The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-06 00:00:00

BATTERSEA. PARK.

The first of a series of claims which have been made
i❑ respect of property required for the intended park at
Battersea, was tried on Thursday, the 2d instant, before
the Sheriff of Surrey and Mr. Wallinger, acting as his
assessor, at the Horns tavern, Kennington.
The case was that of a Mr. Chabot, who claimed
10,2121. for three acres of land on the shore of the river.

In support of his claim his counsel called the follow-
ing surveyors, viz. :—Mr. Charles Lee ; Mr. George
Porter, district surveyor of Battersea ; Mr. Henry
Arthur limit, the Surveyor to the Dean and Chapter
of Westminster ; Mr. George Ledwin Taylor, the
surveyor to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury ;
and Mr. William Tress.

Mr. Porter valued the property at ... £9,499
Mr. Tress 8,578
Mr. Lee ... ... 8,500
Mr. Hunt •.• ..• ... 7,115
Mr. Lee and Mr. Taylor also valued the property upon
the assumption that the claimant might inclose a further
portion of the river; and, upon such assumption,
Mr. Lee valued the property at ... X 11,215
Mr. Taylor ... ... 9,642
It was elicited, upon the cross-examination of the
claimant's witnesses, that he had purchased the property
at public auction from the late Earl Spencer, in 1835,
for 1201. The jury viewed the ground on the forenoon
of Thursday, 'and, after a protracted inquiry, returned a
verdict of 750/.

The counsel for the claimant were Mr. Montague
Chambers, Q.C., and Mr. Lush; for the Crown, the
Attorney-General, Mr. Law (the Recorder), and Mr.
Welsby.
The Attorney-General did not call any witnesses.

SUICIDE.—An inquest was held by Mr. Baker,
on Friday, at the Rose and Crown, Cambridge-heath, on
the body of Elizabeth Mitford, aged 30, widow, who
committed suicide under the following distressing cir-
cumstances:—The evidence proved that about six
months since deceased lost her husband, to whom she
was greatly attached, and this bereavement had so af-
fected her mind that she became insane, and was obliged
to be confined in a lunatic asylum, which, however, she
left a month ago. On Tuesday evening she left home
much depressed in spirits, and having proceeded to the
Regent's Canal, she was shortly afterwards heard
struggling in the water. An alarm was raised, and the
I6ody got out. Verdict—" That the deceased was found
struggling in the water, and died from the effects of
immersion, but how she came into the water there was
not sufficient evidence before the jury to enable them to
decide."

A TORNADO OF Burrm.oEs.—TheHanibar Gazette
says that young Houston, one of the Marion volunteers,
was lost on the way from Santa Fe, in a singular manner.
We are told that when a hunter rides into a herd of
buffaloes, it is often the case that they:become frightened,
and the whole mass starts with furious speed for the
mountains, and there is no way to get out but to keep
the same speed,• and work your way gradually from
among them; to halt would be certain death, as the
mass would pass over and crush you; and hunters are
often carried seven and ten miles before they can disen-
tangle themselves from the headlong herd. In this way
Mr. Houston disappeared. When last seen he was
flying over the plain, endeavouring to make his way out
of a drove of several thousand, and bas not been heard
of since.—St. Louis New Era.

DREADFUL OCCURRENCE.—PORTSMOUTII, SATUR-
DAY.—A most awful discovery was made this morning
about seven o'clock, at the house of an old and well-
known dealer in various stores and apparel, Mrs.
Yoell, residing in St. Mary's-street, within this garri-
son. Smoke was observed issuing from the front win-
dow of the house at the above hour, which led to the
inmates being summoned, when no answer being ob-
tained, the house was entered by the neighbours and
police, and a most horrifying spectacle presented itself:
On the floor of the bedroom lay the body of Mr. Henry
Yoell, burned to a cinder, and Mrs. Yoell was disco-
vered crouched down in a corner of the same room
insensible from the burns she had received. She was
immediately removed to the residence of another son in
Queen-street, Portsea, where, however, death put an
end to her sufferings in a few hours. The frightful
catastrophe is supposed to have originated by the igni-
tion of the bed furniture in which Mr. Henry Yoell,
aged 60, a cripple and bedridden, was lying, and it is
supposed Mrs. Yoell sustained her fatal injuries by en
deavouring to render assistance to her son. Mrs. Yoell
was 85 years of age. Mr. Piercey, surgeon, of High-
street, who was called in, is of opinion that Mrs. Yoell
A inquest
was killed by- inhaling or swallowing some suffocating
An
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matteroe!l had
u:st opened
wu
supposed,
in endeavours to render succour to her son. Mrs.
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to call for help or let out the smoke.
to-raorrow.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Dec. 4.
(Sittings at Nisi Prius, before Mr. Justice WIGHT:V.IN,
and a Special Jury.)
GREGORY V. MACULLOCII.

This was an action of debt, brought to recover the
sum of 550/., money lent and advanced for the use of the
defendant. The plaintiff was the well-known tragedian,
who was formerly the proprietor of the Satirist news-
paper, and the defendant was his wife's grandson. The
money alleged to have been lent was advanced monthly
to the defendant, during the years 1843 and 1844, while
he was residing in Belgium.
Mr. WHATELEY, Q. C., appeared for the defence, and
insisted that the money was not a loan, but a gift made
under circumstances of a somewhat extraordinary na-
ture. Early in February, 1843, the plaintiff became
acquainted with an elderly gentleman, named Thomp-
son, residing at the Priory, in Hampstead, who was
the grand. uncle of the defendant, and he obtained such
a hold upon the old gentleman that shortly afterwards
Mr. Thompson made his will in favour of the plaintiff,
making him sole executor and legatee of his will and
property, amounting to 3,0001. a year. On the 6th of
March following the old gentleman died, and Mr. Gre-
gory appeared at Doctor's Commons, to prove the will ;
but at this stage of the proceedir.g, a Mrs. Le Bas,
the niece of the testator, produced a second will,
written, signed, and attested, with a pencil, and
dated the 3,1 of March, three days before the
demise of the old gentleman, whereby the
property was devised as follows:—five-eighths to Francis
Maculloch, one and a half-eighth to James Maculloch,
and one and a half-eighth to John Maculloch, the pre-
sent defendant. These legatees were three brothers, but
only the last of them was of age, and in order to get
him out of the way, Mr. Gregory induced him to go and
reside in Nansure, promising him to supply him with
101. a month. The defendant consented to do so, and
immediately after he left this country the plaintiff mar-
ried Mrs. Le Bas, the heiress-at-law of Mr. Thompson
in the event of the two wills failing, and the grand-
mother of the three Macullochs. Mr. Gregory then
commenced proceedings to set the second will aside,
but a clergyman at Birmingham, accidentally hear-
ing the circumstances of the matter, and the
fact that two of the Macullochs were minors at
school in Yorkshire, and consequently unable to
interfere, induced the defendant to return from Namure,
and, through his instrumentality, the validity of the
second will was established in the Ecclesiastical Court.
Mr. Gregory, howeVer, being dissatisfied with the de-
cision, carried the case before the Privy Council, when,
in order to put an end to these expensive proceedings, a
compromise was agreed to, and the second will was to be
abandoned upon Mr. Gregory paying the three Macul-
lochs 15,000/., and the costs they had incurred. By this
arrangement, all matters in difference between the par,
ties were supposed to have been settled; but imme-
diately after it had been ratified, the present action was
commenced to recover the money Mr. Gregory had paid
for the support of the defendant, while he was residing,
at his request, at Namure.

Evidence having been adduced to prove that the
money advanced ought to be considered in the light of
a gift,
Mr. Justice WIGHTMAN summed up, and
The jury returned a verdict for the plantiff—Damages,
2861. 12s. 7d.