The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-24 00:00:00

THE SUN,

think proper of the last witness; but it seems to me
not to be necessary for you to do so at present,
because the determination which I have come to is
that it is only necessary to take evidence merely of a
preliminary character. On a future occasion an op-
portunity
will be afforded to the professional gentle-
man for whom you have sent of sifting the evidence,
should you or he choose to do so ; therefore I think it
unnecessary for you to ask any questions now unless
you wish to do so.
The prisoner said she had no questions to ask the
witness.
Wright, a police-constable, said he went to 3,
Minver place, in company with Mr. Flynn, a friend
of the deceased, on Monday, the 13th inst. The
prisoner opened the door, and replied to their inter-
rogatory that her name was Manning. She invited
them into the parlour, where they remained a quarter
of an hour or twenty minutes. This was about five
minutes to ten in the morning. Mr. Flynn said, "I
suppose you have heard about Mr. O'Connor being
missing." She replied that she had, and that it was
very strange, as he was a very regular man. She
likewise stated that he had been there on the previous
Wednesday evening, that he was very tipsy, and that
he was seen home by a friend of his, named Welch.
Further, she said she had been to his lodgings on the
previous Thursday evening, about a quarter to six, to
see what had become of him ; also on the Friday
evening. Mr. Flynn asked her if she knew any cf
his friends?

Air. Edwin—l suppose it will be unnecessary to go
into that now. _

Mr. SECHER—We had better not go any further
:o• day. _ _ _

Mr. Edwin (to the inspector)—From the informa-
tion you have received you believe the prisoner to
have been concerned in the murder ?

Inspector Yates—l do.
Mr. SECKER—And you call for a remand.
Inspector Yates—l do.

Mr. SECKER—Prisoner, you are now entitled to
ask the witness any question, should you think
proper. _ ..

. .
The Prisoner—l do not wish to ask him any
questions.
Mr. SECKER—Then it is my duty to remand you
until this day week.
The prisoner was then removed. She walked
composedly, and, as far as we could judge from ex-
terior appearances, apparently unconcerned, from
the dock.

Mr. Moxey inquired if his attendance would be
'urther required ?

Mr. Edwin—Has the prisoner said anything to
you ? Mr. Mosey—She has been several days in
my custody, and, of course, she has said a good deal
to me.

After some conversation, Mr. Money's attendance
was dispensed with until notice was sent to him that
it was required.
The prisoner was immediately driven off to
Horsemonger-lane gaol.
The whole of the proceedings did not occupy many
minutes.

THE BERMONDSEY MURDER.
(THIS DAY.)
THE ADJOURNED INQUEST.
The inquest upon the unfortunate Mr. Patrick
O'Connor was resumed to-day before Mr. W. Carter,
in the coffee-room of the Leather Market Tavern,
Bermondsey.
The room was crowded, and the greatest interest
appeared to be manifested in the proceedings.
The deceased was buried on Sunday last at the Ca-
tholic burying-ground opposite the George, in the Co-
mmercial-road. The funeral was conducted in as private a
manner as possible, and the cortege consisted simply
of a hearse and one mourning coach, in the latter of
which were a brother-in-law, a cousin, and two per-
sonal friends of the deceased. The rights of burial
vtere performed by the Rev. Mr. Moore, a Catholic
priest.
The jury assembled at eleven o'clock, and having
all answered to their names,
Mr. William Asher Keating was then called. He
said—l am a clerk in the Examiner's office in the
Custom-house. I ~knew the deceased, Patrick
O'Connor. I have frequently seen him write, and
know his handwriting. I have been acquainted with
him since 1839, something more than ten years. He
was a gauger in her Majesty's Customs. I heard
of his death on the day the Cody was found. I last
saw Mr. O'Connor on the evening of Thursday—to
the best of my recollection about a quarter to five
o'clock; that is a fortnight yesterday. Ile
was at that time on London-bridge, coming
from the City to the Surrey side. I spoke
to him. He appeared very well, and in
good health and spirits. There was another officer
of his with me at the time, and he spoke to him first.
I was in conversation with him about two minutes.
He showed that officer, Mr. Graham, a letter, but I
did not see the contents of it. I saw the name on it,
which caused tie to make a remark. The name ap-
peared to be that of the writer ; it was Maria some-
thing. Mr. Graham said, " I suppose your are going
to dine at Maria's?" The deceased replied " Yes;"
at least I was under the impression when I left him
that he was going to dine with Maria. I had
some knowledge as to who Maria was. I understood
the name Maria to be that of Mrs. Manning. I
knew the street where she lived, but I did not know
the number of the house. It was :New Weston-
street, Bermondsey. No person was in his company
when I met him on the bridge. I have met this
female, Maria, walking with the deceased, and I have
also seen her at his house. I believe I should know
her again if I saw her. A gentleman in the Regis-
trar's office in the Custom-house, whose name I
don't know, said that he had seen Mr. O'Connor
the same evening further on towards Guy's
Hospital. I have heard two or three reports that he
had been seen afterwards, but I do not know it as a
fact. He was absent from duty the next day
(Friday). I did not see him on duty on Friday ;
but from our duties being different, it was not likely
that I should see him on that day. Mr. Graham is
not here, not having been summoned, but he said he
would come if sent for. I called at the deceased's
lodgings on Saturday morning, and found that he
had not been there on the previous day.
Mr. John Younghusband was next examined—
I am a gauger in her Majesty's Customs, living at
46, Peckham-grove, Camberwell. I knew Mr.
Patrick O'Connor ; he was stationed with me once
a twelvemonth. I saw him last on Thursday
week, in the evening, about a quarter to six, in Grace-
church-street. I was riding outside an omnibus on
my way home. Mr. O'Connor was walking very
slow indeed, in a direction towards the City, and was
looking round him at the time. He did not recognise
me. That was the last time I ever saw Mr. O'Connor
alive. I would not meet him the next day, for he was
at the London Docks and I was at St. Katharine's
Docks. There is a book left in the inspector's office
in which the officers on duty sign their names, and
the deceased's name does not appear in it on Friday.
I remarked that the deceased was particularly neat
and clean when I saw him.
Mr. Thomas Wheatley, a locker in the Customs, said
he knew the deceased, and saw him a month
ago. He thought he saw him on the 12th,
but could not swear that it was him.
Henry Barnes, police-constable, 256 K division,
said, in consequence of some information which I
received on Friday week last, I went, in company
with police-constable Burton, of the M division, to
No, 3, Minver-place, New Weston street. Burton
had the key of the house in his possession, and he un-
locked the door, and we went in. We looked into
the front and back parlours, and then in the front
andkitchen. We then went into the back kitchen,
which is
level with That
ktihtcehenfroiantpavkeidtcohveenr,
with large flags. I found the four rooms quite
empty. I observed a damp mark round the edges of
two of the stones, which induced us to take out our
knives and to try the mortar. We found it wet. I
then told Burton that I should not be satisfied until
those two flags were taken up. We then got a
shovel, a crowbar, and a boat-hook, and
raised up one of the stones—the smallest
of the two. I then remarked that the stone
had not been laid by a regular mason, for he would
have placed mortar only round the edge of the stone.
Instead of mortar being placed only round the edge,
the whole surface under it was covered with mortar.
We removed the other flag, and there was the same
appearance underneath it. At the depth of twelve
inches we found a linen rag; it was about the size of
Isotmooekth iithugpliaknedasmdeealdt
and
I re-
member hweor
thhaantd
it smelt
sin
I said to Burton that if we proceeded with
and
et
our search we should find the dead body.
We continued digging, and I saw some-
thing else, which I thought was another piece of
rag. I pulled it and shook it. I found it was the
toe of a man, and I said to Burton, " Here is the toe
of O'Connor." Burton was about to leave to get
more assistance, but I told him to wait a moment,
and I thought I should be able to show him the whole
foot. After exposing more of the body, Burton
went to get assistance, and I went on digging, and
soon came to the deceased's loins. The body was
lying on its face, and was embedded in slack lime.
The legs were tied up with a strong cord
to his haunches. Before :,the body was
removed Mr. Lockwood, the surgeon, came in, and I
saw him take from the mouth g set of false teeth,

LONDON,

which he washed. The body was taken out and re•
moved into the front kitchen. It was quite naked,
and I thought from the smell had been dead a fert•
night. 1 then went into the yard, and was called by
a sergeant of the Al division and Mr. Lockwood, who
showed me a bullet which had been taken from the
head of the body. I did not myself examine the
body closely before taking it into the front kitchen.
We locked up the body in the front kitchen
and left the house. The body was examined by
another surgeon before it was taken from the hole.
I did not measure the hole, but I should say that the
depth from the flags to the lime was about eighteen
inches. The body was covered to that depth with
earth, but immediately above and below it it was
covered with lime. Mr. Flynn, a gentleman from the
City, identified the body as that of Patrick O'Connor.
In consequence of the identification, I endeavoured
to find Mr. and Mrs. Manning. On the morning of
the same day I went to Greenwood-street, Mile End-
road, O'Connor's lodging, where I was shown a
box. Mr. FI3 nn and Mr. Keating, I, and some
others, were there on the Monday previous, and the
box was then forced open by Mr. Flynn.
(The witness was under examination when our
report left.)

CRIMINAL COURT.-(THIS DAY.)

OLD COURV.
(Before Mr. Justice ERLE.)
FORGERlES.—Frederick Wee. Pentlow, 36, a clerk, was
indicted for forgery and embezzlement. The indictment
contained three counts, the first was for feloniously
forging and uttering an order for the sum of 90/. 10s. 6d.,
with intent to defraud John Squire and others ; the
second for embezzling and stealing the sum of 301., and
21. 12s. 4d. the property of Stephen Lancaster Lucena,
his master; and the third for three charges of stealing
orders for the payment of money, the property of Ste-
phen Lancaster Lucena.
The prisoner had pleaded not guilty.
Mr. BALLANTINE, who now appeared for the prisoner,
said his client wished to withdraw his plea of n )t guilty,
and substitute that of guilty for it. lie might
add that up to this offence the prisoner bad
borne an excellent character, and as this
was not exactly what might be termed a
forgery to defraud the commercial world, he hoped the
Court would not visit him with the punishment that
attached to such a crime.
Mr. CLARKSON, who attended for the prosecution, ob-
served that the prisoner had filled a situation of trust in
the service of Mr. Lucena, a solicitor, and one of the
charges was that he had embezzled 304 which bad been
paid to him to settle an action at law, in which Mr. Lucena
was concerned for the defence. The money, however,
was never applied to that purpose, and judgment having
passed against Mr. Lucena 's client, it had placed that
gentleman in a very painful position, and he could not,
under all the circumstances of the case, join in any re-
commendation to mercy.
Mr. Justice ERLE sentenced the prisoner to 12 years'
transportation.
MURDER.—Elizabeth Wardle, aged 19; was indicted
for the wilful murder of her female infant.
Mr. Ballantine prosecuted and Mr. Clarkson defended
the prisoner.
The child was found in a privy attached to the house
of the prisoner's mother in Church-lane, St. Pancras,
but it was doubtful whether it had been placed there, or
whether it came there in a natural way. A policeman,
however, stated, that in the way to the St.
Pancras Workhouse, the prisoner, who had
acknowledged being the mother, said she threw
the child down the privy. The mother of the
prisoner, who also accompanied her to the workhouse,
denied this.
Mr. Justice ERLE put it to the jury. whether the
evidence made out the charge in the indictment, re-
minding them that it not unfrequently happened that a
woman with her first child mistook the pains of labour
for a disordered stomach.
The jury acquitted the prisoner.

NEW COURT.
(Before the RECORDER and Mr. Alderman HUNTER.)
Joshua Simmons, who was convicted yesterday of
stealing forty yards of doeskin for trowsers, of the value
of 54 10s., the property of Messrs. Bartrnra and
Harvey, the woollen-drapers of Holborn-hill, was
placed at the bar this morning to receive the judgment
of the Court. Our readers will recollect that out of 17
witnesses who appeared to give the prisoner a
good character, only one knew NI here he lived.
This morning, upon his being placed at the
bar, several of the sergeants and policemen of the City
and Metropolitan police were examined, all of whom
stated that they had known the prisoner for some years,
that they knew him to be an associate of thieves, that his
house was the resort for them, and that he had been
for years the receiver of stolen goods, and that upon one
occasion he very narrowly escaped being transported.
The RECORDER, after complimenting the City autho-
rities for instituting the prosecution against the pri-
soner, and remarking upon the dangerous tendency of
his offence, sentenced him to ten years' transportation.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.
(THIS DAY.)
(Before Mr. WITHAM.)
The Court sat this morning by adjournment at the
Guildhall, Westminster.
Amongst the persons summoned to serve as jurors,
and claiming on different grounds to be excused, was
Mr. Groves, of Regent-street, Westminster, an under-
taker, who pleaded that there was so much demand for
his sei vices at present that his absence from his business
for a day would be a public inconvenience.
After some observations (partly jocular), the Chair-
man desired him to wait a while, and the Court would
see whether he could be spared or not.
William Russell, a gentlemanlike young man, was in..
dieted for obtaining, by means of false pretences, a
quantity of precious stones and jewellery, of the value of
701., the property of M. Genevieve Marry, of Golden-
square, dealer in jewels.
Mr. O'BRIEN, the prisoner's counsel, pointed out,
that the false pretence laid in the indictment was, that
the prisoner induced the prosecutor to part with the
goods on the promise that be would return them in two
hours or pay the money. That was a future pretence,
and any pretence depending upon a future event was not
a false pretence under the statute. It was true the pri-
soner had said he came from his brother, who was a
customer of the prosecutor's, but that was not alleged in
the indictment.
The CHAIRMAN disputed that view of the Act, which
was ably supported by Mr. Huddlestone as well as by
the prisoner's counsel. It was at length agreed that the
trial should proceed, subject to an application for defer-
ing judgment to next session in case of a conviction.
The prosecutor, however, having stated that he had
parted with the goods on the promise that they would be
returned or the money paid in two hours, and that be
would have given them for approbation, on the same
terms, to any person in the trade,
Mr. O'BRIEN submitted that ihe credit of two hours
did away with this indictment as much as if it had been
credit for twelve months.

The COURT, after some argument, directed an Ac-
quittal.
THE LATE ALTERCATION IN COURT.-Mr. MELLOR,
having an application to make on behalf the parish of
Marylebone, requested permission to offer an apology
to the Court, and to the Learned Chairman, for what he
must admit to have been the very intemperate language
into which he had been betrayed in an altercation with
the Chairman on Wednesday last, in the Court at Clerk-
enwell. The Learned Gentleman said, that under no
circumstances could any counsel be justified in address-
ing such language to the bench, which was the repre-
sentative of Majesty itself. He had acted in a moment
of great excitement. lie very much regretted what he
had said, and ho hoped the Learned Chairman would
accept his earnest apology. They had known each other
in the relative positions of judge and counsel in the same
court for several years, and the late had been the only
occasion upon which anything disagreeable had arisen.
He felt it due to the Chairman, to the Court, to the
profession, and to himself, to make this apology in the
most ample manner.
Mr. WITIIAM said that he had thought the Learned
Counsel went too far on the occasion referred to; but he

had no doubt at the time that he would in a cooler
moment feel that he was in error. It was for
that reason that he (the Chairman) let the matter
pass without any notice on his part. He was very glad
that the Learned Gentleman h,:d shown the good sense

to acknowledge his error, and he cheerfully accepted the
apology.
Mr. ROSE (county magistrate) said he was very glad
the Learned Gentleman had acted in so proper a manner,
and he hoped that others who committed themselves in
the same way would imitate so becoming an example.

RLBRO'-STREET—(THIS DAY.)
Wm. Wilson and Dennis Collins were placed at the
bar before Mr. Hardwick, charged with having stolen
18 yards of cloth, value 101., the property of Mr. Fletcher
Snow, tailor, No. 5, Frith-street, Soho.
Edward Baker, foreman to Mr. Snow, stated that
about five o'clock on the previous afternoon, he was in
his employer's shop, when he observed the prisoner
Dennis, whom he had previously seen lurking about the
door, creep into the shop and take the piece of cloth pro-
duced from off the counter near the door, and push it
towards the prisoner Wilson, who was standing outside
the shop. Witness immediately gave the alarm, when
the prisoner Wilson dropped the cloth, and they both ran
away, pursued by witness into Compton-street, where
they were stopped by a constable, till witness came up
and gave them in charge.
The prisoners, who are well known to the police, were
committed for trial.

DREADFUL FIRE ON TIM NORTH KENT RAILWAY.
—This morning, about two o'clock, a serious destruction
of property took place at the North Kent Railway sta-
tion, opposite Charlton, Kent. The fire originated at
some buildings on the platform, and having been seen in
London, the London Brigade and West of England
engines were dispatched thither. Their timely arrival
was of the greatest assistance, and although the fire
raged for some hours, and every person present was
placed in great danger, yet it is believed that no lives
were lost. The whole of the building, 75 yards in
length, as also the contents therein, were supposed to be
the, property of the company, who, it is expected, is
insured in the Phoenix Fire-office.
Lieutenant:General the Hon. John Meade, C. 8.,
died at Madrid on the 6th of August. This officer
served in the East Indies, and in the campaigns
under his Royal Highness the Duke of York in
Holland ; he commanded the 45th Regiment at the
battle of Busaco, and was employed as Consul-
General at Madrid.