The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-31 00:00:00

The Shocking Gun Accident near Windsor.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. W. Weedon, deputy-
coroner for Berks, held an inquest on the body of
Win. Cantrell Ashley, the young gentleman who,
with his head frightfully shattered by the discharge
from a double-barrelled gun, was found lying dead
in a pond on Mr. Hall Say's ground, near Bray, on
Saturday morning. The inquiry took place at Water
Oakley-house, the residence of the father of the de-
deceased ; Mr. Superintendent Iremonger being in
attendance on the part of the Berks constabulary.
Mr. Charles Henry Ashley, wine merchant, of Exe-
ter-street, Strand, stated that the deceased was his
youngest child, and that he had just entered his 14th
year. On Friday last lie understood the deceased
went out with a gun, though the last time he saw
him alive was on Thursday. He did not see him
I again till Saturday night, in the condition he was
then in. His son was in the habit of shooting, but
not with a double-barrelled gun. Witness also be-
lieved that the deceased took a pistol with him, and
he was a good shot for a boy. Deceased was of a
cheerful disposition, and not likely to commit sui-
cide, as he had everything to make him happy, and
was in excellent spirits. Mr. Charles Carl Ashley
deposed that his younger brotherleft home on Friday
last with a double-barrelled gun, as he was in the
habit of going out shooting on the neighbouring
land with a dog. The gun was a hired one, as his
own was being repaired. Witness did not go with
his brother, who never returned home on Friday.
He assisted in the search, which commenced at 6
o'clock on Friday till the body was found on Satur-
day morning. A man named Hunter discovered his
brother's corpse, and witness was the second person
upon the spot and saw deceased before he was
moved. The body was in a pond on a field belong-I
ing to Mr. Hall Say, and lying on the left side in
the water, with the head and legs covered and
limbs contracted. He could see one side of the face,
the top part of the head being blown away. The
gun was lying nearly three feet from him, in the
water, and when the policeman examined the weapon
he found both barrels had been discharged. Deceased
was on the bank, near the hedge-side, and at one
part the clay had slightly given way. He could not
say there had been a slip, but it had that appearance,
and the body was near the place. Deceased was placed
upon a hurdle, but witness did not know what was
taken out of his pocket. henry Hunter said he was
the coachman of Mr. Hall Say, who lived at Oakley-
court. Witness joined in the search on Saturday,
and found deceased about 11 o'clock in a small pond
on Mr. Hall Say's farm. Deceased was covered by
about 2ft. of water, his legs being lower than his
head, and the body hanging upon its left side. His
head was near the mouth of the pond, and his feet
near the bank, from which he thought he had slipped.
He was quite dead, and the upper part of his head
was gone. The skull was on the grass, and the
cap in a ploughed field. Witness had often seen
the deceased out shooting. Geo. Morrell deposed
that he saw the deceased on Friday, about a quarter
to 1 o'clock, in Mr. Parker's yard. He had a gun
with him and a dog. Deceased spoke to witness
about some work his father wanted done, and then
went round to the house and entered into conver-
sation with Mr. and Mrs. Parker. lie next went to
a rick about 50 yards off, after which witness lost
sight of him till about a quarter to 11 on Saturday,
when he helped to got him out of the pond, which
was about 250 yards from the spot where he had
been talking to him--actually within sound of the
gun, the report of which he heard almost directly
after he left, and another about a quarter past 1
o'clock. Witness heard no screaming, or anything
to attract his attention. The upper part of deceased's
head was completely blown away. It seemed to him
as if he had slipped down the bank, as there were
marks upon it, and from its being overgrown with
bushes it was difficult to get along it. Part of the
bank had given way, and deceased's feet were not
more than a yard from the bank. Police-constable
Ilailey, of the Berks constabulary, said he assisted
to take the deceased out of the water and carry him
to the Queen's Head Inn. He searched the body

and found two flasks—one for powder and the other
for shot, a small breach-loading pistol, some car-
tridges, and a turban cap, which was cut through
the centre of the crown by the shot. Witness also
found the top of deceased's skull some 15 yards from
the body. His hands were at a little distance from the
gun, and there were marks upon the bank as if he had
slipped off. Neither of the barrels of the gun was
loaded, but there were portions of the caps upon the
nipples. The pistol had also been discharged. Ser-
geant Smith Noble, of the Windsor police, stated
that he was fetched from Windsor on Saturday
morning, about 9 o'clock, by Mr. Charles Ashley.
He assisted in the search, and with the last witness,
Halley, helped to get deceased out of the pond.
Deceased's clothes were not torn. Witness himself
nearly slipped at the spot where the marks were.
The jury, upon a consultation, returned a verdict of
" Accidental D e ath."

The Earl of Lichfield on the Emigration of

Criminals.

On Monday the Earl of Lichfield presided at the
first annual meeting in Wolverhampton of the South
Staffordshire Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society, of
which his lordship is president. The society has
been in working order only about three months,
during which time it has afforded employment for
80 discharged prisoners at a cost of Bs. 7d. per head.
The noble chairman said that too much importance
had, he thought, been attached in some quarters to
emigration as a means of reclaiming our criminal
population, and he was a little disappointed that at
a large meeting which was held in Manchester a
short time ago, at which Lord Stanley presided,
emigration seemed uppermost iu the speakers'
minds. He could not say that he at all agreed
with them. (Hear, hear.) On the contrary, he
thought that a society which sought chiefly to find
the discharged prisoners employment in this coun-
try was the most likely means of solving the diffi-
cult problem of what was to be done with our cri-
minal population. Practically, the country had been
obliged to give up transportation, and he believed it
was proving an advantage, not only to the criminal
himself, but also to society generally, that the at-
tention of the country should from self-interest be
called to that class of persons. Formerly nothing
could be so simple as the manner in which he who
was called the "confirmed criminal" was dealt with ;
he was sent out of the country, and in a distant
part of the world was enabled to get his livelihood
without injury to those whom he left behind. But
now that we were obliged to keep these criminals at
home, we saw plainly that in order to protect our-
selves it was absolutely necessary that we should
take some measures to prevent these persons, after
they have left prison, from continuing in a life of
crime. He could not imagine anything more simple
or better calculated to effect these objects than a
society of the description of the one before them,
which sought to put the discharged prisoner who
earnestly wished to amend his course of life into that
position in which he might honestly earn his own
bread. In doing this he denied that the society was
doing more for a criminal than it would for an honest
man. It was frequently desirable to avoid the ne-
cessity for a criminal's return to the associations
among which he had been accustomed to practise
hie criminality, and in some cases it was absolutely
requisite that this should be done ; but all this could
be accomplished, except in the rarest instances, and
yet the man be kept in this country. This would
become still less difficult as societies of that class
multiplied, and existed, as they ought to exist, in
every part of the country. To send them abroad,
although it might be with the aid of funds obtained
in the manner available by such societies, would be
regarded by the colonists as only another way of
carrying out a practice to which they had previously
successfully objected, for it must not be forgotten
that Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies obtained
funds not only from private persons, but also from
Government and from local taxation.

The Shropshire Murder.

CLEOBURY MORTIMER, Tuesday.

The examination of Mr. John Meredith before
the Cleobury megigtrateg on the charge of murder-
ing his nephew, Edward Edwards, at Duddle‘vich-
mill, Salop, on Sunday, the 11th inst., was con-
tinued to a late hour last night.
The witness Elizabeth Harris, servant to the pri-
soner, was cross-examined by Mr. Kennedy, and
said that she was present when Police-ollicer Cox
and Sergeant Christie came to her master's house on
the day of the funeral, some days after the murder,
and examined the clothes of the inmates. Her mas-
ter was in the house, and said to Christie, " Here's
a lot of my clothes." A pair of trousers were on the
bed, which her master said he had on on the Sun-
day. As the officers were looking at the trousers
by the window the prisoner said the blood on them
was caused by his helping to carry the deceased up
stairs. lle did not say that he helped to carry him
from the mill. Had heard her master speak of the
blood on his trousers before then, and witness had
herself seen it before. Remembered her master ask-
ing Thomas Edwards to go to Mrs. Howell's, of
Stottesden, to tell her to come down. She after-
wards came to the house. It rained and there was
a high wind. Edwards said he could not carry an
umbrella, and he took an old coat of her master's.
Edwards was about an hour away. Witness did not
see the coat again that night, but saw it next day,
when it was brought by Police-constable Clarke,
who gave it to witness, and she hung it up in the
kitchen. Sergeant Christie took it away with the
prisoner's trousers. Her master was subject to
bleeding at the nose, and she had often seen blood
on the wrists and sleeves of his dress.

Samuel Harris, a boy, brother to the last witness,
and also in the prisoner's service, who was the last
person known to have been in the deceased's com-
pany before the murder, deposed that he was with
the deceased in the fold-yard soon after 8 o'clock on
the Sunday morning, and that deceased left him at
about half-past 8 and proceeded in the direction of
the mill. Did not see him again until his body was
brought from the mill in the evening. At dinner-
time on the Sunday his master asked him whether
the key of the mill was in the bedroom window,
where it was sometimes kept. Ho looked for it
there, but did not find it. He found it over the
mill door, where it was usually kept when left at
the mill, and took it to his master.
Mr. Win. Dorrell, farmer, residing about 100
yards from the prisoner, deposed that on the Sun-
day after dinner the prisoner came to him, told him
that the deceased was missing, and asked him to
help him to look for him. They walked down the
side of the Rea-brook and afterwards gave up the
search. About 4 o'clock Mr. Meredith came to him
and said the boy Harris had found the key of the
mill, and said he would go into the mill for a feed
for the horse. He immediately returned and said he
was afraid something had happened, for there was
blood on the mill floor. They then both went into
the mill and found blood on the mill floor. The
prisoner said, " There's blood at the bottom of the
steps leading to a room below," but that he was
afraid to go down the steps. Witness went down
and saw the deceased lying on the floor. Witness
assisted in carrying him into the house. There was
a stick lying by the deceased cracked at the top and
covered with blood. [lt was a walking stick, not
very thick.] Assisted in searching deceased's clothes
after he was removed from the house. In his pockets
were two pocket-knives, a tobacco-pouch, some
gun caps, and sonic matches, but no money.
While walking down the Rea, side after dinner the
prisoner said he had been to the mill in the morn-
ing to look after " Ted," but that he had not
been inside the mill. The prisoner helped to
carry the deceased upstairs. 'Witness assisted and
took off his coat and turned up his sleeves
so as not to get blood on him. The stairs
were curved and awkward, and the prisoner said
" Steady, steady," while at the same time the body
rolled towards him, and probably rested on his thigh
at the moment. Saw the prisoner at church on the
Sunday morning. He wore a new pair of leggings.
Witness had a good view of him, and if there had
been blood on him he must have seen it, although
he did think of blood then. Walked home with him
from church. On the day of the funeral of the de-
ceased, when the police came to examine the clothes,
witness was at the prisoner's house. The prisoner