The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-06-05 00:00:00

SUICIDE IN THE MAIN BRIDEWELL.

On Monday last, Charles Fazakerly, a letter-carrier, be-
longing to the Postoffice in this town, who had, with his wife,
been lodged in the main Bridewell, under a charge of felony, .
put an end to his existence by hanging himself. The deceased,
who was forty-two years of age, had been a letter-carrier in
this town nearly twenty years, during which time he was
principally employed in Castle-street, and the districts sur-
rounding. He had latterly been suspected of having purloined
a letter containing a twenty pound note, and as proof was
obtained that his wife had offered such £2O note for change,
she and the deceased were apprehended by constable James
Halsall. They were lodged in Bridewell about four o'clock
on Monday afternoon. They were placed in separate apart-
ments ; and Fazakerly, at his own request, was lodged iu
a large and comfortable room, Mr. Parkinson, the governor,
having at once acceded to his wish, not to be placed amonzst
the common prisoners. About teu minutes after he was
locked up, he asked for a drink of water, which was supplied
to him, and he was left alone. About six o'clock, when the
officer on duty went his rounds, he found Fazakerly hanging
suspended from a hook in one of the windows in the manner
which will be afterwards described. He was quite dead. He
had used for the purpose a mere piece of twine, which he had
been accustomed to bind round his letters, and as there is a
long seat under the window, which is very low, he must have
drawn up his legs beneath him, in order to let his weight hear
sufficiently on the string, which he had tied outside his stock.
The widow of the infOrtunate man, who is left with five
children, was not informed of the dreadful occurrence up to
the time of being brought before the magistrates on Tuesday
morning. The examination took place in the private room,
and it is easy to suppose that the duties of all parties were
sufficiently painful. The result of the investigation was, that
she was discharged ; some of her friends being in waiting to
receive her, and to bleak to her in a proper manner the me-
lancholy event which had occurred during the incarceration.
The.evidence brought against her, will have, as a necessary
form, to go before the authorities of the General Postoffice ;
but, under the circumstances, it is not likely that she will
be prosecuted, particularly as it seems pretty certain that she
was acting under the commands of her husband.

An inquisition was on Tuesday taken before P. F. Curry,
Esq., coroner, on view of the body, when the following evi-
dence was adduced :

James Halsall, police-officer, stated, that he had been for
some time past acting under the direction of the Post-mas-
ter of this town respecting a twenty-pound note that was
missing after having been put in the Post-office. After
making various inquiries, and being quite satisfied that the
deceased and his wife had been connected with the lost
money, he took them into custody on Monday afternoon, and
about four o'clock lodged them in Bridewell. He (Halsall)
had known the deceased about 15 years, during which time
he was a letter-carrier. When the deceased was taken to
Bridewell, witness did not perceive any difference in him
from what he had been formerly. About an hour and a half
afterwards witness was informed that a man had hanged him-
self in Bridewell. He went there, and found that it was the
deceased. He (witness) never saw anything whatever about
the deceased to lead him to think that he was at all flighty ;
if he had been so, it was not likely that he would have kept
his situation. .

William Parkinson, governor of the Union Bridewell,
stated, that the deceased and his wife were brought there on
Monday afternoon, about four o'clock, charged with felony.
They were placed in separate apartments. When the de-
ceased was brought to Bridewell, he walked up to him (wit-
ness) and said—Mr. Parkinson, I hope you will not put me
into a room amongst thieves and bad characters, as I am in-
nocent of the charge laid against me. He, about ten minutes
after, asked for a drink of water, which witness directed to
be given to him. He had been placed in a large comfortable
room by himself. There were three windows in the room,
with iron bars on the outside. Two of the windows had
small iron hooks on the inside, to prevent the windows from
pulling down. The deceased appeared to be perfectly col-
lected. About six o'clock, witness having been informed
that a man had hung himself, went to the room where lie had
placed the deceased, and found that it was him. He was cut
down, and a surgeon sent for. One of the policemen opened
a vein, but no blood would flow. He was quite dead when
the surgeon came. Witness had known the deceased many
years, but never had observed anything extraordinary about

Isaac Hartley, an officer of the Bridewell, sated, that the
officers went off duty usually at six o'clock. On Monday
evening at that hour, on going round to see if the prisoners
were all safe before going off duty, he went to the room in
which the deceased was confined, and found the door locked,
and not knowing that the deceased had been placed there,
he opened the wicket and looked in, when he saw him hang-
ing. He unlocked the door, and went in, when he saw that
the deceased was suspended by the piece of twine produced,
one end of which was fastened to the iron hook within the
window, and the other placed round the neck of the deceased
outside his stock. Witness cut him down immediately, but
he was quite dead. There is a slope down the window seat,
and his head was about three inches below it ; his shoulder
rested against the corner of the wall. Had it not been for
the latter circumstance, the twine, by which he was sus-
pended, must have broken. When found, his right knee
rested upon the form which was under the window.
Henry Collard, inspector of letter-carriers at the post-
office, in this town, stated, that the deceased had been a let-
ter-carrier many years. During all the time witness had
known him, he was always regular in his business, and wit-
ness considered him one of th best men lie had, till within
the last few days, when he had reason to think he was con-
nected with the' abstraction of a letter which had been for-
warded to Liverpool, containing a £2O note. The deceased
was at the post-office on Monday afternoon, and about a
quarter-past two o'clock settled his account according to his
daily custom. At that time, witness did not think he was
aware that there was any suspicion of his honesty. There
was nothing about him to lead witness to think that he was
deranged.
The jury returned a verdict of felo de se.

Viscount Palmerston has appointed Mr. George Canning
Backhouse, godson of the late statesman, to a junior clerk-
ship in, the Secretary of State's office for Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Backhouse is the son of Mr. Backhouse, the Under Se-
cretary for the Foreign Depratment.