The Sun.
London, England, 1835-07-06 00:00:00

RAPE, MURDER, AND SUICIDE.

The county of Chester has obtained an unenviable noto-
riety for the commission of crimes of the most revolting
character. The following exhibits a picture of depravity
and crime which it is shocking to contemplate. A man
advanced in years—a hoary-headed sinner with grown-up
children—leaves his own house, his wife and family, in the
dead of the night, and succeeds in decoying a young female,
only 17 years of age, the servant of a neighbouring gentle-
man, from her master's house, under pretence that her
mother is dying and wishes to see her. In going across the
fields he attempts the gratification of his brutal passion by
violating her person ; and, failing to accomplish his purpose,
he strangles his victim. As a fitting catastrophe to this
tale of depravity, be hangs himself in a cow-house ! The
following is a brief narrative of the particulars of this double
tragedy, as elicited on the inquests held on the bodies :
. The unfortunate female deceased was named Mary Mal-
pas, and was in the service of Mr. Henry Davison, steward
to Sir John Delves Broughton, Bart., at Doddington-park,
near Nantwich. The suicide, Thomas Baguley, was a la-
bourer, also in the employ of the same gentleman, and re-
sided at Walherton. It appeared from the testimony of
Baguley's son, that his father was at home at 11 o'clock on
Sunday night ; and after the rest of the family had retired
for the night, he was repeatedly called to by his wife to
come to bed, but he refused to do so. At 2 o'clock in
the morning, it was discovered that he had left the house,
and he did not return afterwards. Mrs. Davidson stated
that she and her family went to bed about half-past 9
o'clock on Sunday evening. About 1 o'clock on Monday
morning the servant girl, Mary Malpas, knocked at her
bed-room door to ask if she might go to see her mother,
who was dying. Mrs. Davison, without inquiring how the
girl obtained information, gave her permission to go, and on
going down stairs to lock the front door after her, she found
that it was already locked and the key missing.
On Monday morning two labouring men, named Simon
Davies and Ralph Latham, in going through what are
called the Chapel-fields, in Hunterston, a short distance
from Mr. Davison's house, found the dead body of Mary
Malpas. She was lying on her back ; her clothes were
above her knees, and otherwise in disorder ; her bonnet
was much torn ; her combs were lying beside her ; and the
appearances on the grass and the ground near the body
clearly indicated that there had been a violent struggle.
About 6 o'clock on Monday morning, Baguley was disco-
vered in a shippon suspended by his neck with a rope from
one of the steps of a ladder. He was quite dead and cold.
He appeared to have been resolutely bent upon self-
destruction, for his feet rested upon the ground even with
his knees bent. In his pocket were found several keys,
and among them the key of Mr. Davison's front door.
From the testimony of Mr. John Twemlow and Mr.
Edward Barker, the surgeons who examined the body of
the deceased female, it appeared that the neck was very
much discoloured all round, as if it had been clasped, and
the windpipe violently pressed by both hands, and the
finger-nails had penetrated through the skin over the tra-
chea. The face and breast exhibited marks of discoloura-

tion from bruises. The general appearances indicated that
there bad been a violent struggle, and left no doubt of the
nature of the crime attempted to be perpetrated before
death, although, in the opinion of both these gentlemen, it
bad not beon accomplished. The Coroner's Jury in the
case of Mary Malpas found a verdict of Wilful Murder
against Thomas Baguley ; and in the second a verdict of
fi/o de se. This dreadful affair has, as may well be sup-
posed, excited a great sensation in the neighbourhood. The
family and relatives of both the deceased are in a state of
distre.ction more easily conceived than described.

• The Dublin Zoological Gardens received, on Sun-
day se'nnigk, a fine rhinoceros brought from Calcutta.

TILE NEN BOOKS.—We do not recollect a period
when a greater number of interesting works have appeared
than at the present season. Of novels, we will point out the
best and most succt.ss:ul. " Belford Regis," by that popular
writer Miss Mitford ; " Lodore," by Mrs. Shelley; " My
Life" by the celebrated author of " Stories of Waterloo ;"
" Horse-shoo Robinson," by the author of " Swallow Barn ;"
" Cortes, or the Fall of Mexico," by Dr. Bird ; " Francesca
Carrara," by L. E. L. ; " The Princess," by Lady Morgan.
Second Editions of Mr. Bulwer's New Romance—" The Last
Days of Pompeii," Captain Chamier's " Unfortunate Man,"
and Miss Edgworth's " Helen," have also been published.
Of works in other classes of literature we call attention to the
most important—Mr. Beckford's new book " An Excursion
to the Monasteries of Alcobaca and Batalha ;" Lamartine's
new Travels in the East, entitled " A Pilgrimage to the
Holy Land ;" Mr. Cooke's " Memoirs of Lord Bolingbroke ;"
Professor Longfellow's " Outre Mer, or, a Pilgrimage to the
Old World;" Capt. Boteler's " Voyage of Discovery to Africa
and Arabia ;" Lieutenant Moodie's " Ten Years in South
ribs,s
strangulation, i
s t
n a ce.
and
the Dr.
throatpc
and
The fascinating " Memoirs of Madame Junot," now
completed; " A Winter in the Far West," by Charles Hoff-
man ; Captain Foster's " Voyage in the Chanticleer, to the
South Atlantic Ocean ;" Mr. Bennett's " Wanderings in New
South Wales ;" and Mr. Forbes's " Oriental Memoirs." The
novels and romances we have indicated are characterised by
great power and beauty ; and the voyages and travels abound
with amusement, and, what is better, in interesting informa-
tion of the most various and attractive description.
A man named Penen, aged forty-five, and his wife,
who was fifteen years older, and very corpulent, lived together
in apparently perfect harmony, at No. 294, Rue St. Honore.
They both went out to daily service in different families, the
man as valet, and his wife as housekeeper ; and though the
husband was lately for some time out of place, they were evi-
dently in easy circumstances. On Thursday about one o'clock,
Penan got the porter of the House to accompany him to the
Commissary of Police of the quarter, to whom he stated
that his wife had died suddenly six hours before, but showed
such evident marks of terror and weakness, that the magietate
immediately suspected him to have been the cause of her
showed
death ; and this weakness increased so much, that Penen
could hardly mount the stairs without assistance.
ta at s
villiers was called in to examine the body, which had nu-
merous
evident bruises on
signsth e anrfin sa,n thighs,attempt
and
under the head there was a wound of about an inch and a half
in length, but not deep. There were some spots of blood on
the pillow, bolster, and under-sheet. On examining an ad-
joining room, another pillow-ease, stained with blood, was
found, and a man's shirt, which had been recently and roughly
washed, but in the plaits of which marks of blood were still to
be distinguished. From a strong smell of charcoal in the -
room, it was concluded that the bodily injuries had not accom-
plished the intended murder, and that life was ultimately ex-
tinguished by means of suffocation. All these circumstances
were more than suffieient
t't,rwarrcoataitlmthisse
aarryretest
poofsitPeecni einn,%6vaht.do
was committed to prison. :M
Upwards of AO franks were
found in a secretary, which 1
custody.--French I)(iper,