The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-01 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDOA, SATURDAY 7, EVENING, JANfIAEY 1, 1859

THE MURDER NEAR NOTTINGHAM.

The inquest touching the death of John Wood-
head, beerhouse-keeper, Bulwell, was resumed on
Thursday, at the White Hart, before Mr. Coroner
Swann. Our readers will remember that Woodhead
died in consequence of injuries received about a
month ago, in an encounter with a strange man he
found secreted in an upper room of his house, while
a company of about half-a-dozen were drinking in
the tap-room immediately underneath. Suspicion
having fallen upon one of those men, known by the
cognomen of " Ginty," though his real name was
.West, he went out of the way for a short time, but
he' returned home and was immediately appre-
hended, and brought before the county magistrates.
As there Seemed to be no case against him, he was
discharged on his own recognisances to appear again
on Saturday. The first witness examined at the
adjourned inquest was Joseph White, surgeon, Not-
tingham. He said—On Friday week, the 17th, I
made a post-mortem examination of the body of John
Woodhead. I was assisted by Mr. Buckby, of Bul-
well. I found externally on the left side of the
head, about two inches behind and above the
temple, a semi-circular wound, about seven inches
in length. I found that the flap which this wound
had caused had been turned down so as to expose
the skull. There were other slighter marks of
bruising on that side of the head, but none other
of a serious character, and no other external marks
of injury. Upon opening the skull I found upon
the right side, that opposite to the seat of the
injury, a quantity of blood over the surface of the
brain. -The greater portion of this appeared to have
been recently effused, but a small part had the
appearance of having been poured, out some days
before. On an examination of the body I found all
the organs healthy, with the exception of the right
lung, which was universally adherent to the walls
of the: chest.; but those adhesions were of old stand-
ing. I found nothing further which it is necessary
to mention. The immediate cause of death was the
effusion pf the blood which I have described. It is
impossible to say exactly the cause of the semi-circu-
lar wound. It was caused by cominginto contact with
a hard body of some kind, but whether from a fall
or blow it is impossible to say. If a wound had
been inflcted upstairs, it would not follow that
there would have been blood found on his clothes.
If there was a pool of blood found below and none
on his clothes, it might be fairly presumed the
wound was caused by falling. The bleeding from
a wound of that kind would be immediate and
profuse.

Rueben Smith said—l am a glove hand by trade.
I know the deceased very well, and was occasionally
employed by him as a waiter. On Tuesday, the
7th of this month, I was in his house from five to
six o'clock in the evening. He was then sober and
quite well. There were only two strangers there,
besides me and Mr. Woodhead. The strangers
were not Bulwell people. One *was dressed'in
black, and had on an ordinary black hat ; and the
other was attired in fustian trousers, with a dark
coat and cap. He had a rule sticking out of his
trousers pocket. He said he was a bricklayer.
The man in black did not say anything, and was
very down and still. While I was there Joseph
Lomas come in. The strangers were sober ; they
left the house before I went away. I only left
Lomas and Mr. Woodhead in the house. As
soon as the accident happened, Lomas came to
fetch me, and I helped to get the deceased
into bed. I never left him all that night and next
day, and attended him several times every day up
to his death. For a few minutes only was he sen-
sible during the first night. He raved a bit. While
he was sensible lie said the man he had struggled
with had been in the house that afternoon ; but he
never mentioned his name. When I questioned
him all he said was, " If I was to see the man again
I should know him, as he has been at the house
before." I was with Woodhead all the night be-
fore he died, and was with him'-at the time it hap-
pened. No man could have been better nursed or
attended to. When I went up stairs after the
accident I could find no blood, and nothing to lead
to anything. West and five others were in the
house when I was fetched by Woodhead. I asked
Woodhead several times who had done it, and at
last Hall said it was done in the chamber. Wood-
head said that when he saw the man in the cham-
ber he had something like a piece of iron in his
hand ; that he could remember holding the man at
the bottom of the stairs when he called for help.
He never said he was struck with the iron. He
said that the man was partly hidden by some malt
bags, and thtit as soon as he saw him he ran and
got hold of -him, saying, " I've caught you now."
Then they struggled till they got to the top of the
stairs, when they both fell down together. He said
he seized hold of the man in the chamber, and that
he never let go his hold till they got to the bottom
of the stairs ; that he remembered holding him there
while he shouted for help. It seems to me the de.
ceased was sensible when he got to the bottom, and
might have been struck then, as he became insen-
sible afterwards. I have formed no idea, except
what people talk, who the man was. I have not
seen the strangers since.
John West, framework-knitter, Bulwell, better
known as " Ginty," was next called. Having been
cautioned, he said—l have known Woodhead since
he 'came to that public-house, and I went there on
the 7th December, a little after three in the after-
noon. I went there with another young man. I
didn't know his name. I live up the kiln yard. The
man went up to Mr. J. Wilkinson's house, asked
where I lived, asking for the name of "Ginty." I
was in bed, having been fresh over night, when he
came to my house, which was at ten o'clock. I got
up and came down stairs to him. I had seen the
same man at Nottingham 12 months before, and
told him if he ever wanted to inquire for me again
he was to ask for" Ginty." We were drinking. at
Clark's, at the Bell, on the Long-row, and we slept
together one night. I did not learn his proper name,
only the nickname " Scrimsh Murf," which he told
me. I believe he has been in the Nottinghamshire
militia since that time, and has been discharged. I
never saw him again until the 7th of this month.
When I came down stairs and saw him he said he
had come from Mansfield that morning. He said to
my wife, " You don't know." She said, " No, I don't.'
I said, " How are you?" and he said, " How are
you?" I invited him to breakfast with me, but he
said he had had it at the place where he started
from. He didn't tell me what he came for, and I
didn'tknow ; how should I ? I proposed we should go
out and have a pint of ale. We both left the house.
My friend had on a blue pilot jacket, very white or
light coloured corduroy trousers, and a very big
white coloured neckcloth, a black cloth cap, and a
pair of buttoned-up boots. We left my house at
about 20 minutes after ten, and went to Geo. Wil.
kinson's public house. When we had had several
pints of ale, George Wilkinson, the landlord, came
in, and Scrimshaw said, " This is the first man I
saw, and I inquired of him where you lived." We
were in Wilkinson's house four hours,. as near as I
can speak. We went from there to Woodhead's
house. It was 20 minutes after three. We had one
pint of ale, and did not stop more than half an hour.
We were in the tap room, and Woodhead saw the
man. Thomas Osborne, the fiddler, was there.
While we were at the house, Woodhead said, " Hall
and your master has been here, and has gone down
to Pollard's." Osborne, Scrimshaw, and myself then
went to John Pollard's beer house. There were five
or six of us, and we might have five pints more ale
amongst us. We went in there about four, and came
out about dusk, just as they were lighting up. Os-
borne would not go with us, but said he would go
to tea, and he left us lid. I and Scrimshaw went to
Brocklehose's, and got some collared head, and one
pint of ale. We soon after parted, and I saw no-
thing more of him. I went home then, and saw
Samuel Hall, who works with me. I asked him to
lend me some money, but he did not, and we came
to Woodhead's, where we had some ale. I found at
the house Woodhead and Joseph Lomas. We stayed
there till after the accident. Osborne, Lane, and
Read came in while we were drinking. I sang one
verse of a song, and asked]Lomas to finish it, but
there was no more said nor done. I went out twice
while I was there. I wasn't drunk nor fresh, but
had no idea what time of the night it was. The door
was shut when I went out, and I closed it after me.
It makes a noise as hard as a gun. I did not see any
one about, or speak to any one, that I remember. It
was possible I might, but I don't recollect it. lam
sure I did not see Scrimshaw about, or speak to him.
I shut the door after me. I never heard it open
after I went in. I think it would be about a quarter
of an hour afterwards that Woodhead met with the
accident. A man named Hollingworth came and
asked for a can of ale, and Woodhead went out to
fetch it. He did not take a candle out of the tap=
room. He was going to have sung " Daniel AN:dime,"
but he wished to wait for the fiddler to come, and
he asked me to sing my song ; and just as I was
finishing the verse Hollingworth came in, and
Woodhead went out to fetch his can of ale. I be-
lieve Woodhead, after going out of the room, went
into the bar to fetch a candle. I then heard him go
up stairs, and at the top I heard him say, " Here,
here, I've got him." He shouted out quite loud, so
that everybody in the taproom could hear him, I
think. Hollingworth rushed out into the passage,
which he reached in a moment, as lie sat near the
door. All of us ran ' • I got out second, and shouted,
" Where's Woodhead ?" for I could not see any one.
The passage was quite dark. I did not see any one
rush out of the passage to the front door. I ran
towards the front door, and if anybody had been
going along at the time I must have seen him.
After some further evidence had been adduced,
the coroner summed up,' and the jury returned a
verdict of wilful murder against some person or
persons unknown.—Nottingham Journal.

LA TV INTELLIGENCE.—Dec. 31.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.
(Before Mr. Commissioner Pane.)
IN RE WALTON AND WALTON.

The hearing of this case was resumed, by ad-
j ournment, from yesterday.
Mr. Lawrance addressed the court on behalf of
William Walton. It was to be observed that,
throughout this prolonged inquiry, there had not
been the slightest imputation of fraud against the
Messrs. Walton. All that was said was that they
had kept their books negligently. This was dis-
proved by the books themselves, and, but for the
one-sided report made by the accountant employed
by certain creditors, there would have been no
attempt to impeach the accuracy of the books.
Every transaction was faithfully recorded. The
charge had been made solely to injure the
bankrupts with the public ; and the offi-
cial, assignee had reported that there was
no ground for several of the charges that
had been made, and that the books had been well
and sufficiently kept. Much had been said about
the transfer of an item of '.E2,360 from one account
to another ; but, not only the court and the offiical
assignee, even Mr. Sargood himself had at length
admitted that there was nothing in that item.
Equally satisfactory explanations had been given
of other entries—as the one relating to Taplock—
which had only been questioned because they were
not understood. There was no pretence for saying
that those entries were made in order to deceive the
creditors ; the charges of " tampering with the
books," "making them square," and so on, were all
" sound and fury, signifying nothing." One charge
was most unfairly brought against the bankrupts,
that of dealing in accommodation bills, and a trans-
action with Phillips was fastened on as proving it.
The real facts appeared to be that Phillips had bor-
rowed £250 of Messrs. Walton, for which a bill
was given, and afterwards renewed. Phillips had
then become liable for Messrs. Walton, and they,
in order to give him a claim against the estate, had
made a memorandum in their bill-book, admitting
their liability. There was no attempt at conceal-
ment in this ; the transaction was perfectly open—
so open as to challenge inquiry ; and, as the debt
was a debt of honour, the bankrupts had acted most
properly in doing what they had done. The trans-
actions with Messrs. Barned and Co., and Messrs.
Oxley and Co., were wholly unimpeachable. They
rested on the very A B C of the bankrupt law—
that where bills were accepted against goods, the
holder.of the bills was entitled to those goods. The
bankrupts had in no instance accepted bills for
anything but value, and the name of Mr. De Mattos
had been moo_t improperly dragged into the case,
as though he had been assisting the bankrupts in
what was vulgarly called " kite-flying." The trans-
actions with Mr. Gibson had been the subject of
much inquiry, and if the court looked only to the
facts that had been elicited, and to the bankrupts'
books, it must come to the conclusion that these
transactions were perfectly regular and mercantile.
It was said that the bankrupts had used Gibson as a
mere puppet and cat's-paw, and that they had thus
been involvedin a large loss. The purchase of the two
vessels by Gibson took place as early as 1848, he then
having advanced upwards of £3,000 towards the
purchase money. Mr. Walton, sen., was then in
high credit, and had not the slightest difficulty in
raising £lO,OOO, if necessary. The speculation was
not one &hors his business, but was perfectly legi-
timate and in connection with his business of a
ship broker. That the undertaking resulted in a
loss did not impeach its bona fides. It was said
that the bills given by Gibson were accommodation
bills, but there was no pretence for the allegation.
Even if the bankrupts had obtained accommoda-
tion bills to be given in their favour, that would be
no offence, as their estate would have had the benefit
of it. This had at length been admitted by the
learned counsel who opposed. But why, then, make
so much fuss about it? Why drag before the court
names like that of Mr. De Mattos (who stood in the
very highest position in the City) when these men
could not be heard in their own defence ? It was
said that the bfinkrupts had had bill transactions
with Gibson to the extent of .£16,000. When the
Messrs. Walton first heard that they were aghast ;
but it turned out that this sum was arrived at by
adding together all the successive bills.
The Commissioner—A single bill for £l,OOO
renewed sixteen times might produce that result.
Mr. Lawrance proceeded to discuss the circum-
stances connected with the purchase and sale of the
Sarah Sands. Had the purchase been made by the
bankrupts alone it would have been a most impro-
vident act, but it was on the joint account of them-
selves and Messrs. Lloyd, Bielby, and Co., who
were eminent merchants and shipowners. Those
gentlemen were joint owners throughout; and had
not the bankrupts sold their moiety, the assignees
could not have dealt with it until they had dis-
charged all the liabilities which might exist as
between the bankrupts and Messrs. Lloyd.
The Commissioner—Do you mean to say that no
injury has arisen to the creditors from the bank-
rupts selling their moiety ?
Mr. Lawrence contended that that was so.
Mr. A. Turner said that the debts of the Sarah
Sands had come upon the estate.
Mr. Barker, one of the assignees, said this was
not the case.
Mr. Linklater stated that Messrs. Lloyd, Bielby,
and Co., had paid in all upon this vessel £27,000,
and had only got back £22,000, including £12,000
the insurance on the vessel.
Mr. Lawrance said that the whole of the pur-
chase-money, except £5OO, had been supplied by
Messrs. Lloyd, Bielby, and Co. Even had the pur-
chase been made by the bankrupts on their own
account, it would not have been improvident, for
the ship was then under charter to the East India
Company for the conveyance of troops. From this
adventure a very large profit would have been de-
rived, had it not been for the unfortunate destruc-
tion of that :hip by fire. Before this occurred, the
bankrupts had determined on getting rid of their
share of the risk, and had parted with their moiety
of the vessel at a loss of £l,lOO.
The Commissioner—Why should they have sub-
mitted to that loss ?
Mr. Lawrance said the Sarah Sands had been
beaten in sailing by other vessels, whereby her
value had been depreciated, and she had lost her
chance, by her late arrival at the Cape, of obtaining
a return cargo from India. This induced Messrs.
Walton to dispose of their inf.- •est on the best terms
they could get. Objection ..ad been taken to the
mode in which the bankrupts had dealt with the
proceeds of their moiety of the ship—Xs,soo ; it
was said that they had retired certain bills not then
due. What was the fact ? The bills of Broadwood
and Barclay had been taken up six weeks before
the sale of the Sarah Sands. The allegation was
now withdrawn—after the charge had done its work
by being published in the papers of that morning.
After the withdrawal'of these bills from the Bank
of England, the bankrupts had received and .paid
in the ordinary course of their business £47,422,
and of this sum £19,612 had passed through their
hands in the last three weeks of their trading. In
the course of the year 1857, their receipts and pay-
ments had amounted to £323,309, and in one month,
July, to £40,000. This was not an exceptional
year, but a fair average of their transactions.
After discussing the payments to Beach and
others, Mr. Lawrance complained of the un-
founded charges that - had been made againo
the bankrupts, who had borne an unblemished
reputation during the whole of their commercial
career. It was said that the underwriters were
aggrieved creditors, but the total amount due to
those gentlemen was only in respect of the current
year, and, for the four preceding years, the bank-
rupts had paid upwards of £BO,OOO in Lloyd's room.
If the underwriters chose to give a twelvemonth's
credit they must take the consequence: The amount
now due to them was not larger than it had been at
the death of the bankrupt's father, and at former
periods. The character of the bankrupts' trading
ought not to be judged by its result ; it was of a
speculative nature. The father had been in busi

dess for forty years. and had carried it on without
blemish ; and his name was known and respected in
every port in the world. His property was sworn
under £50,000; up to his death he believed himself
perfectly solvent; and his sons expected that they
were left in• a position of affluence. Still they che-
rished the most affectionate reverence for the me-

mory of their father, and imputed nothing reckless
in his trading. His executors had been called on to

contribute along with other shareholders to the
payment of the debts of the. Royal British Bank ;
and the contribution asked from themwas £20,000.
In the full belief that they had succeeded to a lucra-
tive business the bankrupts carried it on. How
then were they chargeable with reckless trading ?
Mr. W. Walton had gone out to Australia with a
view to get.in a large debt ; he did not return till
the end of 185 G; and in the year 1857, so great was
the depreciation of shipping property, that it was
perfectly ruinous. Ships were now lying rotting in
the docks, and it was impossible to get freights.
The Commissioner—l suppose you say that 1857
was the annus mirabilis ?

Mr. Lawrence said that was certainly the case
with regard to the shipping interest. The bank-
rupts had been ruined—he would not say by the
prostration, but by the utter collapse of that inte-
rest. Their expenditure had been within the
smallest possible limits ; the failure was wholly
attributable to unavoidable loss and misfortune.
The class of certificate ought not to depend on the
amount of assets. Such a doctrine would yield to
.the greatest abuse. It might be said that the bank-
rupts had gone on too long; but at what pe-
riod could they have stopped with greater advan-
tage to the estate ? If they had been guilty of an

error, it had been amply atoned for by their subse-
quent conduct in the _twelve months which had
passed since their failure. They had at once placed
their affairs under inspection, Mr. Swann being one
of the inspectors ; and they had since been most
actively engaged in realising their estate. Notwith-
standing the grave charges made against them, up
to that hour they had had no opportunity of answer-
ing them, and of showing that they had done
nothing to forfeit that unblemished name which
they had inherited from their father.

Sir. Linklater (on behalf of Charles Walton) said
it was only necessary for him to trouble the court
on a few points, which Mr. Lawrancc had charitably
left open for him. (A laugh.) But for the course
taken by Mr. Sargood, the advocates for the bank-
rupts were willing to have left the case with the
court as it stood upon the evidence ; for the whole
of the charges urged against the bankrupts had
been explained and answered by that evidence.
While the examinations were going on, the court
had several times expressed the opinion that the
matters inquired into had nothing whatever to do
with the question of certificate. Yet all these
charges were now renewed, after an interval of two
months, although the judgment of the court had
been in effect pronounced upon them, and a compli-
ment paid to the bankrupts for the clear manner in
which they had explained all their transactions.
The leader of the opposition, Mr. Swann, an under-
writer, had fully investigated the bankrupts' trans-
actions with regard to the Sarah Sands on the
failure taking place ; and the committee then ap-
pointed had reported that there did not appear to
be any reason for impeaching the sale of the second
moiety of the ship, although they were of opinion
that the bankrupts ought to have called together
their creditors before making the sale. The com-
mittee was of opinion that a composition of 4s. in
the pound ought to be accepted from the bank-
rupts. Ultimately an agreement of 3s. in the
pound was come to, and Mr. Swann was
one of the first to sign, that agreement. Every-
thing was then before the creditors ; they
knew that the transaction was a joint one ;
and, if they had chosen to do so, they might
have prevented the transfer of the second moiety
to Messrs. Lloyd, Bielby, and Co., for it was not
then registered. But they thought the transaction
so fair and reasonable that they deterinined on
carrying it out by accepting, the composition.
Nearly all the creditors had signed the deed; but
owing to the delay in carrying it out, Messrs.
Walton had been advised to come to that court; in
the full confidence that they would receive first-
class certificates. It was much too late now for
Mr. Swann to complain ; he had not been heard
of from January till September, when the bank-
rupts passed their examination. It was a waste
of words to answer charges which had so little
foundation in fact. The course of business with
underwriters was only to have yearly settlement
with the brokers; there was, therefore, nothing of
a fiduciary character in these payments by the
brokers. At the "death of their father the bank-
rupts had a confident belief in his solvency, and
allowed the executors to withdraw from time to
time portions of the assets of the firm. It turned
out that they had overdrawn to the extent of
£4,000; and the estate was now in Chancery, in
hopeless confusion. Mr. Walton, sen., had been
managing director of the Royal British Bank-up
to two years before his death, though he was not
connected with its irregularities. The executors
sold his shares, but had not transferred them when
the bank failed, and this led to immense litigation.
The result was, that Messrs. Walton were wholly
unable to understand the position of their father's
estate ; and it was impossible for them to have
said at any precise period that they ought to have
stopped then. Their assets had gradually fallen
off, by one loss depreciation, after another. The
father's capital of £21,000 was the result of a
balance of much larger figures. It was said that
Gibson had been put forward by Mr. Walton, sen.,
as a means of obtaining possession of ships. Why,
at that very time Mr. Walton, sen., had 14 ships
standing in his own name; worth at least £50,000,
and he could have discount to any amount at the
Bank of England. This inquiry had been kept
up, in the most persecuting spirit, for the last two
months ; and the bankrupts hoped now to receive
the judgment of the court, as all the facts were
fully before it.
The-Commissioner--They shall not be kept long
in suspense. I shall think it necessary to go
through the shorthand writer's notes of the
evidence, and I will then give my judgment.