The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-08 00:00:00

DISCOVERY OF A SUPPOSED
MURDERER.

Luring the last fortnight an extraordinary degree of
eiteiterhent Las Pre*ailed thrthigheilt the bitrett,'!,
western and north-western portions of the Canty of
Middlesex, in consequence of its having beConie known
that bomb rOati4.-e td tlio pefpetrator of a
under very iitystetidiiA eireihnitaneei
about eight years since had been received by the local
- • -
tilitglni awn, Ii ho have ever since been actively engaged in
furthering the ends of justice, and entering into a
searching investigation late the matter;
The S.Cet* Of t,,t Climb iS situate in the rural and re-
tired parish cif Uis4i alio* far tntle north of the
town of Uxbridge, the actual spot being a Wood ; ailed
"Young Wood," which abuts on a crossroad leading
from Uxbridge to the town of Rickmansworth, in
Hertfordshire, and about midway between those towns,
which with another Wood adjoining it; called " Mad
Bessy," Eonsigs of Mina 130 8,6.0, the *hole of which
is covered by a thick underwood about five feet high;
through which there are no paths, with the exception of
blind paths or hares' tracks, and which is altogether a
place well adapted for the perpetration of any atrocious
crime without the chance of immediate detection, The
object for which the nitirdet was committed was at the
time considered to have been revenge, the Unfortunate
youth, who was only fifteen years of age, having shortly
before given evidence against a party of poachers, who
were cn that evidence convicted, and by whom, both at
the inquest and at the examinations before the local
magistrates, threats of vengeance were directed against
him.

The name of the murdered youth was John Brill, and
the circumstances, as they appeared in evidence, were as
follows:—John Brill was the son of a labouring man,
living in the village of Ruislip, and was in the employ of
Mr. C. Ohttrchill, iiri extensive farmer in that parish.
On the morning of Thursday, the 16th of February,
1837, Brill left his father's house about a quarter past
six o'clock, and proceeded to work on a farm of his
master's, who about ten o'clock set him to fill up some
gaps in the hedge of " Young Wood," and directed that,
after he had finished doing so, he should then watch some
poles which had been eta, in the wpod, Not returning to
the farm in the evening, as was his custom, a search was
in consequence instituted with lanterns in the wood, but
no trace of him could be discovered. On Friday morn-
ing, the 17th, Mr. Churchill's men were sent out in vari-
ous directions, but they all returned without any intelli-
gence respecting the unfortunate lad. On the Satur-
day the search was again renewed, but with no better
success ; and on Sunday morning a large body of vil-
lagers joined in the search, when, about noon, the ill-
fated youth was discovered by a man named James La-
vender (the father of one of the men who it was alleged
had threatened his life), in a hollow in a remote part
of the wood, where he was lying on his back quite
dead. His clothes were in disorder, and his face was
covered with dirt, as if be had been rolled in the de-
cayed leaves with which the spot was covered. On
examining the body the mark of a severe blow was
discovered under the right ear, which was considerably
swollen, and from which a quantity of blood had issued.
About six yards behind him the bill-hook which he
had been using was found, and on a hedge, just above
him, was his cap, which had apparently been caught by
the furze as he fell. There were also marks on the leaves
for five or six yards, as if he had staggered as he fell.
On lifting him up—although every joint of his body was
stiff and rigid—his neck was found to be remarkably lax,
and indicated every appearance of having been broken.
The body was then conveyed to the Six Bells public-
house, about 500 yards from the entrance of the wood,
where, on the following Wednesday, an inquest was held
on the body by Mr. T. Stirling, the late coroner for the
western division of Middlesex, when, after a lengthened
investigation, the jury returned a verdict of " Wilful
murder against some person or persons unknown."
Early on the Monday morning following the finding
of the body, in consequence of information communi-
cated to Mr. Thomas Dagnall, a county magistrate, re-
siding at Cowley, warrants were issued for the appre-
hension of Charles Lamb, Thomas Lavender, and James
Bray, junior, labourers in the village, on suspicion of
having been concerned in the murder, who were immedi-
ately taken into custody by Murray, the active
police-constable of Uxbridge, and other officers. The
examinations before the magistrates at Uxbridge occu-
pied two days, during which the town wts crowded by
persons from all the neighbouring parts, anxious to hear
the evidence, which was, however, not considered con-
clusive against them, and after the termination of the
inquest they were discharged from custody by Sir Wil-
liam S. Wiseman, Bart., and Mr. Dagnall, both of whom
were in attendance at the Six Bells to watch the inquiry.
After the prisoners were discharged and their hand-
cuffs removed, Bray begged a favour of the magistrates,
which was, that he might be permitted to see the body
of the murdered youth, saying it would give him plea-
sure, as he had suffered a good deal through him. Most
probably he demanded this test by way of impressing
the bystanders with a notion of his innocence, there
being a superstition among the uneducated classes that
the blood of the murdered person will burst out if the
murderer approaches the body. The request was granted.
All the three prisoners were taken into the room in
which the body was lying, and after looking at it for
some minutes they merely asserted their innocence and

retired.
From that time, notwithstanding every possible exer-
tion has been used by the local authorities to trace the
actual murderer, the matter has remained in abeyance
until the present time without even any reward being
offered in the case. The intense interest excited at the
time of the murder has, however, been revived, by the
receipt, on the day before Christmas-day, by Sir W.
Wiseman, Bart., of the following letter :
" House of Correction, Coldbath-fields,
Dec. 23, 1844.
" Sir,—A voluntary declaration has this day been
made to me by a prisoner named George Sibley, the
younger, who was committed to this prison by you on
the 14th of October last, to the effect that Charles Lamb,
also a prisoner, committed by you on the 14th October
ast, had told Mai (Sibley) that about a fortnight before
their committal, one afternoon, between four and five
o'clock, when on their road from Rickmansworth to
Harefield, a few years since he (Lamb) had killed a
lad, named John Brill, in Mr. Churchill's wood at
Ruislip ; that he struck the lad with a stick, and when
he lay upon the ground he took the lad's cap and hung
it on a tree, to make it appear that he had fallen out of
the tree ; and that he left the lad's billhook and glove
lying near the body. Sibley says, that Charles Lamb
had warned him, that if he said anything about it, it
should be the worse for him. Sibley made the same
communication to the chief warder yesterday, asking
him, if he gave the information, whether he should get
his liberty. This is a suspicious circumstance ; but I
have thought it desirable to put you, as one of the local
magistrates, in possession of what has been stated to me.
You may send any person whom you may think fit to
sift the matter.
" I shall inform the visiting justices at their next
meeting also of this communication, in order that they
may take any steps which they may deem advisable.
" I sent for Charles Lamb this forenoon into my office,
and, without informing him of the charge against him,
simply asked him if he had ever known John Brill. I
watched his countenanee, but could not discover the
slightest emotion_ on the mention of the name. Lamb
said, he had been apprehended on the charge of mur-
leringlollll64 tch 4 lid, htmk Gorlod ;api %pleat 'of
4I Must -add" from rht eifeervation-of Sibley, I do
not attach much creilitlol4Atime-iiti:still; hever
I consider it my duty to make it-known to. S'Oltr with a
view to some investigation.—l have the honour to be,
Sir, your most obedient servant,
" G. L. CHESTERTON, Governor.
" To Sir W. S. Wiseman, Bart., Hillingdon."
Immediately on the receipt of that letter Sir W. Wise-
man communicated the fact to the other magistrates of
the Uxbridge division, and it was eventually determined
that Sir W. Wiseman and Mr. Dagnall should proceed
on the following Saturday to the House of Correction for
the purpose of taking the deposition of Sibley in the
presence of Charles Lamb. Accordingly, on December
the 28th, both magistrates visited the House of Correc-
tion, and having sworn Sibley in the presence of Lamb,
took the folloaing deposition :
" Middlesex to Wit.—The examination of George
Sibley, late of the parish of Harefield, in the county of
Middlesex, labourer, and now a prisoner in the House of
Correction, Coldbath-fields, in the said county, taken on
oath before Sir W. S. Wiseman, Bart., and T. Dagnall,
Esq., two of her Majesty's justices of the peace in and
for the said county, this 28th day of December, 1844 :
" Who saith, that he knows and has been well ac-
quainted with Charles Lamb, now also a prisoner in the
House of Correction, rather better than a twelvemonth.
That about three months ago he and Charles Lamb
having been convicted of poaching, and being ordered to
be sent to prison for it, were at hide and seek to-
gether. That about a fortnight before Charles Lamb
was taken to prison, Lamb and the witness were
coming from Rickmansworth to Harefield between four
and five o'clock in the afternoon in the lane there ;
we was talking about getting into mischief and trouble,
and stating that it was easier to get into trouble than it
was to get out, for• Charles Lamb said, I'd sooner be
taken for murder than come to prison.' Murder?' I
said to him, what murder?' Upon which Lamb said,
' I was in Churchill's Wood getting a bundle of wood,
when a boy named John Brill came up to me, and I
knocked him down. I stood a few minutes, and took
his cap and hung it up on a stem, and laid his glove and
billhook by the side of him, as if had tumbled out of
a tree, and,' he says, ' nobody else knows on it but you,
and if you tell anybody I'll kill you.' Lamb said the
boy was walking round the wood.
" Witness hid heard.Of the murder some years ago,
and that Lamb had been bad up for it. Witness also
said to Lamb, when he mentioned the murder, What
—murder Charley?' .to which Lamb said, Yes.'
"Witness says he has always been on good terms with
Lamb ever since he has known him.
" Witness says, that his reason for making this state-
ment is because he has had such queer dreams, and
could not sleep on account of his knowledge of the
murder.
" Witness says, on being asked by Lamb whether he
could look him in the • face, and say that he told him
such a thing, 4 that you certainly did,' and he has told
nothing but the truth, and that it is true as that he
stands here.
" Witness says, that he voluntarily makes this state-
ment, and that no person has held out any promise or
favour to him to do so.
" Witness first made the statement to Mr. Hoare, the
chief warder of the House of Correction, having told
the wardsman he wished me to see Mr. Hoare. Mr.
Hoare came and said, What's the matter?' Witness
said, Charles Lamb told me of a murder.'
" Witness is 25 years of age last August.
" The mark of P 4 GEORGE SIBLEY."
Charles Lamb, who treated the matter with stoical in-
difference, on the deposition being completed, said, " All
the statement'ma;de by George Sibley is untrue."
On the Monday after taking the above deposition, a
meeting of the truster wss held in petty sessions at the