The Sun.
London, England, 1820-07-24 00:00:00

SURREY SESSIONS, Juiv 22.

etiftrotTs C BIGAMY.
Ari old
.decrepit man, who is so deformed that
he has been from his birth unable either to dreSS
or undress himself, having, neither -hands nor feet,
stood indicted for unlaw Wily intermarrying %vial
one Mary Stago,s • in March last, at Christ-
o
church, in the Bormigh, his forther wife being
then alive:
Mantling, the parish clerk of Filumstead;in Kent,
proved the Marriage i•f the pi iSniier with Mary Johnstone. at
I'lotostead (Anvil', in June 80§. The ceremony was per-
formed by the curate, the Her. S. Watson.
Mary Johnstone, the prisoner's tit wife, Came into the
witnesses' box, ai)l Mr. ,Maiming store that I •the
„S ass
woman the iirisoner niai•ried iii I 808',
Alaty3ohnitotte's apmaranee excited a good deal of merri-
sient she was attired in the costume of the last century, and
appeared at trait 80 years of aze. She called to the prisoner,
" Oh,. you naughty villam.•' Order being restored, Mary
Staggs, a decently dressed wornan,'wmi :called. She said she
was 70 yeariHif ciao, She was the lawful wife of the prisoner,
She was 'whiled to bin') hilt Match, at a church in th'e Ilo-
rotigh. She did not know the haute of it.
Prisonei=l Duly married her to dress and Undreis me.
Witneii—Yon 1:114‘e better, yin! left me.
CtIAtRMAN—Wai married by binds or licenSi?
Lanus.
Ph-koder—My Lotil, pave mercy. lam a pout' helpless old
.man; rode a cripMe ; lean do nothing; I was. born at
Brrck-
-nock; the women know I am an innoeent mail; arid never (knit
any thing any body.
ettAttimAiroii hill by alldwed to speak in your defence
11.0-cartel.

Mary Savage. itv..ing sworn, stated that she -was at the mar-
riage of the prisoner ssith Mary Staggs at Christ•ehurch, in
the Borough, on the 2d of March last.
Cliat lirisotier, a hat have yuu to say in de-
fence of }our conduct ? •
'1 he prisunt then put in a written defence, composed .by
bithself,. hot Writteit by a fellow prisoner in form of an affida-
vit, Ai follows

._ •
1, W►n. Thomas, do declare that I ant unable to cot ray
own victuals, I having no hands nor feet; nor am I able to
dress or tindress myself Without help. I married Mary Stagger,
but she did hot long hide with roe before she robbed Inc of
every thing only what I can stand upright in,-.and she Mary
Johnson a►ded and assisted its it, she living as housekeeper
with rater she has since threatened to hang me IP:cause I
would not give her money. I gets my living by sehor tins
about the country. Now, I pray you, gentle►nen, to do what
you cal► In,* o►e, for Johnstone tells me she has hung one and
I riiikspori ed two, and will hang me. I hove God will forgive
all my wrongs and you too„ ter 1 decay daily,- and must soon
die of old age.

• (Signed)
a" Horse-monger-lane, Jlily, t 820."
The CUM HMAN recapitulated the evidence, and said a more
extraordinhry ritarge had not been recently before the Court.—
The prisoner interrupted the Chairman : My Lord, I was
pressed to marry ; I did not Want to marry. What could
do ? She knew I only wanted her to undress me'at night and
dress me in the morning!
CH IA RMAN—The case is completely proved ; it is an Isnact•
countable transaction; you will consider your verdict.
The Jory immediately returned a verdict of Guilty, but
strongly recommendeol the prisoner to mercy.
(Irma:vas—Upon what grounds ?
JunymAs—His great age and infirmity.
Another JurtymAs—The prisoner was not able to dress
himself : it was necessay that he should have smut- person to
attend Up(Ill him,' as be has no hands or feet. We hope the
Court will deal mercifully with hitu.
trial RMAN—Your recommendation shall be attended to.
The Court sentenced the prisoner to three mordhs
inipri-
torrrnNnt no the House of Correct-ion.—The prisoner is pos.
seised of property in the funds, amounting to near 200U1.

" WM. THOMAS.

1-101tItI1l AltlltDEli. •

The body of an unfortunate man, dressed in
the costume of a sailor, was discovered on Satur-
day morning in a small pond, situate at a short
distance from the new road leading from Kentish
To‘ln to the Highgate Archway. On be.ing
dragged to the shore by the men who found it,
appearances led to the. conclusion that death had
been produced by violent means, and that in fact
a foul mnrder•had been committed. The features
were disfigured with bleed, and the clenched fists
and curved arms of the man induced the by-
standers to suppose that he had died in the act
of resistance, and this belief was aided by the
declaration of a woman residing near the spot,
who stated, that, at about one o'clock in thci
morning, she heard loud shouts, and a scuffles as
if people were quarrelling. The body was con-
veyed to the Bull and Gate public-house, where
it now lies for the Coroner's Inquest, which is
summoned for this evening. It was examined by
Mr. Harding, a, respectable surgeon of Kentish
Town, but he was unable to discover any" wound
which, in
,his opinion, could have occasioned
death. There is a contused wound over the left
eye, and a few scratches on the face, but those
are all the marks of ill-treatment. The man had
a shilling in his pocket, and there was nothing
in his appearance which could lead to the con-
clusion that he was possessed of property.

AWFUL CATASTROPHE AT THORNCLIFFE IRON
WORKS.

We have this week to communicate the melan-
choly result of a most fatal accident, which oc-
curred about four o'ciock on Wednesday after-
noon, at the Thorncliffe Iron-works, near this
place. The workmen were engaged in the midst
of the thunder-storm in casting for as steam en-
gine a large iron shaft, of upwards of 5 tons weight,
when pouring the metal into the mould prepared
for its formation it suddenly exploded ; the con-
sequence was, three men were killed on the spot,
and a great many were, severely injured, three of
whom, we learn, have since died. All the ma-
naging partners were present, and with the ex-
crption of Mr. Isaac Newton, providentially es-
caped ; in attempting to retreat, he had the mis-
fortune to fall; the event proved fatal—after lin-
gering under the most exquisite torture he expir-
ed the following morning at ten o'clock. There
are some others who were burnt on this melart:,.
choly occasion, of Whose final recovery the most
serious doubts are entertained ; bnt we 'have the
satisfaction to know, that every aid and comfort
which the humanity of the Proprietors could
suggest was immediately procured for the unfor-
tunate sufferers, as well as for their afflicted fami-
lies. As no other cause can be reasonably as-
signed for this remarkable phenomenon, it is con-
jectureli, by the proprietors;iliat.it had its origin
in the electric fluid being, alti:acted by the Sul-
phureaus steam which emanated from tile casting.
This seems extremely probablO, as the mould
was placed in .a
an horizontal ene.----(Skificld 31, Las 22.)perpendicular Cation andr not ill

navavouring to
are
Air. 31 IcmA IL ANGx.Lo TA YLUII- Recorder,
procure .'r h e
'Val- iAd ideee:icnx!-; ittoa 'al di (t.ai address the QUEEN.
DENT
:t4 ;lAeireMMbLr'ststf°Yr.
On Saturday, to which shwtettimed. a graalotis
panocol
lelN,lepssrressetl:teu7dsaan arttitiress .
A US W er.

YOA,KSHIRE ASSIZES, TiLURSDAy, JULY '2O.

CROWN TREaSON.

All the peuons. in -custody, against whom bills
for High Treason had been found, were brought
into Court this morning.. They were brought
forward to be spoken to in parties. of four. Be-
t,ides.t.he tioned. yesterday, there is an-
other, Thoilaus Perr,ymond, against whom a true
bill ha's been found, liwking. thus '25 altogether.
Of these, three, T7toiiai4 Peruriiond,, Joseph
Sthith, and John. Pickering, are not :in custody.
—Twenty-0;o were this morning brought to the
bar: The Barne3ley, or 2Grange,aloor

were first called,. and of .thern the first' was T4Tin.
Coinstive, a
.?.4-ood-looking and 11,1,11-dressed youn&
_man.. Of the Huddersfield ciivi.,iou; of 'whom
'there are only four, the first was Alm Peacock,
aged 45. Each..party, as they were arratigectat
the bar, was thus addressed :
Mr.-Justice PArts.—The Grand Jury have
found true bills agaiust you for High Treason.
It is my duty, therefore, to tell you, that you
have a right to apply to the Court to assign you
'Counsel, not exceeding, two. William Corn-
s'.'ve, what Counsel do you wish to be assigned
to you?

Conistive.—Aly Lord, I hope you will give
us a few days to consider.

Mr. Justice PAnx.----1 cannot refuse that cer-
tainly. You need nOt be called up agairr; Mr.
Stayely can tell rat .let•it'be by Monday ...ext.
Have you made choice of an.attorney ?
W. Corns ti Yes, Mr. Greaves- (of Sheflield).,
Mr. JuStice PARK.—Have you agreed, Mr.
? pr.do you wish for time to consider?
Mr. GREAVLS.---1 wish for time, if your Lord-
ship pleases. • •
All the prisoners in the first indictment, ,18 in
number, made the same request, and obtained the
same indulgence. ,

Mr.. Justice PAnk.—You will have copies of
the indictment, a list of the Jurors, and also of
the witnesses, sooner probably; that is, a longei
time before your trial, th.n is required by law.
1 shall adjourn the Assize for the purpose. of
,having you tried before it is concluded. It will
be six weeks after the business here shall be
ended. The adjournrnent,will be to a Saturday,
but the trials will not commence till eight o'clock
on the Monday following:
rne 'prisoner James Flowers,. aged 49, was
asked whether he wished for time to choose his
Counsel. Bein; very deaf, he replied" Yes, Sir,
I was forced fiou..- my home."
On the-second indictment on!y four were
erl : the first .was John I..intilay, (aged
They ,obtained the same ' time-for -turning their
Counsel, but they readily named 'Mr: Carr, .of
Gorne,rsal, for their Attortiej. Mr. Carr swas
called from the other Court, and expressed a de-
sire to base time to consider, as he knew'nothing
'of the'inen.

. .
Mi. J ilstice RA K said that he should•certain.
. .
ly havearid he should make an order in: his
ease to- see the prisoners, But ~Mr. Greas=es
could ,not have any further order, haying already
had two. . •

Mr. ft IPCE made the usual _motion fora list of
Jurors to try the persons charged with high trea-
son, and fop serving that 11;:t upon Mr. Mull, So-
licitor for the Crown.
Mr. Justice PARK granted the order.; and
, added, that it might be mmtioned at the bottom
of the that the Juyersneed not-attend finale
'Monday after the adjourned Meeting of the Com-
•Tnis'Sion.

Several hours afterwards, when. the Grand Jury
had finished their business, his Lordship said that
he Could not discharge them. This would not be
a discharged Commission. It was to be adjourn-
ed to Saturday, the 9th of- September :.but un-
less had notice, they would not be required
to attend.