The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-20 00:00:00

THE BUCKHURS7-HILL TRAGEDY,

A day or two ago the Registrar of the Chelmsford
County Court held a sitting for the examination of debtors
then detained in the Essex County Gaol, when, amongst
those who presented themselves for examination upon
their own petitions to be adjudicated bankrupts, was
Matilda Griggs, the young woman who, at the beginning
of last year, was the victim of what was then popularly
known as the Buckhurst-hill tragedy. The bankrupt is
only 18 years of age. The warrant explained that she was
detained in custody to satisfy a claim by the Crown of
£4O, the amount of recognisances entered into by her to
appear and prosecute her would-be assassin, and she was
arrested " by order of the Barons of the Queen's Exchequer
because she did not appear at the Central Criminal. Court
to prefer a bill of indictment, and prosecute the law with
effect against Frederick Alexander Watkins, for felony, as
she was bound to do by her recognisance." The
Registrar, after expressing a doubt as to his ability to deal
with the case, proceeded to put some questions to
the debtor which she answered to the following effect,
the leading circumstances being. no doubt, in
the recollection of our readers :—She stated that
her father is by trade a well-sinker, at Buckhurst-hill,
and he is poor in worldly circumstances. She has no
sisters, but has one brother, and until she was 16 years of
age she was in the habit of going to school with tolerable
regularity. She will not be 18 years of age until the 3rd of
April next, but when she was 16 years of age she made
the acquaintance of Frederick Alexander Watkins, and
was engaged to be married to him. About fourteen
months ago she gave birth to a child of which he was the
father, and he came regularly to see her after that time.
When the child was about three months old he called upon
her one evening, and they went out for a walk together.
In the course of their ramble they had a dispute, and he
stabbed her with a dagger in thirteen places, leaving her
for dead on the ground. In the last wound which he in-
flicted he left the dagger sticking, and she was told but for
that circumstance she must have bled to death. After
Watkins had left her she returned to consciousness, and
made her way for a few yards in the direction of home,
but was unable to proceed far. There were two calves
in the field where the attempted murder was committed,
and they followed her to the place where she fell the
second time. When she fell down the two calves
lay down one on each side of her, and their warmth
kept heat in her, or she must have died from the
cold of the night and loss of blood. She was found in that
condition on the following morning. The reason why she
did not appear to prosecute was because she thought that
without her evidence Watkins would not be convicted,
although she had deposed to the facts when it was sup-
posed she was dying. She had promised in a letter written
to Watkins after his arrest that she would remain with
his parents until he was set at liberty, and then they would
be married. She was not afraid to marry him after what
he had done to her. She could not tell why he had acted
so cruelly to her, for she had never refused to marry him,
or given him cause for jealousy. She was with his father,
who is a jeweller in London, at the time of the trial, and
she went abroad, but could not say where she went to.
Watkins was convicted of attempting to murder her, and
sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude. She had never
been a trader, nor had she carried on business of any kind,
having lived with her father all her life until this occurred.
The Registrar said that as she was not a trader he could
not deal with the petition at present, and as far as he
was concerned she would have to remaia in gaol until
March next, but she would come before him at the
February sitting, and he would then see what could be
done for her.