The Sun.
London, England, 1803-12-22 00:00:00

ATIXCIOUS MURDER.

Tn following are the melaneholy particulars of
an atrocious murder committed on the bodies of
Mr. and Mrs. Ryon, at a plantation near Warsaw,
in the Island of Jamaica, on the morning of the 15th
of September last, by three of their own negroes.
Mr. Rudd was the son of the late Mr, Rudd, At.'
corner, of Cockermouth ; and Mrs. Rudd, daughter
of the late Air., Henry Jackson, ship-builder, Of
Whitehaven. -

':About half Past seven, Mr. and Mrs. Rudd, their
little bity (about two years of age), and Capt. Read,
of the ship Ftiends,,of London, (who had just re.•
covered 'from .a•dangerous sickness), -sat down to
breakfast. About eight o'clock, Mr. Rudd left the
table, to go to some negroes, who werft at work io
a wood. about two hundred yaids from 'the 'how.'
He had; nor .left the room many minutes when •a.
!shrieking was heard, Captain Read and'Mrseßtitia
,immediately.iushing oiit of ‘thebouse,,the Sfst
jeefthey:Veheld Was two of the negtniti, with
ftooksin:theititantist covered witiCbloo'at.and run.
ning towards them. •
iN • •
There could ,b,e no doubt as to horrid ail
which the villains had just perpetrated l',.and Captain
.Read having,'.oA capon to defend Mrs'. Rucht and
:hiMself with;,,there appeared nosafety but in flight,
if it could be' .Fffeded. Captain Read therefore
:caught-Mri; Ruth! by the Witi.'lse shrieks and
,lamentations ‘,.;fv.0.t,l have pierced the Heart of any
'hilt the most feroCious saviges,' and "endeavnurei ICY
regain, the house; hut Weakened as he. had been by',
three iit?dtlts anti agitated by the 11.0610.,
'clrCtitiistanee7WhiCh'had just taken pl Ace, (MiS.;
'Ruda too %ii*ihervillmost 'exhausied with distreis'
and tiorror)'his'foot struck the stump of a tree, and
hp fell The inhuman monsters were by this time
close to them ; and Captain .Read,: on rising, saw
one of them strike the fatal blow
.at the.unforturta,te
lady.

.. • _ . , .
There was then nn alternative for Captain• Read.,
but immediate death or flight ; for there was no as-
sistance that he ".could hope for within a mile. . He
hilt t ran tmly a few yards, when the murderers, hay_. ing coMplered the secnnd bloody bu6ness,'. pawed
him with all their speed.

Insensible 'to every danger, but what might .'so
naturally be dreaded from the. .efuelty'Of his pur.
suers, he direCied his. flight towards a plantation; in
which sevcral friendly Negroes were at work ; to
gain whieb (by a wonderful proteCting Providence).
he hurried unhurt:down a deep and tremendous pre;
cipice, which it is most likely had been untrod by
human foot till then. One of,the villains continued
to chasehim down a part of the Mountain but per..
ceiving that the friendly Negroes had taken the
alarm, and were coming to Captain R.'s assistance,
he. returned ;. and joining his bloody assopiaiesti thy:
all ran- into the woods for' shelter ; -many of the
other Negroes and Whites pursuing them.
. -
After a stria-search of two days,. they were ap.
prellended; ;1114 on the first, of 04tober, they were
tried, and executed at Port Antonid, and their
heads cut off,' anti stuck upon poles near • the spot
which had been the scene of theithorrid barbarity.
The poai. orphan.boy, who was thus in a moment
deprived of both hit parents',. was takeri. from the,
• house by Messrs. John and Joseph Dixon, who lived
near the One ; acid are relations .of.the deceased.L.
The mangled rr.rnains of Mr. and Mrs. Rudd were
taken "to,Waiiaw ; and after. the inquest, were in..
terred together iii one grave.

. These. three remorseless villains had been pur..
chased only only a short time before. The unfortunate,
vifflins of their savage ferocity, unparidleled in some
instances, had resided only a month on the fatal spot,
whither they had removed from Hope Bay; and as it
appears, froM various accounts, were very greatly
respeaed by all who knew them.

. _ .
One of the several letters detailing this horrid
circumstance, says that Mrs. Rudd survived the
wounds whiCh had ben so cruelly infliCted, about
twenty minutes The poor little infant boy, ter-.
rifled bythe cries he heard, had (sermingly.b) a su-
pernatural dire6tionsOf Providence) covered himself
over with some clothes on the floori and escaped the...
hands of the mercileis illains. '• • •
The unfortunate, pair, as has been already men:
tioncd, were buried at Warsawl a numerous and
most
.respeftable train of friends arid aCqdaintance
attending their mournful obsequies: The place of
their interment 'is a garden, belonging • to "Mr:'
Dixon, and when these appalling accounts were
dispatched, a monument was preparing, upon which
:it was intended to place th, following inscription :
"While sepulchial,ortrble points ciut the ashes of
the great, let this plain tomb inform,', that untler
,neoth it lie the remains of Thomas Trohear Rudd,
and Mary 'his wife, both of the county' of Cumber.
land,
~ in England. . And let it also be a lasting
monitor, that neither Virtue, Humanity,.Chartv,
nor Benevolence are at all ;times a'shield against
'savage barbarity, ferocity and ingratitude!.
" In their prime of life, they were. barbarously.
mnrdered, on the Istli of September, 1803, by
same of their own negroes,_ to whom the most ten_
der. and attentive duties of a master and a mistress
had been ihtend4l, awl shewn, in a most indulgent.
manner.

" Their, condo( through. life hail gained' them
the'esteem and atfeetion,ot a nutnerous and r6pefla.,
ble acquaintance,, and their untimely and unhappy
fate drew unfeigned, tears from thousands ; aod
alt
who knew their .merits and ilteir virtues, justly
join in rpnouncing that they fell the viCtims of,
,humanity,--T. T. R. oat. ob.—Ms. R. nal". ob."
• Several letters (as already intimated) have heel)
'received by the relatives and friends of the dc.
ceased,. on. this attlattog subjeCi. It appears
from some of these, that Shild-tw Planta.tion that
,is the name of rite place) was only intelidui-h): Nir.
'anti Mrs. Rudd as their residence foe a few weeks,
Ott account Of its cool situation ; but Iclr. Rudd
having
,resolved upon their tvitting the it
Was wieniled that Mrs. Rudd and their little boy,
I,lioulti sail for Enghtod, with the next fleet, mr.
TurpoSihg to follow them in the S"pring.
•