The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-26 00:00:00

APPALLING MURDERS AT BIRMINGHAM.

On Saturday one or the most appalling murders ever
perpetrated, was committed at Birmingham.
It appears that about four or five months ago, a widow
named Ann Wilkes took a little shop in Cheapside, im-
mediately adj oining that of Mr. Burton, news agent, for
the sale of cigars. She was a person of about 35 years of
age, of agreeable manners, and was evidently one who
had seen better days. She had four children, three boys
and a girl, who had become the intimate playfellows of
the children of the neighbours. On Saturday, some little
uneasiness was felt because the shutters were not taken
down from the shop; but no steps were taken to ascertain
the cause until 11 o'clock, when Mr. Edwards, who was
acquainted with Mrs. Wilkes, got a ladder up to the first
floor window, which he found unfastened. He advanced
a few steps up a narrow dark stair, and at the top a scene
of unparalelled horror presented itself, although the whole
truth was not apparentat the first glance. On the floor,
near the door, lay Mrs. Wilkes, in a large pool of blood ;
beside her lay her youngest child—both with their throats
cut from ear to 'eat; and beyond them, in one of two
truckle beds, there was sufficient light to disclose the
other three children steeped in their own blood ! Horror
stricken, Edwards rushed from the room to the window.
calling out to the assembled crowd, ' My God I they vire
all murdered !" He again proceeded up stairs, when it
was found that Mrs. Wilkes, whom he thought was dead,
was breathing, and they immediately turned their atten-
tion to her. They raised her up, and, with the as§iitance
of Mr. Archer, surgeon, of Digbeth, bandied the wound.
Although she seemed to have been unconscious 'before,
she recovered a little, and strove with desperate energy
to tear 'the bandage from her throat. In this -she was
prevented, and a car having been procured, ihe`was con-
veyed tOthe Queen's Hospital.
X message was immediately desratehed for•the assis-
tance-Of Mr. Sands Cox, who, in less 'than'ton minutes
from'the time the woman was brought tollre hospital,
was'in attendance on her, and boand-up th'e-wound with
the'utmost celerity. It was found that the injuries she
had 'received were of a very -serious ; and that
although none of the principal arteries had'been cut,
'the windpipe was divided in such a manner as to leave it
exceedingly doubtful whether the unfortunate woman will
'recover. She appeared to be -quite conscious, and evi-
dently in much agony. During the time the wound was
'being dressed she seemed as if indinedto speak ; but, of
coarse, all attempts to articulate, -With a wound in her
throat, through which she breathed, and which gurgled
with blood nearly to suffocation,' were perfectly unavailing.
The shop is a small one- -there are"kw articles for sale
in it, these consisting chiefly of a it,wtpipes, three or four
half-boxes of cigars, and some empty cigar boxes, placed
in the window for show. -Everything wore an air of po-
verty, certainly, but also of cleanliness and industry. On
proceeding to a room 'on 'the first 'floor, one of the first
objects which attracted attention was a Bible, lying
on the table, to which 'it would appear that the unfortun-.
ate woman had been referrinvas in another room was
found a transcript of the dates' of the birth of her chil-
dren, extracted from 'which
a.registbr' was on its first leaf.
The room was scantily furnished, though it had an air of
comfort, which even confusion did not altogether destroy.
But it is utterly imposgible to describe the scene which
the bedchamber resented'inkwhich the murderous and
unnatural deed was perpetrated. The carpet on which
the mother was lyingveherediscovered, was saturated with
coagulated blood 3 in the midst of another pool, and at
the foot of a low truckle bed,'lay the body of the youngest
child, a boy, dressed nightclothes. He seems to
have been taken from the died, where he lay with his
mother, set on his•knees ontthe floor, as if in the attitude
of prayer, andlis throat-then cut. He had fallen forward
on his face, and had died without a pang. In the bed
next the window 'lie two ibrothers and a sister, also in.
their night dresses, which, as well as the bedclothes, are
covered with Mood. 'They all lie on their left sides, and
appear to have scarcely felt death. The girl has died 'first;
the second eldest-has diedutext ; but he hasheen awakened
from his sleep, as the first gash had been made too-law
down, and 'before the second stroke had been made he
had struggled. The 'eldest boy is half out of bed, with
his almost dissevered head resting on a chair, as if he had
started up in 'his agony. Their countenances are -calm 'as
if they sleet, and, indeed, there seems every reason 'to
believe that the mother had risen from her bed, murdered
them as they -slept, -a: althea attempted to terminate her
own existence by similar means. When found they were
stiff and cold, and must have been some time dead; and
it is astonishing, that-severely injured as the unfortunate
woman herself was;sheeould have survived for any length
of time. There is little furniture in the apartment, which
looks to the -street : two chairs, a wash-hand stand, and
two little -'beds, without curtains. A more ghastly and
horrifying spectacle than that room presents, tenanted, as
it is by disfigured corpses, it is impossible to conceive.
So far as we have been able to ascertain, no reason
can be assigned for the-commission of the deed. 'Rumour
assigns it to poverty, as she had been heard to complain
that she could make no money ; but, although no money
and but little zfood- was found in the house, there were
many articles which- did not indicate positive want. • -It
has also been reported that she was desirous of getting the
overseers to take eare•of her children while she would go
to service; -but this they refused.
The names •and sages of the children, as appears from
their birth -in their. mother's Bible, are John Henry, aged
12 ; Mary Jane, aged I; William Charles, aged 6; -Fre-
derick George, ageth-1 Tears.
The husband of-lkire. Wilkes died about seven months
ago, and the poor woman has made frequent complaints of
her distress. 'On ,Sunday, Mrs. Wilkes confessed that
she, and she alone,- committed the murders. She may
yet ultimately recover.

MORE COMMERCIAL DNA STERS.—The Times of yester-
day says, " We regreVto have to announce the suspension
of Messrs. Scott, Bell, and Co., East India agents and
general merchants. ,This event has arisen from about
£35,000 of the recent remittances received by them from
India being •upon failed ,houses. The total acceptances of
the firm are £240,000, but of these £150,000 are covered
by a lien on goods skipped to India (which, judging,from
the last accounts, are likely to find a steady sale), while
the open cash debts.,will probably not exceed £40,000.
We have here therefore-only £190,000 unsecured, and, as
the assets, which are- stated nominally at 5...350,600, are
considered by .cautious ;persons amply sufficient, even
under the worst circumstances, to meet more than that
amount, there -is every _prospect of a good liquidation.
The house was one almost entirely of agency, and its
business was with Madras, Calcutta, Mauritius, and also,
the Mediterranean. -Messrs. Binny and Co., an inde-
pendent firm, are their, correspondents at Madras. It
will be observed that :this failure, although it is deeply
regretted, is one of a class which must have been antici-
pated, since it would'have been out of the question that
the recent failures in the: India trade could have taken
place without compromising other firms, and placing their
affairs in a degree of uncertainty that would render tempo-
rary suspension, at all events, inevitable. The accept-
ances also of Mr. Lackersteen, another house in the East
India trade, were returned, this afternoon. It appears
that the draughts of the Union Bank of Calcutta, received
by the present mail, have- been refused acceptance by
Messrs. Glyn and Co. 'his expected, however, that the
institution will meet all its engagements, but the bank is
understood to have made large advances on indigo fac-
tories, which is one reason, for` Messrs. Glyn's caution."
MEETINGS OF CREDITORS.-`On Monday a meeting of
the creditors of Cockerell and Co. was held, when a no-
minal surplus of £190,000 was exhibited. The formidable
item of £435,500 appears to be due from the Calcutta
.-house. The house is to be wound up under inspection,
and £5OOO was set apart for the liquidation of small claims
.under £loo.—At the meeting of Messrs. Castellain and
Co.'s creditors, the statement showed a deficiency of
-X36,048, and a probable .dividend .4:943. Bd. in the ponnd.
—The account of Messrs. Thomas, Son, and Lefevre
shows a balance of assets over liabilities of £4o,2l2—the
liabilities being £401,760, and the assets £441,972. The
;ultimate liquidation in full will depend; upon the ability of
De Jersey and Co. cf Manchester, and of the St. Peters-.
burgh firm, who figure jointly for £363,000 to meet their
engagements ; but, as it is known that lle.,Yersey and Co.
have made arrangements by which they are likely to sus-
tain sthemselves, and as it is believed also that the St.
Petershnrgh house (from whom a balance sheet was re-
ceived about March last, showing a surplus of £8,000)
will be able to hold its ground, the prospect is certainly
much more favourable than anticipated.—At a meeting of
Messrs. Perkins, Schlusser, and Mullins' creditors, on
Wednesday, a surplus was shewn 0f£8,721 ; and thus far,
therefore, the, expectations held out at the date, of suspen-
sion bid fair to .be realised. At the same time, ,the liabi-
lities on bills' receivable are very large, and muc.h will
consequently depend upon the absence of any casualties.
The concern is,to be wound up under inspection.—The
affairs of Messrs. liastie and Co. of Glasgow, show a de-
ficiency of only £11,655, and a dividend of 15s. ,in the
pound. It transpired that the firm had sustained bad
debts, since the commeneement of the corn panic, to the
extent of £2B,ooo.—The inspectors appointed to carry
out the liquidation of the affairs of Messrs. Giles, Son, and
Co. (whose failure took place on the 13th of August, and '
whose statement, showing a dividend of 12s. 6d. in the
pound, was published on the 23rd of September), have
proceeded so far in the realization of the assets as to en-
able them to declare a first dividend of 6s. Bd, in the
pound, payable on the 10th of November next.—On Sa-
turday a meeting of Messrs.. Gower, Nephews, and Co.
was held. The liabilities were stated at £450,832, and
the assets, according to the ledger balances, to £573,501;
but the present valuation of these is now only £112,831.
The assets are, therefore, equal to a dividend of ss. in the
pound, exclusive of the proceeds that may be derived from
the Mauritius estates put down in the ledger at a quarter
of a million. The reason of so large an amount of doubt-
ful debt being valued at so small a sum was said to result
from the condition of several other firms with whom
Gower and Co. held dealings. For instance, the three
following cases were cited in illustration of the kind of ac-
counts included in the estimate:—Alison, Cumberledge,
and £33,404 ; a claim upon a house at Naples for
nearly Co„i70,000; and another upon a house in Glasgow for
£18,000; neither of which, it was believed, would yield
scarcely anything,
CULTIVATION or THE BEAUTIFUL.—It has "men the
fashion with prudes and pedants time immemorial to run
down the advantages of external appearance—thus the
phrases, " Outside show," and " Skin-deep beauty," had
obtained a sort of currency which gave them, and others
of similar import, an appearance of grave authority. The
present age is bold enough to question this dictum, and
even to go so far as to extol the study of externals as a
duty to society, which should have presented to it agree-
able objects, and now contends that the cultivation of the
beautifill holds a place second in importance only to the
promotion of the good. This it is which holds out encou-
ragement to those who labour to put the public inos-
session of means to this end. Oldridges Balm 0/Co-
lumbia, as the most effective preservative or renovator of
that most beautiful ornament the Human Hair, takes first
rank, and as long as its valuable properties continue to be
known and appreciated, must take the precedence.of every
production i:aterided for exterior improvenaGnt in this
direction.