The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-08 00:00:00

Sll N 9 AUG UST 8, 1846.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
IVOR7HERN CIRCUIT.—CarliBle, Aug. 6.

CROWN{ COIIRT.----.(Before Mr. Justice WrowrmAlc.)
William Thornbuim, aged about 30i and apparently a poor
man, was indicted for bigamy, coniniitted at Gretna, on the
Bth of November, 1845, by marrying Jane Jackson.
Jane Little, the wife of Thomas Little, of Springfield, who
was a blacksmith, and performed the ceremony of marriage,
proved that she keeps a register of the marriages performed,
and on the 6th of February, 1846, William Thornburn and
Ann Sparks canie to their house and said they were come to
be married. Her husband asked them if they came of their
own free will. They answered that they did. He then
asked them if no person had a claim upon them, and they
said no one had. He then asked the bridegroom if he was
willing to take that woman for his lawful wife. He said he
was. He asked the bride if she was willing to take that man
for her lawful husband, and she said she would. He bid
them join hands and declare each other man and wife. They
joined hands and declared themselves man and wife in those
words. She remembered them coming quite well. The
prisoner was the man; she had no doubt of it.
Cross-examined—Mr. Linton, of Gretna-hall, and Simon
Long, a weaver, also married people. They were sober at
the time. She saw nothing but what was sober and decent.
No doubt there was some fee paid, but she could not re-
member what. That was the way in which the ceremony
was always performed by her husband, according to the law
of Scotland.
Re-examined—She saw the same woman before the ma-
gistrate on this charge being inquired into.
Thomas Little, the man who performed the ceremony, was
called, and corrbborated his wife. On being asked to state
what took place, he said, "they had a manner of their own
they worked with." There was not much whisky; there
might be a noggin or a pint. They might have a glass
before the ceremony. He said he had repeated all that had
passed, and he'd repeated nae main They said they were
quite content and happy to be man and wife. They did not
agree and they parted. He could not keep them together.
He could marry them, but he could nae gar them live to-
gether. He said to them " You are man and wife for ever,
before the witnesses here." _ _

Mary Spark, the sister of Ann, said the prisoner and her
sister left her father's to be married, and returned the day
following, when the prisoner said they were married, and
that they lived together six months as man and wife, and
then left that part. Some time after her sister returned
(having been recently confined) without the prisoner, whom
she saw no more till in custody. He said they had been
married by Little of Gretna.
Jane Jackson, a poor servant girl, twenty-two years of age
of Carden-mill, said- she was married to the prisoner at Sark
toll-bar, in Scotland, by John Murray. He asked if they
were two single persons They each said they were. He
told them to take hold of hands, and they did so. (Nothing
more could be got out of this witness as to the ceremony.)
They had gone from her sister's at Carlisle to get married,
and returned there. They lived together six months as man
and wife. She had nothing but her half-year's wages when
they were married. The prisoner left her at the Whitsun-
tide hiring. He told her he was going to hire. She also
is now hired. He swore on his oath both to her and her
mother that she was married to him—that he never was
married to womankind. She did not wish to punish him,
but just to be clear of him. She was quite willing to part
from him.

John Murray, of Sark toll-bar, said the prisoner and a
woman came to be married on the Bth November, 1845. He
gave his name William Thornburn, and the woman that of
Jane Jackson. His brother and two other men were pre-
sent. They said they wished to get married, and witness
answered they could if all was right. He then entered their
names, &c., in a book, and told them to stand up, and then
asked them if they were single persons. They said they
were. Witness bid them join hands, and he asked the man
"if he took that women to live together for better and for
worse, so long as they were spared, before God and those wit-
nesses." He said he did. Witness then asked the woman
the same, and she answered " Yes." Prisoner then put the
ring on her finger, and witness said, "they had declared them-
selves before God and those witnesses man and wife ;" and
they said " they had." Then they and the witnesses signed
the register-book. Prisoner said he could not write, and he
made his mark. _

Cross-examined—Witness is a mason by trade. He per-
forms a great number of marriages. At Whitsuntide (when
this took place) he did not know how many ; something less
than half-a-hundred in a day.
Mary Jackson examined—She and her husband, and the
prisoner and Jane, were married at the same time; they went
together for that purpose.
Wm. Carruthers examined—He is a writer in Scotland,
which corresponds to an attorney in England. The ceremony
described by the witnesses, he said, constituted a valid legal
marriage in Scotland.
Cross-examined—The parties ought to be in proper posses-
sion of their faculties.

His Lordship summed np, and the jury immediately re-
turned a verdict of Guilty.

Sentence deferred.
William Webb, aged 46, was indicted for burglary, com-
mitted at Carlisle on the 28th July last, in the house of_
Christ. Bulman, the Grey Goat Inn, by breaking a door, he
being then in the house, having been before convicted of
felony.
Christ. Bulman, the prosecutor, said the prisoner came to
his house on Saturday, the 25th of July, and asked for ac-
commodation, which was granted. He stayed till Monday
night. On that night he went to bed at ten o'clock, and
witness and his family went to bed at eleven. A little after
two o'clock his wife awoke him. He listened, and heard a
noise, as of an attempt to open a lock. He got up and
went two or three steps down stairs, and then saw a
light in the passage. He had made a creaking noise in
moving, and the light was put out immediately. Witness
asked who was there, but received no answer. He then
asked his wife for a light and she brought one, and he went
down stairs and saw the prisoner standing in the passage,
near the bar-door. Witness asked him what he did there?
He said he wanted a convenience. Witness asked him why
he did not answer when he called out? The prisoner an-
swered that he could not. Witness then asked why he put
out the light, but he made no answer. Witness told him
something was not right, and he went down stairs, and
looking where the prisoner had been standing, he found two
screwdrivers, some skeleton keys, a piece of wax candle,
some lucifer matches, and a bag containing other skeleton
keys. He called in the police, and then searched all over
the house to see if any stranger was about the house, but
they found no one. The bar-door was open. On turning
over a mat there they found more matches, and there were
marks on the money-drawer in the bar, which showed an
attempt had been made to force it open. Before it there
were drops of wax as from a candle, and also outside the
bar-door.

The policeman said he searched the prisoner at the sta-
tion. house on the 28th. He laid 1/. 14s. in silver on the
desk, and said he had no more. Witness, however, found
1321. in notes, and seven sovereigns in a purse, between
the skin and his drawers, tied under his knee behind. There
were three 201. and three 101, and the rest smaller notes.

Mr. Justice WIGIITMAN told the jury they must be satis-
fied that the prisoner broke and entered the bar with intent
to take the money from the till before they could find him
guilty. He then went carefully through the evidence, and
the jury retired. In a short time they returned with a ver-
dict of Guilty.—Sentence deferred.

NORTH WALES ClRCUlT.—Chester, Aug. 6.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Baron Rotxx.)
Mary Pimblett, 27, and Joseph Pimblett, 31, were indicted
for the murder of their male child, Richard Pimblett, by
poison, at Runcorn. The former was indicted as the prin-
cipal, and the latter as accessory before the fact.
There was another charge of murder against the prisoners
for destroying a second child, and an indictment against the
female for attempting to poison a third child.
Mr. Trafford and Mr. Townsend appeared for the prose-
cution, and Mr. Temple and Mr. Yardley for the defence.
Witnesses were then called.
Ellen Chamberlain—l live in Runcorn, next door to the
prisoners. They came to live there seven or eight months,
ago; and I used to go and visit them occasionally. When they
came to Runcorn they had three children, Richard, Thomas,
and James. On Sunday, the 15th of March, I went into
their house, and saw Richard, a little after eight in the
morning. He was the eldest, and about OA years old. Did
not see anything particular in his appearance. About five
o'clock in the afternoon I saw him again. He was then very
poorly, and I advised her to take him to Dr. Pye, the sur-
geon. She said she would do so. She went to Mr. Pye's,
and I saw the child again the same night. He was then very
ill and vomiting. The vomit was very frothy. I saw the
child again on Monday lying on the sofa very ill. He was
a little better on the Tuesday and Wednesday. On the Thurs-
day I saw him again, he was then very ill, and complaining
of thirst, and the mother gave him water or tea to drink.
This was in the morning. About five in the afternoon I went
into the prisoners' house again. The child was then lying on
its mother's knee, and appeared to be dying. I took it on my
knee and held it there the best part of an hour, when it
died. When the child died I gave the body to Mary
Rowlands to lay it out, and saw it several times before it
was buried. About a month after I went to the coroner's
inquest at Runcorn, when I saw the body of Richard Pim-
blett. About a month before Richard's death, Mrs. Pim-
blett said to me, "If I were you, I'd put my children into a
burial club." I said they would not have my little girl, as
she was a cripple. She said they would, as she was well in
health. She then explained to me the rates of payment in
the club, and that there were halfpenny and penny mem-
bers ; that Richard was a penny member, and the other two
halfpenny members; that the penny members did not go in
till they were four years of age; and that if Richard died
when he had been in the club a certain time she would have
51. When this conversation occurred the three children
were all alive. James died on the 6th of March, and Richard
on the 19th. The prisoners kept a cat. I think they had
it directly after I began to go into the house; they must
have had it before Christmas. I have heard Mary Pimblett
complain of mice, but never of rats; that was just before
they got the cat.
John Ward—l am the sexton of Runcorn Church. Re-
member James'Pimblett, a son of the prisoners, being buried
on the 10th of March. The child Richard was buried a few
days after in the same grave. Before I made the grave the
male prisoner came to me and instructed me to take up the
coffin of James, and sink it a foot deeper, so that there might
be more room for the other coffin. James was to be placed
at the top ; but I did not do so. Remember the coffin of
Richard being disinterred. I took it into the hearse-house,
and showed the body to Dr. Pye, by whom and another gen-
tleman an examination was made. The body was kept in
the hearse-house for a day or two, when, by the direction of
the coroner, it was buried again. .
Edward Pye I am a surgeon at Runcorn. On
a post mortem examination, I removed portions of the
esophagus and lungs, the heart, and all the viscera, except
the bladder, and also one of the muscles lying against
the spine. I placed them in a new cow's bladder, and took
them home, and on the following morning again examined
them. I began with the stomach, on which there was a
yellowish cloudy deposit in patches, on the inner surface;
and on the dependent parts of the stomach still larger patches.
There was a whitish powder embedded in the coats of the
stomach, which I could scarcely scrape away, without taking
a portion of the membrane. Before examining the stomach
as I have described, I placed the contents in a glass jar. I
then examined the larger and smaller intestines, where I
found the same yellowish deposit in patches as before. These
patches were indicative of the presence of a mineral poison.
George P. Mather—l am collector for the Liverpool Vic-
toria Legal Burial Society. The deceased Richard Pimblett
was a member of that society. 11e died on the 19th March.
He became a full member on the expiration of sixteen weeks,
when in case of death he was entitled to Si. He had been
a member upwards of twenty-three weeks. I received a cer-
tificate of the boy's death front the female prisoner tlappgh

PRICK SD.

my daughter, and paid her 41. 18s. 6d. on the 23d of March.
He had been entered in the club by his mother. On the 9th
of Marsh I had paid her 11. 4s. for another child.
Cross-merAse4,--rif the child in respect of whom the
11. 4s. was paid bakl af.l-:.•41.5r =nth, the parents would
have been entitled to 0,6 r,
Thomas Hornby--I am steward of 3li Weas-crharn Sick
Clob. The prisoner Joseph was a meta-ten ire isttry Zs, ptr
quarter; and the parent is entitled to tha experllste.• 51 the
burial of all his children under fourteen years of age, In
March last I received a certificete of the death of Richard
Pirrblett, and gave an order for 11. 15s. to Wm. Whitley.
Mr. TEMPLE then rose to address the jury for the pri-
soners, and, after a powerful opening, proceeded to examine
the evidence that had been detailed. He commenced by
adverting to the respectability of the prisoners' circum-
stances as furnishing the first reason why they should not
commit such an offence as that •, to the fact of arsenic being
purchased, if it were purchased at all, without the slightest
concealment; to the real name and address of the male pri-
soner being given, and witnesses in each case present; to the
circumstances of the female prisoner having taken the child to
the surgeon on the first appearance of illness, and having
drawn his attention to those very symptoms which it was
alleged on behalf of the prosecution were indicative of the
administration of - poison ; to the testimony that these
symptoms bad been increased after the child had taken the
medicine recommended by the surgeon, and which appeared,
in consequence of some peculiarity of constitotion, to have
operated the very reverse of that for which it wa. intended;
to the fact of their neighbours having been sent fc on the
day of the child's death, and only in consequence of their
remonstrances was the male prisoner induced not to send for
the surgeon again immediately before its decease; to the fact
that 51., the suns obtained from the burial society, would be
barely sufficient to cover the expenses of interment, while in-
cidental evidence had been given of the death of another
child, where the sum of 11. 35. was all the money that could
be obtained from the club ; to the uncertainty that must al-
ways arise is cases like this, where the case in a great mea-
sure must depend upon the deductions of scientific analysis;
and to the probability (taking all the circumstances of the
case into account) that the poison, if it really had been
taken, was taken by the child, who was nearly five years of
age, by a mistake of its own. These points the Learned
Counsel illustrated with great force.
Several witnesses were called, who gave the prisoners
good characters for kindness and humanity. '
The JUDGE summed up with much ability.
The jury retired for a short time, and on their return found
a verdict of Not Guilty for both prisoners.
The other charge of murder was then abandoned, and the
third charge was proceeded with. It occupied the Court
until ten o'clock in the evening, terminated in a verdict of
Not Guilty, and completed the business of the circuit,

FLOGGING AT HOUNSLOW.
TO TILE EDITOR. OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.

Sir,-1 have hitherto abstained from all defence of my
conduct with reference to the late court-martial and inquest
on private Frederick White of the 7th Hussars, trusting that
when the mass of false reports and distorted facts had been
cleared away by time and inquiry, the good sense and feel-
ing of the public could not fail to do me justice ; but deli-
berate false statements made by a recognised authority, such
as are presented by Mr. Wakley's address to his jury, can-
not be slurred over without personal denial. I pass over
the question as to whether flogging was the cause of the
man's death. I leave that to be treated by surgeons in
general and the Medical Times (vide Medical Tunes of
Saturday, August 1). I pass over the question as to whether
it was fitting and decent that Mr. Wakley, utterly throwing
aside the opinions of the other uninterested medical men,
should recommend the jury to abide by the single opinion
of Mr. Erasmus Wilson. _

I pass over whether it was right that even after Mr.
Erasmus Wilson's discovery, it was proper that the body
should be re-interred without at least giving the other me-
dical gentlemen an opportunity of seeing whether it really
was a fact that such a change was there or not; and lastly,
whether the most general mode of obtaining correct evidence
on any point is to question and admit the evidence of the
criminals themselves, as was done throughout, in the vast
mass of irrelevant matter brought before the inquest. On
all these points I say nothing, but leave them to the world
and the medical profession to deal with, and pass at once
to the broad statement made by Mr. Wakley, in his address
to the jury, that in this case there had been a deliberate
attempt to hold back that investigation due to the law, to
the regiment, and to society. We will now see how far this
statement is justified. On the morning of the 11th July, it
was reported to me by Surgeon Warren that private White
was in a state of danger, from an acute attack of inflam-
mation, that the progress of the disease was rapid, and he
feared it might terminate fatally. I immediately desired
Dr. Warren to report the facts to Sir James Macgregor, the
head of the medical board, and on this report Dr. Hall was
sent down. The man died that night. A post mortem exami-
nation was then made on the 13th, of which the following is
a copy.
[This document has already appeared in our columns.]
On the receipt of this I forwarded it direct to the Adju-
tant-General. The ordinary course in the service is to bury
men the second day after death, whereas this man died on a
Saturday, and the application was made on the Monday to
bury him. On the Wednesday following, or almost five days
after his decease (and that in the hottest weather ever ex-
perienced in this country), the arrangement for his burial
was made, as is usual in the service, by his troop, 'and an
attempt is made to fasten a charge of misrepresentation
and concealment on the authorities, because the troop
sergeant, who bore the application (utterly ignorant of
the cases, in answer to a question of what the man died,
says, "Of his liver ;" although in his ignorance he ap-
pears to have been as near the mark as Mr. Wilson, in
the opinion of other medical men. Still, to prevent any
misconception arising from this statement, as I found there
were various reports afloat, I sent over to Dr. Trimmer
a copy of the medical certificate on the post mortem
examination the following morning. It was during the
period between the Saturday of his decease and the
IVednesday of his burial that the speculation of public
curiosity was attracted—not from any suspicions (as the co-
roner states) in the regiment as to the cause of the man's
death, nor from any suppressed publication of the medical
examination that had taken place, but from mischievous
misrepresentations, for which I can scarcely be supposed
answerable, as there were no circumstances regarding this
man's death that could embarrass a commanding officer. It
is quite clear that there could be nu necessity for concealing
it on the part of the " people in the barracks," and it is
equally clear that the mystery which the coronefi alleges to
have hung round the report of this man's death when men-
tioned at the registrar's office, and to the clergyman, was a
mystery that could be traced no further than themselves, and
solely of their own creation. Nor am I aware that the
inquest has elicited any facts, with the exception of Mr.
Wilson's discovery, that the public might not have been
in possession of had they applied to the proper source.
From the time of the post mortem examination, I further
beg to say that I placed no bar to the free communication
between the soldiers and civilians. The usual ingress and
egress to the barracks went on between both parties, which
would scarcely have been the case had been anxious to
suppress information. Before the inquest sat I desired
Captain Thorley, the senior officer of my regiment, to wait
on Mr. Wakley, and give him every information in his
power, which was done. And :further, I wrote at the same
time to Mr. Wakley myself, to the effect that my most
anxious wish was to afford the public, the coroner, and
thejury, every aid in my power to assist their investiga-
tion—stated, although not summoned, I was there in readi-
ness, and anxious to answer any question that any member
of the jury might wish to put, and requested him to read
my letter to the Court. It, however, suited his purposes
better to put it in his pocket, and not name it until
the end of the examination of the second week,
when he made casual mention of it. Mr. Wakley appears to
think that I ought to have reported and made statements on
the circumstances of the man's death, directly to himself and
other civil authorities, and by no means seems to divine
that my duty, as a soldier, was simply to give a full and
clear statement to superior military authorities, and having
done so, to act afterwards solely on their orders. Be this as
it may, I trust that I have made clear to the public that
there was no attempt at concealment on my part or that of
the regiment ; and, therefore, that his statement on the
opening of his address to the jury was utterly unfounded,
and calculated to bias most unnecessarily the minds of the
jury and the public at large.—Your most obedient,
(Signed) J. WHYTE, Lieut.-Col. 7th Hussars.
Hounslow Barracks, Aug. 5, 1846.

REMOVAL OF THE COURT TO

THE ISLE OF WIGHT.

PORTSMOUTH, AUG. 7.—This afternoon, at twenty-five
minutes past four o'clock, her Majesty, Prince Albert, the
Royal Family, and the Queen of the Belgians, arrived at the
Royal Clarence Victualling Establishment, en route for
Osborne House, Isle of Wight, where the Court will sojourn
for about three weeks.
Mr. C. Stovin, the general manager, and the chief officers
of the South-Western Railway Company, accompanied the
train to Gosport, which made the passage in the usual time,
two hours and a quarter.
On alighting her Majesty was received by Admiral Sir
Charles Ogle, the Commander-in• Chief, and the chief officers
of the port, the Lieutenant-Governor, Major-General the
Hon. Sir Hercules Pakenham, and staff, the Colonels of the
regiments in garrison, the officers of the Clarence-yard, and
a guard of honour of the 74th Highlanders.
It being quite low water, their Majesties and the royal
party embarked in the state barge at the Clarence-stairs, and
were steered by Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence to the royal
yacht, which left at a quarter to five o'clock for East Cowes
(under salutes from the Victory, Platform Battery, and the
Contest, at Spithead), where it arrived about six o'clock.
His Majesty the King of the Belgians will come down to-
morrow. His Majesty will leave the Claremont station of
the South-Western Railway at four o'clock, P.M., and will
return to London on Wednesday, on which day their Majes-
ties will take their departure from Woolwich for Ostend.
Her Majesty the Queen appeared in the enjoyment of ex-
cellent health and spirits, as did the Prince Consort and the
Royal Family.