The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-15 00:00:00

THE SUICIDES IN NE WGATE.

On Saturday two inquests were held in one of the pri-
soners' dining-rooms in Netvga!e by Mr. W. J, Payne,
deputy coroner, and a jury of 23 citizens. The first
was on the body of Daniel Blackstaff Donovan, aged 33,
au expugilist; the second on the body of Walter Watts,
also aged 33, r(cently clerk in the Globe Insurance-
office, and formerly lessee of the Marylebone and Olympic
Theatres. On Friday Donovan was tried at the Central
Criminal Court and sentence of death recorded against
him; and the earns day the deceased Watts was brought
up for judgment and sentenced to ten years' transports-
din]. The following evidence will show the nature of
their offences and the circumstances of their self. ch-
struction:—

Mr. Under-Sheriff Millard and Mr. David Wire were
present during the two investigations.
Mr. W. Cope examined—l am governor of this prison,
and deceased's name was Daniel Blackstaff Donovan. He
came in on the Ist of July. He was charged with wound-
ing and throwing out of a window of a certain dwelling-
house Anne Donovan, with the intent to kill end murder
her. He was tried on Friday morning before Mr.
Baron Alderson at the Central Criminal Court,
convicted, - and sentence of death recorded
against him. I did not see him after the
sentence, as I was on business at the Secretary of State's
office, respecting the removal of prisoners to Milbank
prison. The first body that the jury has visited is his.
His age is 33, and he described himself as being a smith.
On his admission he appeared very well. I saw bim yes-
terday morning before his trial, and saw him every day
during his imprisonment. I did not observe anything at
all particular in his manner. He was a man of violent
temper generally. I used to have him out of his cell to '
work, and if anything was said to him ho would turn
sulky and abuse me dreadfully. After such a eentence
as that passed on deceased a prisoner is taken into such
a cell as ho was in. I was not at home when this occur-
red. One of the turnkeys was left to watch over him,
but Rot in the cell with him. I did not hear of his death
until about four o'clock on my return from Milbank
prison. He was tried Soon after ten A.M. on Friday,
end Sitlt laced soon after one o'clock P.M. The turnkey
in charge of him could see into his cell through the usual
opening in the door. In my absence the deputy-governor
is left in charge of the prison. After deceased had been
put into his cell he had seen two or three officers, but no
one else.
Mr. George Wright examined.—l am deputy-
governor of Newgate. I was not present when sentence
of death was passed on Donovan. I saw him after-
wards, and was summoned from the Third Court imme-
diately the accident occurred—about 20 minutes to 3
on Friday afternoon. I went to the bath-room, where
I found him in a warm bath. had seen him frequently,
several times every day, from the time of his admission
up to his trial. On his first coming into the prison he
appeared in good health, and I never remarked anything
extraordinary in his manner. I saw him in the morn-
ing before his trial. He did not then appear different
from what he had been before. When I first saw him
in the bath he did not appear to be dead. I increased
the warmth of the bath, got more assistance, and applied
friction. Medical men were sent for. The first that ar-
rived was from St. Bartholomew's Hospital who exa-
mined and pronounced him dead.
A Juror—What are the instructions your prison
officers receive in cases of this sort?
Witness.—The instructions are general—to watch the
prisoners generally. There is no fixed time for looking
into the cells. The officers are to examine them as
often as they can.
By Mr. D. Wire—Every effort was made, as woe as
the accident was discovered, to obtain prompt medical
assistance.
By Mr. Under-Sheriff Millard—Warm baths are al-
was kept ready in the prison.
Mr. James Josiah Millard examined—l was under-
sheriff on duty yesterday in the Central Criminal Court,
and was present during the trial of deceased. The con-
duct of the prisoner was perfectly cool and collected—
remarkably so for one in his position. He cross-
examined his two children and wife, the chief witnesses
against him, and their answers seemed to make little
impression on him. He read his defence with great
care and deliberation. It was very long and seemed to
have been a ritten by himself. He was found guilty of
intent to murder, and the judge ordered sentence of
death to be recorded, with this observation—" The pri-
soner's case will be recommended to the merciful con-
sideration of her Majesty in order that his life may be
spared." After the sentence was pronounced he ap-
peared unconcerned and retired from the deck in the
dogged way he had come into it. The general rules for
the turnkeys are, that they should examine the cells at
frequent intervals, allowing no unreasonable time to
elapse between each examination. When parties are
ordered for execution two persons remain in the cell
constantly with them day and night. This is not the
case when sentence of death is only recorded.
Henry Todman (turnkey) examined—l was on duty
yesterday over the cell in which deceased was, and when
he was brought to it after trial he seemed quite col-
lected and perfectly quiet. He was dressed in the
clothes ho was tried in. His hands and feet were not
confined. It is my duty to watch in a sort of passage in
front of these cells, into which I can see. About half.
past one the deceased was brought to the cell. I locked
him in. He asked for his dinner, which I gave to him,
and ho then refused to eat it, saying he could not. He
then asked me for some water to drink. I gave it him,
and he drank it. I then went away, and came back to
him at five minutes past two. He said he should like
to see his wile, and I said he should have an opportu-
nity. He also asked me if ho could write a letter, and I
said that I must report his request to the governor, as
it is contrary to the rules to write without leave. He
was then walking backwards and forwards in his cell. I
left, and at half past two came to see him again. He
was then suspended by his haudiserchisf. I opened
the ce:l, and went in and took a knife and cut the ha,ad-
kerchief, which was round his neck and fastened to the bars
of the call windows. Ido not know whether it was a neck
or
ho must
pocketnicrumtld h
nota by ae nr dse
stood
ce
ohr
dc
ui
theipe of
bar. n
,1113 f
from
os
mb feetc theds t we
gaerdro we
ono
dff, theand
reached
ground.
t h nk
itsnai
sgkt
ead
mnt inn stthraeiginhfit.rmWeryh,en I cut him down he was a little
warm. I gave an alarm directly
it. His back was to the wall, and his hands were hang-
ing
the doctor's as-
to the bath-roomw,haondcaa'llseu'raglcidonowr•daesrseedntmfeotro.
Two gentlemen soon came, saw him, and pronounced him
dead.

Dy a Juror—When I out him down i %toed him on to

the floor, and he did not fall on to his head. Prisoners
under sentence of death are not at all fettered.
By the CORONER_ When I went round to inspect the
other cells there was no one with him jn the cell.
Timothy Donovan, 12, Bell-court, Gray's Ina-lane,
,
said, he was a blacksmith, and brother of deceased, who
always appeared in gocd health and he
(witness) never
heard him complain of pains in the head. When he got
drunk, which ho often did, he was rather abusive, but
he was a very quiet and civil man when sober. The last
time witness saw him was at the Bow-street police court.
Frederick Walthin examined—l am attendant in the
infirmary of this prison, and saw deceased after sen-
tence had bt-en passed on him. He was partly crying,
and said he was not guilty of what he had been charged
wiJl. When I was called from the infirmary to his cell
I fund him on his back on the floor, with his knees up.
I told the turnkey to remove him immediately to the
bath-room, and that I would
go immediately for the
doctor; which I did. I did not find our own doctor at
home, so I went for another, and when I came back I
found two medical gentlemen from St. Bartholomew's
Ilo,pital in attendance. When I first saw him in the
cell, atter he had been cut down, he did not appear to
me to be alive.

By a Juror—There is not always a surgeon in the
prison. I had to go to Hatton-garden for the assistant-
surgeon, but did not take a cab. Both the chief sur-
geon and the assistant-surgeon visit the prison daily.
Mr. Sewell, the a• is s' tarn-surgeon of the prison, said
he saw deceased about half-past three o'clock on Friday.
Two or three other medical men had seen him before,
and remedies had been adopted to saws him. They were
the usual and proper remedies in such cases. Did not
think if a medical man had been present at the moment
life would have been saved, as the proper remedial means
had been immediately carried into effect by the prison
officials. Deceased died from the effects of hanging.
The DEPUTY-CORONER then summed up the evidence,
and said, the points the jury had to consider were,
whether the deceased had died from hanging, and whether
he had hanged himself; and if so in what state of mind
he was at the time.
The jury consulted for a long time, and 12 of them
were of opinion that deceased ha,l hung himself whilst in
an unsound state of mind; the remaining 11 considered
that he was not. A verdict was then recorded of " Tem-
porary insanity," according to the decision of the majority.
The second inquest, on the body of Watts, was then
proceeded with.
Mr. Cope, the governor of the prison, examined—D--
ceased was brought up on the 16th of April last on two
charges,
for stealing an order for 1,4001., and a piece of
paper, value ld. He was tried at the following May
sessions of the Criminal Court, and judgment was then
respited on a pint of law. Judgment was given on
Friday morning, and the sentence was transportation for
ten years. Ido not know whether the judgment of the
Court of Criminal Appeal, which was adverse to him,
WAS made known to him until he was finally brought up
for judgment to receive sentence. His health was bad
when he first came into the prison, and he was under the
doctor's care and in the infirmary ever since. I was in
the court when the final sentence was passed on him,
and be appeared to be in pretty good spirits after he
had heard the sentence. I did not think he appeared at
all depressed. In my books he is described as a clerk,
and his age is recorded to be 33. After the sentence
had been passed he was taken back into the infirmary,
where I saw him on Friday evening. The occurrence
happened in the middle of the night, and until a quarter
to four o'clock this morning I knew nothing of it, when
I was sent for. There were four prisoners in the same
room with him, and Weldon, the infirmary assistant,
slept in a room adjoining. When I was called they told
me he had been dead for some time.
William Smith, a prisoner, examined—l was in the
infirmary last night, and I know the person who is
dead, Mr. Watts, who was also there. I have been in
the infirmary since last Tuesday, and had conversations
with deceased, who appeared in excellent spirits. I saw
him s )on after he was sentenced, and he did not appear
at all different from what he had been before. I never
heard him complain of anything being the matter with
him. I slept three beds off from him. I and he went
to bed about a quarter to nine last evening. He did not
eat much supper, but he took some medicine about five
minutes before he went to bed. Mr. Walden gave it to
him. Before he went up to the Central Criminal Court
on Wednesday morning last, he said that ho expected to
be imprisoned for twelve months. On that day he was
not sentenced, and he said the judges were not satisfied
with Mr. Justice Cresswell's decision, and that they
would write to him into the country, where that learned
judge then was, and that he (Watts) was ordered to
come up again on Friday. On that day, when be came
back to the infirmary, le said he had got transported for
tea years, but ho seemed as usual. He also said that he
had expected that sentence after what the judges had
told him on Weadnesday morning. I went to bed at
nine, and woke again at twelve o'clock list night. All was
thee quiet. I awoke again at three, and lay awake until
a quarter to four th:s morning. I then turned round in
my bed, and missed Mr. Watts, and, seeing his slippers
and boots under his bed, I then thought something
strange was the care, and being sure that he had not got
up between three o'clock and a quarter to four I sus-
pected that something was wrong. I awoke the prisoner
next to me, and communicated to him my suspicions.
He immediately jumped out of bed, and went to the
water-closet at the other end of the infirmary, and he
called for a knife, saying Mr. Watts was there hanging
quite dead and cold. I went—the other prisoner's name
was Shipton—and saw Mr. Watts there. We rang the
bell fur the officer. Deceased was hanging suspended by
a bit of cord fastened by the side of his neck from some
bars across a window, which was over and by the side of
the water-closet. The feet of the deceased were just
touching the ground and were tied together with a silk-
handkerchief. He was banging about a foot from the
seat of the water-closet. I think I could reach the bars
of the window from the ground; he was banging quite
perpendicularly, with his back to the wall and his eyes
wide open. When we called for assistance, Mr. Weldon
came with a knife and the deceased was cut down, and
Shipton took him and laid him on the floor of the in-
firmary. A doctor was sent for, although Mr. Watts was
quite dead. He was in his shirt,
with a napkin on his
chest and a locket suspended from his neck.
By a Juror—l believe the rope was cut out of the
sacking of the bedstead. It corresponded with a piece
that was wanting. All the knives are given back after
every meal, and deceased had one to cut his dinner and
supper with on Friday. I never heard him say anything
about doing away with himself—quite the other way.
He was always in full spirits, and did not appear to me
to be ill.

By Mr. t 1
vhDao
ea
wvfiiavdts
etWr .
three-quarters of an hour that I was awake deceased did
ire—l am certain that during the
t 3 tAI
tlsrp. Na
rI sAtlrue redt o
p,
rcihsioenf surgeon
he had been remanded
e widero
here. n tou the
e mwy pa rs i
notices
to h P
e,
then
andih acare
state
a t
examined—
Deceasedlltguto
him on arge
borderingbe fore he
in the habit of drinkingatille in,
ewna s
delirium b r o'acl:ltsrtertgt
at such
caused by drink. People
with
nithwith him,
are not of sound mied
mthoennsttroarteedaasaying that he had been
such times, and he asked for
him.thelrtehcurrence of a spitting of blood
some brandy when he c
donewhin ha so
affectedt to prevent quantities. When I re-
of the Compter at once,a. thatandl found
dit
ihtenetooeldssamrye htoe
givehad
him some stimuolufs,it.
imprisonment oatingdhlt
phuetwhaismtoino
tmhuecihnfierxmciatreyd
the infirmary
whole of his
inho Nw ea ws gat e daily,
who is also a surgeon.n
of
tvrtst be was accustomed to a consider
able
until
sd
death.under mlysacwarehiimn
able quantity
andHe this prison
beenp ris on
getting throughoutbetter s i thence
had taken imprisoned,medicinediminution
so did my assistant and my son,
andand hadwaa becomeahln
to
hearm ore
thec h e erf cheerful.
of the stimulus at first administered, and
spirits apparently. He was very,cheerful throughout,
ery
and very well conducted towards all. He
was con-
tinually
complaining of headaches, but said they were
diminishing, and I still thought it right to keep him in
the infirmary. He was a very excitable person, but it is
very difficult to say whether an unexpected sentence
would derange his brain or not. He frequently repeated
that he had had a great deal of difficulty about his
theatres, and in other ways.
Robert Shipton, a prisoner in the infirmary, ex-
amined—l spoke to Mr. Watts somewhere about nine
o'clock on the Friday evening. Our conversation
was about the prison rules. We went to bed
without wishing one another good ni • h g t, which
was not usual. He appeared very cheerful, as was
his custom. I went to sleep, and was awoke in the
morning, at a quarter to four o'clock, by William Smith,
who said that Mr. Watts was not iu bed nor in the
ward. I jumped up in a fright, and made the best of my
way to the water-closet, the only place I thought he could
go to. When I opened the doer I saw him hanging by
a piece of rope from the first cross bar of the window,
which i, in part over and part by the side of the seat of
the vc ater-closet. I immediately called out for a knife,
and whilst they were bringing it I took hold of his hand,
and found it quite cold and stiff. The officer brought
the knife, and I held the body. up, and he cut the rope,
and I took deceased into the infirmary. He was quite
dead, and I carried him in my arms like a piece of
timber. I have been in the infirmary five weeks, and
the knives we use at cur meals are always taken away
and put into a cupboard.
Mr. Sewell, the assistant-surgeon, said that he was
called that morning a little before four o'cleck. He came
immediately to the prison, and found deceased quite
dead, and he must have been so for two or three hours
previously. There was a mark on the neck. Deceased',
face was very wadi conge.ted, and he had been bleed-
ing from the nose, all which were symptoms of death
from hanging. Saw dtceased daily, and co .curred in
the opinion of Pr. WMurdo. Thought that the pains
in the head, of which deceased complained, were caused
by a dlscased condition of the brain, mod that was pro-
duced by hard drinking.
After a few remarks from the CORONER, the jury imme-
diately returned an unanimous verdict of " 'Temporary

insanity.'

ehecibecame
London,
,upwwh
which
establishment; th© latter
theatrical sp-culations was looked upon as a
°ruing, he would have hismost carriage
sin-
gular and somewhat extravagant person, Watts r longnls, t3ainmadecwobuhentiotn:
ye:
He kept his
townwwasas nearg no
eu
generally
lai
ygnhdct;
ia a n
and servant in waiting at the London-bridge terminus
ready w t 9 the (lobe Insurance-oface, in any

place he might wish to visit. Although he enjoyed a
good salary, it was a matter of astonishment to many
how ha could keep up such an appearance, more espe-
cially as he was in the habit of giving, on frequent oc-
casions, champagne breakfasts and other expensive en-
tertainments. Prior to taking either the Marylebone or
Olympic Theatre, he mixed freq aesitly with batting men,
and according to his own account was lucky enough to
win considerable sums of money. From what has since
transpired, there is every reason to believe tha., instead
of his gaicieg such large sums as he had represented,
he was a considerable loser by his, speculations. His de-
falcations to the Globe Insurance Company reached, it
is said, to nearly 80,0001, a small: portion of which will
have to be made good by his benfzinen.—Observer.
The career of Donovan, who was termed an ex-
pugilist, was one of great dissi ration and riot. In a
moment of bitter passion he hurled his wife oct of
window, and how she escaped immediate d eitruction
apixars marvellous. The Learned Judge before whom
he was tried, Baron Alderson—Justices Pattesma and
Talfuurd being also on the bench- -apparently took more
than his usually great pains in eli citing the facts.
The principal witnesses against Donovan were his two
children and his wife. Baron Akterson had the children
placed on a bench near him, and his Lordship, with
considerable care, questioned them as to the knowledge
of the obligation of an oath, and pointed out the awful
position of their parent, and the necessity of their telling
the truth. Donovan cross-exa mined them at some
length, as also his wife, with mutilt seriousness, with a
view of showing that she either j unaped or tumbled out
of the window. The fact was not altered, however; the
jury found him guilty, and, it be ing a capital offence,
sentence of death was recorded age dust him. Previous to
his trial he was classed with the untried prisoners;
but on leaving the dock after his condemnation he was
conveyed to one of the old condemned cells at the ex
treme north angle of the gaol. Although probably im-
proved, it continues a dismal-100 king place, being 12
feet by 10, and lighted by a win dow in the passage.
How he could have succeeded in destroying himself with-
out the watcher in the passage sewing him, if he really
was on duty, is a matter which w ill, no doubt, be in-
quired into by the Court of Aldermen.
With reference to the convict Walter Watts, there is
little doubt that the unfortunate in an was led to believe
that the circumstance of his being a partner and share-
holder in the Globe Insurance C( .repany, would be suf-
ficient in the eye of the law to f ibsolve him from the
criminal charges brought against 1 ism. On being brought
up on Wednesday morning, and h tearing the opinion of
Baron Alderson, and the result of his application to the
Court of Appeal, be prepared himself for a severe
punishment, and it is possible tF at he then made up
his mind to commit self-destruction, for the way he
accomplished his object shows thset he had meditated
it some time before he could effect it. As will be seen,
ever since his incarceration he 'clas been an inmate of
the infirmary, a comfortable wavei on the second floor,
on which are some five or six cast iron bedsteads, fitted
with sacking, and laced by ropes. The one occupied by
Watts stood next but one to the water-closet door, and
how he managed to remove the rope from the sacking of
his bed—fur it was with that he strangled himself—
without either exciting the attent ion of the warders or
his fellow-prisoners, is a mat tE r which- perplexes
all. The inference, however, is, that he must have
watched his fellow-prisoners to sleep, and then raised the
bedding, and removed the line. Tb e secure manner in
which he fastened it round the bar of the window of the
closet exhibited the determined cha meter of his purpose.
He had passed it round the bar four or five times, and
by jumping off the seat, the window being about six
feet from the ground, ended his life ina very prompt
and effective style.
No relative or friend of the dece aced convict was pre-
sent during the proceedings before I Jae coroner.—Sunday
Times.