The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-30 00:00:00

THE STANFIELD-HALL
MURDERS.

TRIAL OF RUSH.

NORWICH, THURSDAY.—Fiom a very early early hour
this morning the Court-house was besieged at every
door by crowds of persons anxious to be present at the
trial of •the prisoner, James Bloomfield Rush. The
court was fixed to be opened at nine, but by half-past
seven the court was more than half filled, and by eight
o'clock it was crowded in every part. Among those
present were the Earl of Leicester, Lord-Lieutenant of
the county; the Lord Bishop of Norwich, Earl Cadogan,
Lord Hastings, the Marquis or Douro, Colonel Mason.
the High Sheriff of the county; J. J. Ireland, Esq.,
High Sheriff of Suffolk; Sir J. P. Boileau, Sir H. Dro-
cant, Mr. Bagge, M.P., Hon. W. Rufus Rom, Hon.
and Rev. Edward Pellew, Rev. Archdeacon CuDyer, Sir
T. Beauvoir, Bart., Henry Dover, E-q., Chairman of
Quarter Sessions; Professor Sedgwick, Col. H. Fitzroy,
Hon. E. Keppel Coke, M.P., Lord Huntingfield, William
Burroughes, lizq., M.P., &c., &e.
There was a very numerous array of barristersin
Court.

Mr. Sergeant Byles, Mr. Prendergast, and Mr. Evans
appeared fur the prosecution.
Before the Judge entered, a model of Stanfield hall
and of the Potash farm, very neatly executed, which lay
on the table before the bar, was regarded with a good
deal of curiosity, and served, in aid of the very general
conversation which was going on, to amuse the audience
till nine o'clock, when Mr. Baron Rolfe took his seat on
the bench, and immediately after every other feeling was
absorbed in anxiety to see the prisoner. He was brought
into the dock in the custody of the Governor of the gaol,
and of a turnkey, and advanced with a firm but slouching
step to the bar, where he deposited a large bundle of
papers. His features were resolute and set, but his
hands trembled excessively, not only at first, but during
the day, so that it may be habitual. Without any at-
tempt at minute description, it may be said that Rush
is a powerfully made man, with strong but rather
coarsely moulded limbs, and below rather than above
the middle height. His shoulders, which aro slightly
inclined forwards, support a short bull-neck, on
which a large and massive head, which a craniologist
would declare indicative of the possession of
strong animal passions and considerable intellectual
power, is firmly set in such a way as to render it rather
difficult for its owner to look straight before him. His
mouth, and the general formation of his jaw and the
lower part of his face, betray great determination and
an unflinching will. Ile was dressed with care and
neatness in a suit of black and a white cravat; his gray
hair was carefully brushed, and his appearance alto-
gether that of a respectable yeoman..

The indictment was in the usual form, and charged
him with the murder of Mr. Jenny by shooting with a
pistol, &c. On being called on to plead, he said in a
firm and distinct tone, " Not guilty," and put in the same
answer to an indictment on the coroner's inquisition.
The prisoner having requested a few moments to arrange
his papers, the swearing in of the jury was suspended
till he had done so. On one juror haying been passed
over he asked, " Why, has be been challenged?" and
the clerk of the court informed him he was challenged by
the Crown.

The prisoner challenged one juror only, but after the
first two or three had been sworn said, turning to the
jury-box,—" There is one observation I shoted like to
make to those gentlemen; if they have anything on their
minds which might have any influence over their ver-
dict, I hope they will retire without my challenging
them, and let others take their place. If they have ex-
pressed any opinion as to the trial, they ought to do so.
I don't know how many of them there may be, but I
hope those who may be influenced will retire." The
jury having been sworn, after a pause, the prisoner said,
—" My Lord, I wish to make an observation before the
counsel makes his addres

Arr. Baron ROLFEI—This is not the time at which you
can rnakoany observation.

The prisoner—The evidence has been got up in such
an_ extraordinary way,—

Mr. Baron ROLFEL:That is matter for observation
afterwards. I cannot hear it now.

Mr. Sergeant BTLES then prcc'eded to state the case
for the Crown, and, in doing so, necessarily went
over a great portion of evidence, some of which is
known to the public, and the rest of which
will be repeated in the course of the trial. The pri-
soner at the bar, said the Learned Sergeant, was in-
dicted for the wilful murder of Mr. Isaac Jermy, late
Recorder of Norwich. It was to be regretted he had not
thought fit to avail himself of the very able assistance
the bar of that circuit could have afforded him in con-
ducting his defence, but, as he had preferred to do £0
himself, it would be doubly incumbent on the counsel for
the Crown not to produce any evidence as to the admis-
sibility of which the smallest doubt could exist, while
the Learned Judge who presided would take care the
prisoner's ignorance of the law should not prejudice him.
As they might naturally ntk what motive the prisoner
could have for such a crime, it would be necessary, in
order to give a satisfactory answer, to go into the his-
tory of transactions some time back between the late
Mr. Jenny and the prisoner at the bar. The
deceased gentleman had been Recorder of Nor-
wich and a gentleman of fortune. Often had he
sst on the seat then filled by the Learned Judge
before them. His father, the Reverend Mr. Preston,
died in October 1837, and the deceased had taken the
name and arms of the Jermy family on coming to the
estate of Stanfield-hall. In the immediate vicinity of
the hall was the Potash-farm, of which, as well as of
Stanfield-hall farm, the prisoner had been the tenant.
The deceased had also two farms at Frelingham, at the
other side of Norwich—one of them occupied by the
prisoner, and the other by the prisoner's mother, since
deceased—so that he occupied four farms in all. In
1844 Mr. Jermy advanced to Rush considerable sums of
money on Potash by way of mortgage, and ono of the
deeds connected with this transaction, dated the 20th of
September, 1844, would have a most important bearing
on the else. It set forth that 5,0001. was charged on
the estate by way of mortgage at 4 per cent., making an
annual charge of 2001., and was to run till November,
1848. The money became due en the 3Gth of Novem-
ber, 1848, The murder of Mr. Jermy took place on
Tuesday, November 28, just two days before. In the
prisoner's pocket-book was this entry,—" September 20,
Potash farm, interest due; principal due, Nov. 30,
1838•'—the latter date being evidently a mistake for
1848. Soon afterwards disputes arose between Mr.
Jermy and Rash about the Stanfield-hall property, and
in October, 1847, the former put in some distresses, and
brought an action against the prisoner for miscultivation
of the farm, so that no good feeling existed on the pri-
soner's part towards the deceased. In fact, it would be
proved he had expressed himself with great hostility
towards the deceased, and declared " it would not be
long before•he served Jermy with an ejectment for the
other world."
The prisoner—What are those words; will you repeat
them?

Mr. Sergeant BYLES did so.
The prisoner—That's the first time I ever beard of
them.
Mr. Baron RULFE—This is the statement of counsel ;
and what ha says won't prejudice you unless it is proved.
You have a right to ask him anything if you don't hoar,
but oth‘ rwise you had better not interfere.
Mr. Sergeant BYLES continued—lt would also be
proved that he said, 'speaking of Mr. Jermy and of Mr.
Clarke, a solicitor engaged in these proceedings, " D—n
them; I will do for them the first opportunity I have."
This, however depended on verbal evidence, which was
not so satisfactory as written testimony, being liable to
be misunderstood at the time.
The prisoner—Who proves these words?
Mr. Sergeant BYLES—William Howe.
The prisoner—Who is he? I don't know him. How
is his name spelt?
Mr. Baron ROLFE -I cannot allow you to inter-
fere now.

Mr. Sergeant BYLES continued—The person who
would prove those expressions was clerk to a London
attorney. But the evidence ho was now about to read
would not be subject to any such observations as the evi-
dence of which he bad just spoken, inasmuch as it con-
sisted of passages from a pamphlet printed by Rush, and
purporting to be a report of the trial at Norwich on the
action brought by Mr. Jermy in March, 1843, and also
a case, " Jermy against Jermy, as to who is the right
owner of the Stanfield-hall and Frelingliam Estates."
It might hero be necessary to observe, that shortly after
the death of Mr. Preston persons named Larner and
Jermy had laid claim to the estates in question. The
passages were as follows:—"Even if the villain bad be-
haved as he ought to have done—to have acted with com-
mon honesty—l would never have done myself so much
good—not half so much, as if I had remained at Dow-
ling." •
Prisoner—Will the whole of the pamphlet be read ?
I should like it certainly.
Mr. Sergeant BeLEs assured him it would all be read
if ho desired it. Another passage contained these
words :—" That fellow Jermy has no right to the
Stanfield•hall property. He knows it, and he knows
that I know it as well. His whole conduct in keeping
possession of the estate and taking the name of Jermy,
and his behaviour to the poor people who have a right
to the estate, have been most villanous and disgraceful
to any man with any pretensions to respectability, and I
shall be happy to prove it whenever I am called upon to
do so." And further on—" Why I have published this
is that some one who has money may come forward and
see justice done to this poor man Jermy, who is the
real owner, and who is only kept out of it by want of
means to employ counsel, and to have it brought to
trial." And again, " I hope some one will come for-
ward and oust this fellow, who has not half as much
right to the property as fhave. I hope this may be
done by the steps I have taken, and 'am
about to take." Again—" If there is truth in
the Bible, such villany is sure to be overtaken,
and that when it is least expected." There was also a
letter in the prisoner's handwriting, dated April 28,
1848, and addressed from the Angel, Islington, to his
son, in which he said—" I have at last got Jermy into
a fix, and the rogue and villain knows it well. How he
will act now we shall soon see. At all events he now
knows if he attempts to ruin me I can ruin him, or you
would not have seen him as you have." (The prisoner
here, referring to the documents beforo him inquired
what number it was, and was informed by the Learned
Sergeant, who stated that the Crown had furnished
Rush with copies of all the papers used on behalf of,.
the prosecution.) In May following, the prisoner be-
came bankrupt, and a witness would prove that a meet-
ing took place between the prisoner and men named
Jenny and Lerner, the claimants already alluded to, on
October 3, at the prisoner's lodgings, No. 2, Milne-
tree, Pentoraille, when an agreement bud been signed,
to which he would call their particular attention. The

THE SUN, LONDON,

witness to whom ho referred was a young person named
Emily Sandford, whose father had been a clerk to an
extensive house of business, and who had been engaged
by Rush as governess for his children. Her evidence
on this point would he confirmed by a letter in the pri-
soner's handwriting, dated October 2, and addressed to a
person named Reed, who seemed to be disposed to lend
his assistance to Lerner and Jermy in obtaining the
Stanfield-hall and Frelingham properties :
" Dear Sir,—l expect to be in town to-morrow, and as
I now think you have got a layer (sic in orig.) who will
do all in his power that justice may be done to Mr.
Jermy, I will let you and bins know how far I am dis-
posed to assist you. You must bring Mr. Jermy up to
town, and you must bring Lamer, and his eldest son,
and Jermy to meet me at the house of a lady No. 2,
Milne-street, and I will at once tell you my plan—and
the only plan—by which you will ever get the estates.
* * * No ono is to know it but us and tho lady who
is going to find the money to carry out our plan into
execution till afterwards. * * I will want Jermy
down to take possession on Wednesday."
At that meeting Emily Sandford was pointed out as the
lady who would find the money, and tho result of the
meeting was, that an agreement was written, in which
Jermy and Lerner agreed to let Rush have the Potash-
farm for 21 years, from October, 1848, at a rent of 2301,
while on his part he agreed to put them into possession
of the estate, and assist them in maintaining it. Rush
at this time being in possession of Frelingham-farm, it
was arranged that Thomas Jermy should go down there
and be put in possession of it, and, accordingly, on the
4th of October, he went over there, accompanied by
Lamer. Next day Emily Sandford returned from
London to the Potash. farm. On the 10th of October
Rush, accompanied by Emily Sandford, and a boy named
Savory, drove over, though it was so late that the night
was quite dark, to Stanfield-hall, and went in to see Mr.
Jenny, leaving Emily Sandford at the bridgedeading across
the moat round the house. He could not state what took
place at the interview, but he returned to the Potash-
farm, while Emily Sandford proceeded to Norwich the
same night in the gig, and took lodgings at Stacey's, in
Theatre-street. This happened on the 10th. It would
be observed that Rush's interest in the farm would ex-
pire on the 30th. While she was there Rush asked her
to sign a paper, which purported to be a memorial of an
agreement by Mr, Jermy to let to James Bloomfield
Rush the farms lately occupied by him fur 12 years for
3001. a year, reserving the right of shooting and the use
of bedroom and sitting-room to his son. She hesitated
to do so, but as Rush told her it was only a copy she put
her name to it as witness. Subsequently she became un-
easy at having done so, and kept a copy of a letter she
had addressed to him about it. He appeared angry with
her, and remonstrated with her for writing on such a
subject, and destroyed the copy. On the 4th of Novem-
ber sho returned to the Potash-farm, and about the same
time Lamer and Jermy left Frelingham, where they had
nothing to do, and returned to London, against the will
of Rush, though ho gave them money to go. On the 21st
of November the prisoner produced some more agree-
ments for Emily Sandford to sign, one dated the 10th of
October, purporting to be an agreement to let the 5.0001.
remain on the Potash-farm for three years beyond the
term of the original deed at 4 per cent., signed by Mr.
Jermy and the prisoner, and the other, dated the 21st,
by which Mr. Jermy was made to cancel the mortgage
altogether. •
The prisoner—Let them all be read.
Mr. Sergeant BYLES stated that they would be read
hereafter, and then proceeded to call the attention of the
jury to this fact, that if Lerner and the other Jermy
were in possession, Rush had a lease of the farms for
21 years, and if the deceased Recorder were, he had in
his possession two agreements,—one cancelling the
mortgage altogether, and the other extending the period
of the mortgage. As the latter were forgeries, they
would be much more likely to take effkt after than be-
fore his death. About this time the prisoner was in the
habit of going out after dark, and on Friday, the 24th
of November, and on Monday, the 27th, as well as on
previous occasions, ho went out at might, and remained
away for some time. On the Tuesday following there
was a concert at Norwich, for which the prisoner bought
a family ticket; and en Sunday his son and daughter-
in-law went to that city, as did also A female servant,
leaving Rush and Emily Sandford the only persons in
Potash-farm, the Monday following. On Tuesday, the
28th of Novemi or, about half-past four o'clock, it would
be proved by a Mrs. Cooper that Rush inquired whether
Jermy was at home. He dined that day at the usual
hour. He inquired what time it would be ready, and
on Emily Sandford replying " Very soon," ho observed
ho would have just time to go into the garden and dis-
charge his gun. He did so, and returned to dinner. At
the usual hour he sat down to tea. Emily Sandford ob-
served he was agitated, and in answer to her inquiries ho
lid he had been thinking a great deal about the story of
the Scotch Chief, alluding to the well-known story of
Robert Bruce before Bannockburn, who, on observing a
spider fall six times in endeavouring to gain a beam in
the ceiling, and succeed the last, said, " Well, I have
failed several times, I will try now again, and I dare say
I shall succeed." " And," said the prisoner, " I too
have tried five or six times. I may succeed in my object
this time also." She expressed her alarm, and asked him
what be meant? but he only replied, " I shall like you
better if you don't ask me now. He was in tears at the
time. Some time between seven and eight o'clock he
went out. Emily Sandford heard, but did not see him go.
And here it would be necessary to remark, that the path
leading to Standfield-hall from the Potash-farm had
been covered over with fresh straw by the command
of the prisoner some days before, up to the commence-
ment of the greensward, so that no impression of a foot
could be visible from the farm up to the hard gravel
outside of Mr. Jermy's residence. About the same time
Mr. Jenny was sitting alone in his dining-room. His
son and daughter-in-law were in the drawing-room pre-
paring for a game at picquet. (The Learned Sergeant
hero accompanied his "description by references Co the
model, which made the whole of the awful occurrence
plain enough to the spectator, but would only embarrass
a reader.) Mr. Jermy left the dining•room and pro-
ceeded to the ball-door. The moment he opened it and
came into the porch before it some person discharged a
gun or pistol, loaded with slugs, at him, blowing his
heart nearly to pieces and brealting several of his ribs.
He fell, and instantly expired. Immediately after this,
a man of the size, shape, and carriage of the prisoner,
with a cloak and fire-arms—whether a short gun or
guns, or a brace of double-barrelled pistols, he would not
attempt to say—entered by a door on the same side of
the house, but further down than the hall-door, and
proceeded along the passage, in which he dropped two
papers, to which ho would hereafter call their
attention. In his way he encountered the butler,
whom he pushed back into the pantry. Mr.
Jermy, junior, also came out of the drawing-
room to learn the cause of the report. lie
encountered this man at the door leading into the hall.
The man again presented his fatal weapon, it was
discharged, and Mr. army, jun., fell down dead in the
hail. Mrs. Jermy Rai ae this time in the drawing-
room. She left it, and, proceeding towards the hall,
passed over or by the dead bodyfof her husband. She
screamed for help. Her maid (Eliza, Chostney) ran to
her, and, taking hold of her by the gown, exclaimed—
" Oh, my dear mistress!" At this moment the man,
who had proceeded into the dining room, returned from
it, and saw the women in the hall. He presented a
pistol, with is little inclination downwards, and the shot
hit the servant in the leg. He fired again, and hit Mt 9.
Jermy in the arm. He then proceeded along the pas-
sage' and went out by the same door at which
he had entered, but not till some observations
were made by him, and which they would hear
in a future stage of the proceedings. About nine
o'clock the prisoner at the bar was heard at his own
door. He knocked and Emily Sandford went to the
door, opened it, but did not see him come in. He
wont up to his own room, and, after a short inter-
val, returned down stairs without his shoes, with
his stockings about his legs and his coat off, and ad-
dressing Emily Sandford, said, " If any inquiry should
be made, say I was not out more than ten minutes."
Emily Sandford slept that night in her own room, for
the first time during a long period, as among other mis-
fortunes that had befallen her, was an improper con-
nexion between her and Rush. He told her to do liCt,
Meantime messengers had been dispatched to Norwich
from Stanfield-hall, and the police were at once sent to
watch Rush's horse. They reached the Potash-farm about
two or three o'clock. Whether Rush observed them or
not he could not say, but about half-past two o'clock Rush
rapped at Emily Sandford's door, and desired to be let
in. She opened it, and he said to her, "Now, you be
firm. Say I was only out about ten minutes last night."
She became extremely agitated. She questioned him,
but could learn nothing further than that " she
should hear further in the morning." She ob-
served also that his hands trembled violently.
Her hand trembled also, and the prisoner remarking
it, said he thought she must have the ague, and went for
a cloak to cover her. The police continued their watch
till towards morning. They then apprehended the pri-
soner; and it was deserving of attention that some of
the police would depose that he mentioned the hour at
which Mr. Jermy's murder took place, although it had
not been previously mentioned. The direct evidence
against the prisoner would be that of Eliza Chestney,
Watson, the butler, and Reed, the cook at Stanfield-hall.
Another species of direct evidence was contained in the
papers left by the man in the hall. They were in a large
disguised head, written on the outside covers of a book,
and were as follows:—" There are seven of us—three
outside and four inside the hall—all armed. If any of
you attempt to leave the premises you will be shot dead.
Therefore all of you keep in the servants' hall, and you
shall not be touched. (Signed) J. JERMY, the owner."
The object of these papers was to make it be be-
lieved that the parties who perpetrated the outrage
were Jermy and another man ; but both Jermy
and Lamer had returned to London before that
time. Persons well acquainted with the prisoner's
handwriting would inform them that the writing of the
notices was that of the prisoner, though evidently
disguised. The paper on which they were written had
formed apparently the covers of a book, and among the
prisoner's property had been found two books, the covers
of which were nearly similar. (The covers were of
marbled paper, of a quarto size, and on the centre of
each was a printed label, with the name, &c., of the ma-
kers and the nature of the account-book.) The book-
sellers
in question, Messrs. Garrard, would tell them
that they were in the habit of selling such books in sets
of three, and on the covers on which the notices bad been
written the printed labels had been scratched off, so that
it would have been impossible to say what had been on
them. It was equally impossible to say what Rush had
done with the contents of the third book. It would be
proved he went up stairs with his books, and that he
came down without them. It would be easy, however, to
destroy the insides of the book by an ordinary fire. The
jury would meantime require a satisfactory answer from
the prisoner as to where ho was and what he was doing I
on the night in question. Meantime it would be
his duty to state how the evidence of Emily
Sandford was corroborated. Stie stated that Rush told
her he kept his papers in a secret place, known
only to his mother and to himself the posi-