The Sun.
London, England, 1829-04-18 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

On Thursday afternoon, at six o'clock, RtcuAßO
CARTER, Esq., the coroner for Surrey, and a highly
respectable jury, assembled at the Rosemary Branch
Inn, Peckham, for the purpose of inquiring into the
circumstances attending the death of Mrs. Mary
Fryer, the widow of a naval officer, 81 years of age,
who, it was strongly suspected in the neighbourhood,

had fallen a victim to a long course of ill-treatment'
which she was said to have received from the person
who had the care of her.
The interest excited in the neighbourhood by the
inquiry was extraordinary. The inn was filled in
every part, and a considerable crowd collected out-
side, and remained during the whole of the proceed-
ings. For the last two days, the village had been
in a state of great excitement; and so strong was tho
woman suspected, that it was deemed necessary to
muster the whole of the local police, who surrounded

her house night and day, to protect her from popular
fury. Notwithstanding the presence of the officers,
however, the crowd threw stones and other missiles
at the house, and a great quantity of filth was thrown

into the yard and garden.
The Jury having been sworn and viewed the body,
Mr. Brown, a surgeon, residing at Peckham, de-
posed, that on Wednesday morning he and Mr.
Bristow, another surgeon, were called upon by the
parish authorities to examine the body of the de-
ceased, lying at the house of a Mrs. Harris, in Rose-
mary Branch-lane; their entrance, however, was re-
sisted by Mrs. Harris. She closed the doors against
them, and said in a very determined tone, that she
would inflict injury upon any one who attempted to
enter the house. They went again in the afternoon,
accompanied by the parish beadle, and succeeded in
gaining an entrance. They then examined the body
of the deceased. They found a contused wound on
the right side of the frontal bone, and bruised ap-
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the
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eep nf tguitside
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Nfiae,tarvhesee rhb- areeesaeadnat
discolouration on the upper part of the back and
shoulders, with a removal of the skin in several
plates. The left fore arm was much bruised, end a
deep wound on the wrist. The integuments were
cut through; this seemed to have been occasioned
by a cord or narrow strap. On removing the upper
part of the skull, the dura dura mater was found
healthy; underheath which, and over the left hemis-
phere of the brain, was found a quantity of bruised
blood, about two ounces.
The CORONER—What,
in your opinion, was the
cause of death ? Mr. Brown—The extravasation
of blood on the left hemisphere of the brain, which
only could have been caused by externa:
violence.
The extravasation must have been caused by
the

blow, the mark of which appeared on the frontal
bone.
A Juror—Are there not appearances in the body
which show neglect ? Mr. Brown—There were
appearances of that kind certainly. The age of the
deeeased, I understand, was 81, and I am of opinion
that she might have lived to the age of • 100 with
proper care, so perfectly healthy did she appear.
Mr. Bristow corroborated this statement.

Richard Sherlock, a carpenter, lodged in Mrs.
Harris's house about six months. She had the care
of the deceased, and received payment of a guinea
a week from her friends for her support. He had
heard the deceased groan in the night time, and had
heard Mrs. Harris cal! her a " old fdpati" and
a" old —," and had heard the deceattd '
out, " for God's sake don't, pray don't beat me:'
The deceased was a widow. Witness never heard
Of her making a will, but understood she had pro-
perty. The deceased had a habit of moaning in the
night, and Mrs. Harris beat her on that account, and
was in the habit of strapping her down to the bed,
and tying her with a strap or rope by the wrist.—
Witness was a.,ked by a neighbour, why be did not
speak to Mrs. Harris on the subject of her treatment
of the poor old lady, and he told Mitt he might as
well speak to a post.—(A laugh.)—He bud heard
Mrs. Harris's husband remonstrate with her, but he
durst not say much. He was very mild, but she tiats
quite the reverse. The witness, after much press;Pfr
by some of the jury, admitted that he heard of a
will being in the house, but he never saw it.
Margaret Brash, aged 13, lived servant with Mrs.
Harris two months. She was in the habit of drink-
ing very much. She was constantly beating Mrs.
Fryer, and witness had seen her break several canes
about her back. In the cold weather, when the de-
ceased came down from her room, where she was
generally confined, to warm herself, Mrs. Harris
would take a stick or cane and beat her up stairs
again. She had seen her beat the deceased with a
walking-stick, and once with an iron rod. The de-
ceased used to cry to witness, and say, she wished
God would be pleased to take her. She was dread-
fully afraid of Mrs. Harris, who could make her say
or do any thing. She sometimes sent her to bed
without her tea, and said if she gave her as much
food as she wanted, the old would eat a donkey
and hampers.
Charles Spencer was a shoemaker, and lived next
door to Mrs. Harris. He had many times seen
Mrs. Harris inflict severe chastisement on the de-
ceased.
Mary Lingston, a young girl, who gave her evi-
dence with a good deal of flippancy, said she had
known the deceased for two years as the lodger of
Mrs. Harris, and saw her very frequently. Mrs.
Harris always behaved with the greatest kindness to
the deceased, and gave her victuals with her own
hands. On Tuesday morning Mrs. Harris told her
Mrs. Fryer was dead, and witness assisted in laying
her out.
Mrs. Owen said she had seen Mrs. Harris knock
the deceased down like an ox, many times.
Mr. Brown said, that the witness Lingston resist-
ed him and Mr. Bristow when they attempted to re-
move the body from the dark back room to the front
one, in order to examine it.
At the desire of several of the Jurors, Harris and
his wife were called in separately, and Harris, who
seemed a harmless old man, said he knew not how
the deceased came by her death, unless it was the
visitation of God. He said that she was strapped
down by the body and wrists, to prevent her from
falling about the house, and this was done by way
of caution. (Here there was a general expression
of indignation in the room.)
Anne Harris, an amazingly tall, masculine, red-
faced woman, was then questioned, and declared
she never beat the deceased to hurt her in all her
life. She denied that there was any mark or blow
on Mrs. Fryer's forehead when she died, and said
the mark must have been made by the doctors in
cutting and hacking her about. The woman then
commenced a volley of abuse against the surgeons,
and the Coroner, and the Jury, for not having paid
more attention to " her witness," Mary Lingston ;
and the beadles were at length obliged to put her
out of the room by main force.
Mrs. Spencer, the wife of the witness of that
name, had frequently seen Mrs. Harris treat the
deceased with great cruelty. On one occasion, when
the deceased was locked in her room, she called out
piteously for water. Mrs. Harris went up and gave
her a beating for calling out at all. Witness added,
that during the whole time she had known the de-
ceased, she never saw her without black eyes or some
other marks of violence about her face.
The room was now cleared, and the Jury, after a
short deliberation, returned a verdict of " Man-
slaughter" against the woman Harris, who was
forthwith taken to Horsemonger-lane gaol.

Should the Parliamentary Session close as
early as is at present expected, the London season will he
cut short to a degree that has not happened for many years.

In consequence of the enormous number of -
French clocks which have been introduced into this coot-
try, and sold as of English manufacture, with the Eames
of English makers upon them, an order has been sent to
all the ports, in pursuance of a late regulation of Parlia-
ment, to prevent, except upon affidavit declaring tlwariicle.:
to be for private use, the introduction of and• clock of
French manufacture which has not the naine of the maker - -
in two compicuoun places.