The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-08 00:00:00

WORSHIP-STREET.

Wednesday Mrs. Martha Brassington, the school-
mistress of the Bethnal-green Union Workhouse,
was summoned before Mr. Broughton upon a charge
of having ill-treated one of the children under her
care, named Jane Kingston, ten years of age.
It appeared from the girl's statement that she had
been for a considerable period in the workhouse, of
which her parents, with four of their children besides
herself, were also inmates. She had been only three
weeks under the care of the defendant, who had
beaten her during that time on several occasions.
On the evening of the 15th of October last, after par-
taking of supper, consisting of bread and cheese, with
the rest of the children, she went into the scullery to
procure a draught of water, not having been supplied
with any at the table, when a girl named Gornder,
who was employed in wsshing up the tins, told her
that she hal no business in that apartment, and
threatened that she would report her conduct to the
mistress. The defendant soon afterwards came up
stairs, and on being made acquainted with her con-
duct, she struck her several severe blows with her
hand on the back and shoulders. The defendant
then ordered her to go down on her knees and beg her
pardon, and although she immediately did so, the
beating was afterwards renewed, and she was finally
sent to hed. On the following morning she went to
her mother, who was separated from her in another
part of the building, and acquainted her of the ill-
usage she had received.
The girl's mother stated that she was first made ac-
quainted with the facts by another child who wit-
nessed the infliction of the punishment, but whose
name she declined to mention, as the defendant had
threatened to beat her informant in a similar manner
if she could discover her. On ezamining the child's

person, she found that her back and shoulders were f
completely black and blue, and covered with bruises.
She immediately complained to Mr. Fairfield, the
master, of the ill-treatment the child had sustained,
when that person told her if it had been he instead of
the governess, he would have beaten her ten times
worse. Witness then told him that she would go be-
fore a magistrate and seek redress, and demanded her
discharge for that purpose, but the master at first re-
fused to grant it, and told her that if she did go before
a magistrate she should go in the workhouse garb,
but he ultimately allowed her to leave the house. She
requested the master, immediately after the child had
been ill-used, that he would allow it to remain with
her, but he positively refused to do so until all the
marks on her person had disappeared, when her re-
quest was complied with, and the child had been since
' excluded altogether from the school. The witness
added, that in consequence of her interference on
behalf of the child, she had been since compelled to
work at the wash-tub, although she had a child at the
breast, and that the only food allowed her was dry
bread and water, or occasionally some gruel.
Rowland, the summoning officer, deposed that he
examined the child's person the day after the occur-
rence, and found its back and shoulders impressed
with finger marks, and very much discoloured.
In reply to the charge, the defendant said that the
complainant was a very forward and disobedient child,
who was constantly infringing the regulations of the
house ; and that having done so on the present occa-
sion, she had certainly given her a few trifling slap IP
the back, but felt confident that no marks could have
resulted from them.

The defendant called four girls, inmates of the
establishment, who proved that the complainant had
infringed the rules of the house on the occasion alluded
to, and who described the conduct of the defendant as
being uniformly kind and indulgent towards the chil-
dren under her control.

Mr. BROUGHTON said that there was great diffi-
culty in deciding on cases of this description, but he
was clearly of opinion that the defendant had, in the
present instance, gone beyond the bounds of modera-
tion in the punishment she had inflicted on the child,
and he should require her to enter into her own re-
cognizance in 301., and find two sureties in 201. each,
to answer the charge at the sessions.