The Sun.
London, England, 1817-07-31 00:00:00

CROWN SIDE.-ELSINGHAM GANG.

William Welsh,. one of,
.the
.desperate gang,
several of whom were convicted at the last Assizes,
Was indicted for maliciously shooting at James
Dennis, at Elsingham,on the 39th of SFptekuber
last. . •

The prisoner was, part of a desperate vng who
committed several robberies and burglaries in this
county. The—koseciftor; rtlr.•DenniS; a farmer,
resident at' El.:411011m; i, this* connty; stated, that
on the night of the 30th of September last, about
twelve o'clock, after liis family bad retired to bed,
he 4a§ alarmed at t noise as foreing- one of his
lower Windows, upon which :lie t Alp and SaV.,
several then iiithei;anl: Ile liallbgetFOut " Who
is ithere.?" UP,..;ti which one of. Cie•tit c3;eldimed,
" buirt‘r, we wilt let you
knoVv.'.' " fire at von," and
Callen up his u!an. Soon alter 11:s maid
NON, nnti Le vent down livlbw, wh'er;'Ll. ;:tta or
pistol was fired at tile dow :,huiter, and two
shots came through the creche of the shutter, and
st6icli under the eye and near th,.e no,;e: he
could'uot identily any of the parties, but he saw
that •there were several men.

Tire t:vo xr:toesses who detaile&the whole trans.:
actmn were, Eliz.tbeth Clark and Thomas inert ; •
the formei• of win was the mother of one of the
men who.‘yas hanged offer the last Assizes. They
stated that, on the night of the 30th of September
las!, personS•Of the names of Miller, ann., Wm.
Chi ke, and James! Clarke, together With the wit-
nessMert, met at Ilanly, at old Clarke's house,
on the night ti! 30th'of SepteMber, and having
there blacked' their faces, they went out to commit
depredations, and in 'pursuance of that plan they
went to the prosecutor's. There one of them
attempted to force open a parlour window' with a
plotighshare which disturbed the family. Merl
then corroborated the statement of the prosecutor,
that he appeared at the, window, when Welsh snap-
ped the pistol, which. Missed fire twice, but On the
third attempt it went off. Upon the firing of the
pistol a man of the name of James Pearce came
up, who questioned them, but they told him to
hold his totigne, or he should fare worse, but if he
went away quietly they would not hurt him.—
Pearce corroborated this part of the statement, and
he thought it prudent to retire. When they re-
turned to Clarke's house, Mrs. Clarke advised
thei-n to bury the pistol and dark lanterns, which
they laid irl'an adjoining orchard ; they did so, and
the constable proved that he found the pistol but ied
in the place that Mrs. Clarke had described.
These facts being proved, which was the same
evidence given against others of the gang last
Assizes, the Jury found the prisoner—Guitty.

FIRE IN WATER LOO• PLACE.-YeSltretay even-
ing, about six o'clock, a tire was discovered to
have broke out in a house lyeloning to Mr. Dut-
ton, in the new street opposite Carlton•house,
the north-west corner of Waterloo-place. The
tire was seen by a boy in the square, who Aave.
the Alarin to the workmen, who had not left .the
premises adjoining-. They sent off .for the. en-
gines, and endeavoured to get into the house, but
found the doors and wintlows fastened. They
broke open the door, and %i cot up
.stairs ; in a
room on the same floor, where the Gaines were
raging, they :found Mrs. Jennings, the wife of the.
Clerk of the Works, and .her children, unconscious
of their danger. They were got out of the house,
aed in a few minutes the t.t.Jaities's engine ar-
rived, next the British and Imperial, and in a
short time about twenty others. Eight engines
were playing on the house at one time: It was
completely unroofed, however, bctore the tire
was extinguished. Mr: Jeuning9, the Cleik of:
the Works, and his family, were allowed to live
in the upper part Ofthe house, while the work-
men were finishinolre lover part. A fire had
been left. burning in the room, which communi-
cated to a piece of .timber,, and fro.% thence to
the mantle-piece,-till the whole was on fire,
On Monday the 21st instant Ayr jail was•again
broken, and three of the prisoners escaped. These
three prisoners were confined in the versTstrongest
rootn:of the prison,nisnally called the condemned
cell.

POLICE IN rEi.LIGENCE,