The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-12 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

SOME CIRCUIT.-11zeTronD, JULY 11.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Erle.)
George Brereton S7tarpe, surgeon, surrendered to take
his trial for misdemeanour, in having unlawfully and in-
deuntiy cau ce:tain dead bodies to be removed from
a burying.ground.

*r.. T... Chambers and Mr. Hawkins conducted the
prom-cation. , The defendant conducted his own case.
The learned counsel for the prosecution, on opening
the case to the jury, said that the' inquiry they *ere
about to enter upon was one of a character that they
had never before, probably been called upon to investi-
gate. It would be unnecessary to trouble them with
hearing the whole of the indictment, which contained
several counts, but the substantial charge against the
defendant was that he had been guilty of the
misdemeanour of unlawfully entering a buryincel
ground and removing the- remains of certain dead
persons that bad been interred there. The pro-
secutors of the indictment were the trustees of a Biptist
chapel at Hitchin, called SalenrCaapel, which seat insti-
.tuted so far back as the year 162,--and to. which was
attached about an acre of ground that was appropriated
as a burying-place for the members of-the congregation.
The defendant, it appeared, was a surgeon, and resided
at Welwyn, and on the 14th of November he went to a
woman named Woodfield, whose hrisband bad the charge
of the burial:ground in question, and told her that his
father was dead, and that he• wanted the keys of the
ground to make arrangements for burying him. The
defendant, it appeared, had a grave:in the ground, in
which his mother, Louisa Sophia Sharpe, his step•
mother, and two nephews named Alfred and C. M.
Sharpe, were interred, and he gave directions that
this grave should be opened, and a man and a boy
were employed for that purpose, and the earth was dug
out down to the coffins. Later in the day the defendant
came again to the burying-ground, and upon coming
to the coffins of the nephews, who were mere chil-
dren, it was found that they were in such e. state of de-
composition that they could not be got out of the grave
except by placing cloths round them, and some cloths
that were brought by the defendant, apparently for the
purpose, were wrapped round the coffins, and they were
thus lifted out of the 'grave. The coffin of the step-
mother, which it appeared had been buried 15 years, but
which, notwithstanding, exhibited very little appearance
of decay, was then brought out of the orave, and after
this a brick arch, that had been built ov'S the remains of
the mother of .the defendant, who had been buried 33
years, was cut through. It was found upon arriving at
the coffin fleet it was in a very advanced stage of de-
cay, the lid was completely rotted off, and nothing could
be seen but a mass of mould, and a shell that had also
been brought' in the cart was lowered into the grave and
the whole of the reaming were swept out of the original
coffin into the shell, which was then raised out of the
grave. The coffin containing the body of the step mo-
ther of the defendant was then lowered into the grave,
and it appeared that i was no part of the defendant's
project to 'remove this member of his faintly, for the
grave was part'ally filled up, and when this had been
done he gave directions that the shell containing the
remains of his mother, and the coffins containing those
of his two nephews should be placed in the cart, and
this was the first intimation he gasp of his intention to
remove the bodies. Having, however ordered the grave
to be refilled with earth, the cart and the remains that
had'beettideposited in it were drawn off, the defendant
stating at the same that he found there was not room to
bury his father in the grave, and therefore he should re-
move his relatives to be. buried with him in Baldock
churchyard. 'Under these circumstances the, truateea
of the' chapel had felt,-it their duty to institute the
. •
prevent t pros oution, and they felt that it was of
the utmost importance, not only to themselves as a dis-,
senting body, but to the public generally, that it shon'd
be known that the law would not tolerate proceedings
or this deebriPtion; and that it would not be permitted
to any one to adopt such a course with regard to the re-
mains of his deeeeeed relatives as had been taken by the
defendant on the present occasion. As to the motive of
the defendant he gathered from a letter he had written
to a newspaper published in this town,- the Hertford
Mercury, and which re should put in evidence, that the
defendant's father and himself having seceded from the
dissenting congregation of which they had formerly been
members, he was desirous that the remains of his rela-
tives should be removed from unconsecrated to conse-
crated ground, and he adopted this unjustifiable, and as
he should contend illegal, method of carrying out his
object. The learned counsel concluded by stating that
although dissenting burying grounds, by reason of their
not being consecrated, were not under the ordinary ec-
clesiastical law, yet it was clear in his opinion that the
defendant had committed an offence against the canon
law of the land, thatibis act was one contra banes mores,
and that he would be amenable to the charge contained
in the present indictment.
Evidence to the above effect having been given,
Mr. Justice Erle here observed that for the purposes
of the present indictment he should hold that it was
equally an offence improperly to remove a dead body from
a burying.ground, whether the, ground was consecrated
or not, and he svould.reaerve the question for further
consideration if be-was required to do se.
Mr. Justice Erle, in sumrniog up, said he should ex-
press his' opinion of the law to be, that all burying
grounds, whether belonging to dissenters or to members
of the Church-Of England, were equally under the pro-
tection of the law, 'and that it was an offence to dese-
crate either.
The jury immediately returned a verdict of guilty,.
and at the same time said they were unatimondy of
()Pinion that the defendant went originally with the in-
tention to remove the bodies, and not to bury his father.'
His Lordship then said he should‘take the opinion of
the Court of „Appeal upon the rule- of law lie had laid
down, and he ordered the defendant to enter into a re-
cognisance offo.ol. to appear and receive judgment if he
should be called upon to do so.