The Sun.
London, England, 1829-10-07 00:00:00

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KNOB STICK WEDDINGS.

One of those illegal celebrations of matrimony,
which are termed by the peasantry " kuobstick
weddings," lately took place at Wirksworth.
The parties forced into the blessed state are
o
William Saxton, a slender-witted man, 24 years
age, and Lydia Brooks, some 15 years older,
who has a wooden leg, both of them paupers
the man chargeable to Sheffield, the woman to
Middleton, near Matlock, The subordinate
actors in the comedy are Mr. Philip Bateman
and Mr. David Walker, guardians of the poor in.
that part of Derbyshire already named, and AIN
George Crosland, of Sheffield, who, in his duty
to the overseers, appears to have assumed the
part of an official Pry, and interfered most for-
tunately for the protection of the interests of
those parishioners whom he represents. The
week before last, William Saxton appeared be-
fore the governor of the workhouse, in a most
pitiable plight, soliciting food and protection, de-
claring that he had but the minute before,
hungry and full of etpectations of all sorts, en-
tered a house which his wife said was her's, when
he was set upon by several men and women, and
driven forth with many stripes. Upon the re-
raeotpetition
si
ditiworarsosfumttoimnepdorftraonint whoirsdhuwriefea,o,Mofr..cCoir,ors-e
very desirous of being informed how his ae-
edexplanation,
IdPiately, detected single,
and u a ac-
quaintance, cneo, t h Sivohgo t whoa
efae
twp...i.:rdoyat.ytsl2.
;bnebf(trrhr
of charity,
and all the a plot to
been
t
pledges which,
enabledsima .Saxton
en
in the course of years, might prove her unre-
strained affection, on the parish funds of the
rate-payers of Sheffield. " Liddy Brooks,"
said the newly-made husband, " whom I never
know'd, sweared a child on me as soon as she'd
fastenlAlla dr
gotten to Middleton, where you sent her. (She
was removed by Sheffield to Middleton, her
place
of settlement.) So, when she'd swear'd
it, they sent o'er for me to filiate it ; first of all
they took me to Derby, and then, only because
I know'd nothing about it, they remanded me
to Wirksworth gaol. When I had lied in gaol
some time, the gentlemen I telled you of comes
to me, and says they, Why man, you mull
marry this lass.' Aye,' says I, I mut-, as
weel, sin you mak me father o' her 'bairns,'
Then, says they again, if you don't u
, andhappen you'll lie in gaol for a twelvemonth, and
happen be hanged after all,' However they
gied me some liquor, and I being seared, gied
em my promise.' The remaining part of the
story is too serious to be given in
poor Saxton's
own language. In this state of drunkenness,
without hat or shoes, handcuffed the pauper
was taken from gaol to Matlock, where a licence •
of marriage was procured and paid for by the
overseers. This part of the business being
ar-
ranged, the pauper was returned to dura':,ce in
the morning, the overseers appeared before the
prison doors, and summoned the captive.
To
prevent mistakes, it was though!. proper that a
pair of steel ruffles (handcuff',) should unite the
impatient groom to
.one of the overseers, and in
this state, by a circuitous route,
the party reached
the church of Wilkswortl. IHere, equally under
the influezl4 of the ' Istood
parrs guides, the woctlen,legged blide ; and here poor Saxton,
who had been frightened into a belief that no
choice existed between hanging and marrying,
submitted to take for better or worse Lydia
Brooks. The wily officers " would not throw
a chanco away," and cutting short all moments
of dalliance, hurried the couple off to the in part
newly acquired settlement of Sheffield, and con-
gratulated themselves how neatly they had done
" the grinders." Their disappointment was
soon manifest. Mr. Crosland immediately
brought the case before W. J. 13agshawe, Esq.,
a magistrate of the county, at the time sitting
at Mr. Gascoigne's, the Horse and Jockey, at
Hemsworth ; the overseers were summoned, and,
appeared, but being unable to give any explal43,
tion of their conduct, they were held to bail to
appear
at the Derby Sessions, to answer a pro-
secution for fraudulently procuring the marriage
of William Saxton with Lydia Brooks, with the
intent to defraud the township of Sheffield.—
Abridged from the Sheffield Independent.

A Meeting of the Creditors under the Com-
mission of Bankruptcy issued against the late Mr. CHAT.
SricEtt, of Margate, took place yesterday, at Bankrupts'
Hall, before the Commissioners. The deceased was in
Ireland at the time the docket was struck, and was carry-,
ing on a good business, as a tavern-keeper, at Marga t,.
and living in credit. His debts were not to a large amount,
and those proved Were mostly bill transactions.

•
SINGULAR SUICID4 •'4
(From the Boston Gazette of Tursdao44 4
The melancholy instances of seMdestructiorr*
Boston have rapidly multiplied of late; but alikotaili.
the painful duty of announcing them has beenAne4..
more frequent than formerly, yet we do not remem-
ber a solitary case, which affords so much ground'
for astonishment as the one we are about to relate;
for several reasons--chiefly considering the advanced
age of the party, thus snatching off the last rem:
nant of a protracted existence, and the apparent ab-
sence
of any reasonable cause. Mrs. Mary George„
widow, formerly landlady of the Indian Queen pub-
lic-Douse, in Dolphin-lane, retired from busuies.s,
some years ago; for nearly twenty years she had
been afflicted with illness, and her sufferings were
great; at the period of her death she had entered
her eighty-first year, and she has spent about six:
teen years in easy pecuniary circumstances, being.
attended by an affectionate relative named Mary
Ann Danderson, whom the old lady had brought up
from infancy. Within the last few weeks Mrs..
George manifested, by unequivocal symptoms,• that.
her mental faculties were rapidly decaying; her me-
mory forsook her, and she appears to have become
childish and superannuated. She had been tillable
to dress herself, or even to get out of bed, without
assistance for a long time. About one o'clock on
Friday afternoon she was as well as usual, and in
bed. Mary Ann Danderson did not disturb her
aged benefactor, but about an hour afterwards she
again went up stairs, and there she saw the poor old
woman on her knees, with a bloody knife in her
har.d, and the vita! fluid trickling from a wound in
the neck, which had been caused by the deceased
stabbing herself with the knife she retained in her
grasp. She was alive then, and said to the woman
that found her—" Oh I my dear, my heart
has been broken all summer." And this was the
only explanation she gave either of the wound, or
of the reason which induced her thus to cut off the .
short time she had to live. She sent for fur rela-
tives, and told them to pray for her, and she also
prayed fervently and distinctly for some time.
About a quarter past four o'clock the same after-
noon she expired, being perfectly sensible after she
had wounded herself up to the moment of her death.
Mr. J. R. Rogers, surgeon, was called in, arid sewed
up the laceration. Mrs. Wingate, a niece of the
deceased, asked her why she had laid violent hands
upon herself, and she replied that she hod been
broken-hearted all summer. An inquest was held
upon the body on Saturday morning, at the Ship
Tavern, before J. H. HouwaY, Gent., Coroner for
the borough, and a very respectable Jury, when a
verdict was returned to the effect—" That the de.
ceased destroyed herself in a fit of temporary de-
rangement."