The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-29 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

The royal yacht Victoria and Albort, and the Fairy,
her tender, were taken down to Osborne yesterday
morning by Captain Crispin, to be in attendance on the
Court.

Rear-Admiral Prescott, C. 8., went to Spithead yes-
terday morning, in his yacht, the Portsmouth, with the
officers from the pay department, to pay the Trafalgar,
120, Captain Greville, two months' advance. She sails
for the Mediterranean (touching at Lisbon) to-morrow.
The Oberon steam-packet has been manned by the Tra-
falgar, and yesterday went ont of harbour and anchored
near that ship. She will sail with her to-morrow.
Belvidere, 38, at Portsmouth, has been dismasted and
her masts placed in the Pique, 36. The latter ship will
be jury-rigged, and taken to Pembroke-yard, whero sho
will be repaired, and, it is said, lengthened 40 feet, and
probably adapted fq a screw auxiliary power.
Calypso, 18, was to have hoisted the pendant for Cap-
tain Forbes yesterday. but is ordered to be completed
with all dispatch. She is to have a complement of 195
men, and proceeds to the Havannah.
Magicienne steam-sloop proceeded from Portsmouth
to Devonport early yesterday morning.
Tiger steam-frigate has been placed in the first class
advaneed list at Portsmouth, arid has gone up the
harbour.
Waterwitcb, 8, Commander Gardner, left Chatham for
the Nore.
PORTSMOUTH, MONDAY, FIVE P.M.—The eclipse to-
day was at intervals very distinctly visible at Ports-
mouth, though the day was cloudy and rainy. :=
The Southampton, Monarch, and Waterloo, Indiamen,
are at Spithead; but the first-named vessel will, pro-
bably, get away to-night.
DOCKYARDS.—Mr. Sylvanus Gibbs; second class clerk
of the Devonport Dockyard, has been superannuated on
a pension of 1501. per annum.
of the
s several evolutions,
The Royal Devonport Dockyard Battalion were exer-
cised for the last time during the present season, in the
brickfield, on Saturday last. The soldier-like appearance
eavnodl
uthe o manner
ns
excited
in
ywhichery generalhet entt hrough
commenda-
tions from a number of military men yw
among the multi-
tude assembled on the ground.
Mr. Edward Cheesernan, foreman of Chatham Dock-
yard, has been awarded the annual gratuity of 501. by
the Admiralty.

The Portsinouth Dockyard-men, having worked extra
hours, had a half-holiday yesterday, and a holiday to-
day, to enable them to visit Portsdown Fair.
Tortoise lighter, Shearman master, and Devon,
lighter, Bond master, both sailed from Devonport on
Saturday, with stores for Pembroke.
Java freight • ship, Mr:John Gray master, having landed
the 19th Reg►ment, sailed from Devonport on Saturday
evening, with about 80 invalids and their families, 12
military convicts, and au escort of about 30 rank and
file, with the necessary officers, for Deptford.
MALTA, JULY 23.—The Government packet Medina,
with the London mail of the 7th inst., reached Malta
at 6 A.m. on the 13th. The Bombay mail left for Alex-
i andria at noon the same day by her Majesty's vessel

ASSIZE INTELLIGEN CE.
NORFOLK ClRCUlT.—Norwich, July 28.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice CRESWELL.)
Henry Groom, aged 42, was arraigned on an indict-
ment charging him with the wilful murder vi John
Ayton on the 4th of the present month, at Holkham,
by shoating him through the head with a bullet and shot
discharged from a pistol.
The prisoner is a labourer on the llolkham estate,
and the deceased was the superintendent of the brick-
fields, in virtue of which office it was his constant prac-
tice to pay the labourers their wage's fortnightly on Fri-
days. For this purpose he used to obtain the necessary
funds at Lord Leicester's office, and being advanced i❑
years, he had latterly resorted to a donkey and cart as a
means of conveyance from the office in the park, his road
lying through the west lodge and past a plantation and
an old sand-pit. On the day named in the indictment,
Mr. Ayton obtained, at his usual hour of twelve, or there-
abouts, the sum of 251. ss. 6d., which was paid to him in
sovereigns, and half-sovereigns, and a 5/. noteof Gurney's
bank, which, having been cut in two, had been pasted
together again at the back, and presented some endorse-
ment in red ink. No further notice was taken of this note
at the time of payment by the clerk. Between twelve and
one Aytoa was sews to pass through the park in his don-
key-cart towards the west lodge, and after that hour he
was not seen alive by anyone, unless it was by the prisoner,
who was seen loitering ahout the entrance to the sand-
pit plantation on that day by two people, between twelve
and a quarter-past one. At half-past one a shot was
heard by some workmen hoeing marigold wurzel in a
field near the plantation. About two o'clock a young
lad wandering about the neighbourhood chanced to
enter the plantation, where he saw a man lying on his.
side, as he thought, asleep, with his hat on the top of
his head. The boy took no notice of him ; but, pass-
ing through the plantation, entered the marigold wurzel
field, and told the men there what he hael seen. They
did not pay any attention to the circumstance. At half-
past one a man named Yarham saw Ayton's donkey and
cart straying along the road between the entrance to the
said pit plantation and the brickfield, and tied them up
at a gate near the pit. The same man finding the don-
key and cart at the same place, and having heard from
the boy that he had seen a man asleep in the pit, he
leaned over the brink, and at the bottom he found the
owner of the donkey and cart lying dead, with " the
contents worked out" by a large wound at the back of
his head, over which was placed his hat. The alarm was
immediately given, and the pockets of the deceased man
having evidently been rifled, suspicion fell on the prisoner,
who had been seen going home to his father-in-law's
house, at Wells, by a circuitous route ; he was on that
evening taken into custody, when a Si. note of Gurney's
bank, corresponding in appearance with that so recently
given to Ayton, was found in his pocket, and a key. The
latter being applied to a drawer in the room occupied
by the prisoner, opened it, and within the drawer were
found a quantity of sovereigns, half-sovereigns, and sil-
ver, which together with the 51. note, made up the sum
of 261. 2a. 6cl. The coin so found in the drawer was
wrapped in a piece of paper, which, on being examined,
proved to be a portion of an account in Ayton's hand-
writing, and fitted exactly with another piece of paper
discovered in the pocket of the murdered man, in which
was the rest of the same account. It further appeared
that a horse-pistol, which the father-in-law of the pri-
soner had placed on a shelf after using it on the morning
of the 4th to scare birds, was missed at nine o'clock,
after the prisoner had been seen to quit the house with
a canvas bag under his arm, and soon after the pri-
soner's return home the same pistol was seen again in
its proper place. The prisoner, who was not defended
by counsel, did not attempt to deny that he was in the
neighbourhood of the plantation, as deposed by the
witnesses for the prosecution, but accounted for the pos-
session of the money by saying that he had found it in
the road, and insisted that no one had ever seen him kill
the man.
At the close of the case for the prosecution,
Mr. Justice CRESSWELL submitted the whole facts to
the jury, who, without any hesitation, returned a verdict
of Guilty.
His LORDSHIP then proceeded to pass the awful sen-
tence of death in the usual form.
The prisoner, who used a trumpet during the whole
of the trial, as he was quite deaf, was then withdrawn
from the dock.

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POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
W OR S HIP- S TREE T.
A middle-aged man, earned John Rogers, described as
an omnibus-driver, was placed at the bar before Mr.
Arnold, charged with having caused the death of a
woman named Elizabeth Leafe, aged thirty-six years,
with whom he had cohabited.
Mrs. Jane Holman, the wife of a bootmaker in Luke-
street, Finsbury, said—The prisoner had occupied the
first-floor room in my house with the deceased, who
lived with'him as his wife, since the Saturday before Eas-
ter last. About a quarter boron) 12 on Saturday night I
was disturbed by an angry altercation between them,
which was shortly succeeded by the sounds of a blow and
heavy fall, which completely shook the place. I instantly
hastened up stairs to their apartment,lon entering which
I found the deceased lying on the floor, bleeding pro-
fusely from the nose and mouth. The only words she
uttered wore, " Oh, pray oh, pray !" On questioning
the prisoner, who was very much intoxicated, as to
what he had done to the woman, he replied, in an agi-
tated manner, " I have struck her and knocked her
down. For God's sake do all you can for her."
I immediately raised her head, and requested the
prisoner to support it for fear she should be suffocated,
which he readily did. Having admitted another
lodger, named Cooper, and his wife, I left the deceased
under their care, and at the urgent desire of the pri-
soner hurried off to procure the attendance of Mr.
Leonard, a surgeon in the neighbourhood. On return-
ing with the latter, the deceased was still lying upon the
floor in strong convulsions. After examining her condi-