The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-09 00:00:00

NG, JANUARY 9, 1845.

DISCOVERY OF A SUPPOSED
MURDERER.
During the last fortnight an extraordinary degree of
excitement has prevailed throughout the extreme
western and north-western portions of the county of
Middlesex, in consequence of its having become known
that some information relative to the perpetrator of a
murder committed under very mysterious circumstances
about eight years since had been received by the local
magistrates, who have ever since been actively engagedin
furthering the ends of justice, and entering into a
searching investigation into the matter.
The scene of the crime is situate in the rural and re-
tired parish of Ruislip, about four miles north of the
town of Uxbridge, the actual spot being a wood called
" Young 'Wood," which abuts on a crossroad leading
from Uxbridge to the town of Rickmanswortb, in
Hertfordshire, and about midway between those towns,
which with another wood adjoining it, called " Mad
Bessy," consists of about 130 acres, the whole 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 fee which the murder 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 on 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.

King's Arms Inn, Uxbridge, to consider how the pri-
soner could be brought to Uxbridge for examination,
and it was determined to address the following letter to
the Secretary of State for the Home Department:—

"Uxbridge, llec. 30, 1844.
" Sir,—We are instructed by her Majesty's justices of
the peace acting for the Uxbridge division, and who sat
in petty sessions here to-day, to enclose for your perusal
a copy of a letter addressed by Mr. Chesterton, the
Governor of the House of Coireetion at Coldbath-fields,
to Sir W. S. Wiseman, Bart., one of the justices, and to
acquaint you that, in consequence of that letter,
Sir W. S. Wiseman, Bart., and Thomas Disgnall, Esq.,
Uxbridge magistrates, attended at the House of Correc-
tion on Saturday last, to make inquiry into the circum-
stances, when George Sibley, one of the prisoners, in
the presence of Charles Lismb, the other prisoner, de-
posed to on oath, and signed the statement, of which a
copy is also enclosed.
" John Brill, a lad of about 15 years of age, was mur-
dered in Ruislip Woods in February, 1837. The
coroner's jury, at the inquest, returned a verdict of
' Wilful Murder against some person or persons un-
known.' Several circumstances attending the murder
stated by George Sibley in his deposition are corrobo-
rated by other testimony. Charles Lamb was always
suspected of being the murderer, and was apprehended
and taken before the magistrates at the time, but the
circumstantial evidence against him not being deemed
quite sufficient to authorise his committal for trial, he
was discharged.
" Charles Lamb has since the murder been tried for
sheepstealing and acquitted. He was shortly after-
wards tried at the Old Bailey, and convicted of felony,
and sentenced to seven years' transportation. After
having been imprisoned on board the hulks at Ports-
mouth about four years, he received her Majesty's
pardon, and returned to the neighbourhood of ltuislip.
He was lately summarily convicted of poaching, and
committed in October last to the House of Correction
for six months. George Sibley was convicted for a
like offence, and was committed t , the same for a like
term.

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. Churchill, an 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 cut in the wood. 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 he 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 wets 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-
Tile " STATUE OF WILLIANI 1 V."---Tile cntime-
cuffs removed, Bray begged a favour of the magistrates,
moration of the erection and in...tiger-110,n of tt,e .tat m of which was, that he might be permitted to see the body
the " Sailor King." which has just beet, e,,,,,p1„ by
of the murdered youth, saying it would give him plea
sure, as he had suffered a good deal through him. Most Mr. Samuel Nixoe, and is now pieced On a pedestal at
the termination of Kale W illiani-stie et, at the point
probably he demanded this test by way of impressing
which faces London °ridge, was celebrae d on Tuesoay
the bystanders with a notion of his innocence, there
evening at the Adelaide avers. at the foot of the
being a superstition among the uneducated classes that T
the blood of the murdered person will burst out if the bridge, where, at six o'clock, a very numerous and re-
murdererspectable assemblage of the influential gentlemen of the
approaches the body. The request was granted.
wards of Bridge and Candlewick sat tiown to an excel-
All the three prisoners were taken into the room in
which the body was lying, and after looking at it for lent dinner, provided by Mr. Sottlew, the proprietor of
the house. The cheir was filled by :sir Chapman Mar-
some minutes they merely asserted their innocence and
retired.
shall, who was supported on the right hand by 6ir George
From that time, notwithstanding every possible exer-
Carroll ( these two gentlemen being the aldermen ut the
tion has been used by the local authorities to trace the respective wards), and on his left by Mr. Samuel Nixon.
T
actual murderer, the matter has remained in abeyance The musical arrangements were under the direction of
until the present time without even any reward being Mr. Talberan, who was assisted by Mes-aes. Sporle,
Genge. and Smith. Mr. Oakey presided at the pianof, /rte.
offered in the case. The intense interest excited ut the
time of the murder has, however, been revived, by the The healths of her Majesty, of the Queen Dowager,
receipt, on the day before Christmas-day, by Sir W. of Prince Albert, and of thy, rest of the Royal Family
Wiseman, Bart., of the following letter : were drunk with the usual honours, after which the
"House of Correction, Coldbath-fields, Navy and Army, the Memory of William IV., the
Dec. 23, 1844. Healths of Sir G. Carroll, of Sir C. Marshall, and of
" Sir,—A voluntary declaration has this day been Mr. Nixon, were drunk with every demonstration of
good feeling. The three last-mentioned gentlemen ac•
made to me by a prisoner named George Sibley, the
younger, who was committed to this prison by you on knowledged the honour done them in the usual manner,
the 14th of October last, to the effect that Charles Lamb, and were cheered by the company. A variety of other
also a prisoner, committed by you on the 14th October toasts were also proposed and drunk. The erection of
last, had told him (Sibley) that about a fortnight before this statue is an era in the progress of good taste in the
their committal, one afternoon, between four and five City. It was originally intended only to erect a sort of
o'clock, when on their road from Rickmansworth to obelisk on the spot which it now occupies, in order to
Harefield, a few years since he (Lamb) had killed a break the length of the crossing from the one foot-pave-
lad, named John Brill, in Mr. Churchill's wood at ment to the other, and afford foot-passengers a refuge
from the rapid and almost continuous succession of car-
heßuislip ; that he struck the lad with a stick, and when
riages, of various sorts, by which the streets at this
lay upon the ground he took the lad's cap and hung
angle are filled. Fortunately a better genius than is al-
it on a tree, to make it appear that he had fallen out of
ways resent at councs presided, and the result
the tree ; and that he left the lad's billhook and glove
the erepction of one Cit yof the ilmost ornamental statues i isn
lying near the body. Sibley says, that Charles Lamb
the metropolis. The statue does great credit to Mr. S.
had warned him, that if he said anything about it, it
Nixon, who is already known favourably to the public by
should be the worse for him. Sibley made the same
the beautiful illustrations of the four seasons with which
communication to the chief warder yesterday, asking
him, if he gave the information, whether he should get the Goldsmiths' Hall is ornamented, and by other works
his liberty. This is a suspicious circumstance ; but I of art in different parts of London and the country.
have thought it desirable to put you, as one of the local This statue of King William IV. is in a pure and vigo-
magistrates, in possession of what has bean stated to me. rous state of art—it is felicitously correct as a portrait,
You may send any person whom you may think fit to
fboth as to features, person, and character—it is digni-
fied without stiffness, and easy without coarseness. It
sift the matter.
is of granite, colossal in its dimensions (the figure of the
" I shall inform the visiting justices at their next
K
meeting also of this communication, in order that they King and the pedestal on which it stands being upwards
may take any steps which they may deem advisable. of 40 feet in height). The monarch is neither idolised
" I sent for Charles Lamb this forenoon into my office, into a demigod, nor vulgarised into the representation
and, without informing him of the charge against him, of a boatswain. It is altogether an excellent specimen
simply asked him if he had ever known John Brill. I of the advance of sculpture in this country, and an orna-
watched his countenanee, but could not discover the ment to the locality it occupies. The Chairman, during
slightest emotion on the mention of the name. Lamb the course of the evening, stated that her Majesty the
said, he had been apprehended on the charge of mur- Queen Dowager would, from what had been communi-
dering Brill, but added, "Thank God, I am clear of eated to him, take an opportunity of viewing this testi-
that.' I must add, from my observation of Sibley, Ido menial to her deceased husband, and that his Royal
not attach much credit to his statement ; still, however, Highness Prince Albert and the Duke of Wellington had
I consider it my duty to make it known to you, with a expressed their intention of inspecting the labours of the
view to some investigation.—l have the honour to be, artist. A statue of Queen Adelaide on the Surrey side
Sir, your most obe.lient servant, of the bridge would be no inappropriate companion to
"G. L. CHESTERTON, Governor. this of his late Majesty, and would be both an ornament
" To Sir W. S. Wiseman, Bart., Hillingdon." and a work of utility to the inhabitants of Southwark,
Immediately on the receipt of that letter Sir W. Wise- and to those who traverse the streets in the neighbour-
man communicated the fact to the other magistrates of hood of the bridge.
the Uxbridge division, and it was eventually determined DARING ROBBERY.—EarIy on Monday evening,
that Sir W. Wiseman and Mr. Dagnall should proceed during the absence of the family, the house of Mr.
on the following Saturday to the House of Correction for Turner, one of the Queen's marehalmen, in Graham-
the purpose of taking the deposition of Sibley in the street, Pimlico, wets entered into, and property consist-
presence of Charles Lamb. Accordingly, on December ing of plate, jewellery, wearing apparel, and other things
the 28th, both magistrates visited the House of Correc- was stolen therefrom. It appears that the thieves
tion, and having sworn Sibley in the presence of Lamb, effects dan entrance at the parlour-window, and having
took the following deposition : lighted a candle, lost uo time in ransacking the whole
" Middlesex to Wit.—The examination of George house. Doors, boxes, and drawers, were broken open,
rt in lewd)
Sibley, late of the parish of Harefield, in the county of and thei contents
evinced that no inter experiencoued hanadsst had beenhich eeke aged
Middlesex, labourer, and now a prisoner in the House of
in the work. It is said, that some valuable articles were
Correction, Coldbath-fields, in the said county, taken on
stolen from the apartments of one of the lodgers, who is
oath before Sir W. S. Wiseman, Bart., and T. Dagnall,
holding a respectable situation in the royal household
Esq., two of her Majesty's justices of the peace in and
but who is at present, unfortunately at Winds r. No
for the said county, this 28th day of December, 1844:
clue has yet been obtained which nught lead to the ap-
prehension of the offenders. suspicion, however. is
quainted with Charles Lamb, now also a prisoner in the entertained that a woman who had in the course of the
House of Correction, rather better than a twelvemonth. day applied for a petition to obtain relief from the Pim-
That about three months ago he and Charles Lamb rico Philanthropic Society—of which Mr. Turner is a
having been convicted of poaching, and being ordered to
member, and who was afterwards seen at a short dis-
be sent to prison for it, were at hide and seek to- wive from the house, was concerned in the robbery. A
ober. That about a fortnight before Charles Lamb report is also in circulation, that a gang of notorious
i
was taken to prison, Lamb and the witness were burg burglars is living in the neighbourhood ; and, from se-
coming from Rickmansworth to Harefield between four venal attempts which have been made to plunder, the
and five o'clock in the afternoon in the lane there ; police cannot be too active end vigilant in their exertions
we was talking about getting into mischief and trouble, to prevent a repetiton of these offences.
and stating that it was easier to get into trouble than it
DEATI OF A FEMALE FROM ALLEGED VIOLENCE.—
was to get out, for Charles Lamb said, ' I'd sooner be
On Tuesday Mr. Higgs held an inquest at the Star and
taken for murder than come to prison."Murder?' I
Garter, Great Peter-street, Westminster, on the body of
said to him, ' what murder? Upon which Lamb said,
Mary Cotton, aged thirty, who cohabited with Isaac
' I was in Churchill's Wood getting a bundle of wood,
Harmon, at No. 22, in the above street, who died under
when a boy named John Brill came up to me, and I
the following circumstances :—Witnesses living in rooms
knocked him down. I stood a few minutes, and took
his cap and hung it up on a stem, and laid his glove and next to that of deceased, said that on Saturday night they
billhook by the side of him, as if he had tumbled out of saw her alive and well, and that at about two o'clock
a tree, and,' he says, 'nobody else knows on it but you, next (Sunday) morning, they heard Harmon come home
and if you tell anybody I'll kill you.' Lamb said the
intoxicated. On entering he accused deceased of tardi-
boy was walking round the wood. ness in opening the street door for him, and said to her,
" Witness had heard of the murder some years ago, " 1.11 give it you for keeping me waiting." They then
and that Lamb had been had up for it. Witness also heard what they termed a " sobbing and wheezing"
said to Lamb, when he mentioned the murder, ' What noise, as if made by a person trying but unable
--murder Charley ?' to which Lamb said, ' Yes.' to cry out, and shortly afterwards they heard the
" Witness says he has always been on good terms with
sound of a heavy fall upon the floor, which was suc-
Lamb ever since he has known him. seeded by the coming out of Harmon on the landing of
" Witness says, that his reason for making this state-
the stairs asking for succour, as something, he said, was
the matter with deceased. The witnesses, Eliza Dun-
merit is because he has had such queer dreams, and
could not sleep on account of his knowledge of the ham and Mary Carman, went into the room and found
deceased lying on the floor on her side, with her head
murder.
Witness says, on being asked by Lamb whether he
partly under the bed, her hair dishevelled, and her night-
could look him in the face, and say that he told him dress disordered. One eye was closed, and froth was
such a thing, ' that you certainly did,' and he has told oozing from her mouth. The woman Durham was in
nothing but the truth, and that it is true as that he the act of lifting the deceased up, when she groaned
stands here.
feebly and died. Mr. Hanley, surgeon, of the Horse-
" Witness says, that he voluntarily makes this state.. ferry-road, said he was called by Harmon to see de-
ment, and that no person has held out any promise or ceased, and:that he found her on the floor quiteidead,:with
favour to him to do so. no exterior marks of injury on the body. Their absence,
" Witness first made the statement to Mr. Hoare, the however, was no proof that violence had not been used.
chief warder of the House of Correction, having told Harmon had given him two different versions of the
the wardsman he wished me to see Mr. Hoare. Mr. affair. The Coroner and jury said that, under these
Hoare came and said, ' What's the matter?' Witness doubtful circumstances, the inquiry must be adjourned
said, `Charles Lamb told me of a murder.' for a day, in order that it might be ascertained by a post
"Witness is 25 years of age last August. mortsmexaminationlwhether volenco had been used or not.
"The mark of Sid GEORGE SIBLEY." UNWHOLESOME MEAT.---At the Maidstone Quarter
Charles Lamb, who treated the matter with stoical in- Sessions, on Saturday last, a pork butcher was tried for
difference, on the deposition being completed, said,' All having five hundred weight of unwholesome beef, &c.,
the statement made by George Sibley is untrue." intended for the purpose of making sausages. The jury
On the Monday after taking the above deposition, a returned a verdict of guilty, and the Chairman, as a
meeting of the trustees was held in petty sessions at the caution to other tradesmen, sentenced the prisoner to
nine calendar months' hard labour in Maidstone gaol.

" The Magistrates consider, that in consequence of
George Sibley's statement, the matter of the murder re-
quires further investigation, but submit the whole for
your consideration. If you should concur with
them, they beg to know whether 3on will issue an order
for Charles Lamb being brought down here, that the
evidence of the witnesses be taken before them, and
that George Sibley may also be brought down to give
his evidence. The term of Lamb's and Sibley's impri-
sonment will not expire until about three months hence.
" If you should approve of the course submitted for
your consideration, will you instruct the magistrates
what line of conduct they ought to pursue on the
occasion ?—We have the honour to be your most obe-
dient servants,

" RICHES AND WOODBRIDGE.
" Clerks to the Magistrates."
To that application to Sir James Graham, Bart., the
following answer has been received := _

" Whitehall, Dec. 31, 1844.
" Gentlemen,—l am directed by Secretary Sir James
Graham, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
31st instant, and its enclosures, and to inform you, that
he is not able to make any order for removing the pri-
soners George Sibley and Charles Lamb from gaol, and
taking them 'before the magistrate at Uxbridge for exa-
mination. There is no objection to the magistrates
taking their examination in the prison, and this appears
to Sir James Graham the proper course to be adopted.
" I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,

" S. M. PIIILLIPPS.

.....
" Messrs. Riches and Woodbridge, Clerks
too the Magistrates, Uxbridge."
The above answer from the Horne-office has greatly
disappointed the Uxbridge magistrates, as it compels
them to put the county to great expense for the convey-
ance of the numerous witnesses, who are all residing in
the neighbourhood of Uxbridge, when the transmitting
of the two prisoners to Uxbridge would have been at-
tended with little cost.

On Saturday last a muster of the witnesses examined
at the time, both before the magistrates and at the in-
quest, took place before the magistrates at Uxbridge,
the front of the King's Arms Inn being crowded witu
persons waiting the result. Their statements, however,
were only taken down to see how tar they recolleeteo
the facts, and the decision of the Bench as to the course-
it will eventually pursue in conducting the inquiry hat,
nut yet been made known.
On Monday, being the day on which the petty sessions
is held, the Magistrates' room and the road outside tle•
inn were again crowded, in the expectation that is putlie
examination on the mauter would take place.