The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-10 00:00:00

THE CHARGE OF POISONING AT
POPLAR..

Yesterday George Frederick Royal, alias Rey-
nolds, alias Rignold, was brought up on remand,
before Mr. Selfe, at the Thames Police-court,
charged with the wilful murder of Zipporah
Wright, a young woman with whom he cohabited,
in June last, in Gough-street, Poplar.
The evidence already given being fresh in our
readers' minds, needs no repetition. The first wit-
ness called yesterday was the deceased's mother,
who was much agitated during the time she was
giving her evidence, and had frequently to pause
for the purpose of overcoming her feelings.
Mrs. Jane Wright, residing at No. 68, Anne's-
road, Bow-common, said the deceased Zipporah
Wright, was her daughter, and was 21 years of
age on the day her baby was born, on the 27th of
April last. She was aware her daughter was liv-
ing with the, prisoner, and thought she was mar-
ried to him about 14 months ago. Her daughter
went to live with the prisoner's sister as a servant
of all work. On the 30th of May witness was sent
for to see her daughter, and found her in bed very
ill and suffering great pain. The prisoner was in
the room, and walked out when witness entered.
She went after him, seized him by the collar of his
coat and brought him back, and said to him that
Mrs. Allen had said her (witness's) daughter had
been poisoned—that she thought he had done it—
but she did not recollect what answer he made to
the charge. The prisoner willingly offered to
accompany her to the doctor. Witness went to Mr.
Webb, the surgeon. After she had seen him, she
said to the prisoner, " George, perhaps I have been
too hasty ; do you think my daughter has taken
anything herself." He said, " No, I think not. I
used to keep poison to polish my work, but I have
not had any a long time by me." Witness remained
with her daughter till one o'clock, who was in bed
all the time, labouring under continual thirst, vio-
lent purging, and a burning sensation in her throat.
The prisoner mentioned something about damp
stockings, and that his wife caught cold by wear-
ing them. He appeared very kind and attentive to
deceased. On Wednesday morning, the Ist of June,
witness called again, and found her daughter sit-
ting upin bed. She appeared to be somewhat better.
The prisoner was having his breakfast. The de-
ceased had bread and milk. She was very feverish,
and complained of thirst. Witness remained with
her all day and night. The thirst did not abate at
all. Witness asked her if she had taken anything
herself, and she most solemnly declar,d s
had
not. She also said the prisoner had given her some
coffee. Between 3 and 4 o'clock on Thursday morn-
ing deceased appeared much better. During the
night witness gave her powders and medicine pre-
scribed for her, and the prisoner made the remark,
Yc-a will do now." Witness left about 5 on
Thursday morning, as she seemed inclined to sleep.
Between 3 and 4 in the afternoon witness called again
when deceased appeared much worse, and in great
agony, the prisoner being, she thought, present.
Witness observed to her daughter, " You are much
worse, my dear ; to which she replied, " Yes, mother,
been ding, ad." When I asked her what she had
. she answered, " Only a cup of milk."
In the evening the prisoner seated himself at the
foot of the bed and smoked his pipe. Mrs. Allen
came into the room and called him out. He went
into Mrs. Allen's parlour. Witness followed and
said to him " You have murdered my child." He
said " I have not given her anything ;" to which
she replied, " How well I left her this morning, and
see the state she is in now." The prisoner, in re-
"
ply, said, " Yes, wasn't she well this morning ?
About 5 o'clock on Friday morning the prisoner
came into the room, looked at deceased, and asked
how she was. She said, " I am very bad," and
asked him if he was going to work. He said,
" Yes ; as soon as you are up." He then packed
up his tools, kissed deceased, and went away. As
he was leaving the room deceased said, " Oh, George,
George ; this will be the last of me." He then left
the house, and did not return. Witness has not
seen him since until this day. Witness adminis-
tered to deceased arrowroot and milk from the
Thursday evening, and barleywater which was pre-
pared by her and Mrs. Allen. After the prisoner
had packed up his tools and left the house her
daughter said, " God forgive that wicked man !"
and witness said to her, " The doctors have done all
they could for you ; you are now in the hands of
God." Her agony was very great. She could
scarcely utter a syllable; her sufferings were be-
yond description, and she could not say any more
than " God forgive him !" Witness remained with
her up to the time of her death, which occurred at
2 o'clock on Saturday morning. Witness further
said the sickness of her daughter was dreadful ; she
suffered from pains in her stomach and spasms. She
had not a moment's peace. Her daughter's child
was under the care of witness for several weeks
after the death of its mother. The child has since
died. The deceased suckled her child from the time
of its birth until Thursday, the 2d of June. On
that day the child was much convulsed in its hands
and feet.
Elizabeth Fyfe, wife of John Fyfe, a baker, said
she was living at No. 11, Pool-place, Tothill-fields,
Westminster. On Tuesday, the last day of May,
about 12 o'clock at noon, she went to seek her hus-
band at the dwelling-house of Mr. and Mrs. Allen,
in Gough-street, Poplar. She found the deceased
very ill, and the prisoner said, " I must make her
some gruel," and he made her some in a basin. He
took the gruel to her himself. Cannot say whether
she partook of it. He went into the room and came
out again. Witness took her three or four cups of
tea, which she drank, and said, " God bless you!
that stops on my stomach, but what he gives me I
bring up again directly." She had a motion which
was of a greenish colour. Witness noticed some
gruel which was of a greenish colour she put it in
the hog-tub. In the afternoon the prisoner came in,
and witness said to him, " Your wife is very ill, and
the second relapse is worse than the first.' His an-
swer was that it was "a d— bad job it did not
happen at the time," by which witness understood
him to mean the time of his wife's confinement.
Witness said nothing in reply, but held the baby
to deceased to have it dressed, and the deceased said
she had no milk for it. She also observed that "her
sufferings were very great, and that her throat
burnt her." The prisoner heard that remark. The
vomit was of a greenish colour, like the gruel.
Mr. R. Smith, surgeon, Cobham, Surrey, said he
was, in May last, in partnership with Mr. Webb,
medical officer of the Poplar Union. On the 31st of
May, between six and seven in the evening, he re-
ceived an order to attend the deceased. She was in
bed, suffering extreme pain all over the bowels and
stomach, dryness in the throat and mouth, tongue
very dry and red, with profuse diarrhoea and great
tendency to vomiting, which the people in the house
told him had ceased for a few hours. All the matter
vomited was thrown away. He asked to see it, and
, was told what had been done with it. There was a
great dryness about the mouth, but not amounting
to blistering. He gave her 21 grains of calomel,
and 14 grain of opium to be taken immediately, fol-
lowed by a chalk mixture. The medicine was given
- to Mrs. Stubbs. Witness supposed her to be suffer-
ing from a volent attack of diarrhoea, which might
arise from various causes. He saw her again the
same night, having heard as he left the house some
unfair treatment had been used towards her. That
was mentioned by Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Stubbs.
When witness and Mr. Webb called in the evening,
Mr. Webb approved his treatment of the case. The
deceased was then in great agony. There was per-
spiration on the forehead, and her countenance de-
noted the greatest pain. He saw her the next morn-
ing between 9 and 10, and found her much relieved.
The prisoner was present. Her tongue and mouth
were not so dry. Still she complained of great pain
in her throat right down to her stomach. There was
no sickness on the Wednesday. At that time the
pain had diminished. Witness saw her again the
next day. On the previous day (Wednesday) when
he saw her, he thought she was better. On Friday,
the 3d of May, the day before she died, he saw her
with Mr. Webb. There was a great change in her,
and Mr. Webb thought she was dying. There were
symptoms of peritonitis on the Friday. Witness
was present at thepost. mortem examination of the
body by Mir,.
Webb, The stomach and agreed with him in the re-
sults.was removed. A portion of the
intestines, a large piece of the liver and kidney,
with a piece of the lung, were also removed, and
were placed in four separate bottles which were
taken care of by Mr. W •He should,ebb'
the post mortem examinations apart from
and ehymical analysis,
certify that peritonitis and diarrhoea were the cause
of death. After the post mortem examination he
should not come to the same conclusion alone. He
should say also, from inflammation of the intestines.
He saw no signs of any venereal disease,having
existed.
Mr. Robert Webb, of No. 1, Manor-place, s?,• —as
India-road, surgeon, first saw the deceased on the
night of Tuesday, the 31st April, in consequence of an
order from Mr. Jeffrey. Mr. Smith accompanied him.
The deceased had cold perspirations, and the abdo-
men was very tender on pressure; She stated that
she was perfectly well up to the previous evening,
when, soon after partaking of some coffee prepared
by her husband, she felt great pain and heat in her
throat, and a burning sensation in her stomaed,
ch.
After some time she vomited and was purg
which continued up to the middle of the day (Wed-
nesday.) She had had some brandy given to her,
which did not relieve her. She did not say who
gave her the brandy. Witness gave directions that
she should have milk and farinacious food. Mr.
Smith told witness what he had prescribed for her.
Witness desired it to be continued. He thought
at the time that it might be a bad case of English
cholera. There was an absence of some of the
symptoms ordinarily attending the administration

of irritant poison, which made him think it was a
bad case of English cholera, which was prevalent at
that time. The symptoms absent were cramp in
the legs. Arsenic was the poison that first crossed
his mind as possible. Witness did not see any eva-
cuations. On the Thursday he again saw the
patient, and found her much worse. She then said
she had taken some milk, and that she afterwards
had the burning sensations in her throat. On the
afternoon of Wednesday the prisoner came to him
with Mrs. Allen, the landlady, and stated that he
wished to speak to witness privately. Witness
took him into the surgery ; when he told witness
his wife had been suffering from the venereal dis-
ease for about two years, and witness observed that
could not account for the symptoms, and that they
were either the result of cold or some irritant poison.
He then said she went out on Monday, and put on
a pair of wet stockings. On the Thursday the de-
ceased's mother brought witness some vomited mat-
ter. He put it in a bottle.and sent it to Dr. Letheby.
Witness found on the Thursday that all the burning
symptoms had returned, and then added calomel,
opium, and external applications of turpentine.
She was evidently sinking, and he told the persons
in the room she would not live. Witness asked her
after she was in danger why she took the coffee on
Monday night. She replied, "Because there was
nothing else in the house to take." Witness would
have declined to certify the cause of death before
the post mortem examination, if he had been
called upon to do so. Witness made an examina-
tion of the body on the Monday morning in the de-
ceased's room. The appearances were as follow :
The abdomen was much disturbed with gas. A
quantity of coloured fluid was escaping from the
mouth and nostrils. The rigidity of the muscles had
passed away. The stomach was much disturbed, and
in it was a reddish fluid. The contents witness set
aside in a bottle from four to six ounces in size.
The lining membrane was highly congested. The
small intestines were much inflamed, and a portion
about two feet from the stomach more intensely so
than elsewhere. Several parts of the lining mem-
brane had blistered. The intestines were empty,
with the exception that there were five or six seeds.
The liver and kidney and other organs were healthy
Witness set aside the stomach and its contents, the
small intestines, a portion of the kidney, and the
lungs which in a few days after he gave to Dr.
Letheby. Inflammation of the intestines, and also
inflammation of the peritoneum, were the cause of
death. Witness was present when Dr. Letheby
made his examination and analysis, and agreed with
him in his conclusions. Apart from that analysis,
witness imagined that the inflammation of the in-
testines was caused by the administration of some
irritant medicine the nature of which he could not
plainly see. Inflammation of the intestines arose
from other causes ; but in that case the lining mem-
brane would have a different appearance. Witness
was not aware of any poisons used by shoemakers
except oxalic acid. The symptoms that he saw were
nothing at all like oxalic acid, or the effects of ox-
alic acid. He believed, after the examination by
Dr. Letheby, that either cantharides, savin, or col-
chicum had been taken. The symptomslooked more
like the effects of cantharides. He could not, how-
ever, positively undertake to say what was the irri-
tant medicine, Cantharides are sold in the form of
paste, or as Spanish flies, or as a tincture.
Dr. Henry Letheby, Professor of Chemistry, Che-
mical Lecturer at the London Hospital, and Medi-
cal Officer of Health of the City of London, said—
On Wednesday, the Bth of June, I received from
Mr. Webb four bottles. One had a human stomach
and two pieces of the small intestines. A
second bottle had a piece of liver, a piece of kidney,
and a piece of lung. A third bottle contained a
liquid, and was marked " Matter vomited by Zip-
porah Royal." A fourth bottle contained a liquid,
the contents of the stomach, and two feet of the in-
tines. The stomach was open and emptied. I
observed that the inner coat of it was covered with
a dark red brown liquid or mucus. The stomach
was found to be inflamed upon the mucus being re-
moved and everywhere softened. There was a spot
where the mucous membrane was entirely destroyed.
A portion of the mucus was carefully examined
under the microscope without being able to disco-
ver anything but altered blood. I then submitted
the stomach to analysis for mineral poisons and
found only a small portion of mercury, which I
produce. I think that may have been the result
of the calomel spoken of by the last witness. There
was no trace of any other mineral. I then searched
for some organic poison, and obtained from an alco-
holic solution of the stomach a small quantity of
oily-looking matter, which I found by experiment
was a very powerful irritant, for on applying it to
the corner of my mouth it produced intense burn-
ing pain and great swelling of the lips.. The irri-
tation was followed by the appearance of small
vesicles, or something like a blister. This irritation
lasted for many days. I next examined the con-
tents of the second bottle, which contained pieces
of the liver, kidney, and lungs. I did not find any
poison whatever in them. I next examined the
matter which had been vomited. It amounted in
quantity to 40z., and had the appearance of curds
and whey, stained with a greenish yellow colour.
I found it was coagulated milk, stained with the
colouring matter of bile. The curd yielded traces
of mercury and nothing else, and the clear liquid
had the same kind of acid matter as that which
prevailed in the stomach. I lastly examined the
contents of the stomach. The quantity was two
fluid ounces. It was of a dark red brown colour,
and had the consistence of thick gruel. It was
very alkaline to the test paper, and consisted
almost entirely of altered blood. I searched
carefully for solid matter, and found only small
pieces of vegetable tissue like orange tissue. I also
found some small seeds, which I have ascertained
are seeds from black currant jelly. I found no
traces of cantharides, nor anything else of a solid
character. I examined them for an organic poison,
and obtained the same kind of acrid matter, which
produced the same irritoting effect on the other side
of my mouth. I then searched fer mineral poison,
and found nothing but mercury. My opinion from
this examination was, that some irritant had been
glministered, the nature of which I could not pre-
cisely identify. I therefore requested the coroner
to have an exhumation of the body for the purpose
of fuyther examination. On Tuesday, the 21st of
June, Mr. Webb brought to the laboratory a large
bottle containing portions of the intestines, the
spleen and the bladder of the deceased. Another
bottle I also received, which contained portions of
the liver and lungs. I examined six pieces of in-
testines, the spleen, bladder, uterus, and kidney.
The intestines had been opened along the whole
length. They were covered with the same kind of
red brown mucus which I have taken from the sto-
mach. The intestines were much inflamed. I
searched carefully for solid particles, and found
nothing but black currant seed. I then analysed
for organic poison, and found the same kind of acrid
matter as was found in the stomach. Not being
able to identify the nature of it chemically, I tried
the effect of it on a guinea-pig. The coloured mat-
ter amounted to four grains only. It killed the
animal in 10 minutes, as I thought, by producing
spasms at the entrance of the windpipe. I then
removed the stomach and oesophagus from the
guinea-pig, and again extracted the poison, and
tried its effects on three sparrows. The first was
killed in four minutes, the second between four and
five minutes, and the third, which I treated a little
differently. died in three days ; I treated it diffe-
rently as an experiment. I dropped the poison
into the mouths of the first and second birds,
and added a little treacle and water in the
poison I gave the third bird. The total quan-
tity extracted from the stomach and in-
testines amounted to about four drops. I
have made a great many experiments with vege-
table matter in order to endeavour to arrive at the
nature of this matter, but have not succeeded. I
have no doubt it is capable of producing the effects
mentioned in this case. Having seen three birds
killed by it, and a guinea-pig also killed, and feel-
ing myself the effects of it, I have no doubt but
that it is a poison, and that it would produce the
symptoms and the effects in the stomach that have
been described by Mr. Webb and Mr. Smith. It
is like Croton oil, or white hellebore. It is different
from cantharides. A, mixture of the two, I mean
Croton oil and white hellebore, would exactly pro-
duce the effect I have described. Uphoribum has
also a somewhat similar effect. From the symptoms
before death, the appearances and the results of
the chymical analysis, and the experiments made
on myself and on birds and animals, 1 am of
opinion there was present a powerful irritant
taken by the deceased, and it was the cause of her
death. That powerful irritant must have been
taken by the deceased, and could not have been
spontaneously generated in the system.
Police-sergeant. Nnnn, No. 12 K, had ascertained
that the prisoner was a married man, and that he
had left his wife and two children four years ago.
Royal's wife was in court. •
Police-sergeant Best, No. 21 K, proved the ap-
prehension of the prisoner on the afternoon of Mon-
day, the 29th of August last, at the house of Mr.
em-
ployed there
ybdenh and shoe maker, in High-street,
Upper
evec:i. since Friday, the 3d of June,
am. The prisoner had bten em-
name of FrederiVics
when he ab,cencl
from Poplar,
The prisoner Poplar, and assumed the
a fortnight after he entered Mr.
com-
mencedvant gir payingl
about addresses to his master's ser-
e second clerk, read the evidence
Clemwrl.oßwo'swederievri,ceth.
the usual cau-
to the prisoner, who, after receiving
tion, was asked if he would make any defence.
The prisoner, in a firm manner, said he ew.ould
reserve bis defence for his trial.
Mr. Selfe--I commit you to take your trial at the
Old Bailey on a charge of wilful murder.