The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-19 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY APPLICATION

RESPECTING A WILL.

At the Guildhall Court, on Wednesday, an application
was made by Mrs. Eliza Denman, a distant relative of
Lord Denman, respecting a- will made by a Mr. John
Thomas Roe, late a barrister in the Inner Temple,
but now deceased, wherein he left her a legacy of 5001.,
but which will, it was alleged, had either been con-
cealed or destroyed by certain parties from interested
motives. •

Mrs. Denman stated that a few years back Mr. Roe's
father died suddenly, leaving four children, without
having made any will. Mr. Thomas Roe, the elder, laid
claim to the property, against the wishes of the rest of
the family, who thought it ought to be divided amongst
them, and after a great deal of litigation it was decided
in favour of the eldest son. Applicant became acquainted
with Mr. J. T. Roe at the house of a Mr. Williams, to
whose daughter he was paying his addresses. While
there Mr. Roe was requested by a lady to draw out a will
for her in which she bequeathed a sum of 2001. to her
(Mrs. Denman). Mr. Roe did so, and having placed
it in his pocket, went to play at billiards. That '
night the lady died, and, on its being an-
nounced to Mr. Roe, he said, " Good God, I
have been the means of losing you 2001.!" but he said
he would recompense me , and he made out a will
on paper, in applicant's presence, leaving her a
legacy of 500/. This was attested by two witnesses,
and handed over by the deceased to Miss Williams.
A breach took place between Mr. Roe and Miss Williams,
in consequence of the former having an intimacy with a
person named Mary Ann Morrell, which resulted in Mr.
Roe writing for his letters, &c., which Miss Williams
sent to him, as well as the will. He then went into
chambers, Morrell going to live with him, and it was
into her hands that he gave his papers and the will to
take care of. In the will Mr. Roe had appointed Mr.
Williams his executor. and upon the sudden death of the
former he applied to Morrell, but she refused to give it
up, and refused them the slightest information on the
subject. Inquiries were made, and applicant received
information that Morrell had the will, and had written
to Lady Dimmock a letter relative to Mr. Roe's papers
in their possession. After that all parties disappeared,
and she gave up the pursuit. Last year she took a house
at Windsor, and wrote to the Rev. Mr. Roe for a part of
the legacy, but reved no answer. She then went to
his residence in th-Finuntor, and had an interview with
him, when he denied, that there was any will amongst
his brother's papers. She also asked Mr. Pocock relative
to it, and he said he knew nothing about the will. Under
these circumstances, she had obtained summonses against
the parties, to put 3 uoli questiam% to them as she thought
would elicit the truth respecting the will.
Eliza Hughes, sister to Mary Ann Morrell, was first
questioned. She said that she certainly had papers
which she perused, belonging to the late Mr. Roe, and
communicated the fact to Lady Dimmock, but she re-
fused to give them up to Mr. Williams, considering they
were the property of the heir-at-law, the Rev. Mr. Roe,
to whom she delivered them. She saw no will amongst
those papers, nor did she believe there was one.
Mary Ann Morrell was then questioned, the substance
of her answers being that she had lived with Mr. Roe at
his chambers. When they first lived together he gave
her the papers and will to take care of ; but about six
months before he died he came" to her, and asked for
them, saying that he intended to go to his solicitors, and
have two names scratched out (Miss Williams's and Mrs.
Denman's), remarking that he thought his child (by
witness) might as well have the money as strangers.
She accompanied him to Messrs. Oberton and Hughes.
and saw him give some papers to a clerk there. When,
they left, he said, " It's all right ;" and shortly after
he proceeded into the country, where he died suddenly.
Application was made by witness and her sister to
Messrs. Oberton and Hughes, and received as an answer,
that no will of Mr. Roe's had ever been deposited with
them.

A clerk, formerly in the employ of Messrs. Oberton
and Hughes, produced his register-book of parties call-
ing on business, and said he remembered Mr. Roe and
Morrell calling at the office, and giving him a will and
some papers (the former of which he handed to the
magistrates), but they related to the business of another
party altogether. No will of Mr. Roe's had ever been
seen or spoken of to his knowledge.
Alderman Wilson—Well, Mrs. Denman, there is a
complete answer for you.
Mrs. Denman—l beg your 'pardon. I contend that
Mary Ann Morrell has not given a sufficient account of
the will.

The Rev. Mr. Roe said there was no will among his
brother's papers, and, in fact, he died insolvent. His
estate was sold for 7,0401., which did not cover his debts.
The Aldermen ultimately decided that there were no
grounds for proceedings before them, nor had anything
transpired to implicate any parties in the destruction-or
concealment of the will, although it appeared an extra-
ordinary affair.

THE MANCHESTER AND BOLTON RAILWAY.—
MANCHESTER, TUESDAY.—Another dreadful collision
took place to•day on this railway, by which one man
lost his life, and a number of others were more or less
injured. The following extract from a second edition
of the Manchester Guardian, published this evenin,,
gives the details :—" The express train for Manchester,
which should leave Bolton 10 minutes before 11, but
which to-day started at 11, had reached a part of the

lino a little on this side of the Clifton station, near
Clifton-hall, at a place called Pepper-hill, probably about
five miles from Manchester, and near the junction with
the East Lancashire line, when the passengers became
sensible of a series of unusually violent jerks and jolts,
caused, it appeared, by the engine having in some strange
and inexplicable manner got op the rails, and the jolts
were caused by the wheels on one side running over
the wooden sleepers between the rails. After running
in the way described for a short distance, and when
within fifty yards of the steep embankment at the
junction of the East Dertsy line, the engine ran up a
small embankment on the near (or north-east) side of
the line, and then came down again in a curve upon
the line, and was there overturned across the rails.
Apparently,„on its beirg overturned, the tender was
violently detached from it, and hurled quite over
it, in a sort of somersault, falling upon the axles
of one side quite across the inner rail of the up and the
inner rail of the down lines of rails, from 40 to 50 yards
in advance of where the engine was found. The car-
riages were also separated, and some were thrown one
way, some another. The last carriage kept on its wheels,
but a third-class carriage was overturned, and the pas-
sengers sere taken out through a window. On the pas-
sengers getting liberated from the carriages, some of
them walked back to the spot where the jerking was
first felt, in order to examine the rails, as it was found
that the wheels and axle of the engine were all right.
On their way they discovered the engineer lying ou the
road quite dead, and in the rear of the carriages the
stoker or fireman sitting on the other line of rail, hold-
ing his leg ; and it was found that his right foot was
cut off by a wheel, and his left leg fractured in two
places. Several of the passengers sustained less material
injuries—one gentleman had his nose broken by the con-
cussion, but we could not learn his name."
FATAL ACCIDENT IN COVENT•GARDEN THEATRE.
—Thursday evening Mr. Bedford held an inquest at II e
George the Fourth, Gilbert's-passage, Clare Market, on
the body of John Cain, aged thirty-eight, who lost his
life by falling from the upper tier of boxes in Covent-
garden Theatre. Robert Stephenson, a carpenter, sai.l
that the deceased, on Thursday, the 10th inst., was en-
gaged on the top tier of boxes in the theatre, and whilst
in the act of walking from one room to another, he
stepped upon a piece of quartering that bad been care-
lessly placed there, which tripped him up, and he fell
into the passage of the second tier of boxes, a distance
of twenty-five feet. He was taken without loss of time to
King's College Hospital. The house-surgeon of the hos-
pital said that deceased had fractured his spine by the
fall, and had dislocated two bones of the hand and scalp.
He died on Tuesday. morbing last from the effects of the
injuries he had received.—Verdict, " Accidental death."