The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-07-07 00:00:00

THE COMMERCIAL BANK

(From our Correspondent.)
MANCHESTER, MONDAY EVENING.—From what has
transpired of the proceedings at the meeting of the share-
holders of the above bank, on Friday last, it appears, that
in consequence of the proposed arrangements with Messrs.
Barnett, Hoare and Co. not having been successful, nor yet
those made by the Bank of England, the shareholders re-
solved on meeting the difficulties in which the establishment
was placed by advancing among themselves something like a
•just proportion to the shares held by each proprietor. One
gentleman offered a loan, or whatever else it may be desig-
nated, of £lO,OOO, and several others £5,000 each ; and,
from the temper of the meeting, it is confidently anticipated
that a sufficient sum will be raised among themselves, forth-
with, to place not only the public completely out of danger,
but also to carry on the affairs of the bank and its branches
as usual. An advertisement has appeared in the Manchester
papers, stating that the banks will shortly be able to resume
business. Notwithstanding the deputation went to London
with the determination not to ask aid of the Bank of England,
it did, however, seek such aid, after the offers made to
Messrs. Barnett and Co. were declined. The conditions,
however, which the Bank of England were desirous to im-
pose, were such as to induce the deputation to decline the
proffered advance : and as the meeting yesterday coincided
with the views taken by the deputation, an advance by the
various shareholders was decided upon.

Another meeting of the shareholders took place on Satur-
day, but nothing of importance transpired. The 211anclies-
ter and Salford Advertiser of the 4th inst. contains a list of
the proprietors, 588 in number. It is eminently calculated
to allay the apprehensions, if any exist, of such as may have
any claims upon the bank ; as there would be no difficulty
in selecting one or two individuals from the list, who, in the
estimation of the public. could without inconvenience liqui-
date the notes of the establishment. The following brief
statement of the general location of the proprietors may not
be uninteresting. There reside in Manchester and Salford
about 80; Blackburn 54; Newport (Salop) 35 ; Chester 30;
Ludlow 26 ; Leeds 31; Potteries 24 ; Whitchurch 13 ; Bir-
mingham 13 ; Ashburne 12; Huddersfield 12 ; Skipton 15 ;
Shrewsbury, &c. 14 ; Halifax 11 ; Rochdale 9 ; Burnley 8 ;
Bury 6 ; London 6 ; Chorley 4.; Preston 3 ; Wakefield 3 ;
Worcester 3 ; Ashton, &c. 4 ; &c. &c.

EXTRAORDINARY MATRIMONIAL ADVEN-
TURES OF A PRETENDED LORD.

On Monday last, at the Durham Sessions, Robert Taylor,
one of the most impudent impostors that we ever remember
to have heard of, was tried for polygamy. We extract from
the Northern Times the following account of the trial :
TIM RIGHT HON. LORD KENNEDY ALIAS ROBERT TAYLOR
(AN IMPOSTOR) ON A CHARGE OF BIGAMY.
On this case being called on much merriment was created
in the court, which was much crowded, and great curiosity
was manifested to catch a glance of " his lordship," as he
took his place in the dock. His lordship," on appearing,
had a very self-complacent grin on his countenance, and
seemed greatly amused with the novelty of his situation, and
the curiosity that had been excited to behold this singular,
vulgar, ignorant, but successful impostor. He gazed round
the court, laughed at the spectators, and seemed to relish his
" own thoughts " with great satisfaction, occasionally turn-
ing up his ugly thick red lips, and distorting his ill-shaped
nose with the most " lordly contempt." Altogether, his con-
duct was more disgusting than amusing, and though the laugh
was often both loud and general, yet few there were who wit-
nessed this impudent impostor's grimaces but would have
readily assisted in exposing his unmanly, vulgar, and ill-fea-
tured countenance in the pillory. On beg arraigned and
i
called upon to plead, " his lordship " said, n a loud sneering
tone, that he was " not girilty."
Mr. Granger then rose and stated the case for the prosecu-
tion. The learned counsel said that the indictment charged
the prisoner at the bar, Robert Taylor, with the crime of
bigamy, an offence against society which was justly punishable
under the criminal law. The prisoner was charged with
having married Mary Davidson, at Acklam, near Middles-
bro', in the county of York, having been previously married
to Mary Ann Scudmore, at St. Philip's Church, Birming-
ham, in July, P3B, which wife was now living. The prisoner
went to Birmingham, and gave out that he was the natural
son of a late Lord Kennedy, of Ashby-hall, near Ashby de la
Zouch, in the county of Leicester, and had represented himself
as entitled to great wealth, some £60,000 and upwards' per
annum. To give countenance to these monsterous imposi-
tions, lie had a number of strange documents, which he
carried about with him in a tin case, on which was marked
d' Lord Kennedy, otherwise Robert Taylor." These-.docu-
ments purported to be the will of this late Lord Kennedy,
copies of the will, certificates of guardianship, and other
papers, to assist him in his fraudulent designs. The learned
gentleman read short extracts from these papers, and also
from the will, which " gave and bequeathed to Robert
Taylor, the son of Elizabeth Taylor, the sum of one million
and fiften thousand pounds and No MORE !! ! three per
cent. consols (loud laughter) four coal-pits, some ships,
&c." The prisoner had, at Birmingham, become acquainted
with a person named John Wood, who would be called be-
fore the jury, and after inducing this person to believe his
representations regarding himself and his great wealth,
had expressed himself as very desirous to be married.
offered a reward of ten pounds to any person who would
introduce him to a nice, handsome, modest, pious young
girl, who was agreeable to marry him, and in consequence

of Vs statements, Jobs Wood had taken hin.
the house of Benjamin Scudmore, iu Birming
purpose of being affianced to the daughter
The object of the visit having been explained to tier .mm
Scudmore. and the great wealth and titles of the pr oner
brought under the notice of the said Benjamin, "hi lord.
ship" was next introduced to Miss Mary Ann, wb con
sented to become " Lady Kennedy." The money avin
been raised by the Scudmore family for the pur
marriage licence and a ring wee procured that d , ai
the parties were married on the next morning, St,'
Philip's Church, Birmingham, in the presence of Jo' Wr
and his wife, and some members of the Scndmor fam
The learned counsel said he should prove these fact Ty J
Vi whom be should call as a witness. After s /
riage the prisoner lived with his wife, and upon h v
family, for about six weeks, when he finally left her, al(
had seen nothing of him since. It was in conseque,
his apprehension at Hetton, by Superintendent Inge or
rural police, on another charge of bigamy, which han
the discovery of this marriage. After leaving Birming,-
the prisoner had visited different parts of the country, pm,.
tising his deceptions, and " his lordship" had become well
known at Hetton, where he had lived for some length of
time upon the credulity of such persons as believed his in
famous misrepresentations. He affected great piety ar
purity of life—carried about with him hymn-books, teeto
pledges, anti-tobacco pledges, and visited class-meetings
preachings in the Primitive Methodist Connexion. He '
at a class-meeting in Newcastle, last October, becom,
quainted with a young female, named Mary
who was married to him a day or two after,
October, at St. John's Church, Newcastle
at, Birmingham, the unfortunate victim
soon abandoned, and " his lordship"
neighbourhood of Hetton again,
of Stockton, where his deep piety recomiic..
attention and friendship of a person in t'
tion, named Benjamin Fryer. lie e::,,
to be married to' a pious female of " handsome" app..
and offered to give his friend, the " Reverend" Fryer
sum of £lO if lie would procure him an introducti'
female willing to be married. His " reverence"
the chance a good one, and made the most of it, and acc
ingly agreed to introduce " his lordship" to his wiles sis
They went together to Acklam, near Stockton, for 14-
pose, and arrived at the house of Thomas Davy '
in-law to the " reverend" Ranter preacher,
on the 3rd of April, when he was shewn to one of I
son's daughters. The young lady was not, however
" lordship's" fancy, and lie declined this young p"
serving " that he did not like her looks, and
lively for him—not of a serious turn enough !'
sister was then brought under his notice, and as 1.
to be married was obtained during the night, th
next day, the 4th of April, to Acklarn Church
"ere married by banns, by the Rev. Isaac B,
_, was advanced for this purpose, and afterwards
means of support, by Benjamin Fryer, the ranter preach
amounting, together with the £lO. reward offered for obtain
ing the wife, to the sum of £22. for which sum " his lon
ship" gave his promissory note. He stayed about thri
weeks at the house of his new father-in-law, and then pn
ceeded with his wife, after often trying to get away from he
to Hetton, where he was seen by Superintendent Ingo of ti
rural police, taken into custody, and from thence he w
committed to take his trial for the charge on which he r
now placed in the dock. These are the outlines of the
rative in the learned counsel's speech, after deliverinm'
uitli much good humour, he proceeded to call the followin,
witnesses, whose evidence we shall not give at great length
as it contains only a repetition of the statements made by the
learned gentleman in the course of his speech.
John Wood called.—ls a waggoner, living in Birmh.
in which town he first met the prisoner in July, 1838, who
represented himself as the son of the late Lord Kennedy,
and entitled to receive, on coming of age, a large amount of
property. He represented himself as entitled to £60;000 a
year, and said he had advertised for a wife, and would give
witness a reward of £lO if he could take him to %handsome
young woman, who would marry him ; and, believing his
tales, he took him to the house of Benjamin Scudmore, and
after explaining his visit, the prisoner was introduced to
Mary Ann Scudmore, the daughter of Benjamin. She was
shewn his tin case of parchment documents, the wills, &c.
The parties being agreeable to the marriage, the ring and
license were procured that day, with money supplied by
Benjamin Scudmore, and they were married on the next
day, at St. Philip's, Birmingham, in the presence of wit-
nesses and his wife, and some relations of the bride. The
prisoner staid for about six weeks with his wife, living upon
her family, and then left her. Witness has not seen him
since he left Birmingham, in 1838, but the prisoner at the
bar is the same person.

a Seinlmon

), of th

knn Wilson
"i the 19th o

Like his wil

id thence to the vici

though

father-

gham,

" His lordship" ;as told by the court, he might ask the
witness any questions he thought proper, when he began a
long explanatory rigmarole conversation with the witnesses
that created laughter, but had no bearing upon the points
in the evidence given by the witness Wood. The bench put
a stop to it, by desiring his " lordship" to confine himself
to the evidence before the court.

A woman in the body of the court, elderly in years and
meanly attired, squeaked out in a ludicrous tone, " Robert !
tell them thou's under age." On hearing which his " lord-
ship" turned round in a state of great excitement, exclaim-
ing, " w—i—s--h—t !" and shaking his head and his
clenched fist very furiously at this sagacious old dame. The
old lady afterwards turned out to be the Dowager " Lady
Kennedy." This little incident created the most laughable
excitement in the court, which lasted for some moments.
The witness Wood cross-examined by " his lordship :"
The wills and other papers were shown to Mary Ann Scud-
more's father, and the nature of them explained.
His Lordship.—" You stated what is not true. It
the will' that was shown, it was the airtiketet
cate) you saw '

Mary Davidson, the prisoner's last wife, was then called.
She is an interesting, modest-looking young person, and it
seems strange how a young female of her appearance could
be induced to " tackle to" with such an ignorant, ill-fa-
voured brute as " his lordship." She was sworn and stated.
that she is a daughter of Thomas Davidson, of Acklam, iu
the county of York. She has a sister married to Benjarr
Freyer, a ranter preacher, and that her brother-in-I
(Freyer) and the prisoner came to her father's house,
Acklam, on the 3rd of April last, when the prisoner w
introduced to her sister, for the purpose of being
The prisoner did not like the " lively I
she was not " serious "
wards introduced to me

him as a very piotis young man, the son of Lord lie
and entitled to very large property. He said he
have £2O a year till he was of age, and £7OO on being
I did not then see the parchment will, only the copy or_
Prisoner certainly said he was to have £2O a year till he v
of age. I consented that night to be married to him, a
next morning, the 4th April, we were married with been _
at Acklam Church, by the Rev. Isaac Benson. My brother
in-law advanced £l2 for the expences, which, with £lO rr
ward the prisoner was to give him for procuring him a will
making together £22, he is now indebted to my brother-in
law, Fryer. We lived upon the £l2, after paying the wed-
ding expences. We staid the first two nights at Stockton,
then went to my father's, and staid three weeks, and from
thence to Hetton. During this time the prisoner often tried
to get away from me, and when in bed attempted to get the
ring off my finger. On passing though Hetton the police-
officer asked if we were married, and on hearing we were, he
took the prisoner into custody.
" His lordship " then examined his" Mary," as he called
her, much after the fashion of the previous witness, evincing
great hardihood, and the rascality of the most consummate
scoundrel, exclaiming, When I came to Acklam, Mary, to
your father's house, did I not say, money or no money,
Mary?' Meaning that he had asked the girl to marry him
whether he had money or not. This kind of examination
was carried on at great length, till at last the Bench put a
stop to it.
Mr. Ingo, Superintendent of the Rural Police, was next
called and sworn, and said that he had known the prisoner
since the autumn of last year, when he was at Hetton, and
was representing himself to be the natural son of Lord
Kennedy, and entitled to very large property. He was then
very anxious to get married, and caused much talk about
Hetton. On the 28th of April last I saw him going through
Hetton with a young woman, to whom I suspected he was
married, and having heard of his wife at Newcastle, I en-
quired of the young female, when she told me she was his
wife, and had been married to him. I then took him into
custody, much against his will, and on being brought before
the Magistrates he was committed to prison on the present
charge for trial. The marriage at Birmingham was not then
known. I have seen the tin-box and his parchment docu-
ments before, at Hetton, last year. He imposed upon a
great number of people. Mr. Ingo was then cross-examined
by the prisoner in the same foolish style as the other witnesses,
much to the merriment of the court.
This closed the case for the prosecution, and his lord-
ship' was informed that the time had now arrived for his
defence:

aarried

A scene of the most laughable nature commence
lordship put himself into a position of an orator, al
vered himself of his thoughts, laughing at his own wii
working hard to get on the tread-mill. He boasted
numerous marriages, justified them upon the plea (
under age," and that as he was " a lord," possesse,
" one million and fifteen thousand pounds, and no mor
he could do as he pleased. After ranting in a strain of gl
folly for same half 'an hour or more, he introduced into
witness box the Dowager " Lady Kennedy," to speak
character.

His

Her ladyship said he was not of age, and therefore his
marriages were not legal. She had not come to say who was
his father, but he was the son of a gentleman (!)—he was not
always right in his head, and was not very ' clever.'
The jury found him guilty.
His lordship was afterwards arrainged on another indict
ment. for having, in Octoberlast, married Mary Ann Wilsor
at Newcastle. This case in all its features resembled tl
last, and it was shortly proved in all the legal f acts so as 1
warrant the jury in giving their verdict. On this trial at
he was found guilty..
The chairman in passing sentence, expressed the din,
the court felt at the conduct of the prisone,
that they were hound to pass upon him a severe put slum
He was sentenced for the first conviction to be im riso
and kept to hard labour for 12 months ; and for th sec
conviction, to 18 months imprisonment, and hard \h
making in the whole 2i years, during which time "1 '
ship" will reach his twenty-first year.

LIVERPOOL PILOTS' ASSOCIATION FOR. THE
SUPPORT OF DECAYED PILOTS, THEIR WI-
DOWS AND ORPHANS.

The annual meeting of that excellent and most prais,
society, the Pilots' Association for the Support of I)
Pilots, their Widows and Orphans, was held vesterch
statement of the accounts and proceedings for the pa.., ,
was laid before those present, and unanimously confirn
We are exceedingly glad to state that the present state
future prospects of the Institution are very promising,
that, by the improved system of management recently in
duced, its utility will become general amongst the labor
class, who are the objects of its exertions.
The business of the association having been dispel
about seventy of its members and friends sat down to
ner at the house of Mr. Edwards, the Frecmas
Inn, St. Paul's-square. We speak the senti
present, in stating that a more sumptuous fea
prepared, and that the politeness of the worthy
__
tention of the waiters, and the quality of the vianc_,
serving of all praise. We must not omit to mention that
dining-room was elegantly decorated for the occasion.
of the most conspicuous ornaments was the beautifully
blazoned banner presented to the Liverpool pilots in the
1838, a circumstance that will be in the recollection of
readers. __ _ _

host:t

In the absence of Mr. Robert Clarke, president of the as-
sociation, Mr. Hugh Woodward was called upon to discharge
the duties of chairman, and Mr.
Rowland Davies those of
vice-president. It is only just to them to say that they ful-
filled their respective offices with much credit to themselves.
Amongst the toasts proposed were the usual loyal and pa-
the stor
triotic ones
m," tthey were followed by " the pilot that weathered
he healths of Alexander Smith, jun., Esq., and
Raymond Haughton, Esq., chairman and deputy chairman
of the pilots' committee, and many others. This part of the
proceedings was interspersed by some excellent singing.
The dinner being over, the company retired into another
room, also beautifully decorated, and their wives and sweet-
hearts being.introduced, they began to " trip the light fan-
tastic toe" to the merry measures of an excellent quadrille
band. The assembly did not separate till a late hour, and
when they did it was with regret.
In conclusion we earnestly recommend to the merchants
of this opulent town the objects of this institution-. There
are few associations more deserving of their support.

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.1.74