The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-12 00:00:00

OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Worcester, March 9.

Their Lordships having visited the Duke of Marlborough
at Blenheim Palace on Saturday afternoon, arrived here yes-
terday, and attended Divine service in the cathedral.
The calendar contains the names of fifty-three prisoners,
no less than ten of whom are charged with the crime of mur-
der, and eleven with that of housebreaking. There are
twelve robberies from the person, one case of sheep-stealing,
one of stabbing, and one of forgery of an order for payment.
The remainder consist of larcenies of small articles.

The Croome case, which imputes to eleven poachers the
crime of murder on Lord Coventry's estate, is one of para-
mount interest, and its result is looked forward to with much
anxiety.
(Before the LORD CIURF BARON.)
March 10.

The Courts opened for business this morning—the Chief
Baron presiding in the Crown Court, and Mr. Baron Platt
at Nisi Prins. In his charge to the grand jury, the Learned
Judge intimated, with reference to the case at Croome, that,
if the evidence satisfied the jury that all the prisoners went
out with the common design of resisting with violence the
opposition of the keepers to their intention of killing game,
and death ensued in a struggle consequent upon such
agreement, the offence would be clearly that of murder
against all.
BURGLARY.—John Lloyd and William Clarke were charged
with breaking into the house of Mrs. Sarah Davies, and steal-
ing therein sundry articles of clothing and towels. The house
is situate at the hamlet of Lower Milton, in this county, and
the robbery was committed on the night of the 30th of Ja-
nuary last.
Mary Aim Teague, servant to the prosecutrix, deposed
to having been alarmed on the night in question by the
barking of the house-dog. She, with her fellow-servant,
Mary Jeffs, ran to the door, whore they saw two men, named
Cook and Bennett, a policeman and a constable. In conse-
quence of the statement of the two women, they went into the
house and made an examination ; the result of which was,
that two windows were found broken open, and the remains
of a fire burning upon the floor of the back kitchen, among
which were discovered fragments of aprons and towels, after-
wards identified as the property of Mrs. Davies, and of her
two servants. Upon following up the search the prisoner
Clarke was seized in the yard, where he had attempted to
conceal himself behind a pump. A footmark appeared
clearly impressed on the semi• frozen snow near one of the
windows. A boot of Clarke's was compared with this, but as
it did not correspond, further inquiries were instituted. John
Lloyd, having been seen on the night of the 30th, drinking
in the prisoner's company, was taken into custody on suspi-
cion, and his boot being removed and placed by the side
of the impression alluded to, answered to it in every par-
ticular.

The jury convicted both the prisoners. Sentence deferred.
The business in both the Courts has proceeded but slowly
to-day. and the Assizes are expected to be of unusually long
duration.

March 11.
THE CROOME MURDER CASE.
This morning the bill of indictment was preferred against
the eleven men, named Joseph Turvey, Francis _anyley, JVil•
lions Bromfield, George Brant, Joseph Tandy, Samuel Turvey,
John Cooke, and William Cosnett, &c., charged upon the coroner's
warrant, and upon the magistrates' commitment, with the
wilful murder of Thomas Staite, the gamekeeper employed
on the infant Earl of Coventry's estates at Croome, on the
night of the 19th December last, under circumstances already
detailed in the columns of this paper. The grand jury,
after a short deliberation, returned into Court with true bills
against the whole of the prisoners, amidst the breathless
silence of the Court.

An application was then made by the Counsel on both
sides for the appointment of a time for the trial, and it was at
length arranged that it should be taken some time to-mor-
row. The trial will last a long time, on account of the num-
ber of witnesses to be examined.

NORFOLK ClRCUlT.—Aylesbury, March 10.
This circuit commenced this morning, the commission for
the county of Bucks being opened at 10 o'clock by the
Learned Judges of assize, who afterwards attended Divine
service.

was charged at 1 o'clock by, Mr. Baron
raanndd jury
ssT7on as the bills were found they were dis-
tributedbetwen the Learned Baron and Mr. Justice Patte-
Psoanrr,khee' g
the civil business, which is not expected to be very
heavy, being postponed till to-morrow. The calendar pre-
sents a long array or crime, there being no fewer than 82
prisoners, whose offences may thus be catalogued :—Murder,
2 ; arson, I ; burglary and housebreaking, 11 ; highway
robbery, 1 ; violence to the person, 2 ; larcenies and misde-
meanours, 40. It therefore appears that there is not in the
quality of the offences a very serious calendar, if we except
the two cases of murder, one of which is that of John Towel!
(which is fixed for Wednesday, for the convenience of Mr.
Kelly, who is specially retained for the prisoner), and the
other a case of infanticide, a charge which generally subsides
into a misdemeanour.

The following cases were tried to-day.
(Before Mr. Baron PARKE.)
ARSON.—Peter Wolfinger, aged. 10, was indicted for
feloniously setting fire to a haulm stack, the property of ,
Francis Stephenson, of Hanslope, on the 13th of September
last.
Mr. Wells conducted the case for the prosecution. The
prisoner was not defended.
This case was one of a most simple character, and only
deserves notice from the fact that a motive was established
for the perpetration of the offence. It appears that the
prosecutor lives about a quarter of a mile from his stack-
yard, near to which stand the cottages of two men, who,
with their families have been constantly in his service. Of
one of these, the prisoner, an urchin scarcely able to see over
the dock, was the son, and, though a child in years he would
seem to have been a man in mischief, for, in the course of
the last harvest, he was detected in the act of stealing one of
the prosecutor's sheaves of wheat from an adjoining field. On
that occasion, Mr. Stephenson, with a spirit which reflects
credit on him, preferred to appeal to the justice of the pater-
fantallas rather than to that of the country, and, by the
consent of the boy's parents, he was whipped. This circum-
stance took place is the middle or end of August, and must
alone have prompted the little culprit to fire his master's
property, for, on the 13th of September, he was seen with a
box of lucifers in his hand, which he was trying against the
wall, as he went along towards the stackyard where the
haulm rick stood, and just ten minutes before the flames were
seen he was observed to get over a stile leading to the yard
by a labourer who had been thatching one of the stacks, and
spoke most positively to their being all quite safe when he
left the spot. These facts coming to the knowledge of the
constable, the boy was taken into custody, when he quietly
confessed the deed, but added that he had " only lighted a
match and thrown it on to the stack, without any intention
to set it on fire."
Mr. Baron PARKE having summed up the case to the jury,
they found the prisoner Guilty, and he was forthwith sen-
tenced to transportation for 15 years.
(Before Mr. Justice Parrasox.)
PHEASANT Sreararta.—Daniel, David, and John Grange,
and or there-
abouts, Daniel
weren in
pheasants,
on
the 30th of January last, the property
Fora
of Col. Reid of eadll
forstealing agricultural
erenvuetnt om f e 19,
Bul-
strode-park, in this county.
Mr. Dissent was counsel for the prosecution, and Mr. Wells
for the prisoners.
From the evidence of the gallant prosecutor's keeper and
gardener, it appeared that the subjects of this charge had
been for some time past preserved in an ornamental aviary
adjoining his mansion, where, being kept under lock and key,
they were the admiration of all the family and visitors at the
park. Tame pheasants, however, would seem to be quite as pro-
fitable in the market as those which perch on the tree and are
ferce natura, for on the morning of the 31st of January the
cage was found broken open, and the birds, if not flown, at
any rate carried away ; the latter supposition being mach
strengthened by the discovery of the footsteps of four men
leading across the snow on the lawn to the gravel surround-
ing the aviary. Information being given to the police force,
the superintendent at once started for Uxbridge, about six
miles off, where be, not unwisely, imagined that the birds
and thieves had all flown, as the former would find a ready
market. Nor was he mistaken, for at twelve o'clock ho
found all the prisoners and one Wood drinking together at
the Feathers, the landlord of which hostelrie soon produced
to him eight out of the eleven birds, which had been depo-
sited by one of the party in the " private parlour," while the
others negotiated the silo of their booty, three of which had
been already got rid of elsewhere. Upon confronting the
prisoners with Wood, the prisoners one and all exculpated
the latter from any participation in the job, and he now
formed a material witness against them, for, according to his
account, he met them all heavily laden at eight o'clock in
the morning, on the way to Uxbridge, about four miles from
Bulstrode Park. Being acquainted, a promiscuous conversa-
tion sprung up between them, in the course of which they
plainly said they bad got eleven live pheasants in their
pockets, bat added that they had §scured them by a new