The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-02 00:00:00

DREADFUL MURDER OF A
CLERGYMAN.

FRSMLEY, TOEDAY NIGITT.—This usually quiet
village has been thrown into a state of great alarm
and excitement during the past forty-eight hours by
the 'occurrence of a daring burglary, which has un-
fortunately terminated in the violent death of a
venerable and much respected clergyman—the Rev.
George Edward Holiest, who has held the perpetual
curacy of Frimley during the past seventeen years.
The circumstances attending the tragical event
hare been obtained from the most authentic sources.
A visit to the spat and diligent inquiries of those best
qualified to afford information' enables us to furnish
the following summary of the facts connected with
the dreadful affair :
The village of Frimley Grove is situated about one
mile and a half from the Farnborough station of the
South-Western Railway, in the centre of the hop-
country. Is consists of not more than forty or fitty
straggling houses, and the parsonage house is at its
western extremity. It is an old-fashioned brick
residence, standing in its own grounds, but not more
than 100 yards removed from other houses on either
side. The Rev. Mr. Holiest was a married man, his
household consisting of himself, his wire, a man ser-
vant, and two maid servants; and on Friday night
last his two sons, youths of fourteen and fifteen, were
at home, having arrived from school the same
afternoon. On Friday night the family re-
tired to rest at their usual hour, shortly
before eleven o'clock. Mr. and Mrs. Holiest
slept on the first floor, in a room overlooking the
lawn ; the two boys occupied an apartment on the
same floor. The man servant slept at the top of the
house, and a room adjoining formed the sleeping
apartment of the two maid servants. It appears that
it was Mr. Hollest's custom when his children were
at home, to leave the door of his bedroom ajar, in
order that he might overhear them in the event of
-their requiring anything, and be seems to have done
so on Friday last. After retiring to rest he and Mrs.
Holiest were awakened about three o'clock on Satur-

day morning by a sudden increase of light in their
apartment and a noise of footsteps. On looking up
they saw two masked figures standing at the foot of
their bed, but so little suspicion of danger had the
rev. gentleman that his first impression was that his
sons were playing him a trick, and he told them to
begone to bed and not play jokes with him at that
hour of the night. Mrs. Holiest, with a quicker
perception of danger, at once saw the truth and
screamed aloud. The miscreants instantly seized Mr.
and Mrs. Holiest, and, with pistols pointed at their
heads, declared that if they made the slightest noise
they would blow their brains out. Mrs. Holiest,
notwithstanding the imminent peril she was in,
struggled and at length succeeded in slipping out of
bed and seizing a bell rope, upon which her assailant
rushed round to the side of the bed and threw himself
upon her with such force as to snap the bell rope
asunder. The fellow continued to stand over her with
his pistol pointed to her face, and she states that she
fully expected to be shot every moment. Mr. Hol-
iest, who, although 54 years of age, was a very
strong and active man, on discovering how matters
stood, struggled with the villain who stood over him,
and at length got out of bed and was in the act of
stooping down to reach the poker from the fireplace,
when his assailant fired at him and wounded him in

the abdomen. The unfortunate gentleman was not
aware at first that he had been struck, and continued
to grapple with the fellow, endeavouring by every
means in his power to prevent his escape. The report
of the pistol at this moment appears to have alarmed
the man who was standing over Mrs. Holiest, and he
left her for a moment and joined his companion. On
finding herself released she rushed to the fireplace,
and seizing a large hand-bell, swung it to and fro
several times. This had the effect of alarming the
burglars, who almost immediately left the apartment,
and descending the staircase, ran out of the house by
the front door. Mr. Holiest, as soon as he was re-
leased from his assailant, ran into an adjoining
apartment and snatched up a gun which he always
kept loaded. Descending the staircase with the
gun in his hand, he distinctly saw three men run-
ning across the lawn, and without taking any
direct aim he fired amongst the group—as it appears,
without effect. Returning to his bedroom, he now
first discovered that he was wounded in the abdomen,
and having endeavoured to allay the fears of his wife,
he got into bed and ordered his man servant, who had
only just awoke and descended from his room, to run
for the cot stable as a protection to his family, and
then to fetch the doctor for himself. The man called
up the village constable, and then proceeded to sum-
mon Mr. Davies, the medical attendant of the family,
who resided about a mile and a half distant. On the
arrival of the constable an examination of the pre-
mises was made, and it was ascertained that an entry
had been effected at the rear of the premises through
the scullery window, the burglars having first broken
a pane of glass to enable them to open the window,
and then cut away the woodwork, into which an iron
bar was fixed. From the scullery an entrance into
the kitchen was effected by the removal of one bolt,
which appears to have been done in a very business-
like manner, indicating that the villains were no no-
vices in crime. Having once gained an entry, they
appear to have set open all the doors in the house, so
as to afford speedy egress in case of alarm or dis-
covery. The front door was propped open by a mat
and two or three other doors were found fixed on their
hinges by the insertion of knives in their crevices.
From the positive testimony of Mr. Holiest there ap-
pears to be no doubt that three men were engaged in
the attack, and the amount of property carried off
seems to corroborate the unfortunate gentleman's im-
pression. The cool determination of the men may be
gathered from the fact that within half a mile of the spot
a quantity of bread and meat with two or three half
empty bottles of wine stolen from the parsonage-
house, have been discovered. On the arrival of Mr.
Davies, the family surgeon, he found Mr. Holiest in
very good spirits, and sufficiently collected to detail
the circumstances of the attack. On an examination
of the wound, however, Mr. Davies at once formed
an unfavourable opinion, the correctness of which was
soon made manifest by the increasing pain and un-
easiness which Mr. Holiest suffered. After the first
two or three hours the pain he suffered became so in-
tense that all hope of his being able to survive was at
an end. His two brothers, who reside in the neigh-
bourhood, were sent for, and had an interview with
their afflicted relative. During Saturday the unfor-
tunate gentleman continued to grow worse, and on
Sunday, at noon, all hope of saving his life being at
an end, the fact was communicated to him. He re-
ceived the intelligence with resignation, and having
taken an affectionate leave of his family and servants
declared that he freely forgave his murderer, and that
he hoped God would forgive him. He then expressed
a desire to partake of the Sacrament, and after linger-
ing in great suffering expired in a state of unconscious
exhaustion at 20 minutes after 8 o'clock on Sunday
evening.
Intelligence of the outrage bad been forwarded to
London before its fatal termination, and Sergeant
Kendall, of the Detective force, was sent to Frimley
on Sunday night to assist the local police in investi-
gating the affair. Active exertions were made, and
the result was the apprehension, on Sunday evening,
at the Rose and Crown beershop in Guildford, of
three young men, two of whom are shown to have
been at Frimley during the past week, and one of
them is known to have had some conversation with
the deceased while endeavouring to dispose of some
earthenware dishes. The names of these men are
Hiram Smith, James Jones, and Levi Harwood.
They were all well known to the local police, as each
of them had been several times in custody. They were
brought over to Frimley this morning, and taken to
the residence of the deceased, where they were sub
mitted to examination before Captain Mangles, M.P.,
of Poyle-house, Guildford, a county magistrate. The
examination was conducted with cicsed doors, but the
result is understood to have created a strong impres-
sion of their guilt, and Mrs. holiest is almost posi-
tive as to the identity of two of them. During the
inquiry this morning the prisoners were taken into
the room where the deceased was attacked and where
his dead body was lying. The conduct of Smith
while there is said to have been very remarkable, and
indicative of familiarity with the apartment. All
three prisoners are very small men, and two of them
are scarcely five feet high. They are, nevertheless,
determined-looking men of the roughest cast of cha-
racter. At the close of the investigation the prisoners
were remanded until Friday next, instructions being
given to the police to send one man to Guilford,
another to Farnham, and the third to Godalming, in
order to prevent communication between them.
The Home Secretary has offered a reward of 1001.,
to which the family of the deceased have added 50/.,
for the discovery of the guilty persons.
The inhabitants of Farnborough and Frimley, as
well as all the surrounding villages, have testified
their respect for the deceased by closing their shops,
and but one feeling of deep regret pervades all classes.