The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-06 00:00:00

August 3.
The trial of William Beard for the murder of Ann
Griffiths, at Wednesbury, was resumed this morning at
nine o'clock, and lasted till half-past six o'clock in the
evening, when the jury retired to consider their verdict,
which has not yet been returned.
- Mr. Yardley and Mr. Huddleston appeared as counsel
for the prosecution, and the prisoner's defence was con-
ducted by Mr. Allen and Mr. Spooner.
The deceased Ann Griffiths lived at Wednesbury in
the capacity of housekeeper to a gentleman named
Crowther, reputed in the neighbourhood to be a person
of considerable wealth, and, as he himself admitted, a
man who is " above the frowns of the world." The pri-
soner had lived in Mr. Crowther's service from Decem-
ber, 1841, till September, 1842, and during the time that
he was in his employ he used to go regularly on Wednes-
days and Saturdays with " slack" to some works belong-
ing to Mr. Crowther, whose habit it was on Saturdays to
leave home about ten o'clock, for the purpose of going to
the pits and paying his men. 'On the morning of Satur-
day, the 16th of March last, Mr. Crowther's servant
left the house, about ten minutes past nine o'clock, for the
purpose of drawing slack to his master's colliery, and in
about 20 minutes afterwards Mr: Crowther himself went
out, leaving Ann Griffiths alone in the house, and pro-'
ceeded to his pits. About a quarter past 10 o'clock a
master named Emery, whose malthouse is about SO
yards from the wall adjoining Mr. Crowther's brew-
house, heard a scream come from Mr. Crowther's house
and a second in about half a minute afterwards, but he
seemed to have thought that there was nothing in the
screams which called for particular attention, and ho •
took no further notice of the matter at the time. About
the same time, but probably a few minutes later, a person
in the employ of Mr. Crowther's butcher took some
meat -to the house, and went, vvusual, to• the rika4doorc
but found it fast 40.then,iyentiltyabe liitehre vtviatiNi
teahiritehen door, but i.'hat was fast also ; and not
able to gain admittance he rang the hall bell, and went
into an outhouse to take shelter, as there was a heavy
fall of rain and snow. While he was in the outhouse he
heard a door slam within the house, and he went again
and tried the door, and also rang the bell, but nobody
answered. Accordingly he went away, but returned
again about 12 o'clock, and tried as before to obtain ad-
mittance, but without success. At a quarter to two
o'clock Mr. Crowther returned home, and finding that
the bell at the front door was not answered, he went
round the house through a wicket to a glass door
which opens upon what was called a " lawn," but
which would have been more correctly described as
a broad gravel walk planted with shrubs. The glass
door was half open, and Mr. Crowther entered the
house by that way. Upon going into the dining-room
he found the fire out, and proceeding to the kitchen he •
found the fire very low there, and remarked that the
kitchen-door, the pantry-door, and the cellar-door were
all wide open. Mr. Crowther then went up to the room
occupied by the deceased, to see if she was there, and
aboutwass u rt
the
er i sreede
int
.o fiun the b
He then
wente bed unmade,
down
againan her
into boxesthe
kitchen, and thence into the brew-house, where the first
object that met his eyes was the murdered body of his
housekeeper. The unfortunate woman lay on the floor,
which was covered with blood, and which appeared to
have been trampled all about the brew-house. Her hair
was very much dishevelled, and had blood upon it, and
a bloody knife lay at a very short distance from the
body. At least ten wounds had been inflicted on her
head with a hammer, which was usually kept in the
brew-house, and there were other circumstances which
led to the conclusion that she had offered some resist-
ance to the savage, whoever it was, who perpetrated this
dreadful deed. The yard-door was locked, and there
was blood upon the bolt ; blood was also sprinkled upon
the brickwork adjoining the door-frame, and there were
marks of a man's bloody hand upon a shovel near the
water-tub, and upon the handle of one of the pumps in
the yard, as if the murderer had sought for means to
efface the crimson evidences of his guilt. In Mr. Crow-
ther's bed-room up stairs some trunks had been removed
and opened ; a small fruirpie, which had been left in
the pantry, in the morning was eaten, and about three
pounds of a neck of mutton, which was cooked, had been
taken away. It was discovered, also, on the following
day, that a pair of trousers and a waistcoat which Mr.
Crowther usually wore on Sundays had been removed.
The waistcoat and the trousers were found on the Fri-
dayfollowing the murder in a flue in a whimsey, wrapped
up in a plaid handkerchief ; and it was shown that the
prisoner was seen on the day of the murder, about 11
o'clock, going in the direction of the whimsey, close to
which was found, on the Friday, the print of a single
footmark, made with the right foot, which resembled,
according to the best of Mr..l.latton's (the chief con-
stable's) recollection, the footmark made by the pri-
soner's right boot, which together with its fellow, had
been taken from him when he was apprehended on the
morning of Sunday, the 17th of Marcia. The strongest
part of the evidence against the prisoner consisted in
the footmarks, which were tracked immediately after
the discovery of the murder. From the glass door which
opened upon the broad gravel path, or lawn, there were
marks leadieg to the bottom of the
.lawn, as if a
man had run down on his heels ; and in a ploughed
field, which was separated from the lawn by a hedge,, were
upwards of 40 footmarks, very distinct, made by
rights and lefts. The left footmark showed a large patch
on the sole, some of the nails in the patch being smaller
than those in the other part of the foot, the impression
of which corresponded exactly with that produced by
the prisoner's left boot, in respect of the number of nails,
their size, the vacant places left where some had been
worn out, and the mark of the patch. These footmarks
led all down the field into a lane called Riding-lane, and
root-prints similar in character to those in the field, but
not near so distinct, were traced along the road which.
the prisoner was supposed to have gone, as far as the
canal. He was, moreover, seen between eleven and half-
past twelve o'clock on the morning of the Saturday at
different points between the canal and the Board public-
house, when at half-past twelve o'clock he was found, by
a person who knew him, smoking his pipe in the kitchen.
The Board Inn is not a quarter of a mile from Mr. Crow-
ther's house ; and the suggestion offered on the part of
the prosecution to account for the prisoner's coming so
near Mr. Crowther's house was, that, having committed
the murder, he had made a long detour to avoid detec-
tion, in the first instance, and had then come near the
ssucesnpeicoiofn. his
Aertimthenatgtaiminef,oirlet‘hveeveexrp,rhe essmpunrsptohsnevoe known,
flunleliwngs
that there was blood on his jacket, on his trousers, his
shirt, and his boots, because that was found to be the
case when he was apprehended the next morning; and
the Learned Judge left it to the jury to say, among
other points, whether it was probable that a person who
knew that he had just been guilty of such a crime as
murder, would have incurred the risk of exposing his
clothes to the observation of the company in a public-
house. The prisoner accounted for the blood by calling
witnesses to show that his nose was in the habit of
bleeding, and that on the Monday preceding the Satur-
day in question he had assisted in hanging up a pig
which had justibeen slaughtered, and it certainly was not
proved, on the part of the prosecution, that the blood
stains upon his clothes, and linen were fresh. There
were some minor circumstances in the case, which was
made up of very minute details, which pointed at the
prisoner as the party who might have committed the act;
but, on the other hand, it appeared that the prisoner
was in the possession of very little money on the Satur-
day, and that he bore a good character ; and it is a cir-
cumstance not to be overlooked, that while he was in the
employ of Mr. Crowther, an attempt was made to rob
the house by three men, which attempt was frustrated
by the resistance of the prisoner.
The Learned JUDGE summed up the evidence with
great care, and told the jury that in order to convict the
prisoner it was not enough that his conduct was liable
to be viewed with strong suspicion, but the facts must
be such as to exclude from their minds all reasonable
doubt of his guilt. It had always been said by judges,
and he hoped always would be said, that it was better
that nine guilty men should escape than that one inno-
cent man should suffer. •
The jury retired, and soon after ten o'clock tame into
Court and pronounced a verdict of Guilty,
Mr. Sergeant ATCHERLEY then parsed sentence of
death on the prisoner, who heard .t with perfect calm-
ness, and merely said, "My Lord, lam as innocent of
the crime as you are,"
Thus ended Ow:a assizes.

I OPENING OF THE OYSTER SEASON.---Iresterday
morning, at six o'clock, the opening of the market at Bil-
lingsgate, for the sale of oysters for the season, took place in
the customary manner. The supply was very limited, as
compared with the quantity brought to shore some few
years ago, but, in our opinion, quite as great as it was last
season on the opening morning. A fleet of twenty-nine boats
came up the river during yesterday. There were this morn-
ing but few of the calleis, or common oyster, the principal
cargoes, consisting of Cheyne Rock, Old Barley Natives,
Barley Rocks, and Native French. The commoner kind of
fish fetched from 10s. to 14s. per bushel, the intermediate
qualities 145., while the best realised 16s. The demand was
exceedingly slack, not more than half the stock being sold
out by ten o'clock. With respect to the prospects of the
season, it is the opinion of several salesmen, that
the general supply will be better than that of last
year, and that the quality, from the care which
was throughout the last twelve months taken of the
beds, will be found far superior. Prices, probably, will.
not be attended with much variation. The arrangements
made by G. Goldham, Esq., Clerk of the Market, for the
safety of the persons of buyers and the lives and limbs of all
parties, cannot be too highly estimated by the public. At
llungerford Market the supply was moderate, and the de-
mand appeared brisker than at Billingsgate, several of the
West-end fishmongers having made their purchases there.
Prices the same.

CROPS IN SOUTII WALES.—The farmers them-
selves, proverbially disposed to croak about crops, admit
that things look fairish. In some parts of Wales reap-
ing has begun, but it is by no means general, :ior. has the
grain yet that golden hue which shows that it is ready
for the sickle. The wheat harvest is sure to be good ;
but that is of comparatively little consequence in South
Wales, but even barley (our chief crop) is likely to be
better than was expected, though deficient and very
little good malting barley will be on offer, we are.
sorry to say, by the farmers of this country. Pota—
toes look very well, and the pastures are in a rich state
of verdure, contrasting most beautifully with the arid ap-
pearance which they presented a few weeks ago. The
harvest has commenced in Pembrokeshire. Since last
week several fields of wheat, barley, and oats, being cut,
the quality of wheat and barley, together with the quan-
tity is very good ; oats being deficient in quantity, but
of good quality. We have had some fine refreshing
showers of late, but still there is a great scarcity of hay
and grass, the fernier being burnt up.— Welshman.