklock key, and part of a country
11. note. It was taken to the bankers in London where it was
payable, who said it had been altered from the year 11110 to
the year 1819.

Jeffries produced a brown surtout coat, which he found at
Askew's lodging ; it is an old one ; one of the buttons behind is
torn off, a long rent on the right side, which has been recently
sewed with black thread. The coat was put on by both the
prisoners, and either could wear it.
The sack which was left in the house of the deceased had
a number of small shavings in it. A Gentleman of the
Committee produced one of them from his pocket-book,
and asked the prisoner Askew If he knew what it was, and
after examining it, he declared he did not. It was from light
coloured wood, supposed to be sycamore, and Askew being a
violin and violoncello maker, some of his shavings which he
makes were sent for ; and on their being brought, they were
found to resemble those found in the sack. Mr. Alexander
Japp, the landlord of the prisoner Askew, stated that he had
seen Askew take his work out in a canvas bag, but the bag
was not now in his apartments. On his being shewn the bag
which was left in the deceased's house, he declared it not to be
the same, it being a much lighter colour. Askew denied that
he had such a bag or sack as his landlord described ; but said
the bag he took his violins out in was of green baise,- and he
took violencellos without any.
The landlord said, Askew had lodged with him for twelve
months. He was a man of regular habits ; he had only been
out twice late.

Elizabeth Rigby underwent another interrogation, but very
lttle more could be made of her than on Wednesday night.
On her bein,,,,r asked who gave her the breeches, she replied,
nobody gave them to her; but on recollecting herself, she asked
if it was meant those which were shewn to her the preceding
night, and she said her father.
She was interrogated by the Magistrate, as well as the Gen-
tlemen of the Committee, as to what her mother alluded to
when she told her not to say any thing about the breeches
when she went off, and talked about black breeches, which
caused a suspicion that something would turn upon black
breeches, and another search of their premises was made, but
nothing discovered. The child's statement was very contra-
dictory. In the additional search, an apron belonging to
Askew was found which had marks of blood on it. A box of
surgeon's instruments were found. One of the Gentlemen
said he had put his little finger into the wound in the neck of
the deceased, and had no doubt but that it was inflicted by a
large instrument. _ .

Ann Rigby and Mary Wood were put to the bar after the
men were taken away, but nothing material transpired. Ann
Rigby persisted that she never instructed the child not to say
any thing about the breeches.
Mr. Donatty, the nephew of the deceased, attended, and ex-
amined the boots sold by the child to Mrs. Haines. He did
not-believe them to be his aunt's, they being to button, and his
aunt generally had them to lace. lie did not know who his
aunt's shoemaker was ; he did not think she employed any par-
ticular man, but bought them at different places at it suited her.
The examination continued till near six o'clock, when it was
adjourned.
HAT TON-GARDEN-Last night, about eight o'clock, a man
named William Moss Gregory, about 25 years of age, of very
dark aspect, long visage, and prodigious large black whiskers,
dressed in a black coat and waistcoat, drab-coloured trowsers,
and Wellington boots, rather of shabby appearance, and stand-
ing about 5 feet 8 inches high, together with Elizabeth Brown
and Mary Brown (no relations), were brought up in custody
of John timbrick and Cadby, the officers, and underwent an
examination.

It appears that the above-named active officers received
private information that a man of very questionable character
and habits had lived for several days with two females, in a
concealed and obscure manner, in a kitchen or cellar complete-
ly under ground, at the house No. 22, Draper's-place, Burton-
crescent, belonging to a woman named Dallison, who on the
Wednesday after the murder of Mrs. Donatty, was applied
to by the female prisoner, Mary Brown, for the kitchen, which
was then unoccupied. She stated herself to be a single woman.

She subsequently let the kitchen to Mary Brown, and she took
possession at night. The landlady not seeing her lodger
tor three or four days, and finding the windows in front of
the room in which the woman lived barricadoed up to the top,
was led to give information to the officers. Limbrick sent a
person to look at the kitchen, when he found the prisoner Gre-
gory and the two female prisoners sitting near the fire. The
prisoner Gregory held down' his head, as if fearful of being
seen; the place was strewed with bundles, containing all sorts
of wearing apparel; one bed and bedding, tied up, was lying
in one corner, in which they all three reposed. The officers
then entered and took the whole party into custody. On
searching the place, they found a piece of canvass stained with
blood, for the possesSion of which they could not account.
The prisoner Gregory could not account for himself for the
last eight months, but be has been brought up to the profession
of a surgeon. The prisoner Elizabeth Brown, previous to her
taking the kitchen, resided in Robert-street, where the murder
was perpetrated.
The officers, on searching Gregory, found a knife of a very
peculiar manufacture ; one of the blades was about three inches
and a half long, and about half an inch wide, with a very
sharp point ; there was another instrument therein similar to a
picklock. The traces of the footsteps of blood in the house
correspond with the size of the prisoner Gregory's foot. •
The Magistrate said, the suspicion against the whole of the
prisoners was sufficient to remand them for another examina-
tion ; and they were remanded accordingly.

MARINE .SOClETY.—Yesterday the friends and supporters
of this Institution held their Anniversary Festival at the
City of London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street. In the absence
of the Duke of CLARE` CE, Lord Viscount EXMOUTH
took the Chair, supported by the Duke of Northumberland,
Sir Francis Ommanney,i M.P. and nearly 200 persons of
respectability, who partook of an excellent dinner. The
Report stated, that from the year 1769 to December 1821,
21,885 boys were fitted out and sent on board the King's
5,113 were also apprenticed to the merchant service, and to
the Honourable East India Company, 513 boys were discharged
from the King's service and again fitted out for sea, and 403
were placed to various trades. The total number of boys pro-
vided for since the commencement of the establishment in
1756, amounts to 33,063, and 39,360 landmen volunteers have
been clothed as seamen, and employed in his Majesty's service
since its commencement, making a total of men and boys
72,423 ; 444 boys were on board on the 31st of December,lB2o,
and on the 315t,,1821, 128 remained on board.
ASYLUM FOR DEAF ANDDUMJICiuLDREN.--Wednesday
evening the Anniversary Dinner of this laudable Institution was
held at the above Tavern, when 200 persons sat down to a
sumptuous dinner, the Duke of Gloucester in the Chair, sup-
ported by Mr. Alderman Atkins, Frederick Webb, Esq.
&c. The Report stated, that 500 persons had been in-
structed to speak, read, and write, and likewise in the use of
arithmetic, since the establishment of the Institution, and that
200 were now enjoying the benefits of the Charity. Out of
20 families, consisting of 157 children, that had applied to the
Institution, there were no less than 79 deaf and dumb, most of
whom were relieved.

The brewers of Cambridge have reduced the
price of ale hi. per quart—a good example to
those of the metropolis, and indeed of the country
at large.
So great is the opposition amongst some of the Caches be-
tween this town and Manchester, that the journey is now ge-
nerally performed by them in less than three hours ! exceeding
12 miles an hour, including changing of horses.—( Liverpool
Advertiser.)
INSTANCE OF THE CAPRICIOUSNESS OF PUBLIC
TASTE.—MURPHY'S farce of " Three weeks after Marriage"
affords a very striking proof of the capriciousness of public
taste, and the injustice of some public decisions. It was
first produced in 1764, under the title of " What we must all
come to ;" but met with so much opposition, that the audience
would not hear it to the conclusion. Twelve years after,
Lewis ventured to produce it again at his benefit, with the new
title; when it met with universal applause, and has continued
ever since to be a favourite on the stage.
SAVING BANKS.—Some very useless alarm has
been recently taken in the villages near London,
at the idea of the change of 5 per Cents; to a

new 4 per Cent. Stockthat the stock in which
the savings have been invested should be re-'
duced, and, on that account, not be secure to the
poor people who have carried in their deposits;
and until the explanation is given from authority,
many have withheld, and others have given
notice of requiring returns of them. It is recom-
mended by a correspondent to the Managers
of these Banks, and those who sit to receive
the weekly deposits, to obtain from authority
a clear document, assuring that part of the corn-
munity (to whom any loss or diminution of their
claim, with its interest, would be of very serious
consequences), that their investments, past and
future, are invested in a fund peculiarly appro-
priated to this purpose, and not subject to the
ltuatuations in value or price, or passing events,
so as to affect the amount which they are entitled
to call for.—(Nczo Times.)
DISTRESSING ACCIDENT THIS MORNING ON THE
TriAmcs.—Between five and six a violent gale of
wind sprung up from the N.N.W., equal in vio-
lence to any thing that has been experienced
during the late tremendous storms, and which,
we regret, gives an opportunity of recording the
following calamitous event :—Two coasters broke
from their moorings a short distance below the
Tower, and corning in contact, the violence of

the concussion forced four men into the stream
who were endeavouring to right the vessels, by
which accident three of them were unfortunately
drowned; the fourth, named Thorton, was fortu-
nate enough to lay hold of a piece of spar that
was floating, when a boat put off from the Rother-
hithe shore, and luckily succeeded in saving him
from the hapless fate of his less fortunate com-
panions. Considerable damage has also been
done to other craft ; it does not, however, appear
that there have been any other lives lost. The
violence of the hurricane was not confined to
the River, but extended to those parts of the Me-
tropolis contiguous to its banks; and consider-
able damage has been done in the unroofing
houses, and the destruction of windows, coping
stones, &c.; but it has not transpired that any
personal injury has been sustained. As the sun
approached the meridian the wind abated.
PIDDING and Co., No. 1, Cornhill, request
their Friends and the Public will bear in mind

that Two out of the Three remaining Prizes of
,E 20,000 Sterling are liable to be decided the
Next Day of Drawing, NEXT THURSDAY (March
28), for one is to be attached to the First-drawn
Prize on that day, and another is to be attached
to the Ninth-drawn Prize above ;'200; and as
there are to be at least 4,000 Numbers drawn,
such an occurrence is not very unlikely ; but,
independent of these, there are 36 other Capitals
of IN.OOO, 21,000, &c. many of which will
also be drawn. PIDDING and Co. hope some of
these desirable things are destined to reward those
who make their purchases at the Lucky Corner,
No. 1, Cornhill.

CORN EXCHANGE, MAncit 22.
Our suppliesare as of late fully equal to the demand, which is
very limited, and chiefly confined to the prime qualities, of
which we have but little in to-day; prices generally as on Mon-
day, with little variation.