The Sun.
London, England, 1834-09-16 00:00:00

BURIAL OF ELLEN LEFEVRE AND HER

FOUR CHILDREN.

Saturday having been appointed for the interment of
Ellen Lefevre and her four children, great crowds assem-
bled round St. James's Church, Clerkenwell, at an early
hour in the morning, to witness the melancholy ceremony.
The tops of the houses and windows, and, in fact, every
situation from which the burial ground could be seen, were
thronged with anxious spectators of all ages and sexes.
Tuesday was the day first fixed for the funeral taking place,
but the committee were enabled, through the money already
gathered, to get every thing in readiness by Saturday.
Twelve o'clock was the hour fixed for the procession to
start. The churchwardens, overseers, and other parish au-
thorities, determined on getting up the funeral in a respec-
table way, and had made every arrangement for that pur-
pose. The coffins were made in a very neat style, with
black nails and covering, and on Friday the remains of the
unfortunate creatures were deposited within them, and left
in the parish vaults below the church.
The first coffin, containing Ellen Lefevre and her babe,
bore the following inscription :—" Ellen Lefevre, aged 25,
and her infant son, aged eight months, brutally murdered by
Steinberg, on Monday, September Bth, 1834." The second,
" Henry Steinberg, aged .51, brutally murdered." The deaths
of John Steinberg, aged four years and six months, and El-
len Steinburg, aged two years and nine months, were simi-
larly described.
At half-past twelve o'clock the Rev. Mr. Dolman, and
the mourners, who consisted of the Committee for raising
the subscription, and the mother and sister of Lefevre,
proceeded in procession from the vestry room to the
entrance of the vault, from which the coffin containing the
remains of the murdered persons were brought ; they then
proceeded into the body of the church, while the bell was
tolling—the palls being borne by four individuals with
wands. Mrs. Lefevre and the sister of the deceased woman
were scarcely able to walk, and were supported by Mr.
May, vocalist of Covent-garden, and the English Opera
House Theatres, and Mountstevens, the beadle. On the
bodies being taken into the church the most profound
silence was observed whilst the Rev. Mr. Dolman read
over the burial service in an impressive manner. The re-
mains of the deceased were at length brought out, and the
procession moved on towards the grave, which was dug on
the south side of the church, about 17 feet deep, and in
which the whole of the coffins were to be placed. The
usual service having been performed over the bodies, the
procession returned to the vestry-room. The mother and
sister were deeply affected.
It is the intention of the Committee to raise a subscrip-
tion for the purpose of erecting a head and foot stone over
the grave, with an inscription, as a memento of the awful
brutal transaction, stating how and by whom they were
murdered, with an appropriate epitaph.
The deceased, Steinberg, it appears, must have washed
his hands after having committed the murders, for in the
same room in which Lefevre and her infant were found
murdered, a wash-hand-bason, containing bloody water, was
standing on the dressing-case. He afterwards proceeded to
the kitchen,' and, from the position in which he was found
lying, there is no doubt whatever but he sat down on the
floor to cut his own throat. On-Thursday night last, when
his remains were buried in the poor-ground of Clerkenwell
parish, a peculiarly curious ceremony was observed, in lieu
of the old custom of driving a stake through the body. The
shell containing the deceased was laid by the side of the
grave ; the body was taken out by two men, one at the
head, and another at the feet ; they held it horizontally
over the grave, when they gave it a turn, and it fell to the
bottom, with the face downwords, resting on the arms.
When the earth was partly over the body, one of the assist-
ants struck the earth immediately, over the deceased's skull
many times as hard as he could, with a large iron mallet,
with a view, as we understood, to smash the head. Many
persons conceived that a stake was being driven through
his body, but they were undeceived by the information that
it was the mere matter of form at the burial of a felo de se.
Steinberg was a man of very retired habits, and became
acquainted with Lefevre under rather singular circum-
stances. About seven years ago, when he separated from
his wife, he lived in Cirencester-buildings, Hampstead-road.
On quitting her Mrs. Steinberg had a child of 12 or 13
years old. The deceased took apnrtments at the house of
Mr. Marshall, ironmonger, of Hampstead-road, whom he
referred to several respectable gentlemen, who spoke of him
in the highest terms. Mr. Marshall arranged that deceased
should have somebody to clean down the stairs leading to
his rooms once a week, and the unfortunate Ellen Lefevre,
then a beautiful girl of 17 years of age, used to attend with
her mother for that purpose. He (Steinberg) shortly was
noticed to pay great attention to the former, and Mr. Mar-
shall was led to conceive she had become something more
than a servant in the eye of the deceased, which was ulti-
mately confirmed by his taking her entirely to his protec-
tion, and she becoming enceinte. While he was at this
house Mrs. Steinberg discovered his retreat and illicit
connexion with Lefevre, and she called at Mr. Mar-
shall's house on several occasions, and was once
given into custody for creating a disturbance there. The
conclusion drawn was, that she was pursuing her husband
for a separate maintenance, and it is said that up to the
time of his death he was under an order of magistracy to
allow her 10s. per week. He lodged at Mr. Marshall's
little more than twelve months, during which period he
behaved with mildness of disposition ; waJ tenacious in his
pecuniary dealings, always showed a disposition to pay, and
an enraged and an insulted feeling if pressed for money.
He exhibited great loving-kindness towards Lefevre, who
seemed equally fond of him. She gave birth to a babe at
Mr. Marshall's, and they soon afterwards left him and took
a house, No. 12, William-street, Hampstead-road, where
he carried on the trade of a whip-maker, and had his name
on the door upon a brass plate. He appeared to be in re-
spectable circumstances. He was viewed by the inhabi-
tants as a highly respectable tradesman, and was credited
by them, and his conduct towards Lefevre was generally
remarked as being that of a quiet, kind, and indulgent hus-
band ; he seldom quitted the house without having her in
his company. He lived in William-street upwards of two
years, and Lefevre there gave birth to two more children ;
he next took the house, No. 12, Sidney-terrace, Blackney's-
lane, Chelsea, where also he gained the good opinion of all
who knew him. He removed from thence 15 months ago
to Southampton-street, Pentonville, the spot of the fatal
tragedy, where Lefevre bore him the fourth babe.
Steinberg's son, who, it is said, is a lawyer's clerk, at-
tended on Friday morning at the house where the murders
were perpetrated, with a horse and cart, and having paid
the rent due, he carried away the few remaining articles in
the house.

The unfortunate mother and sister of Lefevre, it ap-
pears, have for some years past gone through a series of
affliction and distress. They appeared on Saturday to be
completely worn down by grief and distress. A Mr. Mace,
a coach-builder, of No. 1, York-square, Regent's-park, who
has acted a friendly part towards them, has given them
shelter. Twelve months ago, Mrs. Lefevre's husband, who
was a bookseller in the neighbourhood of Soho-square,
committed an act of suicide by cutting his throat, ever since
which she has been in much trouble.—Morning Paper.