The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-09 00:00:00

THE COVENTRY POISONIN9 CASE.

COVENTRY, SEPT. 7.
The inquiry was resumed at St. Mary's Hall this
morning at ten o'clock, before W. S. Poole, Esq.,
coroner, and the jury empannelled.
The hall and its approaches were crowded to
excess throughout the proceedings. The prisoner
Beamish was, of course, the great object of attrac-
tion, and as he passed to and from the hall the
anxiety of the crowd to catch a glimpse of him was
strongly manifested. The door of the police-station,
from whence the prisoner could hardly by any pos-
sibility have been seen at any moment during the
day, was almost as effectually blocked up as the
entrance to the hall.

Mr. 0. Minster was again in attendance on
behalf of the Crown ; Mr. Griffin and Mr. Powell
(of Birmingham), appeared for the prisoner.
Beamish was present as on the former occasion.
John Weston, registrar of marriages for the city
of Coventry, proved the marriage of Wm. Beamish
with Betsey Stokes, on the 11th of August, 1849.
Thomas Jones said—l am landlord of the General
Wolfe, at Foleshill, which is about a mile and a
half from Coventry: I know William Beamish.
He first came to my house about six months ago.
He had a female with him whom he called
" Emma." He was most attentive to her, and I
thought he was courting her.
Jane Stokes recalled and re-examined—On the
Monday night before the deceased died, William
Beamish bought some port wine. He said his wife
wished to have some. When I went about nine
o'clock that night she was having some with a little
toasted bread in it. She drank the whole glass of
wine. I did not see that she was sick after that.
I remained an hour after she took it. Beamish told
me he gave her some more about four o'clock on the
Tuesday morning.
William Henry Beamish, a boy 11 years old, and
son of the deceased, then deposed to the family
being taken ill after breakfast, as already described.
He then said—l have seen the memorandum book
produced ; my father used to keep it in the parlour-
cupboard ; it belongs to him ; some days after we
were all taken ill he sent me to fetch that book.
(The book was the one from which the note found
in deceased's pocket is supposed to have been torn.)
I took it to him and he sat down and wrote in it.
I never saw my mother write in the book ; the cup.
board is not kept locked. I did not write the
words "Dear wife, I hope you"—but I did write
the words on the opposite side. It was after my
sister died that I saw my father write in the book.
Emma Hai per said—l am a widow. I live in
Mr. Hart's factory yard. lam sister of William
Beamish. My brother has worked in Mr. Hart's
factory yard for about a month from to=day. He
has during
.that time had his breakfast with me
every morning. He brings me coffee, and I have
made it for him.
By Mr. Powell—My brother was out of work a
long time before his employment at the factory, and
I know they were in great distress.
John Prestidge said—l live by the side of Harnall-
lane near the garden. lam foreman of the brick
company, and am bailiff of the
.gardens ; one of
them is in the occupation of Beamish, and contains
nine roods. I went for his rent; nothing was said
, about either rats or mice or other vermin. There
are 70 or 80 gardens altogether, but I have never
heard any complaints about vermin,
Joseph Nethercliff said—l live at No. 113, St.
Martin's-lane, near Charing-cross. I am fac-simi-
list to the British Museum, and lithographer for
the last 40 years. For the last 30 years I have been
employed in giving evidence in courts of laws as to
matters of handwriting. The writing of the note
of the 14th August is not, I think, in a feigned hand.
I think the note is written in the same handwriting
as the documents, only the letters are small in the
note.

No evidence for the prisoner being offered, the

Coroner proceeded to sum up with great care.
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and
after an absence of about 20 minutes returned a
verdict of wilful murder against Beamish in the
cases both of his wife and of his child. _ _

The jury appended to their verdict, in the first
instance, an expression of their opinion that the
girl Statham was aware of the poison being admi-
nistered by Beamish, and therefore was an accessory
before the fact, but by the advice of the Coroner—
who informed them that this would be tantamount
to finding a verdict of wilful murder againsther
also, which there was not sufficient evidence to jus
tify them in doing—they withdrew
por-
tion of their yerdiet, the hitter