The Sun.
London, England, 1805-09-20 00:00:00

TILE KING v. THE INHABITANT:, OP CRc OKTIAM,

This was an,ltidiament• against the inhabitants of
Crookhatn, for suffering the body of William Do-.
vor, who died a violent death, to be buried without
a Coroner's Inquest. The law throws the burthen
upon the Hundred where a man dies by violence,
and is buried without the Coroner's Inquest. •It
appeared, from the statement Of Counsel for the'
Prosecution,. that in Nevember 1601, the deceaSed,•
with some-Others, went into the country to *get some
smuggled gin, and after having obtained their ob.
jet% cnt ti.w,ir return they met some Excise Of.
ficcrs and Su dicers, and the deceased met with his
death in the struggle that ensued.
The first \A, itness, John l-{cworth, of Coldstream,
in Scotland, stated, that in the latter end of Mt •
'he and seven others, with Williatn DOver,' the,de-'
ceased, went to North Sunderland to get gin.. /le
said, we returned on the
,same night, and on their
return they were tm.q by Excise Officers and Soldiers, ,
Who fired at us. '' l did not see WilliaMDover
but we recokoned William Dover shot; Ile aPpear-.
ed to be shot in the leg. I saw the'wound when I
was at Bamborough. After the first lire we surround-
ed the horses and cargo. The. deceased, on the fol-
lowing day,
.went home to Crookharn and died."...
After he received the wound I told his wife and the
people 9( Crookhatn what had happened. This hap.
pertml betbre his death, and I have heard the people
of Crookham talking about it."
Upon his cross-examination by Mr. ILittsri.,
said, they had not any smuggled salt at that titue,-.»
Reheard the deceased say he was hurt, 'before he
got to Bamborough., -•
George Thompson stated, that hedid,' in the latter
end of 1 801, see a party of (ustom-house Qflicers
and Soldiers, who had William Dover in custody at
Barnborough, and they wanted to send him home.--
I then proposed, it they would give me money,.l.
would go with Nit), -asi had a big:4e of
I could not get him on.the horse witbOut the assist
anee of two men.. When we got to Belford, he
said he could go no farther for pain therefare
stopt with him about an .honr. We then proceeded,
but not befbre I had seen, the wound, and a poultice
applied to it."
Eleanor Diner, the widow of the.deceased, proved,
his death, and that it was known to every body in
CrOokhatn that he had died of the v. ound he had a
l •
cerved.. r

Mr. Andrew Scott, Snrgeon, Ottended the de-
e. eased., and (lee' ibed. the trout} to be between the
bone and the tendOn.Achilles, ,not titlite, through,
which appeared to be done. by a 'Sharp instrtnent.77-
11e'said, he stopped the hemorrhage, and was quite
sure the wound was the cause of his death.on tho
2d of December 1801.

Mr. Lindsay stated, that lie and Mr. Scott were
Coroners at the 'time for the County, and that he
had rimier been applied to by the Township Of
Crookhain, as,to the deceased's death, and he belieV,-
ed Mr. Scott had never been applied tO.
Mr., RAINE stated this Case to be 'a new experi-
ment in the law, that the Coroners might get some-
thing more into their pockets.
Here the Caseended. •
`Lin Tudge to the., Jtiry said, that this Was an 'ln-,
diament for a neglea of public duty, and, as he
derstOod, brought forward at the inttigatiOn of some
(lithe Magistrates of the County, to eccide an obso.
low question of law ; but his Lordship visited they
had waited for stronger case, for it was evident that,
the Soldiers were justified in what they had done,
and therefore there was scarce nny questton neces-
sary to ask how the deceased bad come by his death.
Verdia—Not Gui4li.
John.Chnileion was charged with Manslaug.liter,
in killing Thomas Hudson, Jun.
The circumstances of thy case were as followS:--
The Prisoner was a hiTabout 14 years of age, the
ton of Forster Charleton, Esq. of Alndike; near Ali-
wick and ,Paymaster of fie Northumberland Militia.
The deceased, a youth about 11) years of 'age, 'a,,a
Huthen, of the Same place, labourer.
The Prii,oner had gone
.with a fowhug-piece in. his
hand, on the forenoon of the, 15th of September last,
to the lniuse of one Jobsori, in .Memouth, abOUt four
Miles distant from Aindike, and asked his son, John
Jobsciii about 12 years of age, to go a shooting ;
they both went, accompanied by to,
Smith and
another boy., to Ahimouth sands, and during the
time' they were there fired several times at sea-gUlls.
Between two and three o'clock in the..afternoon the
'Prisener went again to Jobson's house, with the sante
'boys, and then went a tibooting 10 the same place.
(.)n their road to the sea side they
,were joined by a
sailor, 'and when they hail got there the Prisoner
bathed, 'and it raining At the same time, Jobson
took the gun, and covered the lock from rain,„ and
itd rarr it to the huhing-house. When tin. , Pri-
oner had bathed he n'o the gnu, and all four went
up the links, and Prh-oner tired. at some sea-gulls.
After they eame down front t het-10'; Smith flied at
Jobson's hat„ which another buy, of the name a
14nart, put upon the smut. The sailor got the gun
to shoot -`l'ne. Prisoner, Smith, Jobson,
re,mained on the sioad fOr some time, when the Fri-
,soner went and got the gun from the sailor, and
came to the place where johsolt, Smith, and deceased
WOW Sitkii],!. Prisoner asked the deceased (who was
tending his faihi,r', cattle on the links) it there Were
ow/ stints (a small sea bird) in the Howkiln ? to
which3.ll,,worad, „ yes:, Thily, then
We It to the I nod the deceased called after
h,,,n that he \(,,,J;11,1 go there and raise up the stints,
'which th,2,,, tUrbid hcLl to'do„ However, he went
'llyagtltuaillk4 till he reaelied a place 'Where a small
batik itnetveneti, by which only the upper part of
ho,ty was seen, :being at the diStance of JO yards
from the Prisoner. In this positien the deceased
held up liis hat, and " can you hit that rt on
which the Prisoner intint-.,diately pat the gdn to his
shooL',er, and it went otf, the 'deceased 'fell at the
stint tone, and he got up again, and
tall ihoilt e no.yari.k,.:.whA=o'
'fell by 'this thne
tide had ranched him t tho Prisoner raised him
up, and aiepcared much concerned , • the other boys
in to .:\.lenioutht, tell what had ti'.'ipnened. The
bOt. was corr 4 hc4ne,. ond I'll:tended by a Physician
and Surgeon, but, notwithstanding this lttce3 cal X»-
he expired four days atter the accident
ialppened.
he .evidence /on tlio part of the Proscentini

, .
LON N frd RCH t), H R of No, 4, NJartlett-coutt , now ....tt.ot
tiic SuN t3l NO. 1 1 Strand ; wlwro. 4,heriiiel4enty (44,14. ft)!

....

-
toborsted these:nag, and further state 4, tkat:tE:
gun went off before the Prisoner had 1:. shoul-
der ; and when the accident happene3 the:Prisoner
cried out that it was more the sailor's fault.thanbis,
having lett the pm cocked.
Upon these circumstances..the Judge summed tip
the evidence, and thejury, after a few minutes con-
sultation, returned a verdi& of—Not Guilty.

INVERNESS, SEPT. ft.—This day the Northern
Circuit :witS opened at this place. hy the Right Hon.
Lord AIIMADALE. , Thero was
.119 business before
the Court,' criminal or civil. 'His ;Lordship, in a
most excellent addres to. the Jury and Sheriffs, con-
gratulated them upon the state of this diAria of the
country, which, he said,4on former o‘ca,iions he died
had occasion to remark. He had no reason to sup-
pose that it arose from any negligence in the inferior
offices of the law, and be wa's entitled to presume,
that it was a strong and just proof of the temper,
disposition, and manners of this district of the coun-
try. It AVas highly satistatiory to. him as a Judge,
and still more gratifying to him as 'a person intimate,
ly, naturally, and strongly attached to and connected
with the prosperity, order, and happiness of this
part of •Scottatid; 'to find that lie-had no occasion to
dispensct.thelaw, and that they, as Jurymen, had
no opportimity of exercising privilege, the most
important and invaluable 'which free men can pos-
sess in 'regard to the investigation and punishment
of crimes. '

After enlarging onjhis Subjeta, his Lordship took
occasion to congratulate Them still further' upon the
progress, of improvments of :vartous kinds, which
were going on with rapidity, and at sogreat eipence,
in .this county. It. was a matter worthy of being
contemplated, that the exertions of wealthy
(Mali ,were combined. With the aids of Etrliameut to
itnproVe the state of the country by roads, canals,
and operations of that nature by Which alone sub-
stantial, and tasting, advantages, are to be derived,
itnd the, corntbrts 9f .the iniuThionts augmented and
ditfused. He. said,.;he trusted that operations-of that
nature. would 'llea with no 1-ish or idle impediment
front any individitalS,, lto woiild not fail to Obtain'
any recompense .they were lewily entitled to froM
any sacrifice. of land to be, made for the tract of
these' roads,' besides their share Of the bene6t.

On the 4th inst, as a farming boy belonging to R.
LAIHISTWA., ESti. WaS piltitiltlg the upper f;gd, at
Lambton, in a cart with two horses, a sudden swell
of the river, occasiOned. by. the,breaking of the Lum-
ley, dam, rushed duwi with Such violence upon
then, that they were prectiiitated down the stream
for several hundred yards : in this perilat4 situation
theyxantiniied, the horses Swimming, and the boy
and cart alternately sinking and rising, till they ar-
rived at the sn3all. ferry-boat just above Lambton
Hall, at which place
.they were first seen by the
peron who kceps the boat, and who, instantly gave
an alarm ,to the Hall. Such,
,however, was the
force of the torrent, that no assistance whatever
could be given from the boat, though every
,exertion
was made to get at the boy.• At this instant, when
all hopes of saving either the horses or the bey were
lost, the Rev. who was on a, visitat
Lambton, from Eton, with an intrepidity and reso-
intim which nothing Could exceed, dashed into the
river, swam to the cart, and, ha), itig by the most
extraordinary etfirts overcome every obstacle. that
opposed • after much struggling and labour,
succeeded,-at the extreme hazard of his lite,. in
bringing the boy to shore. • 'Very luckily the horses
and cart soon after drifted upon a sand-bank some
few yards distant pelow the ferry, but such "was the
ethausted state of the poor aniirrals, that the leading
horse hiVitig •irot entangled in the chains of his tshar-
ness, was thrown down and drowned. • '

On Snnday, about two o'clock in the afternoon,
an Artilleryman, stationed at South Shields, put' a
period to his exktenee, by blowing out I►is brains
with a horse-pistol. In the early part of the day
Ike had been seen ,:valking, about the field, near
\Vcstoe, in a peniive p9,ture, and the fatal event
took place in the lane leading. from that village to
Jarraw stakcs.

On Tuesday selinight as a yeiltig• bny, trained
Renwick, Was:.ehmbing up the roof
.of a house iu
Carlisle, to, the, chimney, for the purpose of taking
• froth the top there:;.)tonae slates,, to make the
,pas—
cage more free for the senol(e, his foot
.slipped, artd
he was precipitated to ofe'bottom. 'He was much
bruised, but
,hopes aro entertained of his recovery.
On sunday'se'lmight, at Kirkoswald, • Cumber-.
land, Mary Thompson, about eight years of age,'
the daughter of a earptiter in that place, in attempts.;
Mg to climb over au unhinged gate, got her 'neck
fixed in the palbiz. on. the top, and with struagling
to liberate herself, [ha ;ate fell Upon her,
.and Atratig-
It'd her on the :;pat'. Coronet Nierdittecielente/
Death.

On Saturday se'nnight "Wm. BRAGG, Master of
the "laic e, of Workington, a 1) gger, now lying at
:tndslield, near Carli6:e, set out with his Mate.ta
forward a raft to Workington; which they had with
considerable exertions the day before got down as
the, as the Lni:e foot; inadvertently going within the
tide toark, they were with water befoi.o
they Were aware. Jon:: EtAy, the Mate, with dd.",
ficulty swam M the shore; the Master rwt being
'able to swim, wa:4 shortly, after found drowned.-
'Comm:ea ye:Mid—Accidental Death. • 1-4 has left a
pregnant widow and' eight children, at Workington,
to deplore his lost.