The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-08-16 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL SU3IMER ASSIZES

aday last, the commission of the peace, and
general gaol delivery of the southern division of Lan-
cashire, was opened in Liverpool. The judges, Mr. Justice
Wightman and Mr. Justice Erle, arrived b 3) railway from
Lancaster. At the station they were met by the high-
sheriff, Talbot Clifton, Esq., his Worship the Mayor, and
the Town Clerk, who accompanied the judges to their
lodgings. They afterwards proceeded to St. George's
Hall, where the commission having been opened the court
was adjourned till twelve o'clock on Thursday. Their
lordships on Thursday attended divine service in St. Peter's
Church. The calendar contained the names of 117 prison-
ers charged with various offences.

ON • We

In the Crown Court, after the usual preliminaries, the
following gentlemen were sworn upon

THE GRAND JURY

Samuel Holme, Esq., Holmstead, foreman ; John Bentley,
Esq., Mount Fallinge ; Reece Bevan, Esq„ Wigan; Har-
rison Blair, Esq., Manchester; James Thomas Bourne, Esq.,
Liverpool ; John Fenton, Esq., Rochdale ; Gilbert Greenall,
Esq., M.P., Walton Hall; James Holme, Esq., Liverpool;
John Holmes, Esq., Everton ; David Hodgson, Esq., Tox-
teth-park ; William Ford Hulton, Esq., Bolton ; Joseph
Pollock, Esq., Liverpool ; Christopher Rawdon, Esq., Liver-
pool ; Thomas Rollick, Esq., Liverpool ; Albert Hudson
Royds, Esq., Rochdale ; Charles Turner, Esq., Liverpool ;
Ralph J. T. Williamson, Esq., Liverpool; William Rayner
Wood, Esq., Manchester ; Robert Jill, Esq., Much Woolton ;
Sir John Bent, Liverpool, Knight ; John Hayward Turner,
Esq., Liverpool; Jahn Blayds Molyneux, Esq.., Liverpool;
William Potter, Esq, Liverpool._

OROWA' COURT

Mr. Justice Wightman, who presided, in his &large to
the grand jury, said,—l regret to find that the calendar is
very heavy. It contains the' names of 124 persons, whose
cases will be brought before yott, including seven brought
in since the calendar was printed, making altogether 98
distinct and separate charges.. Some of these you w9l
probably dismiss when they are brought before you ; but
there is little doubt that there will be not much less than
TOO cases to be investigated at these assizes. Amongst
those there are ten charges of homicide, including five of
wilful murder, 11 of felonious wounding, 11 of robbery
with violence, n of burglary ; and without troubling you
with a finiber enumeration, there are charges, I believe,
of every offence known to the law except high treason.
However alarming,at first sight such a mianber and such
a catalogue of crime may appear, it becomes less in
reality When the extent of the population of the commer-
cial towns- of Liverpool and Manchester is' considered,
from which so'great a proportion of the charges originate;
but it certainly does' net appear by the present- calendar
that there bas-beeeanydltninution in the amottet of crime,
although, as' I am informed, there has been no, want of
employment, and, wages have been comparatively good.
One of the most serious ,clawges in the calendarit one of
murder against' Sinan Campbell. It appears that the
prisoner and the. deceased,were hi a public-house• :ii this
town ;- that she asked him for drink, that he refused; and
that she used ill language to 'him, when, according- ftethe
statement made, he' slightly struck her with the back- of
his fingers ; that the, prisoner then left the deceased, who
remained in the saws room ,; that she went away, and' re-
turned in a few minutes, when she stabbed him in the
neck, giving him a wianid'which caused death instanta;•
neously. From the evidence, as stated in the depositions;"
I can find no reason for reduchtge the charge to man-
rslaughter. There is a charge of murder against Daniel,
,Miller. The occurrence took -place on the high seas, on a
voyage between DemerarNand England. No third person
appears to have been present at, the -time ; but the captain
states that the prisoner, who was mate of the ship, came
tb hint voluntarily and stated ' that he had murdered the
carnenter. He added, that he had 'done so in self-defence,
and-that the carpenter had attacked him with a knife. I
do not find anything to warrant you in finding a bill for
has than murder, under the circuinstances brought out.
A woman, named Mary Hodg,klason, is charged with the
murder of a 'child, a feW weeks 'old,: of Which she was the
mother. There is no doubt that:thec,as-e is one of wilful
murder,. if the prisoner was in a:state of mind at the time
to be responsible, which, from CAA depositions, the unfor-
tunate ' woman would . hardly appear to be. . The other
two charges of murder are against -women, cases of the
murder of children of which they hal just been delivered.
There may be other cases which calqor remark, and pre-
sent points-which, in so great a mass,.require comment or
explanatiOn. Should such be the case during the process
of your inquiry, said you require assistance from me, I
shall be happy to afibrd it. But, before we part, I wish to
mark ant omission which I find. Bnalt•the depositions
taken atf Manchester, and some oWor places, it is not
stated wUtlier the prisoner vas aslted If he wished to
make any stAtement, or whether he nradeeny statement
or not. I cannot suppose that the magistrate& do not ask
such a questiOn ; but if any statement vem made it ought
to appear on -the. depositions, and if the prisoner declined
to make any; that fact should be given. The: omission is
by no means ceatducire to the each of just ;.and I strongly
recommendAhe- magistrates to 'see that-the practice is
altered for the future; as it is most importantthat nothing
which may-- legitimately occur at that time should be
kept back ; and in many crises it is important to know
for the sake of the-publie and the prisoner-Unser, What
voluntary view- of • the transaction he gins- when before
the magistrates:. And now, gentlemen, I will!! no longer
detain you.

The grandAjtAry- then retired, and shortiSi,afterwards
returned with. several tree• bats into court.

SACRILE6-a Airp,LAczNy..—Charles Setain, aged 24,
remanded from the last assizes, was chargedwitlisarrilege.
On the 2nd or, 3rd of March a chapel-of-ease; belonging to
the Established 'Church, at Peel, in the townahip. of Little
Hulton, in this -county,. was broken into, entry having
been effected by the.removal of several panesfrom one of
the windows-- Several: chaudidiers and five bronze candle-
sticks were stolen. A coveri, which had been taken from
the pew of Mt, Jacob• Fletcher; was also found: torn up in
the vestry, One portiein of it had been torn.off,. and evi-
dently carrieil?Olf. the,premiLvs. The night after that the
prisoner was,arrested- and searched, when a piece. of print
was found in -hia, pocket- with some bread in it,. and which
corresponds '.with the part taken from the, cover- of Mr.
Fletcher's Few:.. The Piny returned a verdict of not guilty.
There was a- second indietment against thei.prisOner, of
having, on the 23rd of Farina-5., entered thelnde.pendent
Chapel, at Patnwortb, and stolen fourteen.gas. pendants
and burnersi.and a pice6 of green baize • from.lehind the
pulpit. None of the 'pendants had been found: lArt• it ap-
peared that a woman: named 31`Manus, in. Manchester,
with whom. the prisoner lodged, found a piece of green
baize in the house, which the prisoner salthwas his, and
which was, found to correspond with that tal- Om. from the
chapel atl Farnworth.. On fais charge thepris' oner was
found guilty. A previous conviction for felony, for steal-
ing gas pipes at. Pendleton, was then proved against the
prisoner,-..who was sentenced to be transpertedi for seven
years.

M1N7.%-o.4.l3BB.—Wflliam Jackson, alias Janie, Patten,
aged 3(l was indicted for haying, at Liverpool, feloniously
in his possession la counterfeit half-crowns, with ,intent
to utter them, he, having previously been., convicted of a
similazoffenee. He: pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to
transportation for seven years.—John Ls, aged 42,
and Bridget Lyons, aged 30 were indicted -for having, at
Livevool,,knowingly and feloniously itt,their possession
a mild for, the manufacture of base sixpences, and also
with having in. their possession twelve • counter+
feiksixpences, knowing them to be fs2 and counterfeit,.
Vepdict, "•guilty;' John Lyons was sentenced to tweive‘
months, and Bridget Lyons to nine mcathe imprisonment,
with hard
iffaevd la,bour.:--Thomes Gahan t, . aged 24, Thomas
31aryow Bulger, 3'4 . were indicted...for
having, knowingly and. feloniously in their
arast, 211 y and
erpool, kn
possession a mould for the manufacture of base shilllngs..
,The jury found all the pritoners gay, . Gahan Emit Ed-
wards were sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment
each, with hard labour ; sad Ma_7.Eulger, who had pre-
viously been convicted at the Liverpool assizes of passing
base coin, to seven years' transportation.--Thaf- Qraurity,
aged 28., was indicted for Navin, at, last. Aintree races,
passed a base sixpence to Mr... Smith, publican, and, on
being searched, six counterhit shillings, and a sixpence
were.. found in his possession. Guilty. Imprisonment
for four calendar months.

BINSOLARY AT MA.NCIIEETAZ. "—Jam 'tannings aged
19, and John Tonge, ied 20, were indicted for
having, at Salford, burglwiously entered! the dwelling-
house. of John Horrocks, publican, in. Oldfield-road,
Salford, and stolen some plate and money. On the
19th of June, the house was fastened up as usual,
and, at half-past eleven o'.elpck, the immatearetired to rest.
In the morning 31r. Horrors got up; and discovered that
the house had been but lsriously entered, by means of
a window, the latch ciwhich had been loosened by a knife
or other instrument. The money drawer had been pulled
out, and was lying upon the counter, minus a small quan-
tity of silver money which had been left in it the night
before, whilst some copper which it contained remained
untouched. The plate. basket was lying in the yard, and
he found that a quantity of spoons, &c., of Nickel silver,
had also been stolen. Ners morning the prisoners, were
apprehended at the Victoria-station, with the stolen spoons.
and some money in their. possession. The prisoners were
found guilty ; and a previous conviction for felony having
been found against them, the; were sentenced to be•trans-
ported for seven years.
ANOTHER 1317EGLART AI MANCHESTEA. Samuel
White, aged 20, was indicted for having, at Salford,,fele-
niously entered the dwelling.house of Gilbert Yorsten,,
and stolen 3s. 111 d. and a cats. A verdict of guilty was
returned against the prisoner, but in consequence of his
expressing a wish to call a man, named Hugh Jones, to
speak, as to his character, his sentence was deferred. Mr.
Jones, on Friday, gave the young man a good character
and promised to take hin into employment again. His
1E41'414 ordered him to be put down.
At a quarter-past six o'dock the court adjourned, until
nine o'clock the next morning.

Fl Il)AY.
The Court opened at nine o'clock.
MANSLAUGIITER.--Charles Crowther, aged 17, imper-
fectly educated, was chaged with manslaughter. It
appeared that the prisona was a lorry-driver, at Man-
chester. On the 2nd of May his lorry was loaded with
barrels, and while passing through a gateway into the
yard of the Lancashire ant Yorkshire Railway Company,
a barrel that overhung a fev inches the side of the waggon
came in collision with a gate-post, whereby it was thrown
off along with another, and one of them fell upon the head
of a boy, named William Swan, who was thrown off the
waggon by the collision, whereby death immediately
ensued. Verdict, guilty, vith a strong recommendation
to mercy.—His Lordship commented favourably upon the
accidental nature of the fa-al casualty, and in consideration
of the prisoner having leen already three months in
prison, sentenced him to only three days' imprisonment,
inclusive of the two days already served.
Ansort.—Mary Churthlouse, aged 23, could neither
read nor write, and Haniah Greenhalgh, aged 55, who
could read and write imperfectly, were charged with
having maliciously set file to the house of Mr. John
Myerscough, pork-butcher, 43, Chapel-street, Salford. In
November last, Mary Chuivhhouse and her husband, who
is a tailor, with their two children, took two rooms from
Mr. Myerscough. Mrs. Clurchhouse's father had also a
room in the same house, ac:joining. They ran into arrears
with their rent, to the extmt of £5.35. 91d. They were
frequently asked for rent, but continually deferred pay-
ment. On the 28th of Mach last, the husband Church-
house said he was going t„) get some money from a loan
society. On this evening, Mrs. Myerscough put her three
children to bed, about a quarter past eight, and left all
safe. A little after nine o clock, a Mr. Spencer,. brother-
iu-QTYQf Nyermigts win 049 wcuml A 1119P4in