The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-25 00:00:00

THE CORONER'S INQUEST.

Mr. Charlsley, the coroner for South Bucks, opened an
inquiry at the Swan Tavern, yesterday morning, into the
circumstance attending the deaths of Emanuel Marshall,
the father, aged 35 ; Charlotte, his wife, 34 ; Mary Ann,
his sister, 32 ; Mary, the eldest child, 8; Theresa, 6 ;
Gertrude, 4 • and Mary Marshall, the grandmother, 77.
A jury of 'l5, with the Rev. Charles Joyce, the curate of
the parish of Denham, as foreman, having been sworn, they
proceeded to view the' bodies, and returning to the inquest
room,
Charles Trevener, No. 27, of the Bucks police, deposed ;
lam stationed at Denham. I have been there 12 months,
and have during that time known the deceased persons.
I have been into the house once or twice. They were,
all living together. Emmanuel Marshall was the tenant
of the house. He was an engineer by trade. Mrs. Mary
Marshall (deceased) is his mother ; Cuarlotte Marshall was
his wife ; Mary Ann Marshall was his sister, and the chil-
dren his daughters. At eleven o'clock on Saturday morn-
ing last I saw Emmanuel Marshall at work in his shop.
He came out and spoke to me as I passed. The
children, Mary and Therera Marshall were playing in the
road in front of the house. The deceased man was in
the habit of working late. I have known him to work all
hours of the night, and sometimes all night long. I did
not pass the house again on Saturday, nor did I go close
by the house on Saturday. I passed the house along the
main road. On Sunday morning I came from Red Hill
into the villages which is about a mile and a half. This
was about ten minutes before three. I then met a man alone.
I did not perceive that he had anything with him, except
a quantity of clothes on. It was just getting daylight.
He had a low deer-stalker (a felt hat) on, a very old dark
coat, and under that a short light one. Both coats
were buttoned tightly. He had cord trousers on
and thin shoes. As we were passing he said, " I
wish I had seen you before, policeman." I said "What's
the matter now ?" He said, "There was a man and
his wife come into Uxbridge and were going along the
cut, and the man threatened to throw his wife into
the cut. If he had thrown her in I would have thrown
him in. I asked him if he knew anything of them.
He said, " No, I am quite a stranger about
here." I said, " Where do you belong to ? " He
said, lam going along the road from Oxford. Which
is my best road ? " I told him to go along the village,
and when he got fifty or sixty yards away I
followed him. I called to him and he stopped, and I said,
" I will show you the way," He thanked me, and after I
had directed him, he bid me good night, and went.
Coroner : How far was he from the house where the
bodies lie ?
Witness : About a third of a mile. He was near this
house.

Which way was he coming?—From Uxbridge.
How did you know of the murder first ?—A young man
came down to the village and told me that the house had
been found open, and the bodies hid been discovered. I
Went to the house and found the doors open. I found two
bodies—the wife and the sister—lying just inside the door.
The head of the wife was lying towards the door, and the
sister's feet were towards her head. A petticoat was over
over them. About two feet from them was the sledge
hammer.produced, which is covered with blood. I then
went into the workhouse and found the bodies of the three
children and the grandmother. Near two of the children
who lay together I found the axe produced, which is also
covered with blood. The bodies of the children were not
covered with anything but there was something covered over
the grandmother. Alllthe deceased persons with the excep-
tion of the wife had night clothes on. The wife had her
dress partially, driven on over her night-dress. There were
extensive wounds on the heads of all the bodies, and a great
deal of blood on the floors. There were pools of blood in
some of the rooms. One of the bodies appeared to have
been dragged from the wash-house. I then went into the
forge, which is a building adjoining the house. The
door was just closed. I found there the body of
Emmanuel, the father, lying flat on his face,
with his hands stretched out. He had apparently
been dragged. The body was covered with a sack,
an apron, and an old cost. There was a pool of blood
a few yards from the body, apd part of the poker which I
produced was lying near the body. The two pieces of
poker correspodd with the shovel and tongs found in the
parlour of the house. Some clothes were found in a room
of the house this morning, in my presence. I went up-
stairs. Three beds .had apparently been useil. There
was no evidence of any struggles.
Elizabeth Simpson, wife of a groom, living at Cheapside,