Star.
London, England, 1817-11-24 00:00:00

and murder aforesaid in the said count so charged and,
alleged against him the said Abraham Thornton as
tafeeesaid, to wit, at the parish of Sutton Co/Meld, in
the county of Warwick; that is to say, that on the
27th day of May, in the 57th year of the reign of our
Sovereign Lord George the 'Llird, by the grace of
GOD of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, about the hour
of seven in the morning of the same day, the body of
the said Mary Ashford, in the said writ of appeal and
count mentioned, was found dead in a pit of water,
situate in the parish of Sutton Coldield aforesaid, in
the county of Warwick aforesaid ; and that the said
body of the said Mary Ashfosd was then and there
taken out of the said pit, and examined in the presence
of divers creditable witnesses in this behalf : and the
said William Ashford further saith, that upon and
from the said examina.ion of the said body of the said
Mary Ashford, it then and them appeared, sad was
manifest to the said witnesses, that she the said Mary
Ashford had been and was recently alive, and that
she the said Mary Ashford had come to her death by
drowning, as an and by the said count is charged and
alleged; and that recently before the death of her the
said Mary Ashford, some man had forcibly viol+ted
her person : and that up to the time of such deed,
Mary Ashford had been and was a virgin : And that
upon the said examination there also then and there
appeared and were manifest upon each of the arms of
her the said Mary Ashitord, between the shoulder and
the elbows on each of the said arms, the msik and
impression of a human hand, the said marks and im-
pressions then and there denoting and indicating that
each of the arms of her, the said Mary Ashford, had
tseen recently grasped and held with violence. And
the said William Ashford further saki', that on the
said examination of the body of the said Mary Ash-•
lord, there appeared and were marks
of-- her the said Mary Ashford,
and also upon the clothes and dress in which the
body of the said Mary Ashford was clothed when the
same was so taken out of the said pit as aforesaid :-
1 And that the front part of the dress wherein the
body of the said Mary Ashford was then clothed,
was then and there rent and torn, to wit, at the Pa-
rish of Sutton Coldfield aforesaid, in the county of
Warwick aforesaid. And the said William Ashfordl
further satth, that on the said 27th day of May, in
the 57th year aforesaid, in the parish of Sutton Cold-
field aforesaid, in the said county of Warwick, about
the hour last aforesaid, upon certain grass, then and
there rowing, about the distance of tong yards from
the said pit, there was the mark and impression of a
human figure, from which said mark and impression
it then and there appeared, and was manifest, that a
human body had been recently lying there
And that the said last
mentioned marks, spots, Ike. upon the said clover
grass, then and there growing by the side of the said
footpath as aforesaid, were near enough to the said
footpath, to have i Wen from a human body, carried
iu the arms of a parson passing along the said foot-
path, from the place where the said mark and im-1
pression of the said human figure was towards the
said pit ; and that there was not at the time when
the said body of the said Mary Ashford was so found
in the said pit as aforesaid, any impression, mark, or
vestige in the said clover grass, whereon the said last
mentioned marks and spots were by the side of the
said footpath as aforesaid, of any footstep, nr of any
person having walked or passed on or over the said,
clover grass, and the said clover grass was then coH
vend with dew, and the same dew was not disturbed
or brushed away. And the said William Ashford
further raith, that in the evening of the :'6th day of
May, in the 57th year aforesaid,•t:he said Mary Ash-
tord• was at a dance, in the house ot• one Daniel
Clarke, in the parish of CordvPoth, in the said c'on'y
of Warwick, and that the said Abraham Thornton
WAS then there also; and that while the said Mar)
Ashford so was at the said house of the said Daniel
Clarke (to wit) on the said 2641 day of May in the
57► h year aforesaid, at the parish of Cul dworth ;Attu,
said, in the said county of Warwick, he, the said
Abraham Thornton, said of and concerning the said
Mary Ashford, in the presence and hearing of one
Joseph Cooke, then and there, and still being a cre-
dible witness, but not in the hearing of the said Mary
Ashford. in gross and obscene language to the effect
miaowing : that is to say, '144 he the said Abraham
Thornton had had

and the said William Ashford further saith, that the
said Mary Ashford and the said Abraham Thornton
danced together at the house of the said Daniel
Clarke on the evening of the said 26th day of May,
in the 57th year aforesaid, that about twelve o'clock
at night of the sa.i e 26th day of May, at the parish
of Curdworth aforesaid, in the said county of War-
wick, the said Mary Ashford and Abraham Thorn-
ton.left the said house of the said Daniel Clarke, and
walked together towards Erdington, in the parish of
Aston, near Birmingham, in the said county of War-
wick ; And.thesaid William Ashford further saith,
that about three o'clock in the morning of the said
27th day of May, in the 57th year aforesaid, the
said Mary Ashford and Abraham Thornton were
seen talking together at a certain stile, near to a cers
fain hoe, called Bell•laur, leading towards Erding.
ton aforesaid, to wit, at the parish of Sutton Coldfield
aforesaid, in the county of Warwick aforesaid
And the said William Ashford further saith, that
about four o'clock of the same morning of the said
17th day of May, in the 57th year aforesaid, the said
Mary Ashford went to the house of a certain person,
to wit, one Mary Butler, in Erdington aforesaid, at
which said last mentioned house, she, the said Mary
Ashford, had, on the then preceding day, left some
wearing apparel; and that the said Mary Ashford
thee and Mae remained in the said last mentioned
house about a quarter of u hour; and that di.r.rg
that time she the said Mary Ashford then and tlreie
appeared in good health and in perfect composure of
mind. And the arid William Ashford (lather saith,
that the said Mary Ashford at the end of the said
last mentioned time, to wit, on the said 27th day of
May, in-the 57th year aforesaid, left the said last
mentioned house, to wit, at the parish of Aston, near
Birmingham aforesaid, in the county of Warwick
,aforesaid. And the said Win. Ashford further saith,
that very soon; that is to say, within the space of a
quarter of an hour after the said Mary Ashford so
left the said last mentioned house as aforesaid, she,
the said Mary Ashford, was seen, to wit, at the pa-
rish
of Aston, near Birmingham aforesaid, in the
county of Warwick, walking alone in a direction
leading front Erdington aforesaid towards Langley in