The Sun.
London, England, 1821-09-19 00:00:00

eLTRIOUS CASE.

UNioN,llALL.—Yesterday Mr. Gundicke, an
undertaker, carrying on business in .11.edcross-
street, in the vicinity of the Office, was brought
up in custody, on a charge of making away with
.the. body of Edward Lee,: a
.convictekfelon,
-w,hiltri he was employed to bury. The case w -
`• interest that:the Office-
and'7oery avenue leading to it, as well as the
tuekhkeprhood of the accused's dwelling-bowel
weredat an early hour in the morning besieged
by immense crowds. The examination was con-
,:
4la-cfed in the private room, before Sir joult
PINHOR*, HEDGER, and D. KING, Esqrs•
Magistrates, and J. SPICER, Esq. High Sheriff of
:S'efirey.—lt appeared that Edward Lee was 'con-
yitted at the late Surrey Assizes held at Croy-
.4"otr, of a highway robbery on the body of Jo-
-seph Spicer, foreman to Mr. Marriott, of Fleet--
,street, attended with very aggravated circum-
stances. On Monday morning, the 10th inst.,
he was executed on the top of Horsemonger-lane
Gaol. The defendant was employed by the
Governor of the prison to conduct the funerals
of all the criminals ; and, where the friends of
the deceased were poor, was paid 31. or 41. bf
the county for his trouble, ,as was the case in the
present instance. After the culprit's body had
hung tile usual tithe, it was cut down, and con-
veyed in a shell to the defendant's house, where
several of the re:atives attended to know the
time the-funeral would take place, which they
were informed would be the following WednesdaY,
On that day they went to the defendant's honk,
but, to their great surmise, were told that the
funeral had been ;one some time, and every one
in the house pretended ignorance of the route it
had taken. In vain they went fret» church-yard
to churcl-yard, and froin burying-ground tO
burying-ground—they could obtain no satisfac.‘
tory information, and when they saw the defend'
ant, the only answer he gave them was, that the
body had been buried ; but he would not tell
where, nor give a certificate, unless they paid
him Bs. This they refused to do, and then ar
plied to Mr. Walter, the keeper of the gaol, t°
whom they communicated their suspicions of
something having been done with the body. Ira
consequence of the mystery in which the matter
was kept, Mr. Walter sent for the prisoner t°
know the .pterticulars of the affair, but he refuse,d
to come, and in this state things remained until
Saturday last* the • friends of the deceased c°l':
tinually annoying the defendant, to knotswha`
he had done with the corpse ? and the latter pe.t"
tinaciously refusing to give them satisfactory ;xi;
'formation, On that evening, the relatives °'
Lee (who had watched the premises day a°
night) received information, that the body fill`
not been buried at all, and that the defendant in-
tended to get it interred that evening; thelil
remained on the watch, and between six an-
' seven o'clock they saw the coffin brought out °n
the shoulders of two men, and accompanied 11
Mr. Cundicke himself, who, on being questioned?
told the people that the coffin contained the red'
mains of Edward Lee. The procession moved
on to Ewer-street Burying Ground, but such w"
the precipitation with which the funeral had been
carried on, that the grave was scarcely half dug'
and the coffin was laid on the ground till it 2;
finished. During the interval the friendS of th"
deceased begged to see the body before it %Nas
consigried to the earth, but their wish was °!:
Posed by the prisoner, on the ground that it w's"
nearly in a state of putrefaction. ef
The oth
however, were loud in their demand, and havnt.-:i
been joined by some of the mob, a battle te?s•
place, which ended in the discomfiture of thee
undertaker and his party, and the demolition be'
the coffin, when In ! nothing was found in it it
e ;Ina
earth and sawdust ! As soon as the
degre
consternation thus caused, had in some
the
died away, a person fetched Glannon,
Liston",
officer, who took the defendant into c _
but found much difficulty in protecting
_len:
from the infuriated crowd ; length, nor''
refoge
monger-hine prison afforded him a sure
from their attacks. A hue and cry was tr`v_s
which N a
raised respecting the dead body, ,
9 • the
at length. discovered at Mr. Brookes s,.
t Seh°'
Theatre of Anatomy, in Blenheim-stree
who had bought it for four guineas, in the rbe
gular way, and not all the entreaties of t
de-
ceased's friends could. induce him to give it
up
until he had dissected it ; it was at length iv_
pani e
turned after dissection.—The.defendant made 3
sub'
long reply to the charge against him, the
stance of which was, that the body in a shell
deposited in a shed at his house,and he had „
t
reason to believe it would remain there safe
but, on Wednesday morning, when he
co._
deposit it in the coffin, he found to his utter _vs
nishment that it was gone, having been stole's'
rile
he conceived, in the course of the night, bY °
of the body stealers, who live in the neightrluor;
hood, and when he found that out, he di` Tee
like to give publicity to the circumstance;lo,
Magistrates did not appear,at all snth'6°d
;it to
explanation, and they ordered the deren "
find responsible bail for his appearance
called upon.—(Morning Paper.)

were brought for sale, esterday
Fine fresh herrings, the first of the seag'o'
Billingsgate market, andy were soon purchase'
by the principal fishmong
morning, t 4:

Onon
tlhVeedlsntehstyslat.sto, Aeol7gle-N,s
BRTHS.
the Rev. T. S. Hodges, of a daughter.
oefa3n9terebu°rryn-1,111thl'e°10i", r?„

I.eseeryday, the 18th insitaAnrt,Rllflr.Dl.lr. S. Skitl9'7o,
street,
Yesterday,
it
ishqi
instant,
e daughter
‘,ai
1 eii
st
.ocofo
mi ill e
sib::: Jame'iitlnthtch ul, „
:". 1
iet
,31an0t:,:ni10.1..,:,:i ;
ii‘l
of rare- 1
t of thi'
place.:Doaerset, to Panny, second daughterpfthelate li
Esq. of Lincoln's-mn-fields.
DIED. &hire.
On Saturday, the Bth instant, at Odell-eastk,
o Wilier ,
Isabella, Countess of Egmont, in the iisth year f her s
IL
re r,
On the 17th instant, Mary Ann, the wife of Charle
Esq. of Dover-street, Piccadilly.
..-----......---- ..,...................-------r. 2' -
LONDON : Printed by .I B. CA lISTAIRS, Of
Nr).4;
(.
A.
.
Ormond-street, Queen-square and ptt.blshed
' tg
" ... ;t,;
,
SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South Molten-street, at 1..„5. )
OFFICE, No. 112, Strand ; where .
Any Eit'r t5t:...,`"311` ~
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